Now you've lost me. We were talking about fuel tariffs.
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FGW at Paddington still getting evening Off Peak validity spectacularly wrong.
- Thread starter bnm
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Now you've lost me. We were talking about fuel tariffs.
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Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
Sorry, that was me being thick there, because the simplification in the power industry didn't simply remove tariffs. It required suppliers to have only a limited set of tariffs, and those will have been set (and are re-set all the time, both up and down) at a commercially competitive level.
The *rail* fare simplification did just remove a few odd tariffs and align the others, OTOH, hence my confusion.
Neil
I've had an initial response from FGW that came as a result of a post on another forum.
That post was on a board not publicly viewable but the gist of it was forwarded to a senior Customer Relations officer at FGW by another FGW employee that had a sufficient post count to read my tale of woe. Initially I was a little miffed that it was posts on forums that were being responded to and not the complaint submitted through official channels, but knowing the person who forwarded the details I understand they were doing so in my best interests.
Consequently I missed the email from the senior CR officer as I was only looking out for responses to my complaint submitted through the official channel. I only became aware of this email from someone senior after a 'normal' from Customer Relations emailed me to tell me someone senior had taken my complaint on board and had contacted me. No matter. It got the ball rolling quicker, even if 6 days had passed since the senior bod contacted me and her email was missed by me.
There's now a dialogue, but I'm not happy with the initial response. A refund of the fare from Didcot to Tonbridge has been offered. I could just accept that and move on but there are issues I want to see addressed with evidence to prove they are being actioned. The first response only gives me the impression that Customer Relations are paying me off and nothing will change.
So, the dialogue continues.
That post was on a board not publicly viewable but the gist of it was forwarded to a senior Customer Relations officer at FGW by another FGW employee that had a sufficient post count to read my tale of woe. Initially I was a little miffed that it was posts on forums that were being responded to and not the complaint submitted through official channels, but knowing the person who forwarded the details I understand they were doing so in my best interests.
Consequently I missed the email from the senior CR officer as I was only looking out for responses to my complaint submitted through the official channel. I only became aware of this email from someone senior after a 'normal' from Customer Relations emailed me to tell me someone senior had taken my complaint on board and had contacted me. No matter. It got the ball rolling quicker, even if 6 days had passed since the senior bod contacted me and her email was missed by me.
There's now a dialogue, but I'm not happy with the initial response. A refund of the fare from Didcot to Tonbridge has been offered. I could just accept that and move on but there are issues I want to see addressed with evidence to prove they are being actioned. The first response only gives me the impression that Customer Relations are paying me off and nothing will change.
So, the dialogue continues.
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bb21
Emeritus Moderator
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- 4 Feb 2010
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Good work. Keep at it. You have my full support.
At the risk of going off-topic, how do you mean?
Southeastern still offer the Weekender ticket, and it has recently been extended to include the use of Highspeed services as well as offering a Railcard discount.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
VT lost their Weekender. Maybe SN got special dispensation, or maybe the simplification was used as an excuse to remove it?
MarlowDonkey
Established Member
- Joined
- 4 Apr 2013
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I believe the rail network is still regarded as a national system. So for as long as it offers tickets from A to B where the only peak restriction is in the morning, then you expect staff on the trains and at the major stations between A and B to be aware of this. If individual TOCs want the power to set local restrictions, a withdrawal of tickets involving more than one company would be necessary.
... Which is exactly what Arriva want to do!
higthomas
Established Member
- Joined
- 27 Nov 2012
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- 1,229
Anything further?
I await a meeting with Paddington's FGW Station Manager. He offered one by email, but I've not yet heard back after I replied with suitable dates. That was 10 days ago.
My MP is involved and her office have written to FGW. Awaiting response.
I've drafted a letter to London TravelWatch. That waits while ongoing correspondence is live and until I meet the Station Manager. Should that meeting not be agreed by next week then I'll go to London TravelWatch.
My MP is involved and her office have written to FGW. Awaiting response.
I've drafted a letter to London TravelWatch. That waits while ongoing correspondence is live and until I meet the Station Manager. Should that meeting not be agreed by next week then I'll go to London TravelWatch.
Paul Kelly
Verified Rep - BR Fares
Paddington Gateline now seems to have its own Twitter account: https://twitter.com/PADGateline
If this is real, it's a very welcome improvement - it is correctly answering validity questions and even giving out links to brfares.com!
If this is real, it's a very welcome improvement - it is correctly answering validity questions and even giving out links to brfares.com!
Why do I get the feeling someone on the forum is involved in PADGateline?
PermitToTravel
Established Member
Who in their right mind would ask the Paddington gateline for help with ticket validity?! This might be the funniest thing I've seen in a while, and I can't help but wonder who's running it
I don't see what there is to complain about. The staff were just doing their jobs, protecting revenue. It's not as though he was denied travel. He made the journey he paid for. He even received numerous apologies for the delays.
