SWT - Unable to collect prepaid tickets due to technical problem

[DavidToad]

A bit of a rant really....

I booked some return tickets Friday evening, intending to collect them from the ticket machine on Saturday morning. These involved railcards, children, the London Underground and other factors and was therefore easier to sort out from a PC rather than at the ticket machine - and I have done this numerous times before without any problems.

Arrived Saturday morning at the station in good time, and found that I was unable to collect my prepaid tickets - the button to press to "collect advance tickets" did not work on any of the three ticket machines at the station.

There were no members of staff around, and the ticket office was closed. However the ticket machine was able to accept new orders.

Therefore to avoid the risk of a penalty fare - travelling without tickets and the like, I bought two more tickets, with the assumption that as technical issues prevented me from collecting the pre-ordered tickets, then these would be either not charged or refunded.

Now South West Trains have told me its "tough", not their problem and will not offer any kind of refund, even though there was no way I could collect the tickets - and I certainly do not want to run the risk of a prosecution.

Rant over.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Now South West Trains have told me its "tough", not their problem and will not offer any kind of refund, even though there was no way I could collect the tickets - and I certainly do not want to run the risk of a prosecution.

If you did travel you *might* have risked a PF, but I suspect probably not. You wouldn't, I would think, have been prosecuted as a Court would have thrown the case out. "You are telling me that this gentleman had paid for his tickets, you were unable to deliver them, and now you are proposing to prosecute him for ticketless travel? Case dismissed.", I bet.

Neil

 

[bb21]

Which station was it? Did you seek any help from staff before buying new tickets? Was the ticket office open?

 

[Merseysider]

Completely out of order that SWT are not refunding the additional tickets you had to buy on the day. Write to Passenger Focus - they are sometimes very good at sorting out simple things like this.

 

[bb21]

Completely out of order that SWT are not refunding the additional tickets you had to buy on the day. Write to Passenger Focus - they are sometimes very good at sorting out simple things like this.

A bit too quick to jump to this conclusion without any further details of the case being supplied I think.

 

[DavidToad]

Many thanks for the replies.

It was Fleet in Hampshire - its only a small station. The ticket office was shut, and there were no staff around except those in the shop, who I believe are not SWT employees.

I did think about getting on the train and discussing it with the guard or arguing it out with the barrier staff at Waterloo, but SWT could have equally argued that I had no intention of collecting the tickets and getting a refund, or at least charged me for single tickets without the railcard and discount - I certainly cannot risk a prosecution for fare evasion even if it is unlikely as a criminal record will mean I loose my job!

I have emailed customer relations now at SWT now and await their response.

 

[Bayum]

Which station was it? Did you seek any help from staff before buying new tickets? Was the ticket office open?

A bit too quick to jump to this conclusion without any further details of the case being supplied I think.


Information that you requested (except the station) is already given...

 

[bb21]

A bit too quick to jump to this conclusion without any further details of the case being supplied I think.


Information that you requested (except the station) is already given...

Don't you think that was a quite important piece of information?

Yes, I added the other ones after posting the first question, evidently forgetting what I already read.

Edit:

From experience, what the OP reported is definitely not SWT's official stance in these types of situations. This has been confirmed by both my own experience and that of some other forum members.

 

[DavidToad]

Many thanks again.

I note if I go to "My Account" on the SWT website, I can apply for a refund, however I will have to pay a £10 admin fee, which I still think is a bit out of order as the problem appeared to be of their origin, not mine! However it's better than nothing I suppose. Curious as to why the person I spoke to on the phone did not mention this...

Does anyone know if it is common to be unable to use a ticket machine to collect pre-ordered tickets, but still be able to buy tickets as normal?

 

[bb21]

Ticket collection requires connection to a separate database so if that was not possible, the machines would only be able to sell tickets but not offer collection facilities.

 

[SansPareil]

Fleet.

 

[bb21]

Is that an answer on behalf of the OP?

 

[SansPareil]

Yup, he says above it was Fleet in Hampshire...

 

[bb21]

Yes, apologies. A bit of a long day.

The normal course of action is to contact the ticket seller if the tickets could not be collected, not the station operator. If the tickets were not bought from the SWT website, then it would be best contacting the seller instead.

If the tickets were bought from the SWT website, I suggest writing to them with the tickets you had to purchase on the day (keeping a photocopy in case they accidentally "lose" your post). Unfortunately I cannot find a Freepost address for that. (Contact details here.) If you are unwilling to spend money on postage then you can email them with a picture of the tickets. They may require the actual tickets to be posted in but a picture should normally be sufficient. People at call centres are not very well trained in my experience and do not always provide good responses especially if a decision had to be made on the spot and it is not a familiar problem they have encountered before.

