West Mids nTrain Vs 7 day season

[kwerty]

I commute from Warwick to Birmingham. A 7-day season ticket between the stations is £39.20 whereas a 7 day nTrain Warwick to West Midlands all zones is only £37.80.

As far as I can tell there are no restrictions on this ticket which the 7 day season doesn't have. This ticket allows me to make my commute, plus any other journeys within the west Mids area, for a lower price. Yet the ticket machines don't sell this ticket AND unless I specifically ask the station staff sell the more expensive 7 day season.

So a) why is the 'better' ticket cheaper? Am I missing something regarding validity or restrictions on its use?
b) why isn't the cheapest suitable ticket for a given journey sold as default (either by machine or at the counter)? I.e. if I ask for Warwick to Bham 7 days why do they sell the season and not the nTrain.
and c) can I get a refund on the difference between the two given the ticket machine essentially mis-sold me the 7 day season.

 

[CyrusWuff]

a) Looking on BRFares, the issue affects Bearley, Claverdon, Lapworth, Hatton, Warwick Parkway, Warwick, Leamington Spa. In most cases, the fare to Birmingham is set by Chiltern, whereas the nTrain is nominally set by West Midlands Trains. Exceptions being Leamington Spa (both fares set by CrossCountry), Bearley (both set by WMT) and Claverdon (ditto). As for how it's come about, I'd suggest someone's taken their eye off the ball somewhere, rather than a deliberate revenue grab.

b) Self-service machines can only sell what you ask for. As "Birmingham Stations" and "West Mids All Zones" are two different destinations, it'll only show the latter if you explicitly enter that as the destination. As for Ticket Offices, it would depend on how the system is configured and how the nTrain product shows in the fares list. Again, it may be necessary to explicitly enter "West Mids All Zones" as the destination to get them to show.

c) If it was bought from a ticket machine, you may have a claim under the TVM Price Guarantee. Contact Chiltern's Customer Services team once the ticket expires (as they'll want a photo of the ticket, or the ticket itself if you send in a paper form) and explain the situation and see what they say.

 

[boxy321]

How do you get a West Midlands ntrain ticket from Warwick, which is outside of the 'county area' as they call it? In fact, I couldn't even find Chiltern season tickets between the two (Brum) just now. Are there add-ons that are only available at ticket offices?

 

[Joe Paxton]

How do you get a West Midlands ntrain ticket from Warwick, which is outside of the 'county area' as they call it? In fact, I couldn't even find Chiltern season tickets between the two (Brum) just now. Are there add-ons that are only available at ticket offices?

ntrain Out of County tickets are available (similar to outboundary London Travelcards).

Use the Network West Midlands Ticket Finder to get a price. Alternatively use BRfares with the destination being 'West Mids All Zones'.

I agree the NRE season ticket calculator doesn't appear to want to play ball at the moment for this particular query (not even a Warwick to Birmingham query).