Did the ticket barrier break my season ticket?

[BW]

Hi,

I have an annual season ticket from Welwyn North to Elephant and Castle, which involves changing at Kings Cross/St Pancras.

Typically, for the second leg of my return journey, I get the 1752 from KGX, which almost always leaves from platform 10 or 11.

The other day, rather than my normal train home, I caught a slightly later one. Forgetting that I wasn't getting the usual train, I went through the ticket barriers onto platforms 9-11, checked the screen, realised I needed to be on platform 4, and tried to leave again. My ticket was rejected by the gate.

Ever since then, it hasn't worked at any station I've tried it (KGX, STP, BFR). Last night, I made a note to look at the error code on the gate, and it shows "09" (ticket faulty).

Is it coincidence that my ticket chose this exact moment to break after 4 months, or did the gate corrupt it when I tried to exit the gated area less than a minute after entering?

 

[bb21]

It could be any of these reasons you gave above. If you're really worried about it no longer being accepted by the gates and want the convenience of what used to happen, get it replaced for free at the issuing station.

 

[BW]

get it replaced for free at the issuing station

Mmm. I haven't quite got round to that yet. I'm building myself up to it; if it's anything like last year, it will be a hideously painful experience involving a half hour wait while the staff member in the ticket office tries to wrap his head around a passenger record on the computer which appears to show an annual season ticket that ended the day before it started. Oh, and the replacement ticket will be issued on the wrong stock (standard ticket, not gold card), and not properly reissued, just to add to the fun.

I complained. It got me nowhere. Got to love First Capital Connect.

 

[Greenback]

In cintrast, in ATW land, the local office will replace my annual in 2 minutes!

 

[Urban Gateline]

get it replaced for free at any staffed station.

Is this always possible?

At SWT we've been told to refer passengers back to the station where their season ticket was issued.

 

[trc666]

Is your annual season a Gold Card by any chance? They don't always last long (mainly due to being kept near Blackberry phones etc) and I always have to deal with queues of Gold Card holders in the peaks wanting to be let out because their tickets do not work or they just don't want to (or cannot be bothered to) take it out of the wallet.

 

[bb21]

Is this always possible?

At SWT we've been told to refer passengers back to the station where their season ticket was issued.

Yes from the station where you bought the season ticket unless it was bought online. It is mentioned here, under "Damaged or defective Season Tickets".

I typed the original in haste and have altered it.

 

[stut]

My old gold card went from lasting 6 months to lasting at best 2 when they introduced the barriers at King's Cross. Getting it replaced was always a royal pain (the ones that were bought online were so bad that they eventually gave you a sheet to download to tell ticket sellers how to do it). You were then generally treated as if you were an inconvenience and fraudster for daring to spend several grand a year.

Of course, if you let the strip get demagnetised or the print go slightly faded, you'd get all sorts of threats from RPIs. And, after queuing for several minutes just to get through the crush on platform 9 since they penned you in there, you'd have to queue for several minutes more to leave the station (same if you had the temerity to use a railcard or store your bike on the racks on platform 9 - assuming you weren't turned away in case you tried to take it on the half-empty peak time train).

I complained. It got me nowhere. Got to love First Capital Connect.

Oh, I'm sure you got an assurance that it would be properly investigated but that they're sure you'd understand that they couldn't go into details or give you any concrete answers.

 

[trc666]

Damaged or defective season tickets

If your season ticket is damaged, illegible or defective, for example it will no longer work in ticket gates, it will be replaced at the office from which it was issued provided the Train Company which sold it can confirm the ticket is still valid.

 

[michael769]

I have never (in 6 years) had any season ticket last the distance without it stopping working in the barriers. generally when it stops working I just show it at the manual gate line. But from time to time they go on little "must use the automatic gate" kicks where you have to show them it does not work. When that happens I get it replaced.

This year I am on ticket #4 and I'm only 5 months in!

You would think after 6 years they could manage to get the tickets and barriers to work together properly!

 

[dvboy]

I've had a nnetwork season ticket replaced with no problems at Snow Hill there because the writing on it was almost unreadable. The ticket was a corporate scheme issue.

They should make them plastic coated.

 

[Trog]

Its alright for some my ticket does not come with a magnetic stripe in the first place.

Really handy when my commute involved three sets of barriers.

 

[iphone76]

NXEA are quite good on this. My ticket has been replaced numerous times at Wickford with no hassles. They even allow you to log non working tickets on their website and pick up the new ticket at Liverpool Street the next day.

http://www.nationalexpresseastangli...-options/commuter-tickets/replacement-tickets