Yesterday, I was lucky enough to go to a pre-Olympics event at Stratford, and chose to go via HS1 instead of a slower, but cheaper, route via Stratford.
I thought to buy ahead to save time and so asked at Hatfield for two returns from St Pancras to Stratford International.
I was given a price, put my card in, paid and then got given two singles! I said I'd asked for returns and was told that I hadn't. The man even tried to repeat what I'd said in a different voice, which was quite funny, yet I'd clearly asked for a return because a return is what I wanted!
So, I gave the tickets back and the receipt, expecting him to cancel the ticket and issue me with new ones. But he didn't, and gave the return tickets as an excess.I paid the difference and got a second receipt. I asked if it was okay to have a single ticket and a ticket marked return, and he said it was (as against OUT and RTN as I'd normally expect).
That meant we had two single tickets and two 'RTN' tickets, which I didn't notice at the time said 'Only valid with ticket nnnnn' on it.
Can you guess what happens next? Oh yes, to cut a long story short, got to Stratford, tickets taken by machine and then upon the return we're stopped and asked to present the original tickets that the excessed tickets related to.
I hadn't even noticed what it said on them so I was somewhat confused, and then we had to explain what happened before being allowed through (mentioning that our tickets were in the very gateline we were being stopped at). I guess I was lucky that I had a receipt in my wallet too.
Also, the single ticket that was issued at Hatfield triggered a 'seek assistance' at St Pancras - as well as on the way back. I hope that isn't going to be the case for all tickets issued from other stations, or else the gates will become a massive bottleneck when loads of people are going to be using them during the games and having their tickets rejected.
Anyway - how are you supposed to use an excessed ticket in these circumstances when your supporting ticket will be lost? Demand to hold on to the ticket, or should my single ticket have been cancelled and replaced?
I thought to buy ahead to save time and so asked at Hatfield for two returns from St Pancras to Stratford International.
I was given a price, put my card in, paid and then got given two singles! I said I'd asked for returns and was told that I hadn't. The man even tried to repeat what I'd said in a different voice, which was quite funny, yet I'd clearly asked for a return because a return is what I wanted!
So, I gave the tickets back and the receipt, expecting him to cancel the ticket and issue me with new ones. But he didn't, and gave the return tickets as an excess.I paid the difference and got a second receipt. I asked if it was okay to have a single ticket and a ticket marked return, and he said it was (as against OUT and RTN as I'd normally expect).
That meant we had two single tickets and two 'RTN' tickets, which I didn't notice at the time said 'Only valid with ticket nnnnn' on it.
Can you guess what happens next? Oh yes, to cut a long story short, got to Stratford, tickets taken by machine and then upon the return we're stopped and asked to present the original tickets that the excessed tickets related to.
I hadn't even noticed what it said on them so I was somewhat confused, and then we had to explain what happened before being allowed through (mentioning that our tickets were in the very gateline we were being stopped at). I guess I was lucky that I had a receipt in my wallet too.
Also, the single ticket that was issued at Hatfield triggered a 'seek assistance' at St Pancras - as well as on the way back. I hope that isn't going to be the case for all tickets issued from other stations, or else the gates will become a massive bottleneck when loads of people are going to be using them during the games and having their tickets rejected.
Anyway - how are you supposed to use an excessed ticket in these circumstances when your supporting ticket will be lost? Demand to hold on to the ticket, or should my single ticket have been cancelled and replaced?