TVM Refusing to Print

[47271]

I tried to print a prebooked ticket on a Euston ATM this evening and was slightly surprised to find that, although it read my card fine, it refused to produce the ticket and referred me to the counter.

Luckily I was in plenty of time for my train, and the combination of booking reference and card number coaxed the ticket when the member of staff entered them, but I was wondering what may have caused this failure of the ATM?

I didn't try another machine, so I can't say whether it was a fault on a particular unit.

 

[yorkie]

I think you mean a ticket vending machine (ATM).

Did the machine go out of service? If not, do you know if anyone else was able to use the machine after you?

Were there many coupons to print as part of your transaction?

 

[Flying Snail]

I tried to print a prebooked ticket on a Euston ATM this evening and was slightly surprised to find that, although it read my card fine, it refused to produce the ticket and referred me to the counter.

Luckily I was in plenty of time for my train, and the combination of booking reference and card number coaxed the ticket when the member of staff entered them, but I was wondering what may have caused this failure of the ATM?

I didn't try another machine, so I can't say whether it was a fault on a particular unit.

It wasn't a Sleeper ticket by any chance? I have had a few instances of VT ticket machines in different stations throw up a rather nonspecific fault message and the suggestion of visiting the manned office when presented with a sleeper supplement booking, in all cases I got a machine from a different TOC to print the ticket without bother.

 

[Silver Cobra]

It wasn't a Sleeper ticket by any chance? I have had a few instances of VT ticket machines in different stations throw up a rather nonspecific fault message and the suggestion of visiting the manned office when presented with a sleeper supplement booking, in all cases I got a machine from a different TOC to print the ticket without bother.

It's not just VT TVMs in the case of sleeper tickets. Last August, I couldn't pick up my 1st class sleeper supplement tickets from the former GN Shere machines at Arlesey nor the old VTEC machines at King's Cross. Thankfully, the King's Cross travel centre took care of that with no issues.

 

[47271]

Sorry everyone, of course I meant TVM, it was the end of a very long day when I wrote the post!

No, it wasn't a sleeper ticket and it was just a single to Manchester that I was trying to print.

I can't remember the exact wording of the message but it appeared in a largish blue box on screen.

The machine didn't go out of service because I gave it two tries before going to the office, thinking that maybe I'd done something wrong first time.

Not a big thing, but it could've stressed me out if I was trying to collect with minutes to spare.

 

[bubieyehyeh]

I've seen TVM say try again later, when the problem is lack of an internet connection to check the ToD reference code.

 

[47271]

I've seen TVM say try again later, when the problem is lack of an internet connection to check the ToD reference code.

I think you may be right - now that you've jogged my memory it did say that it was unable to retrieve part of the TOD order. So maybe just a dodgy connection. It happens to us all.

This evening at Piccadilly I picked up another booking made at the same time with no difficulty whatsoever.