Annual Gold Card - broken by phone

[Catkin]

I have had an annual gold card for travel between reading and London paddington for about five years now - every time I have received said ticket I have managed to break it within a matter of days (I have three devices, a phone, a work phone and an iPod, one of which ends up in the same pocket as my season ticket).

I just tried to get on a train at reading and got told I had to get my card fixed because it does not work in the barriers. I explained that it was pointless to do so (as it will just break again), in response to which I was told that it was my fault and the barrier attendant had managed to maintain his for six years without breaking it.

Obviously I am pretty unhappy about this (I am a big railway aficionado, but unfortunately it is the nature of a monopolistic 'business' that they can charge you 4k for something clearly defective then blame you for it).

Rant aside, what I am interested in is whether i actually HAVE to use the barriers (ie does the fact my ticket doesn't work make it invalid?). A look at the terms and conditions suggests not?

 

[gordonthemoron]

carry something large (i.e. a brompton) which can't go through the barrier

 

[LexyBoy]

No, whether the magstrip works or not has no bearing on validity (you do need to get a replacement if the ticket is illegible though).

I have encountered this too at Didcot; what irks me is the tone of certain members of staff which seems aimed to make you feel in the wrong. Especially when it is the Didcot barriers which break it - I now get replacements monthly whereas before the barriers were installed at Didcot my ticket would last the full year.

 

[hairyhandedfool]

As Lexyboy says, the ticket's ability to go through the barrier is no indicator of validity.

Could I just point out one thing though....

....every time I have received said ticket I have managed to break it within a matter of days (I have three devices, a phone, a work phone and an iPod, one of which ends up in the same pocket as my season ticket).....

....(....but unfortunately it is the nature of a monopolistic 'business' that they can charge you 4k for something clearly defective then blame you for it)....

If you are breaking it, it is not 'clearly defective'.

 

[GoByThameslink]

I have had an annual gold card for travel between reading and London paddington for about five years now - every time I have received said ticket I have managed to break it within a matter of days (I have three devices, a phone, a work phone and an iPod, one of which ends up in the same pocket as my season ticket).

Often the problem is magnets present either on the phone structure or within the case's fabric. The phone uses this to detect that it has been holstered / put away. Blackberries are notorious for this. I am no expert in this, so it may be that the phone detects a magnet in the appropriate place on the case. I learnt to keep my travecard well away from my Blackberry, but it seems more tolerant of my Android phone (a HTC), my case for that does not have a magnet.

 

[Catkin]

As Lexyboy says, the ticket's ability to go through the barrier is no indicator of validity.

Could I just point out one thing though....



If you are breaking it, it is not 'clearly defective'.

Perhaps defective is inaccurate - would "not fit for purpose" be more accurate? The Oyster card does not have this problem (ie the magnet in phones breaking it) and I'm sure I can't be the only person this happens to regularly!

 

[maniacmartin]

I solved this problem by always putting my phone and ticket in different pockets

 

[D6975]

I used to get this problem at work with the card we used to have for opening doors (magnetic strip). Putting it next to a mobile was a sure way of killing it off. Thankfully we have swapped over to chipped cards which are much more sturdy.
Perhaps chipped cards for longer duration seasons is the future?

 

[Deerfold]

I solved this problem by always putting my phone and ticket in different pockets

Presumably the OP struggled with this due to having 3 phones.

 

[rdwarr]

Perhaps every couple of months I suffer "ticket failure" like this (where you get a Code 9 at the barriers). If the ticket has more than a few days to run I just get it replaced - only takes a couple of minutes.

 

[Mr Spock]

Presumably the OP struggled with this due to having 3 phones.

Its 3 devices but only 2 phones as third one is an I-pod.

 

[Chrisgr31]

The year before last my ticket lasted all year, last year I got through numerous replacements, although one of those was to replace a lost (subsequently handed in) ticket. On 2 occasions the replacement tickets lasted less than a week before failing at barriers.

This year I am on my 1st replacement ticket following ticket failure, however the ink is beginning to fade so it will need to be replaced before it becomes legible.

Be so much easier if The Key worked at Londons terminals!