I expect a refund for the new tickets you had to buy once the matter has been processed and the cause of the inability to collect your prebooked tickets established. An administration fee should not be charged so don't use that refund link from the website.

If you do not get a satisfactory response to your email/post, come back and we can take it from there.

 

[Starmill]

This tallies with my previous experience. I once booked a ticket from Red Spotted Hanky (back when they were free!) for collection from a station with a weekdays only ticket office plus a TVM. I arrived there to start my journey but the machine was out of order. I called RSH to ask what was to be done (Northern, whose machine it was, did not have their phone lines open at that time on a Saturday morning), they said buy a new ticket and send it to us, we will give you a refund. They did so by bank transfer. All very odd, I wonder if they ever got any money back from Northern.

 

[Merseysider]

A bit too quick to jump to this conclusion without any further details of the case being supplied I think.

I suppose that would depend on how you interpret this paragraph

Now South West Trains have told me its "tough", not their problem and will not offer any kind of refund, even though there was no way I could collect the tickets - and I certainly do not want to run the risk of a prosecution.

If it were me and I'd already written in only to be refused, I wouldn't spend any more time talking to the TOC directly unless I had PF on the case too.

But I suppose the appropriateness of a contacting PF would depend on what tone the letter was written in and who exactly it was addressed to, etc.

 

[455driver]

A bit too quick to jump to this conclusion without any further details of the case being supplied I think.

But isnt that what always happens on here!

Did the OP try using the help point?

 

[Clip]

I suppose that would depend on how you interpret this paragraph

If it were me and I'd already written in only to be refused, I wouldn't spend any more time talking to the TOC directly unless I had PF on the case too.

But I suppose the appropriateness of a contacting PF would depend on what tone the letter was written in and who exactly it was addressed to, etc.

Well again you're jumping to conclusions because he said he spoke to them and was only this morning when he emailed them so they spoke on the phone - to which they got bad advice from the people on the phone.


@455 - that was my first thought about using the help point but I dont know if fleet has them - you would know this.

 

[Merseysider]

Well again you're jumping to conclusions because he said he spoke to them and was only this morning when he emailed them so they spoke on the phone - to which they got bad advice from the people on the phone.


@455 - that was my first thought about using the help point but I dont know if fleet has them - you would know this.

Okay, maybe I am. But we're all guilty of it at some point.

Anyway, OP, I think it would help clarify matters if you come back to us after speaking to them again.

 

[455driver]

@455 - that was my first thought about using the help point but I dont know if fleet has them - you would know this.

Havent a clue, I never went that way, I had to turn left at Pirbright jn to go to Aldershot and Alton!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Okay, maybe I am. But we're all guilty of it at some point.

Some more than others!
Take a look back through your posts and see how often you do it!

 

[Merseysider]

Some more than others!
Take a look back through your posts and see how often you do it!

Comments taken on board!

 

[Clip]

Havent a clue, I never went that way, I had to turn left at Pirbright jn to go to Aldershot and Alton!

Well thats the last time I ask you for advice then

But yeah Passenger focus should be used if you are getting nowhere with a TOC not after a first contact.

 

[455driver]

Well thats the last time I ask you for advice then

If I had known that was all it would take I would have typed it years ago!

 

[Merseysider]

But yeah Passenger focus should be used if you are getting nowhere with a TOC not after a first contact.

Can't argue with that.

Suppose it would be better for the OP to try and wrangle this one out a bit more before resorting to PF

 

[Tetchytyke]

Did the OP try using the help point?

The Help Point just puts you through to National Rail Enquiries doesn't it? Last time I had to use one- at Aylesbury- it did, and the bloke on the other end couldn't even work out where Aylesbury was.

 

[maniacmartin]

Last time I used one the person on the other side didn't have sufficient knowledge of English to understand my question

 

[andrewkeith5]

Last time I used one the person on the other side didn't have sufficient knowledge of English to understand my question

Sounds like National Rail Enquiries!

 

[Bletchleyite]

Sounds like National Rail Enquiries!

It's been hopeless since the day it was founded.

Neil

 

[Tetchytyke]

That's a bit harsh, it was alright when the call centre was in Newcastle.

Now it's in India it's about as much use as a chocolate teapot, mind.

 

[andrewkeith5]

That's a bit harsh, it was alright when the call centre was in Newcastle.

Now it's in India it's about as much use as a chocolate teapot, mind.

Even a chocolate teapot is useful for a short while... a perforated teapot on the other hand...