Cheers! I'll only come across the barriers at Southport and their staff are always friendly enough!
I remember the staff at Southport being especially friendly when I visited last month. They let me through the barrier manually when I arrived and when I returned, a couple of hours later, they had remembered me, and let me straight through without even looking at my ticket. I have also found the staff at Merseyrail stations in central Liverpool very friendly.
Having used these tickets once or twice a year for about the last 8 years I have found most on train staff also very friendly towards me when using these tickets. Northern rail conductors are particularly friendly and seem pleased to see someone using a rover.
The only staff that I have ever had problems with in the past have been the barrier staff at Blackpool North, which I used every day, as I was staying with friends there. In previous years they just seem to view you at best as an inconvenience or have been positively rude, treating me like an idiot who does not know how the use the barriers. One year, on my last day of travel, I was greated with the words 'Thank goodness it's your last day'. I'd never done anything to upset them as I had always been very polite, even when they were indifferent with me. This year, most of them were fairly friendly, so I think they must have all been to charm school! It helped by keeping my ticket firmly in a plastic wallet, so they thought it was a longer period season ticket. I still found one who tried to insist that I put it through the barrier.
