Senior railcard renewal, asking for photo

[trainophile]

I'm on the secure.railcard.co.uk page about to renew my senior railcard, but it is asking me to upload a photo. My current senior railcard doesn't have a photo, so is this a new thing or is it an error with the system?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Think it's required for a digital Senior Railcard. See link...

Where to buy - Senior Railcard

Buying a Senior Railcard Online
You can save yourself time by buying your Senior Railcard online. The only things you’ll need are:

A valid debit or credit card

Proof of eligibility (UK Driving Licence, Passport, National Identity card)

A passport style photo (for digital Railcard only).

If buying for someone else - the Railcard holder's details, including their email address

You can purchase a plastic or digital Railcard online. Plastic Railcards will be sent in the post; digital Railcards are available more quickly and they can be stored on up to two devices.

 

[trainophile]

I'm trying to buy a plastic one. Will start again and see what happens. Thanks for quick reply.

 

[306024]

I had the same problem last November trying to renew a plastic one for a relative. Found a phone number to call and they agreed a photo wasn’t necessary. It was reported as a software fault, and I was able to purchase a new railcard over the phone which arrived a week later.

 

[trainophile]

Ah, so it's not just me then. Seems they still haven't fixed it. I have used their "contact us" form. Problem is, on the Renew option it starts it from the expiry of your current one, so if they just issue a fresh one I will lose out on nearly a month.

Do you think if I upload any old photo it would let me proceed, given the photo isn't needed anyway?

Right well I managed to dredge up a suitable photo from my cloud storage, and it has gone through. However I'm now being offered a £16.87 cash back credit on my payment card. The page heading is Complete Savings, "A preferred partner of Railcard". Is this genuine or a scam?

Right, have Googled and it looks like one of those things you have to pay into each month, so I'll give it a wide berth.

 

[096igb]

I renewed my Senior Railcard recently as well and received the same offer. The offer looks suss. Personally, I do not think that it is the type of offer that should be promoted by a government authority. It appears to be misleading at a minimum particularly for seniors who may expect better from the government and can't read the fine print.

 

[Alfonso]

Ah, so it's not just me then. Seems they still haven't fixed it. I have used their "contact us" form. Problem is, on the Renew option it starts it from the expiry of your current one, so if they just issue a fresh one I will lose out on nearly a month.

Do you think if I upload any old photo it would let me proceed, given the photo isn't needed anyway?

Right well I managed to dredge up a suitable photo from my cloud storage, and it has gone through. However I'm now being offered a £16.87 cash back credit on my payment card. The page heading is Complete Savings, "A preferred partner of Railcard". Is this genuine or a scam?

Right, have Googled and it looks like one of those things you have to pay into each month, so I'll give it a wide berth.

Don't touch the cashback offer. It's not exactly a scam but you're unlikely to make savings and very likely to end up paying a monthly charge for a service you don't use. It's not the same as topcashback or Quidco or any of the sites offering air miles, nectar points etc.

 

[Envoy]

If you are a Tesco Clubcard customer - you can trade in £10 worth of Clubcard Vouchers for your Railcard and save £20.

 

[Gerald Fiennes]

Don't touch the cashback offer. It's not exactly a scam but you're unlikely to make savings and very likely to end up paying a monthly charge for a service you don't use. It's not the same as topcashback or Quidco or any of the sites offering air miles, nectar points etc.

Agree with this. It is very frustrating that a number of TOCs, and now ATOC, have succumbed to this highly dubious marketing initiative. They should make it 100% clear that they are not endorsing the initiative and that is, in effect paid-for advertising that they get a commission from if you accept the deal. If ORR had any wit, they would remind TOCs that ORR could take action under consumer legislation. But, worry not, they won't!

 

[FenMan]

I'm trying to buy a plastic one. Will start again and see what happens. Thanks for quick reply.

I renewed yesterday, faffed about uploading a photo, and requested a plastic card. We'll see if a photocard turns up!

 

[trainophile]

i received two emails, one thanking me for setting up my account, and the other confirming that my railcard would be posted to me on the next working day.

I am now concerned that it thinks I'm a new customer, and will issue it effective from this week, whereas my current one doesn't expire until 6th Feb. I did click on "Renew" but with all the hassle I may have inadvertently opened a new account. Oh well, just have to suck it up if I lose out on a month.

 

[gray1404]

I had this happen to me and I phoned the helpline. They asked me to cut in half the new railcard and email a picture of it. I don't phone them back once I had done this and they sent out a new Railcard with the correct date on. Admittedly when I phoned back I did get through to the same person again.

 

[Class800]

I had this happen to me and I phoned the helpline. They asked me to cut in half the new railcard and email a picture of it. I don't phone them back once I had done this and they sent out a new Railcard with the correct date on. Admittedly when I phoned back I did get through to the same person again.

And me - so it seems a standard procedure

 

[gray1404]

When it happened to me they told me it was a software fault. I really hope this has been fixed by now.

 

[Class800]

When it happened to me they told me it was a software fault. I really hope this has been fixed by now.

