Mobile ticket & phone problems

[prettyinpink]

Hi all,
New to the site so apologies if this has been covered elsewhere.

I have a mobile ticket for VT train via trainline. My phone is playing up & Samsung have advised a factory reset before a visit to repair centre but if I reset my phone I lose my m ticket. Train line no help - recommend asking Samsung to cover cost of new train ticket which is surely a massive long shot!!

Am I wrong to expect the app to be capable of being reinstalled? Ticket is a QR barcode (presumably unique to me) so not sure why it is not saved in app memory rather than somewhere on my phone?

Now need to stick with much less than fully functioning phone until my train journey before I can reset

 

[hairyhandedfool]

The only tickets the railway will replace are season tickets and as you have actually got the ticket on your phone the railway don't have to do anything. It is an unfortunate situation to be in, but it is not the railway's fault or concern.

 

[neilmc]

Really sorry about that, again it's the situation that the customer using supposedly advanced technology loses out. It seems that buying train tickets is an endeavour increasingly fraught with danger - but only to the consumer!

 

[Simon11]

Really sorry about that, again it's the situation that the customer using supposedly advanced technology loses out. It seems that buying train tickets is an endeavour increasingly fraught with danger - but only to the consumer!

Surely just as fraught as using paper tickets ie if they were to loose them?

 

[Darandio]

Surely just as fraught as using paper tickets ie if they were to loose them?

Of course it is.

But let's all have a bash at the railway eh.

 

[Bungle73]

The only tickets the railway will replace are season tickets and as you have actually got the ticket on your phone the railway don't have to do anything. It is an unfortunate situation to be in, but it is not the railway's fault or concern.

Um yes it is. The company should make allowances for circumstances such as these. A smart phone is piece of technology, and as such is liable to go wrong through no fault of the user.

Surely just as fraught as using paper tickets ie if they were to loose them?

When paper tickets become worthless because they have become faulty or have simply run out of power then we can compare the two.

This is the simple reason I would not touch m-tickets with a barge pole.

 

[hairyhandedfool]

Um yes it is. The company should make allowances for circumstances such as these....

Why? The user has the choice of how to have their ticket stored, the phone is not supplied or built by the railway, nor is it's malfunction is the railway's fault, and the type of phone used is entirely the choice of the passenger.

 

[Eagle]

When paper tickets become worthless because they have become faulty...

Like (as occasionally happens) when the writing fades and becomes illegible? Or the magnetic strip becomes corrupted? That would definitely come under the definition of "faulty" in my book.

 

[Bungle73]

Why? The user has the choice of how to have their ticket stored, the phone is not supplied or built by the railway, nor is it's malfunction is the railway's fault, and the type of phone used is entirely the choice of the passenger.

Because it's good customer service............

Why should a passenger have to rely on luck as to whether their ticket is available for use when they want to use it, when they use system that has been sold to them as being "better" by a company?

There is no reason what so ever this circumstance couldn't be allowed for, only that they can't be bothered to.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Like (as occasionally happens) when the writing fades and becomes illegible? Or the magnetic strip becomes corrupted? That would definitely come under the definition of "faulty" in my book.

And then you can go to a ticket office and get a replacement.....

If your m-ticket becomes unusable the railway couldn't care less it seems.

 

[Eagle]

And then you can go to a ticket office and get a replacement.....

You can do the same with m-tickets, I thought? The seller has a record of the ticket it sold you surely.

 

[Bungle73]

You can do the same with m-tickets, I thought? The seller has a record of the ticket it sold you surely.

This has come up before, and it was stated then that if an m-ticket becomes unusable you basically have no ticket and have to purchase another one.

 

[starrymarkb]

Should it not be possible for the ticket to be stored in the Cloud, much like BA do and enable details to be redownloaded if required (or on Android devices give the option of backing up to the SD card if present) Of course it would mean the Guard would have to scan the code and therefore lock out any duplicates (Maybe insist on ID/Payment card being present)

 

[hairyhandedfool]

....There is no reason what so ever this circumstance couldn't be allowed for, only that they can't be bothered to....

Fraud?

 

[Bungle73]

Fraud?

That's a poor excuse tbh. This is 2012 and systems are in place to handle this kind of thing.

The bottom line is a company should not be marketing to people a system that is so likely to go wrong, and which when it does they basically tell their customer "tough luck".

I predict it's only a matter of time before someone purchases an expensive e-ticket, which subsequently goes wrong, and the railway company ends up on Watchdog.

 

[Qwerty133]

Hi all,
New to the site so apologies if this has been covered elsewhere.

I have a mobile ticket for VT train via trainline.

Dont use the train line. tickets always work out cheaper on a train company's website (all sell eachothers tickets) due to booking and card fees

 

[Simon11]

The bottom line is a company should not be marketing to people a system that is so likely to go wrong, and which when it does they basically tell their customer "tough luck".

But this problem isn't down to a failure by the system or the company. Its in the T&C's when you purchase the ticket.

 

[Ferret]

I predict it's only a matter of time before someone purchases an expensive e-ticket, which subsequently goes wrong, and the railway company ends up on Watchdog.

I agree with you, but that appearance on Watchdog will not change a thing.

 

[prettyinpink]

Thanks for your responses - was just having a rant really as seem to have exhausted train line customer services & realised there is no way around

I understand the fraud argument but the ticket does already say I need the payment card with me so surely with that & a unique QR code nobody else can use it?

