Ivo
Established Member
Not a happy bunny. Not in the slightest.
Yesterday (Friday June 1st) I was due to meet a friend in London for seven hours. She was ill the morning so we almost called it off, but she said to press ahead anyway because neither of us knew when the next opportunity would be (she lives in Leeds). I wish she had called it off.
IN BRIEF:
After a problem with an LUL ticket barrier, I was subjected to cluelessness and haplessness by both LUL and SWT and left with a far less useful ticket combination than the one I had formerly had, and lost a substantial amount of time as a result (courtesy of both the new restrictions and their hopelessness). Meanwhile, signal problems in Swindon on the way back to Bath didn't exactly help matters either...
I don't know what to say in any letters I write (I will be writing to FGW, LUL, SWT and TfL), although I know I can draft a letter based on any advice you guys can offer me. Any suggestions, comments, or whatever, please let me know. You can rest assured that I am not in any trouble at all.
---------------
I left my University at 1150 as planned, and travelled to Bath Spa (BTH) in time for the 1243 to London Paddington (PAD). Travelling with First Great Western (FGW) and equipped with a three-way split ticket, which required stopping at Cholsey (CHO) and therefore changing at Didcot Parkway (DID) and Reading (RDG), I expected to arrive into PAD at approximately 1430. Unfortunately, my plan was damaged on arrival at PAD by a signal problem at King's Cross St Pancras which had crippled the Sub-Surface Lines, so rather than meeting my friend at Liverpool Street - and then only there and not PAD because she was delayed out of Wickford - as planned we rearranged for Waterloo, on the main forecourt area (WAT), where I expected to arrive at approximately 1510 (in practice it was 1508). I held the following ticket combination:
• Off-Peak Day Return, BTH-CHO (YP)
• Off-Peak Day Return, CHO-RDG (YP)
• Off-Peak Day Travelcard, RDG-0035* (YP)
0035 = London Zones 1-6 Travelcard
However, things went rather wrong upon reaching the London Underground (LUL) concourse. I put my Travelcard in the barrier - and out came a Weekly Travelcard issued at Surbiton that required a photocard! Something was obviously not right here! So, after about two minutes of panicking that I had dropped my ticket and picked up someone else's by mistake, I realised that it was a simple problem with the barrier, so I sought assistance from the staff, who let me through without trouble. From this point on though, it seemed as though nothing could go right.
After a visit to the LUL Station Office (which was a bit of a treat ), who claimed that because I had a ticket issued from a location outside of the Zones, there was nothing they could do, and that I had to speak to the South West Trains (SWT) staff upstairs. Although far from certain I believed that this was true, I went upstairs and headed over to the Customer Services Desk and spoke to a Supervisor, who told me that the Station Manager (or at least a manager of some kind anyway) was expected in about fifteen minutes, so I had to wait for his arrival.
When he finally did turn up, he did not know what to do. By this stage I had lost almost 30 minutes and had had no resolution - and neither was a resolution in sight. Eventually, he took me to the SWT Ticket Office, who - after what felt like an eternity - revealed to me through the manager that they could not do anything without some kind of form from the LUL office, so I was sent back downstairs again. Knowing my friend should have arrived at WAT by this time, (I later learned that she didn't know about the Waterloo & City so this was not the case), I waited for a few minutes to see if she would turn up soon or not. Finally, after about ten minutes of anxiety, I gave up waiting and returned to my existing problem.
Returning to the LUL barrier, the staff knew what had happened and told me to return to their Station Office. At this point however, my friend called to tell me she had arrived, so on staff advice I went to find her and then returned to their barrier once again; by this stage, I had lost roughly one hour. They directed me to the office again, where the staff member dealing with my problem was not only slow to help but also reluctant to help. Eventually, he did fill out some kind of ticket loss form (I'm not sure what it was exactly), which I then had to take up to the SWT office for them to sort out. LUL were clearly blaming SWT for the problem, saying that they should have simply issued me a replacement, and promised me that everything would be resolved soon and I would have a new Travelcard, complete with RDG return validity.
