Most obnoxious seat hogging tactics?

[stut]

Veet on seats has to be the worst offence

Oh, I agree, I hate having the hair taken off my legs!

 

[lj9090]

So I'd suggest that they'd be liable to pay half the single for each piece of luggage occupying a seat. Also if it's taking up that much space I wonder if there luggage didn't fall foul of the size/number of items limits!?

That's the funny thing about the whole event, there wasn't all that much. A rucksack and one large heavy suitcase flat along two seats. All I asked for was to move the rucksack so the suitcase could then be placed upright and I could sit next to it.

Really got no idea why she refused, but it was quite amusing all the same.

 

[ainsworth74]

That's the funny thing about the whole event, there wasn't all that much. A rucksack and one large heavy suitcase flat along two seats. All I asked for was to move the rucksack so the suitcase could then be placed upright and I could sit next to it.

That just makes it worse! Well either way they'd have been liable for three fares I'd have thought, if the guard had threatened them with that they'd probably have changed their tune

 

[Drsatan]

Oh, I agree, I hate having the hair taken off my legs!

Same here. For some reason I like my body hair!

Thanks to Ainsworth74 for looking through the NRCoC and pointing out that a guard is entitled to charge a passenger a child's ticket if his/her bag is on a seat! The only time I've seen this happen was on the 1803 HST from Exeter St Davids (1700 ex Plymouth) to Paddington, which being a Friday had every seat occupied. Soon after the train departed EXD, the guard said: "If you have a bag on a seat please put it on the overhead luggage rack, under your seat or on the luggage racks at the end of each coach. I will charge you a child's ticket to your destination if you decide to leave you luggage on a seat."

This is the only time I've noticed a guard do this. I'm fairly certain unless every seat is occupied most guards won't bother.

 

[chris89]

Same here. For some reason I like my body hair!

Thanks to Ainsworth74 for looking through the NRCoC and pointing out that a guard is entitled to charge a passenger a child's ticket if his/her bag is on a seat! The only time I've seen this happen was on the 1803 HST from Exeter St Davids (1700 ex Plymouth) to Paddington, which being a Friday had every seat occupied. Soon after the train departed EXD, the guard said: "If you have a bag on a seat please put it on the overhead luggage rack, under your seat or on the luggage racks at the end of each coach. I will charge you a child's ticket to your destination if you decide to leave you luggage on a seat."

This is the only time I've noticed a guard do this. I'm fairly certain unless every seat is occupied most guards won't bother.

Happens quite a lot on the Birmingham - Glasgow/ Edinburgh services as they can get quite busy. Never see people move fast enough when that is announced.

Chris

 

[table38]

I often observe that the experienced luggage-wielding seat hogger will hold out as long as possible, by which time the aisles and racks are full, and then declare "there isn't anywhere else to put it"

Window or Aisle sir?
Window or you'll what?

 

[Flamingo]

I often observe that the experienced luggage-wielding seat hogger will hold out as long as possible, by which time the aisles and racks are full, and then declare "there isn't anywhere else to put it"

Window or Aisle sir?
Window or you'll what?

After asking one chap several times to move his bag, when it reached the point that the train WAS full, the conversation went...
"I've asked you several times before sir, can you move your bag from the seat?"
"I've nowhere to move it to"
"I said from, not to. Or I'll move it from the seat to the platform"

The bag was moved onto his lap (it was a full sized case), and someone sat beside him (with a big grin on her face - she knew what he was up to).

It is one of my pet hates, and I am ruthless in getting people to use the luggage spaces (especially the ignored one under the seats). Sunday trains especially, it has to be done.

The other one I hate is the person who sits in the seat beside their reservation, and I always remove unused reservation labels. Quite a few people say "That's my seat", and a few have started serious arguments about the label being removed despite them not sitting in the seat as "I might want to sit in it later".

 

[VTPreston_Tez]

Something happened on my local 31A today:

A drink was spilt on the seat and I took the front of the seat. My mum then moved to another seat (she was next to me) and I used the free space to store my bags. The bus eventually became too full and I refused to give up the seat. Someone asked nicely so I decided to let her onto the wet seat. From there it just became a game of musical chairs. :P
Whoever spilt the drink was taking seat-hogging to a new level, has this happened to anybody else?

 

[ng1980]

Well, maybe slightly off topic here as it's not so much seat hogging but more seat appropriating.

I will also add that this seems to have died about about three years ago (or else I haven't experienced it recently), at approximately the time that ticket design changed.

Although British, I live in Korea. There are no such tickets which are valid on any train. When you purchase your ticket, you must specify the service you will be using and the ticket is only valid for this service.