Are you having a laugh Moonshark? I was denied travel for TWO HOURS. Since when did protecting revenue include denying travel to those with valid tickets? I've been refunded for the delay and received apologies, yes, but there are outstanding matters related to the incident. These are still being investigated.
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RJ
Established Member
As an employee of the railway, I think this is an instance of "must do better." An apology alone is worthless if the company doesn't also take effective action to address the cause of the problem. If a simple ticket restriction can defeat an array of gateline staff, guards, ticket office staff and managers, there is a problem that needs looking at. It's also unacceptable to treat a paying customer in that manner.
Sorry, I don't subscribe to the jaded, customer loathing mentality that some others purporting to work for the railway seem to be afflicted with.
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You should see some of the personal messages and emails from rail staff I've received over this incident. Just one in support. Others ranging from misguided support of colleagues, through criticism of my actions, to personal abuse and threats that I'm a marked man who will be singled out for special attention if I cross paths with them.
One, who made abusive remarks, was stupid enough to be traceable through his email address. That's part of the ongoing dialogue with FGW and others.
Who says an actual gateline didn't open a Twitter account?!Why do I get the feeling someone on the forum is involved in PADGateline?
That's bordering on illegal; police involvement territory; in my eyes.
Very good point - technology is always evolving. I actually heard a rumour the Pad gates were having an affair with the Oyster machines at Euston Square :-x
It appears to me that the staff weren't doing their job correctly.
Is it reasonable for staff to know all off-peak restrictions? No it isn't.
Should staff be able to look up a restriction in the event of a query of dispute? Yes they should.
Did they do this in this case? No they dug their heels in and claimed the ticket wasn't valid when it was.
That's not doing their job or protecting revenue. It's brand damaging for the railway.
RJ
Established Member
Perhaps this ought to be reported to the relevant entities. I can't say I've ever had any personal correspondence of this nature after publishing my own stories.
krus_aragon
Established Member
I got the impression from bnm's post that he has indeed reported it, and that it is being investigated/followed up.
I may be in danger of breaking fora rules but what the heck...
Just about the only person l can see making such a post is one of the ill-trained, inept incompetents who were involved in the incident. My view is those individuals should be given full retraining and, if involved in any similar incidents in future, their services dispensed with.
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It is regrettably human nature to dig your heels in when you're sure that you are right, even when wrong. Very much human error.
I've worked on a gate line with the benefit of a PC - it made all this stuff much easier.
I still don't understand the railway way of attempting to defend the indefensible in some cases though. It's not just in cases like this (it is not possible to argue that it's reasonable for someone to be denied access to a train because a company servant/official/Bert doesn't understand it's own rules). You see the same with other more major transgressions as well and have to think why. I've heard colleagues denouncing someone for shopping an intoxicated colleague before - why on earth would you ever turn a blind eye to a drunk/stoned safety critical person
I've worked on a gate line with the benefit of a PC - it made all this stuff much easier.
I still don't understand the railway way of attempting to defend the indefensible in some cases though. It's not just in cases like this (it is not possible to argue that it's reasonable for someone to be denied access to a train because a company servant/official/Bert doesn't understand it's own rules). You see the same with other more major transgressions as well and have to think why. I've heard colleagues denouncing someone for shopping an intoxicated colleague before - why on earth would you ever turn a blind eye to a drunk/stoned safety critical person
I see that mention here of the personal correspondence I received from those not directly involved in my 'incident' took the topic off on a bit of a tangent.
Moderators have tidied up the thread and I'll not be making further comment on the 'after the event' stuff.
The incident itself is still under discussion between myself, FGW and third parties. I'll update as and when.
Moderators have tidied up the thread and I'll not be making further comment on the 'after the event' stuff.
The incident itself is still under discussion between myself, FGW and third parties. I'll update as and when.
I agree, and would add that, if staff are unsure as to validity, whether because they cannot check the validity code or do not wish to check it, the correct course of action must surely be to give the passenger the 'benefit of the doubt' rather than to refuse travel.
I agree. However, as I see it, there are a few staff that are absolutely convinced that they 'know' the validity, and there's no possibility that they are wrong, so no point in checking it, even if they can.
MichaelAMW
Member
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- 18 Jun 2010
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- 1,021
I have to say that this sums up what angers me so much about this kind of incident. If you're so sure you're right then surely looking it up will do nothing other than confirm this. If you refuse, and in doing so adopt an attitude that somehow blames the passenger for creating a conflict, then your gob-smacking arrogance demonstrates that you do not have the personal qualities to do the job.
I completely agree with what you say.
I'll admit that I've experienced one or two embarrassing episodes where I've been sure I was right and I've looked something up in order to prove it to someone else, only to find out I've got it wrong.
Mostly it's happened internally with colleagues, but there was one instance where it was a customer of the organisation. Thankfully, I hadn't been as insistent with them as I might have been with one of my work mates. I learnt a lesson there and then that I would always choose my words very carefully, and double check my facts.
We can all be mistaken, and we all need to recognise that we can sometimes get it wrong, including gateline staff.
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