Pangbourne to Dorking Deepdene & "off peak" tickets ?

[Tw99]

I was trying to price a journey from Pangbourne to Dorking Deepdene on 8 May at around 19:00, and a return journey from Gatwick on Friday 12th mid-afternoon.

It seems like the cheapest way is a £26.30 off peak return to Deepdene plus £6.10 Gatwick to Deepdene single.

I had also looked at single fares, and was puzzled because there doesn't seem to be any "off peak single" availability shown on GWR's booking site from about 17:30 to 20:00. However, the only restrictions shown on off peak singles that are available outside this window is P5, which doesn't seem to restrict anything in the evening peak.

Am I missing something obvious here ?

 

[yorkie]

GWR's website will sell me an Off Peak Day Single (CDS) from Gatwick to Dorking Deepdale priced at £6.10 at those times for that date.

 

[Tw99]

Sorry, I wasn't clear enough. I just wondered why it doesn't give an option for a £15.60 off peak single for the possible journey from Pangbourne to Deepdene starting at 19:17 on Monday, only a more expensive single. It's a bit of a moot point as the return will be cheaper for the overall journey, but I was curious.

 

[yorkie]

OK. You are asking about the validity of a Pangbourne to Dorking Stations Off Peak Day Single (CDS) routed via Guildford.

The restrictions visible to the public are "Not valid on trains timed to depart after 04:29 and before 07:15" (P5)

However journey planners / booking sites are forced to additionally apply secret, hidden restrictions, which prohibit departures from Reading within these times:

• 1628–1629
• 1633–1634
• 1642–1643
• 1659–1700
• 1704–1705
• 1712–1713
• 1721–1722
• 1727–1728
• 1732–1733
• 1743–1744
• 1751–1752
• 1757–1758
• 1804–1805
• 1812–1813
• 1817–1818
• 1823–1824
• 1828–1829
• 1833–1834
• 1843–1844
• 1852–1853
• 1857–1858
• 1902–1903
• 1912–1913
• 1919–1920
• 1924–1925
• 1929–1930
• 1934–1935
• 1942–1943

These are not intended restrictions and are not enforceable by railway staff and do not in any way invalidate the ticket. They are just for booking engines only.

For example the 1804 from Reading is affected by the 1804–1805 block. If it departed at 1803 it would be fine.

You may wish to contact the ORR informing them of a consumer breach. I know people will say this is too heavy handed but we've caught GWR red-handed doing this sort of breach many mutes recently. You could remind the ORR they are required to investigate any such potential breach and you could ask what they are doing about it.

And of course you could contact GWR themselves, but they've done this before and they'll do it again, so even if they fix it, it's unlikely to be a permanent fix.

You could also contact Transport Focus, but they're clueless and useless (especially if the customer is in the right)

The ticket is valid and a ticket office or ticket vending machine should sell it; you're just being overcharged by the GWR website.

GWR are breaching their franchise terms and consumer legislation, but they don't care as they know there is no effective regulator or watchdog to take action against them.

 

[FenMan]

This is the old problem of evening restrictions from Reading being coded in a way that they can inadvertently (and incorrectly) capture departures on the North Downs Line.

The same issue does not appear for off peak singles from Pangbourne to Blackwater, Farnborough North etc as these tickets have the W3 restriction.

Hopefully GWR would act on a simple request to change the restriction so this nonsense can be avoided.

 

[Tw99]

Thanks for the replies.

I'll trying asking GWR and see what they say, and will report back if I get anything. I'm not a regular in the this part of the forum, so this issue was news to me...

 

[Tw99]

This is what I sent to their complaints email address:

I recently looked into the price for a journey from Pangbourne to Dorking Deepdene, on a weekday at around 7pm. Your booking website only shows tickets priced at £22.30 at that time, when an off peak day single fare at £15.60 should be valid (that off peak single has restriction P5 which is described here: http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/ticket_types/restrictions/p5 and does not restrict travel in the evening peak period) .

Below is an example display from your website. Does GWR intend to address this anomaly that is likely to cause customers to overpay for their tickets ?

Regards,
tw99

Their not very helpful response:


Thank you for contacting us

Thank you for email regarding the ticket prices on our website.

Regarding tickets online

The prices of tickets online can change very often and they may not always be the same price offered by stations and other train booking websites. I do apologise for an inconvenience caused.

Thanks again for your email

Yours Sincerely

(removed)
Customer Support Advisor

 

[yorkie]

Most train companies don't employ knowledgeable staff at customer relations department, as most people are easily fobbed off, and there is no effective regulator or ombudsman to do anything.

Therefore, their response is of no surprise.

GWR are overcharging people and breaking consumer law.