Hell at Finsbury Park

[JoeThomas]

Hello all.

On Saturday morning I got on a service to Moorgate - however, I did not board without a ticket as I could not obtain the ticket I wanted from the TVM (I needed a ticket starting from another station). A ticket inspector approached me as we were pulling out of Cuffley and I explained my issue to him. He got out his TVM and programmed in to buy a ticket from Hertford to London Terminals. However, he had got me a single - not the return like I asked for - and as I paid with my debit card he had to write an endorsement on the back, clearly explaining to me about how I'd have to explain my issue to anyone at the ticket gates. I alighted at Finsbury Park uneventfully at platform 2.

However, on the way back there was problems. I was planning to catch the 17:02 service from FPK to SVG and at 16:45 I arrived at platform 8. As the ticket barriers were closed I went up to one of the men manning the barriers and explained my problem. Right away he was very aggressive, saying nothing but "you bought a single, you must buy one for the way back". Despite the fact I already told them that it was an endorsement issued by one of his colleagues, he was having none of it. He progressively got louder, putting the blame of me not getting a return on me like I had bought it myself through a TVM. His final words for me were "now go back downstairs and get yourself another ticket". I was highly embarrassed having to explain my issue in the first place let alone get shouted incorrect information at, so I obliged and went to buy an unnecessary ticket. Thinking about it now, it would've been cheaper to tap in on my Oyster card and let it charge me the maximum fare than buy another ticket. I was tempted to ask the other man at the gate about the issue but considering how loud the other one as well as being embarrassed was I would've guessed he heard what we were saying and just ignored it. Given that, the final cherry on the top of this was when I did buy my ticket it did not work through the ticket gates, meaning I had to go up him once again - he didn't even look at me or my newly purchased ticket, and just let me in. I was nearly in tears!

Now look - I know that a teenage boy at station notorious for fare evasion is a reason for suspect and I'm glad that staff were there in the first place, but this is not the way I expect to be treated by a member of GTR staff. With my GCSE examinations only a week away this has sent my stress levels through the roof.

Has anyone else had an experience like this?

 

[yorkie]

Were the ticket office able to excess your ticket from a single to a return?

And yes I have experienced awful GTR gateline staff too, but nothing will ever change.

 

[najaB]

Has anyone else had an experience like this?

I've not, but one thing isn't clear to me from your account - did you actually pay for a return ticket but were issued a single?

 

[JoeThomas]

Were the ticket office able to excess your ticket from a single to a return?

And yes I have experienced awful GTR gateline staff too, but nothing will ever change.

I was not aware. Was told by the inspector just to explain my issue to another member of staff and they'd understand.

 

[JoeThomas]

I've not, but one thing isn't clear to me from your account - did you actually pay for a return ticket but were issued a single?

I probably did pay for a single, but I can't remember (there's 5p in it, so even if I did...)

 

[bb21]

I am not surprised you were not believed. It is a very odd story.

What I suggest is that you write to GTR about your experience and enclose the tickets (after taking a photocopy). They should be able to investigate and get back to you with the correct refund.

 

[najaB]

I probably did pay for a single, but I can't remember (there's 5p in it, so even if I did...)

It doesn't really matter if it was 5p or £500 - if you had a single then you only had a single. While the staff member may have spoken to you harshly they would be correct that you didn't have a valid ticket.

 

[robbeech]

Unfortunately this is correct. If you held and had paid for a single then you are entitled to a single journey. If the member of train staff sold it to you by mistake then they should rectify it there and then if they refuse then you should seek to deal with it when you arrive at your destination rather than on the way home.

I would under no circumstances allow a scribble on my ticket to turn it into a return as this will not be believed by anyone else.

 

[Tetchytyke]

It doesn't really matter if it was 5p or £500 - if you had a single then you only had a single.

The guard/RPI endorsed it for travel.

If an ENDORSEMENT isn't enough, I really don't know what is.

It's what the ticket office have done for me before when a TVM only printed half of my return ticket.

 

[Tetchytyke]

I would under no circumstances allow a scribble on my ticket to turn it into a return as this will not be believed by anyone else.

So the advice is get your ticket endorsed to prove you're telling the truth, but even then you won't be believed by some twerp on a GTR gateline (my experience of two years of Finsbury Park gateline staff is that they're all twerps). Wow.

No wonder the rail industry has such a high reputation.

 

[Failed Unit]

The guard/RPI endorsed it for travel.

If an ENDORSEMENT isn't enough, I really don't know what is.

I saw that on Twitter as well.