Does feel like I'm being penalised for using technology. Phone being faulty is not mine nor train company’s fault but I was expecting that with a few days notice there would be a way around it. I understand that same would happen if I lost a paper ticket but likelihood of me carrying ticket around with me days before travel is low!!

Feels like they haven't utilised the technology to its best capability but c’est la vie!! Important life lesson learned - don't ever buy a mobile ticket again no matter how cheap!

 

[jon0844]

Is the m ticket merely a barcode/QR code? Can you take a photo of the screen before you reset the phone?

If you can then read the code with a barcode reader (perhaps with another phone) you could then replicate it with a bar code generator.

The fraud argument doesn't work as I'm sure they would be easy to copy. The idea is to have the code 'killed' when used to stop fraud, not restricting the number of devices you can download to.

All my e tickets for flying can be downloaded as a PDF and stored anywhere (or printed countless times) and if I lose the file, I can even get it at the airport. So an m ticket should be re-downloadable.

The current situation is because train staff don't have the means to kill a ticket and so the cheap solution (aka bodge) does add risk to the passenger. As such, I'd say don't use them unless you're prepared to accept the T&Cs.

 

[Ferret]

You can buy an equally cheap ticket and print it at home I would imagine! Or collect it at the station!

Oh, and never use thetrainline! Pesky booking fees.

 

[Eagle]

Feels like they haven't utilised the technology to its best capability but c’est la vie!! Important life lesson learned - don't ever buy a mobile ticket again no matter how cheap!

Mobile tickets are the same price as paper ones.

 

[Simon11]

Mobile tickets are the same price as paper ones.

Not aways! Some websites charge for you to pick your ticket up from a TVM when you can use an e-ticket for free for the journey.

 

[Eagle]

Not aways! Some websites charge for you to pick your ticket up from a TVM when you can use an e-ticket for free for the journey.

Well don't use those websites then :P (Hint: LM's website is always free pickup.)

 

[34D]

Can you 'munch' the ticket, save the munch on an SD card, then load that up when gripped? Sorry, but I've never had an m-ticket so don't know what they look like.

 

[Bungle73]

But this problem isn't down to a failure by the system or the company. Its in the T&C's when you purchase the ticket.

It doesn't matter whose "fault" it is. The fact is measures should be in place to deal with it. Why does the railway industry think it is different from any other industry selling a product?

Trying to hide behind unfair T&Cs is a very shady way to do business indeed.

I agree with you, but that appearance on Watchdog will not change a thing.

It would highlight the issue, and would bring the company involved bad publicity. Maybe even the Regulator would get involved.

 

[TUC]

Can the ticket be sent as a text to someone else's phone and then sent back to you after reset?

 

[dvboy]

take a screenshot of the ticket - on an android phone this is done by holding down the home button and off button at the same time, copy that to somewhere off the phone, then once you've done the factory reset, copy it back and use the image as your ticket

and never buy an m-ticket or e-ticket again

 

[starrymarkb]

The current situation is because train staff don't have the means to kill a ticket and so the cheap solution (aka bodge) does add risk to the passenger. As such, I'd say don't use them unless you're prepared to accept the T&Cs.

I agree - DB use M and E Tickets - here is a DB E-Ticket

http://i.imgur.com/GThHp.png

The inspector will scan the barcode and swipe the payment card (it doesn't matter if it has expired since purchase) - also the last 4 digits are printed on the ticket for a manual inspection.

One way that the kill could probably happen is that the machine will phone home at each station call, uploading the killed tickets and downloading a list of killed tickets from other trains on the route. OK there is still a risk of a double printed ticket being scanned twice before the scanner phones back, but for advance tickets that shouldn't be a problem (unless there are two guards on board)

 

[87 027]

Is the m ticket merely a barcode/QR code? Can you take a photo of the screen before you reset the phone?

I've used m-tickets on the Virgin Trains branded app from Masabi. The ticket is originally downloaded as a static image similar to a QR code, but the day before travel you have to 'activate' it meaning that the background becomes active with a moving image and the header displays the current time and date. So I for one cannot understand why an unactivated ticket cannot be redownloaded and then activated as surely the system must be intelligent enough to prevent duplicates?

 

[hairyhandedfool]

That's a poor excuse tbh. This is 2012 and systems are in place to handle this kind of thing....

It is in place for all non-season tickets, not just those held in electronic format.

....The bottom line is a company should not be marketing to people a system that is so likely to go wrong, and which when it does they basically tell their customer "tough luck"....

If it is 'so likely to go wrong', I'm surprised it has taken this long for someone to come on here and moan about it, I'm surprised that anyone would even consider using a phone to hold a ticket if it is that unreliable.

That argument will only lead to one conclusion, tickets only being sold as paper tickets.

....I predict it's only a matter of time before someone purchases an expensive e-ticket, which subsequently goes wrong, and the railway company ends up on Watchdog.

Why does it have to be an electronic ticket? the rule is the same for paper tickets.

....The idea is to have the code 'killed' when used to stop fraud, not restricting the number of devices you can download to....

What if your ticket is killed and you break your journey at a station with ticket barriers? No ticket to show at the barrier going out, no ticket to show to get back in, no ticket to show to the next guard and no ticket to show at the station at the end of the journey (if it has barriers).

....All my e tickets for flying can be downloaded as a PDF and stored anywhere (or printed countless times) and if I lose the file, I can even get it at the airport. So an m ticket should be re-downloadable....

How many planes can you board with the same ticket?

....As such, I'd say don't use them unless you're prepared to accept the T&Cs.

That goes for any ticket.