Zero excess

[Jonfun]

For one guard? maybe not, but if one guard is getting a zero fare excess everyday, then it is fair to assume most, if not all, guards are. If they also forgo the ten or twenty pence then the discrepancy is not really ten or twenty pence, it is ten or twenty pence per guard per day, that's potentially hundreds of pounds a day, never mind a week or month!

But it's ten pence/ten pence per guard per day/hundreds of pounds the TOC weren't entitled to take in the first place! You speak of it as if it's a loss to the company when actually it'd just be the revenue staff balancing whether or not it's easier to just account having a very, very minor discrepancy than it would be to have to do a TIR for a basic excess.

 

[calc7]

Is there any reason that management wouldn't pick up on a spate of 10p fares issued by a guard versus a spate of zero-fare ones, anyway?

 

[hairyhandedfool]

But it's ten pence/ten pence per guard per day/hundreds of pounds the TOC weren't entitled to take in the first place! You speak of it as if it's a loss to the company when actually it'd just be the revenue staff balancing whether or not it's easier to just account having a very, very minor discrepancy than it would be to have to do a TIR for a basic excess.

It doesn't really matter if it is money the company should or should not have it, it is a big discrepancy for the railway. Don't get me wrong, I don't think there should be an issue with zero fare excesses, but someone who is saying it's only 10p isn't really looking at the bigger picture. TOCs (and probably many other companies) get audited and things like a +/-£200 daily discrepancy is going to look pretty bad, even if there is a darn good reason for it.

 

[maniacmartin]

It doesn't really matter if it is money the company should or should not have it, it is a big discrepancy for the railway. Don't get me wrong, I don't think there should be an issue with zero fare excesses, but someone who is saying it's only 10p isn't really looking at the bigger picture. TOCs (and probably many other companies) get audited and things like a +/-£200 daily discrepancy is going to look pretty bad, even if there is a darn good reason for it.

Well, if they didn't change their internal policy to price zero-rated excesses as 10p, and instead kept the old policy that zero rated excesses have zero cost, then when audited the money would match up with the policy.

 

[tony_mac]

While, in theory, I find it a bit galling that the customers are expected to pay because the systems are incorrect and/or inadequate, this happens in many other places and usually at much greater cost.

I think that the pragmatist in me is quite prepared to accept a 10p penalty to deal with it - if I could guarantee getting the correct tickets / excesses issued every time without any hassle, I would gladly pay an extra 10p.

 

[yorkie]

I think that the pragmatist in me is quite prepared to accept a 10p penalty to deal with it - if I could guarantee getting the correct tickets / excesses issued every time without any hassle, I would gladly pay an extra 10p.

Absolutely!

The normally good York station has a couple of rubbish people when it comes to excesses, one of whom makes up ridiculous reasons why an excess could not be done, e.g. "it is too far" (what?!). A visit to a ticket clerk on this forum and the excess was issued correctly in a matter of seconds!

People who use certain stations regularly have to have a mental note of people who are competent, and then say "after you" if it's their turn in the queue when someone less than competent becomes available. (Pretending to read a leaflet or your reading a message on your phone probably helps!)

While it should not cost 10p more, but I'd gladly pay the 10p more to have someone competent and not spend ages with them faffing around and/or overcharging by a significant amount and/or inventing ludicrous non-existent excuses why it can't be done (when they make such excuses they obviously think the passenger is stupid).

 

[jopsuk]

I think that the pragmatist in me is quite prepared to accept a 10p penalty to deal with it - if I could guarantee getting the correct tickets / excesses issued every time without any hassle, I would gladly pay an extra 10p.

I'd be happy, but only if it was part of the official ticketing system, rather than being something imposed by guards with less-than-helpful-management.

 

[Matt Taylor]

Absolutely!

The normally good York station has a couple of rubbish people when it comes to excesses, one of whom makes up ridiculous reasons why an excess could not be done, e.g. "it is too far" (what?!). A visit to a ticket clerk on this forum and the excess was issued correctly in a matter of seconds!

People who use certain stations regularly have to have a mental note of people who are competent, and then say "after you" if it's their turn in the queue when someone less than competent becomes available. (Pretending to read a leaflet or your reading a message on your phone probably helps!)

For some it's a job, for others it's a vocation, I find myself in the latter.

 

[The Colonel]

For some it's a job, for others it's a vocation, I find myself in the latter.

Indeed. I live life on the edge of BZ6

 

[Matt Taylor]

So was I when I lived in Feltham and worked at Hampton ticket office, both boundary stations.

Not had any issues with zero fares in my experience, I usually do 3-5 per shift.