Unfortunately GTR can and do whatever they like and the government is too afraid to stop them. Sadly people like the OP get caught in the crossfire.

Saw a photo of the ticket. Seemed clear to me.

I guess anyone could have written it. But considering how easy it is to avoid the barrier checks, if you wanted to avoid paying a fare you wouldn’t be writing on tickets.

 

[najaB]

The guard/RPI endorsed it for travel.

I've not seen the ticket but if it was just a scribble I wouldn't trust it.

 

[robbeech]

So the advice is get your ticket endorsed to prove you're telling the truth, but even then you won't be believed by some twerp on a GTR gateline (my experience of two years of Finsbury Park gateline staff is that they're all twerps). Wow.

No wonder the rail industry has such a high reputation.

Well, exhibit A is here in this thread. I agree it’s ludicrous.

 

[Failed Unit]

I've not seen the ticket but if it was just a scribble I wouldn't trust it.

So if you were an RPI and someone wrote on the ticket. Authorised to travel on train x because of a delay on train y you wouldn’t believe it. If you wouldn’t I am glad you are not.

Will try and find the link on Twitter. But the ticket looked genuine. Legible and well written. Unfortunately for the OP this is GTR. Guilty until proven innocent.

 

[robbeech]

Endorsements if this kind should be used to permit a ticket to be used on a different train (say a later one after disruption) or via a different route for a variety of reasons be that due to railway rules requiring this or due to it being discretionary by staff.
Using this to turn a single into a return is asking for trouble in fairness.
In order to accept this you’d have had to pay the difference, you’d be entitled to a receipt to prove you had done so, all of this is more faff than the guard issuing the correct ticket.

 

[najaB]

So if you were an RPI and someone wrote on the ticket. Authorised to travel on train x because of a delay on train y you wouldn’t believe it.

That's a completely different scenario from that presented by the OP.

 

[MikeWh]

I don't know if I'm missing something, but I can't see any photo of a ticket in this thread?

 

[Tetchytyke]

That's a completely different scenario from that presented by the OP.

Not really. Just last week Newcastle ticket office had to endorse the outward portion of my off peak return because the TVM didn't print/drop the return portion. Nobody batted an eyelid. And that was an expensive ticket.

It's the whole point of endorsements.

I don't know if I'm missing something, but I can't see any photo of a ticket in this thread?

There isn't, but I'm taking the OP at face value because why not?

If the OP did their own scribbling that would open a whole can of sorry on them.

 

[najaB]

Not really. Just last week Newcastle ticket office had to endorse the outward portion of my off peak return because the TVM didn't print/drop the return portion. Nobody batted an eyelid. And that was an expensive ticket.

But you had, at least, paid for a return ticket. Unless I've misread the OP's account they paid for a single ticket which was endorsed to make it into an return.

 

[jon0844]

Reading the original post, it seems the staff member accidentally selected a single ticket instead of a return and charged for a single. Instead of cancelling and issuing the correct ticket(s), the decision was taken to endorse a single ticket to allow a return journey. The OP saved 5p, but didn't ask for such a big discount!

Without seeing the ticket, I'd have hoped the back showed not just text to allow travel but also details of who gave permission (i.e. a GTR employee number) which should have made it far easier to check.

Now hopefully the ticket DOES have something like this and it should be easy to appeal the extra ticket purchase.

It's not worth getting stressed over rude staff though.If you hadn't done anything wrong then there's no point getting upset because someone else thought you had. It's probably worth making a complaint.

 

[Haywain]

It is worth complaining to GTR though, as staff should not be endorsing tickets in this way when they have the equipment to correct their own mistake properly - either by non-issuing the 'wrong' ticket or issuing an excess.

 

[RJ]

Sometimes staff get it wrong. If they're lazy, they'll take shortcuts to try and cover it up.

Stand your ground if someone isn't doing their job properly. If they issue a single and scribble on it when you asked for a return, tell them to give you exactly what you asked for. They clearly couldn't give two hoots about the obvious consequences of their expedient behaviour. So why should you give a stuff about hurting their feelings by telling them to give you what you asked for?

Be strong - don't be afraid to speak up. If there's a problem, try and get it resolved there and then.

The art of looking after customers is lost on some.

 

[greyman42]

What strikes me about this incident is the abuse the member of the public had to put up with. There are posters on stations saying that staff will not tolerate this type of behaviour from the public and that you could end up in Court, so why should the public be subjected to it from staff?

 

[najaB]

What strikes me about this incident is the abuse the member of the public had to put up with.

Remember, we only have the OP's description of what occurred. If it is accurate then I agree, but there's the old adage about there being three sides to every story.