Needless to say, the Customer Services Desk there didn't know what to do either, so I had to wait on discussions in the Ticket Office - again. After this new consultation, I was told to join the queue waiting for the ticket booths at WAT, and specifically for Window 9. Considering they had only six windows (out of 14) open, and that by this time it was approaching 1645, the queue was at least ten minutes long, and then I had to wait for one of them specifically - which, predictably, became available to the person immediately in front of me in the queue, so I had to wait another couple of minutes. When Window 9 did finally speak to me, the guy there was also very reluctant to help, and blamed LUL for the problem - which, to be fair, I agreed with - and advised me that he could only give me a single to RDG, and then one valid only on SWT. Considering SWT run only two trains per hour to RDG against roughly 10 under FGW even before the slows are considered, and that they take 55 minutes longer than the FGW services, or 25 minutes longer than the slow FGW services, I was not happy and told him that this would leave me severely restricted and without a Travelcard - and in response he told me that if I do that again (whatever "that" was) he would not offer me a ticket, as he was "under no obligation to". Eventually, he gave me a slip from some kind of SWT book (which looked like a cheque book), and told me it would get me to RDG. I was still well short of what I should have had, but at least it was something, so I thanked him for it and left the Ticket Office - for the Customer Services Desk.
Back at the Customer Services Desk, and having lost more than 100 minutes of my day by this stage, I told them that I had a means to return to RDG - but outlined the problems I faced in returning. Rather than leaving at 2115 from PAD as planned, to be on this same train I was looking at leaving WAT at 1950, and I still had no Travelcard. They therefore sent me down to the LUL barrier again, where the staff there suddenly realised they had the ability to at least offer me a Travelcard to go with my RDG "single" - but were only willing to issue one for Zones 1 and 2. Which, from WAT, would only get me as far as Putney on SWT, and from PAD would not get me anywhere at all on FGW.
By this stage I had had enough so I just gave up. It was now 1713 so I had lost 125 minutes since I had first stepped off the Bakerloo line train downstairs, and I was thirsty and desperate to make my time in London with my friend worthwhile. So we resorted to the Starbucks that exists within the WAT forecourt area on Waterloo Road and sat down for a while.
Come 1940, I returned to the concourse and said goodbye to my friend, having seen our useful time together scythed from nearly seven hours to less than two-and-a-half. I boarded the 1950 to RDG and immediately sought the Guard, finding her on arrival at Clapham Junction (because only one of the two middle cabs on the 458 was accessible for some reason and I chose the wrong half of the train :roll. She invited me into the First Class compartment and told me to write down what had happened, so I took the opportunity to record my thoughts on my voice recorder whilst doing so, and when I was finished she said she would try to have the details forwarded to SWT at Overline house in Southampton, but that I would still need to contact them myself. To her credit, she did at least allow me to stay in the compartment right through to RDG - so imagine how I felt when that journey just happened to be the first time I had ever seen a Revenue Protection Inspector on SWT! (I chose this train rather than the 2020 for two reasons; one, I didn't wanted to risk any more delay, and two, by this stage I had become very hungry and knew that most outlets at RDG would be closed.)
Arriving at RDG at 2110 I sought something to eat and returned in time for the 2158 stopper to DID, calling at CHO among others. We arrived into DID on-time, so I made my way to Platform 1 for the 2231 HST to BTH - which then materialised on the same platform I had just arrived on. Why?
It soon transpired that there was a complete signal "blackout" (to quote the Train Manager) between DID and Swindon! So, after a few minutes of indecision there, we were sent back through CHO towards RDG, travelling on the little-used West Curve, and proceeded to BTH via Newbury and the diversionary chord just east of Westbury. This cost me yet another 48 minutes, and I finally returned to BTH at 0006 - and would end up returning to my University 62 minutes later than planned, owing to a slight late-running on the bus back. Again to the staff's credit however, I was given another free First Class upgrade - but this time, it was because a lady who had clearly had too much to drink had wanted to sit down and wanted me to sit with her!
In the end, I lost:
• 125 minutes at WAT
• 85 minutes' equivalent on SWT
• 48 minutes (62 minutes' equivalent) on and after FGW
Overall Delay: 173 minutes, plus additional 99 minutes' equivalent for a grand total of 272 minutes. Over four-and-a-half hours.
---------------
So, RailUK folk, I need some help. I don't know what to write in my letters (if I write this much they may well get ignored), and because I have several different issues I wish to be very careful with the tickets I have, especially considering the RDG Travelcard is not in my possession now. FGW theoretically will not be interested in giving me any form of compensation at all, given their delay was only 48 minutes which is accepted only on the former Thames Trains routes, but owing to all the trouble I have put up with I still intend to complain to them (especially considering my net loss on the full "PAD"-BTH journey was over two hours). But it is the problem at WAT, and the resulting substantial loss of time both before and after seeing my friend, that matters most. Both LUL and SWT were clearly trying to pass the buck onto the other, which simply delayed me further, and neither seemed to know what to do when put under the spotlight.
Not a happy bunny. Not in the slightest. And yes, I did copy-paste that.