 

[LexyBoy]

Something I was wondering the other day - why do season ticket replacements have a printed price of £0.00, whilst duplicates (issued in the case of lost seasons) have IIRC the original ticket price? It seems odd given that a replacement can be handed in for a refund whereas a duplicate can't - so the duplicate effectively has no "value". Is it because the duplicate has a real value (the value of the original being written off) for accounting purposes, whereas a replacement does not?

 

[hairyhandedfool]

Perhaps defective is inaccurate - would "not fit for purpose" be more accurate? The Oyster card does not have this problem (ie the magnet in phones breaking it) and I'm sure I can't be the only person this happens to regularly!

Oyster doesn't use magnetic strips, however you would be right to say that you are not the only person that finds that the magnetic strip on the back of a ticket becomes corrupted by magnetic fields produce by some phones that have magnets in them (there is a clue in there somewhere). That said, ignoring the minor issue that you don't actually buy the ticket, they are fit for purpose.

The whole point of the magnetic strip is not to accompany your mobile phone, it is to work the ticket barriers and before your phone got there it did just fine.

Okay, time for an analogy which, although not entirely the same situation, should put the point across.

If I bought a TV, say a 50 inch widescreen full HD 'smart' LED TV with built in wifi and Freeview valued at nearly £800, which worked absolutely fine until I somehow manged to break the screen with a hammer that I 'accidentally' threw at it, was it fit for purpose?

Something I was wondering the other day - why do season ticket replacements have a printed price of £0.00, whilst duplicates (issued in the case of lost seasons) have IIRC the original ticket price? It seems odd given that a replacement can be handed in for a refund whereas a duplicate can't - so the duplicate effectively has no "value". Is it because the duplicate has a real value (the value of the original being written off) for accounting purposes, whereas a replacement does not?

I'm pretty sure it's an accountancy thing. When a ticket is replaced the original is kept, but when a duplicate is issued there is nothing to retain.

 

[CyrusWuff]

Something I was wondering the other day - why do season ticket replacements have a printed price of £0.00, whilst duplicates (issued in the case of lost seasons) have IIRC the original ticket price? It seems odd given that a replacement can be handed in for a refund whereas a duplicate can't - so the duplicate effectively has no "value". Is it because the duplicate has a real value (the value of the original being written off) for accounting purposes, whereas a replacement does not?

Replacements and Duplicates both have a "price" of £0.00 on them, at least on FasTIS. The admin fee for issuing a duplicate is accounted for by means of a Sundry transaction.

Change-over seasons will also have a price printed on them, which should be the "Charge for new ticket" value, with the credit for the original ticket being taken through a Sundry transaction as well.

 

[island]

Yes you have to use the barriers unless an authorised person permits you not to. See section 9 (2) of the Railway Byelaws.

Carrying something large will not help at RDG as there are wide barriers provided for this purpose.

Plenty of people manage to use their gold cards for at least a few months before having to obtain a replacement, so with due respect, the OP is likely to be doing something wrongly.

 

[Roverman]

My ticket from ANG to STA last Sunday (combined NR and LU ticket) wouldn't work in the barriers leaving Victoria NR but did work on the Victoria LU barriers.

As their machinery isn't 100% foolproof I think its a bit heavy handed of them to insist you get it replaced. Maybe when their train breaks (and it will) you should stand there demanding they bin it for a new one!!!

 

[craigwilson]

The whole point of the magnetic strip is not to accompany your mobile phone, it is to work the ticket barriers and before your phone got there it did just fine.

Well quite, and I'd never put them in the same pocket, but some people do, and unfortunately that's just the way it is - some folk won't learn.

If I bought a TV, say a 50 inch widescreen full HD 'smart' LED TV with built in wifi and Freeview valued at nearly £800, which worked absolutely fine until I somehow manged to break the screen with a hammer that I 'accidentally' threw at it, was it fit for purpose?

I understand what you mean, but that's a dodgy analogy - you're not going to "accidentally" throw a hammer at your TV, but there are for sure going to be occasions where your mag-stripped card might be in proximity to a phone case or purse clasp that contains a magnet.