There is a price for a first class seat (if available on that service), economy seat (what you would call 'standard' in the UK) and a 'standing / non assigned' ticket. A ticket for a seat includes a reservation for a specific seat. A standing ticket allows you to stand on the specified train or sit in any available seat, although you must vacate the seat if it is reserved by a person.

What used to happen (and seems to have stopped or, at least, become less frequent) is a person walking down the train and telling a person that that is his/her seat, showing his ticket with his/her thumb conveniently covering the seat number.

Most people have a seat reservation so will tell him/her that it's not their seat, so the person will try another seat two or three rows ahead with a person facing in the opposite direction so that they haven't seen what has just happened.

It's a numbers game as eventually you will find someone who also has a standing ticket, and who probably won't question you if you seem confident and seem so willing to show your ticket, even if you have your thumb over the seat number. That person, will then give you the seat in the belief that you have reserved it and paid for it.

I've seen it happen many times so I have always insisted on seeing the seat number if I have a standing ticket, although I always travel with a reservation these days!

 

[davido39]

Oh, I agree, I hate having the hair taken off my legs!

HAHA beat me to ir lol.

 

[snail]

The other one I hate is the person who sits in the seat beside their reservation, and I always remove unused reservation labels. Quite a few people say "That's my seat", and a few have started serious arguments about the label being removed despite them not sitting in the seat as "I might want to sit in it later".

If they are travelling on Advance tickets isn't it a condition to sit in the designated seat? Could you issue them a new ticket on the grounds theirs is invalid because they aren't in the seat?

The problem I have with this behaviour is that I don't want to sit next to the kind of person with this attitude (unless there are a few of us travelling and we can be gently obnoxious between ourselves to wind up said person ). If I am reasonably sure there are seats elsewhere, or I'm not going very far, my favourite tactic is to ask if a seat is free, wait for them to start moving their stuff then invite someone else to sit there or sit down for a minute or so then move away.

 

[Flamingo]

If they are travelling on Advance tickets isn't it a condition to sit in the designated seat? Could you issue them a new ticket on the grounds theirs is invalid because they aren't in the seat?

It's a big enough arguement to get most people to pay an excess when they are on the wrong train!

 

[anthony263]

Same here. For some reason I like my body hair!

Thanks to Ainsworth74 for looking through the NRCoC and pointing out that a guard is entitled to charge a passenger a child's ticket if his/her bag is on a seat! The only time I've seen this happen was on the 1803 HST from Exeter St Davids (1700 ex Plymouth) to Paddington, which being a Friday had every seat occupied. Soon after the train departed EXD, the guard said: "If you have a bag on a seat please put it on the overhead luggage rack, under your seat or on the luggage racks at the end of each coach. I will charge you a child's ticket to your destination if you decide to leave you luggage on a seat."

This is the only time I've noticed a guard do this. I'm fairly certain unless every seat is occupied most guards won't bother.

Fair play the gaurds on the 16:50 & 17:50 FGW departures from Cardiff to Swansea do always tell passengers not to place bags on seats and telling other passengrs looking for seats to ask anyone who has bags on seats to move them since they are not paying for their bags to have a seat.

Did see one woman have a good moan about it though

 

[elarchibaldo]

I get annoyed when people on a class 185 decide to sit on the floor in front of doors, and when politely asked to move they flip and tell you where to go!
Where are the manners these days?

 

[Chapeltom]

I get annoyed when people on a class 185 decide to sit on the floor in front of doors, and when politely asked to move they flip and tell you where to go!
Where are the manners these days?

I don't suppose they do that as the train is pulling into a station do they? that would be funny to see.

 

[deltic1989]

I was once on a rammed FGW HST with a couple of friends and, in almost every coach there were people employing the above mentioned tactics (the worst offenders being the city banker types with copies of the FT and laptops strewn all over the tables and huge brief cases plonked on seats) we asked a few people if we could sit down which they refused giving various excuses ( reserved both seats, my wife is sitting there (no wife on the second and third pass))re finally resolved to sit on our bags in one of the vestbules there being no other realistic choice.
One of my friends dissapeared however and when he didnt return for over half an hour we became concerned and went looking for him. We found him a couple of coaches along where, using his small stature to his advantage, he had climbed into one of the over head luggage racks.
We had a laugh about it and even the TM saw the funny side, he stayed there from reading till we got off in plymouth.

 

[Big Jim]

There's horrible woman who gets on the train near us. Puts her bag on the aisle seat, then looks the other way when people get on the train and need to sit. i.e. she's trying to make out that someones sitting there already. Does the same thing every day.
I don't understand why she needs two seats? 90% of people (if not more) seem to be reasonable from my years of commuting. Worst place I've been to is Denmark, where people would not get up for someone who needs the seat. i.e. pregnant or a mother with young child. At least in the UK we're very good at doing that still.

 

[NLC1072]

Should have sat on her jackets

think we had a thread like this not too long ago and I did chuckle at some of the replies..

