Another SET excess query

[thebigcheese]

I posted a while back about an issue I was having with ticket excesses on South Eastern and had a similar problem recently. The reply from SET (quoted below) does summarise this issue quite well.

My travel was using this ticket which is £55.20. On the return portion only I wanted to excess to this ticket which is £59.40. I understand this should be half the cost so £2.10. Instead I was sold a high speed upgrade for £4.20 and had to complete the underground journey at my own cost.

Incidentally the clark at Gravesend was able to find the info in 'the manual' after prompting but as there were no instructions he couldn't do the excess and wrote the following on the back of the ticket:

My query is over SET's assertion that the excess should be based on the cost of single tickets rather than half the difference of the tickets I was using.

Firstly I'm sorry that you have had to take the time to write to us, I'm also disappointed to hear that despite making the same complaint a year ago the issue has occurred again.

I understand that you were traveling between Southampton and Gravesend and on your return journey you wanted to change the routing of your ticket, to travel via London St Pancras on the high speed service and then travel via the underground to get to London Waterloo. I can also see that you attempted to purchase an excess fare from the ticket office at Gravesend however the ticket office clerk was unable to process your request, it appears that you then got on to the High Speed service to London St Pancras and attempted to purchase the excess fare from the conductor, however you were sold a single high speed upgrade, which is what you’re requesting a refund on.

As you have already used one portion of your ticket to make your outbound, you would have been eligible to pay an excess fare for a single ticket rather than your full return ticket. The ticket that you would have required to travel via your intended route would have been an Off-Peak Day Single Plus High Speed at the cost of £51.60, what you were effectively traveling with for the purposes of working out the excess fare, was an Off-Peak Day Single London Not Via Underground ticket (Not Valid for High Speed) and the difference between these two fares and what you should have paid as an excess would have been £4.20, so for this reason it seems that you have been overcharged.

Once again I apologise for any inconvenience or confusion that may have been caused by this, I hope that this explanation is useful. I hope that your future travel is without difficulty. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

 

[AlterEgo]

Yeah, they're making up rules there. Escalate it to a manager, and then to Transport Focus. Change of route excesses are always considered as returns, with the option to upgrade only one portion.

 

[RJ]

thebigcheese, I suggest you writing back to Southeastern and asking for the correct rebate (£2.10) as well as your Underground fare.

Including the following information may help - the Excess fares procedure link in the internal Knowledgebase, along with the relevant text from that link - http://internal.nationalrail.co.uk/44836.aspx#no_opportunity

Return tickets - change of route in one direction only

Half the difference between the price already paid and price of the cheapest Return ticket, available for immediate travel that allows the customer to travel on the route and Train Company of their choice.

The upshot is whoever supplied the information that went into that response was incorrect. It's good practice for staff to check the iKb for procedural information as the goalposts are always moving.

Also, how come the person in the ticket office couldn't do the excess? It's a basic task that anyone behind that counter should be able to do.

 

[Haywain]

Also, how come the person in the ticket office couldn't do the excess? It's a basic task that anyone behind that counter should be able to do.

I agree, and this is more of a concern than someone in customer relations not knowing the rules (that's more or less expected).

 

[Class 466]

The fare you were looking for "Any permitted +" was taken out the system a few years ago and replaced with 'London not Underground' because It's no quicker to use HS1 than it is to change at Waterloo East. I came across this myself when I wanted a Cuxton to Dorchester South fare. The faster journey time to St Pancras is lost during the transfer on the Underground.

 

[thebigcheese]

Also, how come the person in the ticket office couldn't do the excess? It's a basic task that anyone behind that counter should be able to do.

Thanks for the info and the link RJ. He seemed very confused about excesses and initally tried to sell me a HS upgrade. He said he had "never done an excess in his life" and as there wasn't instructions in the Manual he couldn't do it. I asked if there was tech support he could ring but after 5 minutes on hold he couldn't get through as "they had gone home as it was after 5"

Class 446 - the fare I was looking for was +High Speed and it was that fare that allowed me to take a BOJ at St Pancras to meet with friends before continuing on via underground to Waterloo; would agree re the time difference between routes

 

[thebigcheese]

So I sent the following

I’m afraid I strongly disagree with your assertion that the excess should have been based on the cost of a single fare.

I understand that the Excess fares procedure within the internal Knowledgebase provides guidance on this issue which is:

“Return tickets - change of route in one direction only

Half the difference between the price already paid and price of the cheapest Return ticket, available for immediate travel that allows the customer to travel on the route and Train Company of their choice.”

Perhaps you could consult this document and review your answer?

I would also like to know why your staff don’t know how to do excesses despite this being an area that has shown to be weak in the past.

Thanks,

And received this slightly better response back:

Thank you for your webform dated 26 September further to your previous correspondence regarding your ticket refund. I’ll be happy to take a look at your case with fresh eyes and hopefully resolve this for you today.



I realise that on your journey between Southampton Central and Gravesend, you wanted to change your route on your return ticket. Though, I realise that you could not do so as our employee at Gravesend ticket office did not know how to do which resulted in you being overcharged by £9. I’m sincerely sorry about this. I do fully appreciate how frustrating this must have been, especially as this has now been more than one occasion.



The overwhelming majority of our front line employees work hard to deliver good customer service and compliments are often received. However as with all large organisations a minority can sometimes let us down. We have invested heavily in customer service training over the years – and we continue to do so. This is because we want our employees to be able to carry out their jobs to the best of their abilities, which in turn means our passengers can receive the best possible service. So again, I'm disappointed your experience didn't reflect this.

So, considering the circumstances, I will be happy to refund you £9 via cheque, and this should be with you within the next couple of weeks.

I really do hope that this is the response that you were looking for and I’m sorry for all of the inconveniences caused to get to this stage.

Still no admission about whether the excess procedure in the KB was correct or why the previous correspondence was wrong.

 

[Clip]

So I sent the following


And received this slightly better response back:



Still no admission about whether the excess procedure in the KB was correct or why the previous correspondence was wrong.

Companies are hardly going to admit theyre wrong all the time with everything they do are they?

 

[Haywain]

Oh come on! An apology, a refund and a statement that it was poor service. I think that covers it pretty well.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Oh come on! An apology, a refund and a statement that it was poor service. I think that covers it pretty well.

No commitment to solve the problem?

When I make a complaint I rarely am after money, I am more concerned about fixing the problem I complained about.


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