Kings Cross frustration

[VauxhallandI]

Yesterday I had to go to Peterborough from Kings Cross.

I was aiming for the 16:40 GN service as it is only 63 mins.

VTEC was off the cards as their walk up fare is over £50

I arrive at the ticket hall at 16:35 and spoke to the member of staff who confirmed the off peak ticket was £28.10

I asked when the next service was and if that was the same price.

She spoke to the person next to her who said it wasn't so she sold me an Anytime ticket at £31.80

As it turned out I made the 16:40 by about an inch.

I then looked on my phone to see that the 16:50 was also an off peak service?!

If I can see that on a phone why is it two members of staff who issue these tickets everyday with all the IT systems at their hands not know this? Or was NRE wrong?

 

[najaB]

This appears to be the ticket in question - OFF-PEAK DAY R [B1]. I can't see any evening peak restriction on it at all from Kings Cross so it should have been valid.

 

[Antman]

If I can see that on a phone why is it two members of staff who issue these tickets everyday with all the IT systems at their hands not know this?

Because they are poorly trained / dim / don't care (delete as required).

Great Northern staff including some of the RPIs seem to have great difficulty understanding their own evening peak restrictions.

 

[96tommy]

Quite a shame hearing about this. kings X on a nearly daily basis and always found ticket staff there some of the best in the country (along with most VTEC ticket offices)

 

[steamybrian]

Because they are poorly trained / dim / don't care (delete as required).

Great Northern staff including some of the RPIs seem to have great difficulty understanding their own evening peak restrictions.

I know someone who is a ticket gate attendant at Kings Cross. He has said to me previously that the ticket restrictions are so complicated that it is very difficult trying to determine the validity of every ticket, what discounts are valid with railcards at particular time, etc, etc. This is on top of knowing the geographical location of every station and the time/platform of train departures.

 

[falcon]

Because they are poorly trained / dim / don't care (delete as required).

Great Northern staff including some of the RPIs seem to have great difficulty understanding their own evening peak restrictions.

They do not have proper training,many are agency staff,the TOC tend recruite "smiliers" now, not people who are enforcers and rules and regulation driven. The HR selection processes used tend to filter out "keen" people.

 

[Joe Paxton]

This appears to be the ticket in question - OFF-PEAK DAY R [B1]. I can't see any evening peak restriction on it at all from Kings Cross so it should have been valid.

Looks like they got confused with the return portion of a GN-only Off-Peak Day Return (i.e. bought for a return journey starting from Peterborough), which is subject to evening peak restrictions.

However GN-only Off-Peak Day Singles and Returns starting from London have no such restriction.

I suggest a concise complaint to VTEC, attaching a scan of your ticket to emphasise the matter.

 

[VauxhallandI]

I know someone who is a ticket gate attendant at Kings Cross. He has said to me previously that the ticket restrictions are so complicated that it is very difficult trying to determine the validity of every ticket, what discounts are valid with railcards at particular time, etc, etc. This is on top of knowing the geographical location of every station and the time/platform of train departures.

Maybe if they spent some time here it might help. Can't take that long to learn?

 

[steamybrian]

Maybe if they spent some time here it might help. Can't take that long to learn?

You are taking an example of one fare for one train to one station. Multiply that for every train and every station on not only the East Coast and all other stations served from Kings Cross . The ticket inspector/examiner has to know it all..!

 

[najaB]

The ticket inspector/examiner has to know it all..!

Given the complexity of ticket restrictions, it isn't really fair to expect them to know the details of every fare. They should have (or should use if they already have) technology that lets them look things up in real time.

 

[VauxhallandI]

You are taking an example of one fare for one train to one station. Multiply that for every train and every station on not only the East Coast and all other stations served from Kings Cross . The ticket inspector/examiner has to know it all..!

I'm discussing the ticket office staff.

I'm asking them to know their own station, is that too much to ask?

I know the restrictions of my regular journey and can go to court if I don't.

It's an embarrassment to be fair.

 

[Hadders]

The ticket office staff at Kings Cross are VTEC, not Great Northern. VTEC staff are generally good but there does seem to be an issue at Kings Cross. I was unnecessarily delayed last year by a VTEC member of staff and their manager at the gate line to platforms 0-8 when I tried to enter with a valid Off Peak train (in order to catch a GN service that was leaving from Platform 8).

What was particularly disappointing was their blanket 'no off peak tickets are valid at this time' stance and their refusal to even look it up. This was witnesses by several forum members.

 

[falcon]

At Kings Cross you only have to say you are travelling on Grand Central or Hull Trains and they will let you through the barrier without a ticket. Hull Trains and Grand Central sell tickets on board and also many tickets are collect on board.

"Ticket please"

"I'm on Hull Trains"

"OK"

 

[Antman]

Looks like they got confused with the return portion of a GN-only Off-Peak Day Return (i.e. bought for a return journey starting from Peterborough), which is subject to evening peak restrictions.

However GN-only Off-Peak Day Singles and Returns starting from London have no such restriction.

It is not uncommon for GN RPIs make that mistake.

 

[yorkie]

The ticket office staff at Kings Cross are VTEC, not Great Northern. VTEC staff are generally good but there does seem to be an issue at Kings Cross. I was unnecessarily delayed last year by a VTEC member of staff and their manager at the gate line to platforms 0-8 when I tried to enter with a valid Off Peak train (in order to catch a GN service that was leaving from Platform 8).

What was particularly disappointing was their blanket 'no off peak tickets are valid at this time' stance and their refusal to even look it up. This was witnesses by several forum members.