I usually look at the coat and say; "oh no, not again, somebody has left their coat, I must take this to lost propperty" rather loudly... usually does the trick.

 

[Flamingo]

I had a woman today with the old "If someone asks me to move the bag I'll move it, but not until then" line while we were boarding at Paddington. It got quite heated in the end, as she wasn't going to be told what to do by some little oik.

(She moved it - the complaint is on the way in as I write, no doubt)

 

[Inox]

 

[VTPreston_Tez]

I get annoyed when people on a class 185 decide to sit on the floor in front of doors, and when politely asked to move they flip and tell you where to go!
Where are the manners these days?

Unless the train is genuinely full. It's happened to me before because the train was severely delayed after smashing through a vandal trap through Lostock. By Chorley the train was so full there was nothing to do but sit on the floor. It had to terminate at Preston so the connecting ex-Liverpool Lime Street service had its work cut out aswell and I was told the same thing happened onboard that.
It's just how the trains operate, when we can double up more services this problem will be solved.

 

[deltic1989]

Now that is obnoxious could they have not put the buggy in the cycle bay? Is there a cycle bay?
and if not those type of buggys are not all that much bother to fold down, in fact they could have folded down the buggy in the time it took to get it on the seat.

 

[Monty]

I had a woman today with the old "If someone asks me to move the bag I'll move it, but not until then" line while we were boarding at Paddington. It got quite heated in the end, as she wasn't going to be told what to do by some little oik.

(She moved it - the complaint is on the way in as I write, no doubt)

Seats are for arses not for bags, coats & (and my personal favourite) feet. :roll: Good for you though for making her move it, she should consider herself fortunate to have a seat out of Paddington!

 

[asylumxl]

I'm not sure where that photo was taken, but it looks to be a 319/321 or something of the like. If it's a 319 on TL, I see this all the time on my way in to London. But there are worse people, who put buggies straight across the isle...

 

[StoneRoad]

during my time as a guard on a certain Nth Wales steam railway, we've had all sorts with rucksacks, ususally not a problem but one day there was a group of highly obnoxious bods + rucksacks travelling, and they were blocking the gangway, spare seats etc. the whole lot got shifted into the non-corridor stock......

On another time there was a large group of cyclists transfering to the other end of the line - their bikes went into the non-corridor stock, I just wish I still had the photograph!

 

[Flamingo]

Seats are for arses not for bags, coats & (and my personal favourite) feet. :roll: Good for you though for making her move it, she should consider herself fortunate to have a seat out of Paddington!

Don't believe the urban myth that there are no seats from Pad, it's only coaches E & D (& sometimes C) that fill up. Most trains have tumbleweed blowing around in A & B.

 

[DJ_K666]

Nah... I'd say the worst example would be someone sitting by a table seat, opening up a condom packet then filling said condom with a dollop of oil of olay and placing it on the seats opposite them...

Brilliant! I'll have to remember that one...

 

[MidnightFlyer]

I'm not sure where that photo was taken, but it looks to be a 319/321 or something of the like. If it's a 319 on TL, I see this all the time on my way in to London. But there are worse people, who put buggies straight across the isle...

It's a Northern 150 I think, I've seen that on here a good few times. There are large bike spaces at one end, taking up one side of a 1/3 of a carriage with plenty of room to store bikes, suitcases, prams etc, and room to sit opposite.

Don't believe the urban myth that there are no seats from Pad, it's only coaches E & D (& sometimes C) that fill up. Most trains have tumbleweed blowing around in A & B.

I usually try that tactic at most inter-city stations, and it works (regardless of time, destination, day etc), except on my last two trips from Paddington - one was a wedged Penzance service on a Friday evening, and the other was a wedged Hereford service on a Sunday morning. I think a factor in the latter is the poor service at Slough on Sundays - about 50-60 alighted there!

 

[CC 72100]

Don't believe the urban myth that there are no seats from Pad, it's only coaches E & D (& sometimes C) that fill up. Most trains have tumbleweed blowing around in A & B.

Absolutely. Yet to travel from Pad myself (got a day trip in September but I'm reserved anyway) although people often moan about how busy trains are. Well, if you bothered to walk a couple more coach lengths, you'd probably stand a very good chance of getting one.

For example, waiting for a Southbound XC HST at Exeter. If you dare to walk to the Northern End and board in Coach G, most of the time I get a table of 4 to myself. People would much rather moan and be lazy than actively get a seat by walking just that little bit further...

 

[SS4]

Don't believe the urban myth that there are no seats from Pad, it's only coaches E & D (& sometimes C) that fill up. Most trains have tumbleweed blowing around in A & B.

Chiltern are similar, especially out of P4,5,6. Coach A is deserted and I always end up with a table seat lol