Impartial Retailing - Child / Adult Tickets

[adamcoppard]

Just thinking about all the mentions to impartial retailing etc. on the forum whereby the tickets requested must be sold. Does this apply to child tickets - or is it more for route / TOC restrictions i.e to stop TOC 1 only selling tickets for TOC 1 where TOC 2 is less restrictive / cheaper / whatever.

I recall an incident a few years ago when I was a child where the ticket office refused to sell me a child ticket (which I explicitly asked for) - should I have (and still now, if I requested it) be sold the ticket (I would understand telling me it's not valid if I'm 16 or over - and then proceeding to give it to me).

 

[hairyhandedfool]

Child tickets are discounted adult tickets and so, where the clerk does not believe the customer is entitled to have a child ticket, they do not have to offer or sell it. If the passenger can prove they are entitled to a child ticket, they would be offered it.

 

[island]

The principle of impartial retailing does not to my knowledge apply to ticket discounts, only to stop unnecessarily expensive routes or ticket types being offered. In a similar way, I don't think someone the clerk is required to inform someone showing up at Euston this time tomorrow and asking for one adult one child single to Manchester to get a F&F railcard.

 

[richw]

but if I were to buy simply a child ticket, not for myself, but for say a 14-15 year old relation, perhaps that was coming to stay, would that be refused that purchase as I am not a child?

 

[island]

Up to the clerk's discretion.