GA Refusing to Sell Ipswich to Stansted via Cambridge

[F Great Eastern]

Hi All,

The other day a friend of mine has their Stansted flights changed due to the weather disruption and due to this lost their nicely priced advance ticket from Stansted to Ipswich. With the walk up price for Stansted Express and Ipswich to London being pretty signifcent and the fact they would be travel with someone who is going to Cambridge on the new dates they were flying they saw that by far the cheapest option was Stansted to Ipswich via Cambridge Off Peak return (23.60)

However GA would only sell him the tickets via London? Does this off peak via Cambridge ticket actually exist? I've seen it on various booking websites, and it seems valid for one train an hour and with Cross Country from Stansted to Cambridge then with GA from Cambridge to Ipswich on their one an hour train. So why are they not selling it? anxious to get the extra farebox revenue?

 

[cuccir]

Yes, the ticket exists: Stansted to Cambridge, Off-Peak Return, via not London, £23.60

Are you sure that your friend was clear in what he was asking for? Did he buy the alternative, more expensive ticket? Has he travelled yet?

If he hasn't travelled, I'd suggest taking the ticket to a rail station, explaining that he asked for a different ticket and the sale was refused, and asking to have it refunded, so that he can purchase a 'not via London' ticket: it may have been some confusion in communication that resulted in this sale. He should insist on there being no administrative fee.

If he's refused, or if he's not in a position to get a refund because he's already away, then Greater Anglia are breaking their franchise agreement by not selling impartially. I suggest that at that point he should write to their customer services department, cc-ing in Passenger Focus.

 

[OwlMan]

If he asked for an Ipswich - Stanstead via cambridge ticket then it does not exist under that name. He needs an Ipswich - Stanstead "Not via London" ticket, which if asked for should be sold by the ticket office.

 

[island]

It wouldn't have killed the clerk if asked for route via Cambridge to say "the routes available are _____, which would you like?"

 

[johnnycache]

Were they buying the new ticket from scratch or were they using the Advance tickets in part payment?