Cheltenham to Southampton groupsave tickets

[taxidave]

Today, Saturday 27th November I travelled from Cheltenham to Southampton, I had arranged to travel on the 9.35 FGW departure from Cheltenham to Bristol Temple Meads and then change onto the FGW train from Cardiff to Portsmouth Harbour departing Temple Meads at 11.23 using Groupsave 4 discounted tickets. However the clerk at Cheltenham booking office would not sell us groupsave 4 tickets to Bristol and insisted we purchase off peak day returns to Bristol and then groupsave tickets from Bristol to Southampton.
I could have booked these tickets using groupsave 4 the day before if I had used the internet but decided to wait until this morning in case somebody did not turn up.
Was the clerk correct in not issuing our groupsave tickets for the whole journey and if not how do I complain and get a refund for the excess fares that we have paid.

 

[bnm]

Complain in the first instance in writing to FGW Customer Services*, enclosing your tickets (keep copies of all tickets/correspondence). Make it clear in your complaint that you were planning on travelling with FGW throughout. If you have the name of the clerk who has mis-sold you your tickets then provide this as well. Should you have no joy from FGW Customer Service (I'm fairly confident you'll get your money back, though) then escalate your complaint to Passenger Focus.

This clerk is bang out of order, if you were intending to travel with FGW all the way there is absolutely no reason why you should not have been sold a GroupSave 4 ticket. On Saturday 27th there were no barred FGW services for GroupSave for trips from Cheltenham to Southampton via Bristol. As far as I'm aware the FGW services between Bristol and Cheltenham were running as normal on the 27th so there was no issue for your return journey either. I fear this clerk has got in a bit of a pickle with the GroupSave on CrossCountry issue. Looks like FGW ticket offices may have had some pressure put on them by the shysters at CrossCountry. However, as you were not travelling with CrossCountry this is irrelevant anyway.

*
Customer Services Team
First Great Western
Freepost SWB40576
Plymouth
PL4 6ZZ

 

[Ferret]

Looks like FGW ticket offices may have had some pressure put on them by the shysters at CrossCountry. However, as you were not travelling with CrossCountry this is irrelevant anyway.

A little out of order there bnm! Maybe you can explain how XC are being shysters for not accepting a product that a different rail company wishes to offer? It seems one or two have a massive issue with a sensible business decision, and it's getting to the point where it's laughable. On one hand we have some justified moans about overcrowding on XC, and then some of you seem to expect XC to want to make it worse by offering groupsave tickets! Can you not see how ridiculous that is?

Anyway, I digress. The fact is, the clerk should've sold the tickets as requested, advising the customer that the tickets are not valid on XC services and then should the customer have been daft enough to then join an XC - they can expect to be buying some CNM-BRI SDSs! On this I agree bnm - it looks like the clerk has misinterpreted the directive about not selling GPS-3/4 for XC services and taken things too far

 

[IainH]

"Maybe you can explain how XC are being shysters for not accepting a product that a different rail company wishes to offer? "

Because ATOC, of which XC are part, told us a few years back that fares had been simplified. Much of the correspondence in this forum reflects the fact that they are anything but, and XC going their own way on Groupsave is an example of non simplification. Looking at that "sensible business decision" from a narrow XC point of view it may make sense, but from the point of view of a system thats useable for an OP it does not. For travellers on lines that are shared another TOC / XC, this creates the kind of problem taxidave encountered, probably also not helped in this case by the booking office staff.

And if XC is overcrowded, one should always remember their HST fleet which is underused - another sensible business decision?

 

[Ferret]

"Maybe you can explain how XC are being shysters for not accepting a product that a different rail company wishes to offer? "

Because ATOC, of which XC are part, told us a few years back that fares had been simplified. Much of the correspondence in this forum reflects the fact that they are anything but, and XC going their own way on Groupsave is an example of non simplification. Looking at that "sensible business decision" from a narrow XC point of view it may make sense, but from the point of view of a system thats useable for an OP it does not. For travellers on lines that are shared another TOC / XC, this creates the kind of problem taxidave encountered, probably also not helped in this case by the booking office staff.

And if XC is overcrowded, one should always remember their HST fleet which is underused - another sensible business decision?

Well, 4 out of 5 HSTs in service from mid-December, so it looks like that sensible business decision has been made!

And, we were told when everything was privatised that on some routes there would be competition between operators. On that route, FGW is perfectly entitled to offer a discounted ticket - and XC are perfectly entitled to refuse to accept it. Of course, if you want it simplified, I'm sure FGW could just decide it isn't worth the hassle and withdraw Groupsave from the route. I'm afraid, if the product is retailed correctly, there is no issue - it's simple enough for anyone to understand! The problems only start when ticket office staff fail to do their jobs correctly.

 

[moonrakerz]

I use this route a fair bit to get to Birmingham (from Warminster), via Worcester.

If you are doing this journey again, look at getting (advance, if poss) singles on the through FGW service Gt Malvern/Worcester to Warminster/Soton/Brighton/Weymouth and splitting at Warminster/Westbury.
I just did a check on one random day: lowest Cheltenham to Soton was £30.70.
Cheltenham to Soton, splitting at Warminster, lowest was £12.50.

 

[taxidave]

Just bumping this thread back to the top to inform you of the successful outcome from my letter to Customer Services at Plymouth.
Today I have received travel vouchers for the full amount that we were overcharged, in total £64.00.
Thank you once again for all your help and advice.

 

[Greenback]

The correct result in the circumstances.

 

[asylumxl]

Well, 4 out of 5 HSTs in service from mid-December, so it looks like that sensible business decision has been made!

All well and good, but didn't they remove carriages in their consists to reduce track access charges?

 

[222007]

All well and good, but didn't they remove carriages in their consists to reduce track access charges?

Internal e-mails say they will be 8 carraiges with the one removed re-instated