Yesterday (Friday June 1st) I was due to meet a friend in London for seven hours. She was ill the morning so we almost called it off, but she said to press ahead anyway because neither of us knew when the next opportunity would be (she lives in Leeds). I wish she had called it off.
IN BRIEF:
After a problem with an LUL ticket barrier, I was subjected to cluelessness and haplessness by both LUL and SWT and left with a far less useful ticket combination than the one I had formerly had, and lost a substantial amount of time as a result (courtesy of both the new restrictions and their hopelessness). Meanwhile, signal problems in Swindon on the way back to Bath didn't exactly help matters either...
I don't know what to say in any letters I write (I will be writing to FGW, LUL, SWT and TfL), although I know I can draft a letter based on any advice you guys can offer me. Any suggestions, comments, or whatever, please let me know. You can rest assured that I am not in any trouble at all.
---------------
I left my University at 1150 as planned, and travelled to Bath Spa (BTH) in time for the 1243 to London Paddington (PAD). Travelling with First Great Western (FGW) and equipped with a three-way split ticket, which required stopping at Cholsey (CHO) and therefore changing at Didcot Parkway (DID) and Reading (RDG), I expected to arrive into PAD at approximately 1430. Unfortunately, my plan was damaged on arrival at PAD by a signal problem at King's Cross St Pancras which had crippled the Sub-Surface Lines, so rather than meeting my friend at Liverpool Street - and then only there and not PAD because she was delayed out of Wickford - as planned we rearranged for Waterloo, on the main forecourt area (WAT), where I expected to arrive at approximately 1510 (in practice it was 1508). I held the following ticket combination:
• Off-Peak Day Return, BTH-CHO (YP)
• Off-Peak Day Return, CHO-RDG (YP)
• Off-Peak Day Travelcard, RDG-0035* (YP)
0035 = London Zones 1-6 Travelcard
However, things went rather wrong upon reaching the London Underground (LUL) concourse. I put my Travelcard in the barrier - and out came a Weekly Travelcard issued at Surbiton that required a photocard! Something was obviously not right here! So, after about two minutes of panicking that I had dropped my ticket and picked up someone else's by mistake, I realised that it was a simple problem with the barrier, so I sought assistance from the staff, who let me through without trouble. From this point on though, it seemed as though nothing could go right.
After a visit to the LUL Station Office (which was a bit of a treat ), who claimed that because I had a ticket issued from a location outside of the Zones, there was nothing they could do, and that I had to speak to the South West Trains (SWT) staff upstairs. Although far from certain I believed that this was true, I went upstairs and headed over to the Customer Services Desk and spoke to a Supervisor, who told me that the Station Manager (or at least a manager of some kind anyway) was expected in about fifteen minutes, so I had to wait for his arrival.
When he finally did turn up, he did not know what to do. By this stage I had lost almost 30 minutes and had had no resolution - and neither was a resolution in sight. Eventually, he took me to the SWT Ticket Office, who - after what felt like an eternity - revealed to me through the manager that they could not do anything without some kind of form from the LUL office, so I was sent back downstairs again. Knowing my friend should have arrived at WAT by this time, (I later learned that she didn't know about the Waterloo & City so this was not the case), I waited for a few minutes to see if she would turn up soon or not. Finally, after about ten minutes of anxiety, I gave up waiting and returned to my existing problem.
Returning to the LUL barrier, the staff knew what had happened and told me to return to their Station Office. At this point however, my friend called to tell me she had arrived, so on staff advice I went to find her and then returned to their barrier once again; by this stage, I had lost roughly one hour. They directed me to the office again, where the staff member dealing with my problem was not only slow to help but also reluctant to help. Eventually, he did fill out some kind of ticket loss form (I'm not sure what it was exactly), which I then had to take up to the SWT office for them to sort out. LUL were clearly blaming SWT for the problem, saying that they should have simply issued me a replacement, and promised me that everything would be resolved soon and I would have a new Travelcard, complete with RDG return validity.
