TVM out of service mid-print

[roversfan2001]

I went to pick up some tickets for travel tomorrow and the machine only printed the collection receipt then went out of service.

What do I do? Will the tickets be marked as collected?

 

[Starmill]

It depends. Hopefully they'll be marked as failed. I would advise calling the websales of wherever you booked them for advice. Is there a booking office at your origin and will it be open?

 

[roversfan2001]

I tried tweeting Northern but they ignored me and went offline til 9am tomorrow. There's a booking office and barring any staff shortages it should be open.

One possible issue at play is that it's a rather ridiculous loophole.

 

[Starmill]

I would just try to get it collected at the booking office.

 

[roversfan2001]

That's my plan currently. If they say it's marked as collected I'll have to rely on the booking confirmation for proof of reservations showing the route.

 

[Starmill]

Hm, if they do say that you might end up with problems travelling without the tickets though, this is why I reccomended calling the websales of wherever you bought them.

 

[Quakkerillo]

You could also try to tweet to National Rail to see what they say you should do in such circumstances?

 

[roversfan2001]

Hm, if they do say that you might end up with problems travelling without the tickets though, this is why I reccomended calling the websales of wherever you bought them.

I would buy another ticket but use the confirmation as evidence of validity. Not a perfect solution but better than nothing I guess.

 

[DelW]

I had exactly this problem a couple of weeks ago, though fortunately I was collecting a few days before travelling (I don't trust TOD enough to collect on the day). The tickets were shown on the system as having been issued, although nothing had come out of the machine. The ticket clerk wouldn't help because the tickets had been bought through (my employer's) travel agent and he said they would have to reissue them. The travel agency said the ticket office whose machine had run out of paper should override the system and issue the tickets. It took me a whole afternoon of faffing about, phone calls and emails, and another trip to the station, before I finally collected the tickets six hours later, and even then the ticket clerk took some persuading. I think it's ridiculous that the ticket machine cannot tell you it's short of paper BEFORE you put the reference in, since once you do that the database thinks they've been issued.

 

[roversfan2001]

Luckily in my case the website I booked the tickets on, the operator of my origin station and the operator of all trains I'm using is Northern so they may be able to do something. The anecdote above means I'm not holding my breath for a positive outcome unfortunately.

 

[Hadders]

I believe we had a thread on this a few days ago and there is a procedure for when this sort of thing happens. A booking office CAN reissue tickets but many will make up their own rules and say they can't/won't do it.

Edit - here's the thread (post 5 from @OwlMan is the relevant one)

https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/tod-problems.155065/#post-3142582

 

[cactustwirly]

Do you have evidence of the TVM failing, like a picture?
If collecting at the ticket office doesn't work, then I suggest you buy another ticket, then write to Northern to claim a refund for that ticket.

 

[Hadders]

I wouldn’t purchase another ticket. It’s for the rail industry to sort and they need to follow their own procedure.

 

[cactustwirly]

I wouldn’t purchase another ticket. It’s for the rail industry to sort and they need to follow their own procedure.

But if the OP travels without a ticket then he could be given a penalty fare/Northern equivalent

 

[Hadders]

Northern doesn’t operate an authorised Penalty Fares scheme.

I still wouldn’t part with any money if I couldn’t collect my ticket due to a failure of the rail industry. There is no requirement to carry additional money in case there is a system failure.

I would be happy to give my details if asked to do so and enter into dialogue with the train company. This would be preferable to paying and attempting to claim money back.

 

[robbeech]

It's ones of the few industries that get away with this sort of thing on a daily basis. I would not wish to guess how many times a machine doesn't print so someone just buys another one as they are frightened of the repercussions of not having a ticket, it's really quite unacceptable. Machines fail and the TOCs for the most part can't help this. On the flip side, the number of people deliberately trying to travel without a valid ticket is very high so the TOC is between a rock and a hard place on it.

 

[trainophile]

I went to pick up some tickets for travel tomorrow and the machine only printed the collection receipt then went out of service.

What do I do? Will the tickets be marked as collected?

I always get the collection receipt printed at the end of the run, after all the travel tickets have come out. Strange situation if it came out first and then the machine died.

 

[robbeech]

Sadly it is not uncommon for them to fail to print one part of the order and do the rest without issue. It is then down to the passenger to go out of their way to rectify the problem, possibly shelling out hundreds of pounds that they may not be able to get back. I've never paid for fuel and not got it before.

 

[Via Bank]

And people wonder why the railways have a reputation for dishonest pricing, and fleecing paying customers...

 

[hassaanhc]

I always get the collection receipt printed at the end of the run, after all the travel tickets have come out. Strange situation if it came out first and then the machine died.

Some machines (SWR Parkeon ones) print the collection receipt first

 

[methethpropbut]

I figure out that printing the receipt first or the ticket first, it doesn't actually make a difference if the machine was good.

A good one will go
Input > Print tickets > Mark as collected

Whereas a bad one will go
Input > Mark as collected > Print tickets

#1 is of course still susceptible to the situation where step 1 completes and then the power goes off, but of course if that happens it means that the tickets are still printed nonetheless.

 

[pitdiver]

My daughter's experience was slightly different in as much that she paid for her ticket. An off peak return Harlington Beds to Luton but all the coupons came out blank. She phoned me from beside the TVM at Harlington, I subsequently rang GTR customer services who took my details but couldn't suggest anything. I told her get on the train and explain to the barrier staff at Luton. It seemed that Luton barrier staff were use to issues emanating at Harlington, they merely endorsed her ticket to cover the return journey.
GTR customer services did thank me for pointing out the situation at Harlington and told me it would be reported to the appropriate party.

 

[simple simon]

This happened to me when using a TVM and when I asked a ticket sales clerk for help I was advised to speak to Virgin, who sold me the ticket. He refused to reprint my tickets 'there and then', even though I had come straight to him from the TVM.

Fortunately I was not travelling for a few weeks and eventually Virgin gave me a new collection code. For this the ticket sales clerk was willing to print the tickets.

This event dented my confidence in collecting pre-paid tickets at TVMs. A few months later when I bought more advance tickets (for a different journey) I shunned the TVM and went to the staffed ticket window.

 

[pitdiver]

She had actually paid at the TVM not on line. You would hope that with modern technology the machine could automatically go out of service if it senses something wrong.

 

[marshmallow]

I went to pick up some tickets for travel tomorrow and the machine only printed the collection receipt then went out of service.

What do I do? Will the tickets be marked as collected?

I had a similar situation at Paddington years ago...I was collecting advance tickets to and from Exeter; the outward portion was printed but for some reason it did not print my return portion so I went and asked about it at the ticket office; they told me to go to the information desk. When I went there I was told to go to the ticket office so I refused as I had been sent there by them...the member of staff was quite grumpy but on checking could see that I had only received my outward ticket, so he wrote me a paper authority to travel which I could use on my return journey. He did not put a specific time on this though, and said that I could use any train though interestingly! [although I did take my booked train anyway].