Indeed. The staff tried to convince us that they did not need to look up the restriction code because they already know them all, and the restriction code is encoded into the magnetic stripe, so the barrier knows if the ticket is valid or not.:roll:

I don't know if they thought we were gullible or if someone else had fed them such rubbish and they genuinely believed whoever told them it.

Did VTEC ever give you a proper apology? If not, I'd take the matter to London Travelwatch

 

[Haywain]

They do not have proper training,many are agency staff,the TOC tend recruite "smiliers" now, not people who are enforcers and rules and regulation driven. The HR selection processes used tend to filter out "keen" people.

It's not clear who you are referring to, but I can assure you that none of the ticket office staff at Kings Cross are agency staff.

 

[Nym]

It's not clear who you are referring to, but I can assure you that none of the ticket office staff at Kings Cross are agency staff.

Aside from there not being any ticket office staff, I'm assuming you're excluding the 'licenced travel ambassador' (formally ICSA) roles that may have been fulfilled by agency staff from offices, depots or works.

 

[Deerfold]

Aside from there not being any ticket office staff, I'm assuming you're excluding the 'licenced travel ambassador' (formally ICSA) roles that may have been fulfilled by agency staff from offices, depots or works.

Who are the people in the ticket office at King's Cross then?

 

[Hadders]

Indeed. The staff tried to convince us that they did not need to look up the restriction code because they already know them all, and the restriction code is encoded into the magnetic stripe, so the barrier knows if the ticket is valid or not.:roll:

I don't know if they thought we were gullible or if someone else had fed them such rubbish and they genuinely believed whoever told them it.

Did VTEC ever give you a proper apology? If not, I'd take the matter to London Travelwatch

I got an inappropriate reply first time round, sent an escalation complaint in and was promised a full response which I never received.

I decided to let the matter rest as I didn't want to risk too much attention being bought to the ticket and the restrictions getting changed. As it happens I'm using the ticket quite regularly at the moment. I'm normally just waved through the barriers at Kings Cross (if they're in operation). I still await an RPI check on the train to Stevenage though...

 

[Nym]

Who are the people in the ticket office at King's Cross then?

There's a ticket office at Kings Cross? Or is there a TfL Travel Centre?

 

[AndyW33]

There's a ticket office at Kings Cross? Or is there a TfL Travel Centre?

The discussion is about Kings Cross main line station, not Kings Cross Underground.

Certainly there's a ticket office there, and as other posters have said, it is staffed by VTEC employees.

 

[Haywain]

Aside from there not being any ticket office staff, I'm assuming you're excluding the 'licenced travel ambassador' (formally ICSA) roles that may have been fulfilled by agency staff from offices, depots or works.

I'm not sure that I have the faintest idea what you are talking about, but I was referring to the Virgin operated ticket office/Travel Centre at King's Cross mainline station. It would probably be reasonable to assume that this was where the OP purchased his ticket on Friday afternoon.

 

[VauxhallandI]

I'm not sure that I have the faintest idea what you are talking about, but I was referring to the Virgin operated ticket office/Travel Centre at King's Cross mainline station. It would probably be reasonable to assume that this was where the OP purchased his ticket on Friday afternoon.

Correct I was talking about the main station ticket office

 

[Joe Paxton]

There's a ticket office at Kings Cross? Or is there a TfL Travel Centre?

?

 

[bb21]

Because they are poorly trained / dim / don't care (delete as required).

Great Northern staff including some of the RPIs seem to have great difficulty understanding their own evening peak restrictions.

What's it got to do with Great Northern?

 

[bb21]

I know someone who is a ticket gate attendant at Kings Cross. He has said to me previously that the ticket restrictions are so complicated that it is very difficult trying to determine the validity of every ticket, what discounts are valid with railcards at particular time, etc, etc. This is on top of knowing the geographical location of every station and the time/platform of train departures.

Looks like they got confused with the return portion of a GN-only Off-Peak Day Return (i.e. bought for a return journey starting from Peterborough), which is subject to evening peak restrictions.

However GN-only Off-Peak Day Singles and Returns starting from London have no such restriction.

I suggest a concise complaint to VTEC, attaching a scan of your ticket to emphasise the matter.

I think these probably cover the most likely causes.

Still, not really acceptable not to understand the restrictions of some of the most commonly sold tickets from your own station. It puts both the industry and the TOC in a very poor light.

 

[Antman]

What's it got to do with Great Northern?

Because if Great Northern's staff who are supposed to enforce the evening peak are too poorly trained /dim / don't care (delete as appropriate) to do so, then good luck expecting another train company's staff to do better.

 

[Hadders]

Because if Great Northern's staff who are supposed to enforce the evening peak are too poorly trained /dim / don't care (delete as appropriate) to do so, then good luck expecting another train company's staff to do better.

What are you on about?

It was VTEC's staff that refused to sell the OP the most appropriate ticket for his journey, nothing whatsoever to do with Great Northern.

On a separate issue I'm sure there are some GN staff out there who are poorly trained etc but if there are examples of where this has affected a journey then a new thread should be started.

 

[bb21]

Because if Great Northern's staff who are supposed to enforce the evening peak are too poorly trained /dim / don't care (delete as appropriate) to do so, then good luck expecting another train company's staff to do better.

Your obsession with Great Northern is clouding your judgement. As pointed out by others, GN has nought to do with this incident.

 

[island]

At Kings Cross you only have to say you are travelling on Grand Central or Hull Trains and they will let you through the barrier without a ticket. Hull Trains and Grand Central sell tickets on board and also many tickets are collect on board.

"Ticket please"

"I'm on Hull Trains"

"OK"

Only if there's a First Hull Trains or Grand Central service boarding.