Needless to say, the Customer Services Desk there didn't know what to do either, so I had to wait on discussions in the Ticket Office - again. After this new consultation, I was told to join the queue waiting for the ticket booths at WAT, and specifically for Window 9. Considering they had only six windows (out of 14) open, and that by this time it was approaching 1645, the queue was at least ten minutes long, and then I had to wait for one of them specifically - which, predictably, became available to the person immediately in front of me in the queue, so I had to wait another couple of minutes. When Window 9 did finally speak to me, the guy there was also very reluctant to help, and blamed LUL for the problem - which, to be fair, I agreed with - and advised me that he could only give me a single to RDG, and then one valid only on SWT. Considering SWT run only two trains per hour to RDG against roughly 10 under FGW even before the slows are considered, and that they take 55 minutes longer than the FGW services, or 25 minutes longer than the slow FGW services, I was not happy and told him that this would leave me severely restricted and without a Travelcard - and in response he told me that if I do that again (whatever "that" was) he would not offer me a ticket, as he was "under no obligation to". Eventually, he gave me a slip from some kind of SWT book (which looked like a cheque book), and told me it would get me to RDG. I was still well short of what I should have had, but at least it was something, so I thanked him for it and left the Ticket Office - for the Customer Services Desk.
Back at the Customer Services Desk, and having lost more than 100 minutes of my day by this stage, I told them that I had a means to return to RDG - but outlined the problems I faced in returning. Rather than leaving at 2115 from PAD as planned, to be on this same train I was looking at leaving WAT at 1950, and I still had no Travelcard. They therefore sent me down to the LUL barrier again, where the staff there suddenly realised they had the ability to at least offer me a Travelcard to go with my RDG "single" - but were only willing to issue one for Zones 1 and 2. Which, from WAT, would only get me as far as Putney on SWT, and from PAD would not get me anywhere at all on FGW.
By this stage I had had enough so I just gave up. It was now 1713 so I had lost 125 minutes since I had first stepped off the Bakerloo line train downstairs, and I was thirsty and desperate to make my time in London with my friend worthwhile. So we resorted to the Starbucks that exists within the WAT forecourt area on Waterloo Road and sat down for a while.
Come 1940, I returned to the concourse and said goodbye to my friend, having seen our useful time together scythed from nearly seven hours to less than two-and-a-half. I boarded the 1950 to RDG and immediately sought the Guard, finding her on arrival at Clapham Junction (because only one of the two middle cabs on the 458 was accessible for some reason and I chose the wrong half of the train :roll. She invited me into the First Class compartment and told me to write down what had happened, so I took the opportunity to record my thoughts on my voice recorder whilst doing so, and when I was finished she said she would try to have the details forwarded to SWT at Overline house in Southampton, but that I would still need to contact them myself. To her credit, she did at least allow me to stay in the compartment right through to RDG - so imagine how I felt when that journey just happened to be the first time I had ever seen a Revenue Protection Inspector on SWT! (I chose this train rather than the 2020 for two reasons; one, I didn't wanted to risk any more delay, and two, by this stage I had become very hungry and knew that most outlets at RDG would be closed.)
Arriving at RDG at 2110 I sought something to eat and returned in time for the 2158 stopper to DID, calling at CHO among others. We arrived into DID on-time, so I made my way to Platform 1 for the 2231 HST to BTH - which then materialised on the same platform I had just arrived on. Why?
It soon transpired that there was a complete signal "blackout" (to quote the Train Manager) between DID and Swindon! So, after a few minutes of indecision there, we were sent back through CHO towards RDG, travelling on the little-used West Curve, and proceeded to BTH via Newbury and the diversionary chord just east of Westbury. This cost me yet another 48 minutes, and I finally returned to BTH at 0006 - and would end up returning to my University 62 minutes later than planned, owing to a slight late-running on the bus back. Again to the staff's credit however, I was given another free First Class upgrade - but this time, it was because a lady who had clearly had too much to drink had wanted to sit down and wanted me to sit with her!
In the end, I lost:
• 125 minutes at WAT
• 85 minutes' equivalent on SWT
• 48 minutes (62 minutes' equivalent) on and after FGW
Overall Delay: 173 minutes, plus additional 99 minutes' equivalent for a grand total of 272 minutes. Over four-and-a-half hours.
---------------
So, RailUK folk, I need some help. I don't know what to write in my letters (if I write this much they may well get ignored), and because I have several different issues I wish to be very careful with the tickets I have, especially considering the RDG Travelcard is not in my possession now. FGW theoretically will not be interested in giving me any form of compensation at all, given their delay was only 48 minutes which is accepted only on the former Thames Trains routes, but owing to all the trouble I have put up with I still intend to complain to them (especially considering my net loss on the full "PAD"-BTH journey was over two hours). But it is the problem at WAT, and the resulting substantial loss of time both before and after seeing my friend, that matters most. Both LUL and SWT were clearly trying to pass the buck onto the other, which simply delayed me further, and neither seemed to know what to do when put under the spotlight.
Not a happy bunny. Not in the slightest. And yes, I did copy-paste that.
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