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Southern & Gatwick Express (again)

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dvboy

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For those who haven't been keeping up on the SN/GX threads... back in January I approached gateline staff at Victoria and asked if a Southern Only Off Peak Day Return was good for the Gatwick Express, and was sold a "Southern Std Su" upgrade ticket, pictured on the right here:
http://www.railforums.co.uk/attachment.php?attachmentid=10104&d=1328977770

Mid-February I wrote to Southern requesting a refund having since learned that Southern and Gatwick Express are not seperate companies, and therefore the Southern Only ticket should have been allowed because it is a breack of NRCoC 10 to restrict a ticket by anything other than company or route.

Yesterday I received a letter from Southern stating that a member of the Refunds team will contact me by telephone to obtain my card details in order to process the refund.
 
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hairyhandedfool

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It must be said that CR departments often break (or at the very least bend) the rules to give "good customer service", I wouldn't take this as concrete evidence of anything.
 

wintonian

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It must be said that CR departments often break (or at the very least bend) the rules to give "good customer service", I wouldn't take this as concrete evidence of anything.

Agreed, unless they have admitted that the original ticket was valid in writing pen & ink style.
 

ralphchadkirk

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It must be said that CR departments often break (or at the very least bend) the rules to give "good customer service", I wouldn't take this as concrete evidence of anything.

Quite. It does not set any kind of precedent.


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dvboy

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Unless perhaps they've actually admitted to being in the wrong in the letter?

I suspect it probably doesn't.

They haven't, and they haven't phoned yet either (although I'm not sure I gave them my number so I think they will write again).
 

island

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What is the cheapest ticket to travel one-way, today, from Gatwick Airport to Lee (London)? How about the fastest journey?

(In case you're a "helper" at the TVMs at Gatwick Airport station, a hint: it definitely isn't getting the Gatwick Express to Victoria, LU Oyster to London Bridge, and Oyster on Southeastern from there.)
 

SickyNicky

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The cheapest and fastest is probably an FCC to London Bridge and change there. You would have to touch in at East Croydon (are there platform validators there?) or buy a paper ticket, which is rather more expensive.

GATWICK AIRPORT to CROYDON STATIONS
ANYTIME DAY S
£5.00
Route: FCC ONLY

CROYDON STATIONS to LEE (LONDON)
OYSTER OFF-PEAK
£2.80

If the Gatwick "helpers" are suggesting via GX, I would be tempted to complain.
 

island

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No platform validators at East Croydon, so you have to get off and get on the next train, or use a paper ticket (£5.30).

Your way is even cheaper than the one I ended up using, which was a Gatwick Airport to London Zones 1-6 ODT at £12.50, although it turned out we needed to make more journeys later so it turned out fine in the end.
 

Paul Kelly

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Cheaper than going via London Bridge is to change at East Croydon onto a stopping service as far as New Cross Gate, then walk to New Cross to pick up a train to Lee. That would be £2.10 off-peak on Oyster, saving a further 70p.
 

yorkie

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I wouldn't expect these "helpers" to suggest any split tickets at all, when a through fare is available.

It may be worth making some enquiries to establish whether they are required to act impartially, whether they believe they were acting impartially (!), and if they are allowed to not be impartial then to what extent are they allowed to be biased in the favour of one particular TOC?

Clearly the FCC only ODT at £12.50 is the cheapest ticket, so this should be offered.

I would advise writing to ATOC, Southern, FCC and Passenger Focus about this issue.

In particular I would expect FCC to be interested, as a member of railway staff attempted to get a customer to travel by a slower, and more expensive combination of tickets, than a through ticket with a straightforward change at London Bridge.

Madness. I can't believe Southern (masquerading as a now-defunct TOC) are acting in this way and still getting away with it!
 

londonbridge

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No platform validators at East Croydon, so you have to get off and get on the next train, or use a paper ticket (£5.30).

Yep,no validators and there wouldn't be time to run to the gateline to swipe and back (although if you wanted to try it you'd need to be in the last carriage in order to stop closest to the ramp).
 

Wolfie

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Cheaper than going via London Bridge is to change at East Croydon onto a stopping service as far as New Cross Gate, then walk to New Cross to pick up a train to Lee. That would be £2.10 off-peak on Oyster, saving a further 70p.

May be a silly question, and I know it involves several changes - but if you had any volume of luggage might still be easier - but could you not change at New Cross Gate, Surrey Quays and New Cross as necessary? Cost I guess would be the same.
 

Paul Kelly

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You could on a paper ticket routed "NOT VIA LONDON". I seem to remember an issue about there being no pink oyster validators at Surrey Quays, so the Oyster system assumed you had gone via London Bridge if you didn't touch out/in at New Cross Gate/New Cross. Don't know if this is still current.
 

dvboy

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Back to my original post and still nothing from Southern. I may write in reply to ask if they have agreed a refund and how they propose doing this.
 

MikeWh

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Cheaper than going via London Bridge is to change at East Croydon onto a stopping service as far as New Cross Gate, then walk to New Cross to pick up a train to Lee. That would be £2.10 off-peak on Oyster, saving a further 70p.

May be a silly question, and I know it involves several changes - but if you had any volume of luggage might still be easier - but could you not change at New Cross Gate, Surrey Quays and New Cross as necessary? Cost I guess would be the same.

You could on a paper ticket routed "NOT VIA LONDON". I seem to remember an issue about there being no pink oyster validators at Surrey Quays, so the Oyster system assumed you had gone via London Bridge if you didn't touch out/in at New Cross Gate/New Cross. Don't know if this is still current.

Yes, the problem still exists at Surrey Quays. However, if you go one stop further to Canada Water and touch the pink validator then it will work.
 

island

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Very interestingly, the TVM transaction has just posted to my online banking with merchant name "GATWICK EXPRESS, CRAWLEY"!
 

MarkyMarkD

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... but as I'm sure you (particularly) know, the name shown on bank statements for card transactions don't have to reflect the merchant's legal name.

"Subway" is really called "Doctors Associates" or something strange like that, but bank statements show "Subway".
 

island

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That is true, but most other TOCs I've used have the legal name (London and Southeastern Railway Ltd., West Coast Trains Ltd., and so on).
 
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