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Northern Railway Arriva 'Scrooge you' to customer

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transmanche

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This is itself a gesture of goodwill. Retailers are not obliged to honour prices on shelf-edge labels.
Contractually, you are correct.

However, potentially the retailer may be committing a criminal offence under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. If, for example, they had intentionally displayed an incorrect price (what the regulations call 'bait advertising') or carried on displaying the incorrect price after the mistake being discovered. That's why most reputable retailers will honour the price shown on an incorrect price ticket. (Although probably not when a £1,000 product is priced at £10!)
 
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DaveB10780

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I have a similar type of issue where Northern are refusing to refund extra money paid for a ticket bought at a TVM. The journey is Furness Vale to Manchester Piccadilly which is always off peak both ways after 0859. When some of my family travelled at about 1100 the TVM offered a full fare anytime ticket despite there being zero journeys where this was necessary. The people buying the ticket were worried about the rules and clicked the more expensive option - thinking the company must be correct instead of my advice. My feeling is that the TVM is acting instead of a human, who would sell the correct ticket, and should not fleece the customer. This is theft. We are in round 3 of emails at the moment.
 

AlterEgo

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This is over one pound? Honestly. I would complain to Northern, but I don't think you've come across well in your article.
 

trebor79

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I have a similar type of issue where Northern are refusing to refund extra money paid for a ticket bought at a TVM. The journey is Furness Vale to Manchester Piccadilly which is always off peak both ways after 0859. When some of my family travelled at about 1100 the TVM offered a full fare anytime ticket despite there being zero journeys where this was necessary. The people buying the ticket were worried about the rules and clicked the more expensive option - thinking the company must be correct instead of my advice. My feeling is that the TVM is acting instead of a human, who would sell the correct ticket, and should not fleece the customer. This is theft. We are in round 3 of emails at the moment.
It's not theft. The machine charged the price displayed for the ticket selected.
There's all sorts of good reasons to offer more expensive tickets even if they aren't needed for immediate travel. For example, I'll frequently buy tickets for later if I'm passing the station as it saves me time when getting my train.
If you touch the info on each ticket, it will tell you when it is and isn't valid.

Theft. Pathetic. Get over yourself.
 

DaveB10780

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It's not theft. The machine charged the price displayed for the ticket selected.
There's all sorts of good reasons to offer more expensive tickets even if they aren't needed for immediate travel. For example, I'll frequently buy tickets for later if I'm passing the station as it saves me time when getting my train.
If you touch the info on each ticket, it will tell you when it is and isn't valid.

Theft. Pathetic. Get over yourself.
Well that is one opinion. However consider this, after 0900 on a weekday ONLY off peak tickets are required for the specific journey to and from Manchester not matter what time of the return. Hence the machine should not offer a full price ticket which is NEVER required. This is doing something neither a ticket office nor guard would do (unless they made an error). If there were options I would agree with you however for FNV-MCR there are not, hence money should be refunded.
 

Bletchleyite

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It's not theft. The machine charged the price displayed for the ticket selected.
There's all sorts of good reasons to offer more expensive tickets even if they aren't needed for immediate travel. For example, I'll frequently buy tickets for later if I'm passing the station as it saves me time when getting my train.
If you touch the info on each ticket, it will tell you when it is and isn't valid.

Theft. Pathetic. Get over yourself.

It's not theft, but it is poor design that the Scheidt & Bachmann standard interface (same I think on the Northern machines) show popular tickets instead of the more sensible option of popular destinations, so it's quite possible an Anytime might come up on the front screen and be bought inadvertently at an off-peak time.

Given this, it would be good service for a TOC to give a discretionary refund of the difference.
 

MarkLynch

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4 Dec 2019
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Hi,

I wanted an apology and the gesture, to say, 'Yes, we (Northern Railway) were in the wrong, and as a sign of good faith (and we want to keep your custom for the future) we would like to give you a refund of £7.20 for that one days' travel - we got it wrong!'.

The stress and anxiety I went through, was the 25 mins of being told by two guys, at Lime Street Station, that I was in the wrong, no matter how simply I argued the point to them, they 'told me and my partner' we were wrong? Oh, and by the way, has anyone been to Lime Street Station recently, where 6 guys wait by the ticket office on the platform for anyone who has not paid - I'm really not kidding on this point - can anyone confirm or back me up on this? Six guys in luminous jackets, even other members of staff don't like them (I was later told).

I am not so anxious or stressed about it, that I need a counsellor or psychotherapist!... yet!!
This is a joke for some of the guys on here who tried to cast aspersions on my character - who don't know me - do some people call this trolling nowadays? I don't know?

And no, I have not accepted any payment for the story. If anyone is interested in picking it up, it would be nice if any money go to a charity. Maybe a charity for rail passengers!!

You get all sorts of people on here don't you? Some pick up the spelling and punctuation - really? and others just want to pull people down.

I don't know how much of this will get through the admins, but it would be nice if they could let it go through, so that some people can try in be more constructive and nice to each other instead of sometimes being the opposite to each other, on this forum.

Anyway, maybe this story can begin to be closed down now. Thanks everyone. Especially the guys who were constructive in their suggestions. Cheers.
 
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