Restricted Ticket Office Times for Advances

[PorageOats]

A few days ago I was delayed at Manchester Piccadilly and thought I would buy an Advance from the ticket office - and fell foul of "Reservations and tickets requiring reservations can only be purchased between the following times; Mon - Sat 0900 - 1900 Sun 1100 - 1900". What kind of justification is there for this?

 

[Urban Gateline]

A few days ago I was delayed at Manchester Piccadilly and thought I would buy an Advance from the ticket office - and fell foul of "Reservations and tickets requiring reservations can only be purchased between the following times; Mon - Sat 0900 - 1900 Sun 1100 - 1900". What kind of justification is there for this?

I would think that the timing restrictions are because Advance tickets take longer to purchase, so VT possibly don't want these people holding up the queue during the morning rush hour, not sure about why the evening is restricted but it could be a case of less Clerks working at that time so they again don't want people holding up the queue.

 

[maniacmartin]

It's the same at Euston. It can be frustrating when you turn up at 9pm and there's 4 booths open with no queue for any and they still refuse to serve you.

 

[greatkingrat]

Is this not in breach of the Ticketing & Settlement Agreement?

 

[maniacmartin]

No, as if you look up Manchester Piccadilly in Schedule 17, it specifically mentioned that subset of times for Advance Purchases.

 

[RJ]

Is this not in breach of the Ticketing & Settlement Agreement?

Nope, lots of ticket offices are entitled to refuse requests requiring reservations at certain times of the day, mainly after 10:00.

 

[tractakid]

Well, I just found out that if I need to buy an advance ticket before 1000, I should head to Wolverton to do it.

Not sure how useful that piece of information is, but at least I know it now.

 

[maniacmartin]

Nope, lots of ticket offices are entitled to refuse requests requiring reservations at certain times of the day, mainly after 10:00.

Euston refused an Off-Peak Day return for a day in the future for me! No reservations needed

 

[boyaloud]

I too fell foul of this the other week at MAN when arriving at 8:50AM, I was catching a train at 9:07AM so I couldn't have bought the advance after 9AM and still made the train so I didn't bother. Really frustrating! Also 7PM is far too early for it to stop IMO!

 

[Tetchytyke]

Anyone would think that certain TOCs want to force people into TVM or online retailing, in order to reduce ticket office staffing as "there is no demand".

On EastCoast the ticket offices tend tohave several windows for tickets for immediate travel, and separate windows (usually fewer) for advance travel.

 

[PorageOats]

No, as if you look up Manchester Piccadilly in Schedule 17, it specifically mentioned that subset of times for Advance Purchases.

Thanks for all replies and especially that link. It seems that ticket office restrictions on advance sales are really TOC driven rather than based on customer service needs. I can't see any other explanation for restrictions within a TOC being similar but not consistent overall (eg no sales before 10:00 for one TOC but a morning and evening restriction for another TOC).

 

[TUC]

Nope, lots of ticket offices are entitled to refuse requests requiring reservations at certain times of the day, mainly after 10:00.

Sounds a great argument for always buying online. How stupid of any TOC to have this policy when the customer could just step outside of the ticket office, buy the ticket on their smartphone and pick it up from a TVM from the station, preferably from a machine not managed by the TOC that runs the ticket office.

 

[maniacmartin]

Sounds a great argument for always buying online. How stupid of any TOC to have this policy when the customer could just step outside of the ticket office, buy the ticket on their smartphone and pick it up from a TVM from the station, preferably from a machine not managed by the TOC that runs the ticket office.

Judging by my observations of "normal" passengers at various stations, many will only use the TVMs branded by the TOC they're travelling on. You often see massive queues for some TOC's TVMs and no queues for others at places like Euston and Birmingham. Also, you'd be surprised how many people think you can only buy from the trainline (or maybe the TOC they're travelling with) online.

I think a better policy would be no APs at certain times, except when multiple windows are open and there is no queue.

 

[Deerfold]

Sounds a great argument for always buying online. How stupid of any TOC to have this policy when the customer could just step outside of the ticket office, buy the ticket on their smartphone and pick it up from a TVM from the station, preferably from a machine not managed by the TOC that runs the ticket office.

How many stations have machines run by a different TOC? Surely a very low proportion.

 

[TUC]

Leeds have East Coast and Northern TVMs even though Northern run the ticket office. Even if the ticket was collected from the same company's TVM as the ticket office, at least they wouldn't be getting the main commission from the ticket sale via this approach.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
If I can find both;
A) the lowest price ticket on a given day for a specific journey and
B) the lowest price ticket for that journey for a specific time window

within less than a minute, why should it be anymore time-consuming for a ticket office?

 

[RJ]

If I can find both;
A) the lowest price ticket on a given day for a specific journey and
B) the lowest price ticket for that journey for a specific time window

within less than a minute, why should it be anymore time-consuming for a ticket office?

People are very indecisive and are prone to spend several minutes um-ing and ah-ing if you can't find them the £8 fare for the 300 mile journey they wish to undertake.

That said, a good ticket office clerk should be able to take control of the transaction and act in such a manner as to prevent a queue building up.

 

[Greeby]

Well, I just found out that if I need to buy an advance ticket before 1000, I should head to Wolverton to do it.

Not sure how useful that piece of information is, but at least I know it now.

There is no policy or instruction enforcing this rule whilst I've been working this line. Looking at the list, the Exceptions seem to originate from Sectorisation days when issuing a reservation was more involved. The blanket ban before 10:00 looks to be a Network SouthEast thing, whilst the rigid times for buying Advances are applied mostly to former Intercity stations, rather than based on current TOC.

In conclusion, much like the fares system itself, it's an archaic leftover from a quarter century ago that no-one has seen fit to change

 

[hairyhandedfool]

....That said, a good ticket office clerk should be able to take control of the transaction and act in such a manner as to prevent a queue building up.

Even a good clerk needs a compliant passenger (and a ticket machine that doesn't take six years to show prices for three trains).

 

[dave87016]

I believe it is because they don't like customers taking their time up sorting out advance tickets during the rush hours. That said I usually look the times and fares up on the net write them down and take it to the booking office, provided that ticket and price is still available they appreciate that I know exactly what I want and are happy to do it, one clerk even said cheers, wish more people did the same