"not valid here as you're off route"... on a permitted route

[GW43125]

Had an interesting one at Battersea Park today. I hold an Egham-London Terminals season ticket, which is of course valid into Victoria, yet today at Battersea Park I was informed by the ticket office that I'm "off-route" (the barriers rejected it) and would need to get myself back to Victoria or Clapham Junction to be "on route", because "we [southern] don't run trains from London Terminals to egham, you have a point-to-point ticket not a travelcard".

Now, unless I've misunderstood, a season ticket is valid on permitted routes for unlimited journeys and to break a journey as you please, so how can Clapham Junction and London Victoria be on-route yet Battersea Park, the station that all trains between the two pass through, not be? Meanwhile, the ticket has been accepted without question by gatelines at places such as Surbiton, Walton and even Berrylands! (Though oddly Wimbledon rejects it for some reason).

I'm completely baffled by this and ended up using oyster after nearly five minutes of going round in circles, so could someone please explain to me this technicality or if the TO clerk was, in fact, talking rubbish.

Thanks.

 

[yorkie]

You are right; the ticket office is wrong.

I would suggest providing feedback to GTR, who should be providing an aplology and a refund; I had a similar complaint against London Overground ticket office staff last year, and I got the Contactless fare back, plus £10, and more importantly I was told the staff were spoken to.

 

[Kilopylae]

the TO clerk was, in fact, talking rubbish.

This.

You were on route, and entitled to Break of Journey.

"we [southern] don't run trains from London Terminals to egham, you have a point-to-point ticket not a travelcard".

Bizarre, meaningless reasoning.

 

[GW43125]

You are right; the ticket office is wrong.

I would suggest providing feedback to GTR

Thanks Yorkie, I'll draft something tomorrow when I've had a chance to think it through and give an appropriate response that doesn't contain many words beginning with f!

 

[Kite159]

It's something you would expect to get from a poorly trained contractor on the gate line whose concept of break of journey is foreign but not for an actual employee in the ticket office.

 

[Jan Mayen]

I had a similar issue at Hove years ago. Now I load the season ticket onto a GTR Key card, with KeyGo enabled. Not been a problem since.

 

[AlterEgo]

I was informed by the ticket office that I'm "off-route" (the barriers rejected it) and would need to get myself back to Victoria or Clapham Junction to be "on route", because "we [southern] don't run trains from London Terminals to egham, you have a point-to-point ticket not a travelcard".

More stellar service from a ticket office.

This is one of the more creative invented rules I've heard specifically to disadvantage a customer. Not even close to being correct. I love this part of the forum, learning about new and innovative ways staff create nonsense out of thin air, making everyone's day harder.

Please do claim for the Oyster fare, and ask them to include a gesture of goodwill too.

 

[GW43125]

I had a similar issue at Hove years ago. Now I load the season ticket onto a GTR Key card, with KeyGo enabled. Not been a problem since.

This is already on a smartcard! It seems very picky as to where accepts it-anywhere between Egham and Waterloo directly is fine, and it's even accepted at Surbiton, Walton and Berrylands, but Wimbledon always rejects it. But by his reasoning it shouldn't be valid at any of those stations...

More stellar service from a ticket office.

This is one of the more creative invented rules I've heard specifically to disadvantage a customer. Not even close to being correct. I love this part of the forum, learning about new and innovative ways staff create nonsense out of thin air, making everyone's day harder.

Please do claim for the Oyster fare, and ask them to include a gesture of goodwill too.

Very much so, and I will do. I couldn't quite believe what I was being told, because by his logic none of the stations I've mentioned above should be accepting the ticket! He kept saying repeatedly that Clapham and Victoria were on route yet Battersea park wasn't. He didn't seem to see the flaw in his logic...

 

[HandyHat]

This is already on a smartcard!

If you enable KeyGo, every barrier will always open upon presentation of your smartcard. The backend system will then decide whether you are making a PAYG journey, which of course you aren't because the route is covered under by your season ticket. The computer can't make up nonsense logic!

 

[gray1404]

How did you come to be speaking to the person at the ticket office about this? So the barrier rejected your season ticket. Did you then show or present it to the person manning the barrier and did they refuse to let you through or direct you to the ticket office?

 

[Idiotic]

How did you come to be speaking to the person at the ticket office about this? So the barrier rejected your season ticket. Did you then show or present it to the person manning the barrier and did they refuse to let you through or direct you to the ticket office?

Battersea Park ticket office control the barriers there from what I remember.

 

[GW43125]

If you enable KeyGo, every barrier will always open upon presentation of your smartcard. The backend system will then decide whether you are making a PAYG journey, which of course you aren't because the route is covered under by your season ticket. The computer can't make up nonsense logic!

I have no control over the smartcard as it's through a company scheme.

How did you come to be speaking to the person at the ticket office about this? So the barrier rejected your season ticket. Did you then show or present it to the person manning the barrier and did they refuse to let you through or direct you to the ticket office?

As idiotic mentions, the barriers aren't manned in the conventional sense, the ticket office opens them. He insisted on scanning my smartcard then came out with the above tripe.

In fact, I often find it's the barrier staff who wave me through when I present it!

 

[i4n]

Hey OP, I've had similar from Southeastern on a Key season ticket - valid on the route I was taking but only programmed to open the barriers on the fastest route (as confirmed by Customer Services who I had look into the issue for me). I had the ticket office staff take my card off of me and not want to give it back after they scanned it and gave me something similar as an excuse. I tried to reason that I was spending several thousands of £££ a year on the season ticket why would I want to do something outside of what I was allowed to do. Sigh.

 

[MrJeeves]

If you enable KeyGo, every barrier will always open upon presentation of your smartcard. The backend system will then decide whether you are making a PAYG journey, which of course you aren't because the route is covered under by your season ticket. The computer can't make up nonsense logic!

Until you attempt to use things like "also available at" validity for nearby lines, ticket acceptance, or something slightly more complex and it decides to charge you!