Picking up my tickets from a TVM at Gatwick Airport the other morning, there were the usual mix of tourists and commuters around arriving off flights and buying tickets into London. I'd say about half were going to the booking window and half to the self-service TVMs.
Standing at the TVMs to 'assist' passengers was a uniformed Gatwick Express employee. His help to the would-be passengers seemed to consist mainly of asking along the lines of "to London? You want the Express? There you go" and hitting the expensive Gatwick Express fare for the customer before they even have a chance to see what other options are on the screen. It's not the first time I've seen this.
I've travel through Gatwick often (every two weeks or so) and I've always perceived the Express to be a rip-off and unnecessary given the other services available; however, if people wish to use it, then that's up to them. What I STRONGLY disagree with, however, is the way passengers are cajoled on to the Express without properly being advised of what other options are available. There are a fair few British commuters and I'd expect them to be confused enough with the various options already (Express, Southern or FCC, and the multitude of London stations available directly) but there are many foreign commuters and tourists who obviously don't have a clue, see the Express publicity and automatically go for it.
There are ALWAYS Gatwick Express employees standing near the platform entrances directing passengers on to the next service ("you can buy your tickets on board", etc), which means the vast majority won't even know you can take a Southern service which takes 5 minutes longer and costs over a third less, or an FCC to other stations that costs even less. It strikes me as a very dodgy practice, making extra money by preying on the ignorance of people who just don't know how it works.
It's one thing to have the place filled with Gatwick Express publicity (those who've passed through will know what I mean), but it's entirely another to have people standing looking over people's shoulders at the ticket machines and directing them to buy a more expensive ticket without explaining that there are other options available for a much lower cost, or giving them time to see what's on the screen.
I was thinking of making a complaint, but I don't know if there are really grounds for it and I'm just being pedantic - I'd love to know others' thoughts on this. Also, who would I complain to? Presumably not ATOC, as they'd be much in favour of the extra revenue. I'm guessing Passenger Focus as a first port of call?
Standing at the TVMs to 'assist' passengers was a uniformed Gatwick Express employee. His help to the would-be passengers seemed to consist mainly of asking along the lines of "to London? You want the Express? There you go" and hitting the expensive Gatwick Express fare for the customer before they even have a chance to see what other options are on the screen. It's not the first time I've seen this.
I've travel through Gatwick often (every two weeks or so) and I've always perceived the Express to be a rip-off and unnecessary given the other services available; however, if people wish to use it, then that's up to them. What I STRONGLY disagree with, however, is the way passengers are cajoled on to the Express without properly being advised of what other options are available. There are a fair few British commuters and I'd expect them to be confused enough with the various options already (Express, Southern or FCC, and the multitude of London stations available directly) but there are many foreign commuters and tourists who obviously don't have a clue, see the Express publicity and automatically go for it.
There are ALWAYS Gatwick Express employees standing near the platform entrances directing passengers on to the next service ("you can buy your tickets on board", etc), which means the vast majority won't even know you can take a Southern service which takes 5 minutes longer and costs over a third less, or an FCC to other stations that costs even less. It strikes me as a very dodgy practice, making extra money by preying on the ignorance of people who just don't know how it works.
It's one thing to have the place filled with Gatwick Express publicity (those who've passed through will know what I mean), but it's entirely another to have people standing looking over people's shoulders at the ticket machines and directing them to buy a more expensive ticket without explaining that there are other options available for a much lower cost, or giving them time to see what's on the screen.
I was thinking of making a complaint, but I don't know if there are really grounds for it and I'm just being pedantic - I'd love to know others' thoughts on this. Also, who would I complain to? Presumably not ATOC, as they'd be much in favour of the extra revenue. I'm guessing Passenger Focus as a first port of call?