Don't think so as mine was recent - it led to 2 duplicate cards being issued and double charged - one on renewal date and one with immediate effect. They refunded one when cut up - but it was a bit of a pain

 

[erk]

I have recently renewed my plastic senior railcard. I was asked for a photo, and provided one. The card arrived this week, with no photo, and valid for 12 months from the expiry of the old one.

So all good, except it's a mystery why they asked for a photo and what they're going to do with it.

 

[trainophile]

Mine arrived today, dated from expiry of my current one so all good. Yes the photo thing is a nonsense, I might just as well send a pic of my cat (if I still had one!) for all the difference it seems to make.

 

[robbeech]

So the “software issue / fault” has been going on at least 2 months. Lets hope they sort it at some point.

 

[trainophile]

So the “software issue / fault” has been going on at least 2 months. Lets hope they sort it at some point.

Probably "because Covid" .

 

[transportphoto]

So the “software issue / fault” has been going on at least 2 months. Lets hope they sort it at some point.

There is a possible argument for a breach of data protection regulations for collecting personal data for which they’ve no need to process. This is a wildcard idea as I’m not particularly au fait with UK GDPR! Thoughts please?

 

[eoff]

There is a possible argument for a breach of data protection regulations for collecting personal data for which they’ve no need to process. This is a wildcard idea as I’m not particularly au fait with UK GDPR! Thoughts please?

Suspect this is a minefield. Using a photograph for the purpose of identification would fall under GDPR, obtaining a photograph and not using it for that purpose - who knows. In any case contacting the relevant Data Controller to raise a concern might get a faster response than expecting the 'bug' to be fixed otherwise.

 

[infobleep]

There is a possible argument for a breach of data protection regulations for collecting personal data for which they’ve no need to process. This is a wildcard idea as I’m not particularly au fait with UK GDPR! Thoughts please?

I think you are right. One could make a subject access request and ask what they have done with the photo. Might even be able to ask them to delete it, given the card doesn't require it.

 

[AY1975]

If you are a Tesco Clubcard customer - you can trade in £10 worth of Clubcard Vouchers for your Railcard and save £20.

Does this only apply to Senior Railcards or other types of Railcard too? Is this offer temporary or permanent? Do you have a link for this offer?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Does this only apply to Senior Railcards or other types of Railcard too? Is this offer temporary or permanent? Do you have a link for this offer?

This should help... (Link to Tesco website)...

https://secure.tesco.com/clubcard/vouchers/1-year-senior-railcard/UK-009982.prd

Offer has been available for some time now.

Other transport-themed offers are available...

https://secure.tesco.com/clubcard/browse/travel/transport/4294967286%7c4294967264.cat

 

[HSP 2]

As the OP is buying the rail card on line I do hope that they are getting the three year card at £70 not the one year card at £30.

 

[trainophile]

As the OP is buying the rail card on line I do hope that they are getting the three year card at £70 not the one year card at £30.

Oh yes, my third one. Oops giving my age away!

 

[FenMan]

I renewed yesterday, faffed about uploading a photo, and requested a plastic card. We'll see if a photocard turns up!

The new card turned up. No photo on it but I got 3 days extra validity, so meh, whatever.

They urgently need to sort out their IT though. Going through the renewal process was very painful, with the website claiming I'd already placed an order when I hadn't*. It was only when I cleared the previous order (that hadn't been placed) that I managed to get through the process.

Goodness knows how many visitors to the site give up in frustration and the railway loses. Stack up that lost income against the cost of fixing the website guys!

*I was using Firefox on MacOS , so not a popular combination, but it should have been tested before releasing the code.

 

[danm14]

Right well I managed to dredge up a suitable photo from my cloud storage, and it has gone through. However I'm now being offered a £16.87 cash back credit on my payment card. The page heading is Complete Savings, "A preferred partner of Railcard". Is this genuine or a scam?

It's effectively a legal scam. It's a £15/month membership entitling you to claim £15/month cashback - their business model is that you forget to cancel after the one month free trial and don't claim the cashback. It's a business that is as unethical as legally permissible.

However, by abusing their free trial, you can play them at their own game and make around £45 out of them if you are very disciplined and join mid-way through a calendar month. I effectively got a printer out of them for less than £1.

You get a one month free trial, during which you can receive the £16.87 cashback as well as £15 further cashback in each of the two calendar months.

To receive the £16.87 cashback, you submit the receipt from the Railcard purchase. To receive the two lots of £15 cashback, you must make a further purchase of any value from one of their participating retailers (i.e. the cheapest item in Argos) in each of the two calendar months, and submit the receipts. You then cancel your free trial after submitting the second receipt.

 

[Blinkbonny]

As the OP is buying the rail card on line I do hope that they are getting the three year card at £70 not the one year card at £30.

There comes a point however where that turns into a bad investment!

I always remember my old dad saying "What do I want with a three-pack of underpants at my time of life?"

 

[davews]

Renewed mine in August, no photo required nonsense then so clearly new. And in my case my fourth three yearer, wonder how many more I can achieve before I quit it.