Minimum times for collecting tickets

[premier01]

I was travelling from Preston to London last week on the 06.56 and needed to
collect ticket from TVM-arrived at 06.34 and found a really long queue of about 14 people trying to collect tickets-there are 3 TVM's and it seemed 1 wasn't working.

At 06.43 I was still 4 places from the front and was starting to get concerned about missing train at which point sales adviser directed me to ticket office where I was issued tickets-had 5 mins to spare after that.

Therefore was thinking what is the minimum time you need to allow and what would have happened if I didn't have time to get ticket-in this case I had a First Anytime Single and could have got another train but that would have made me late for meeting in London-think I should've been allowed to travel showing ticket collection advice E-mail but don't think that would've gone down well with train manager but that can't be right.

 

[island]

I don't think there's any official word on this (besides perhaps the "we will aim to serve you within 5 minutes") so I expect it would be a question of what is reasonable in the circumstances. Were I the TM on that train I would probably ask you to buy a new FOS and give you a note regarding the matter requesting you be excepted from the £10 refund fee on the old ticket.

 

[Flamingo]

We've been told to issue a UPFN with as much detail as we can put on the "comments" box (reference no., time spent queueing, broken TVM etc), and the passenger than has ten days to collect the original ticket and forward it with the UPFN for cancellation of the UPFN.

Some people say OK, some people say "That sounds like too much hassle, I'll just buy a new ticket (!), some people say "I'm not giving you any details", and leave the train at the next opportunity I have to get a revenue bod to chat about it with them (!!).

The problem is that a certain class of fare-dodger worked out that if they turn up on the train with a random number written on the back of an envelope, that they would probably get away with it if they played the "I'm an indignant passenger it's your stupid companies fault" arguement

 

[radamfi]

Surely it is trivial to get on the phone and confirm that the reservation code is legitimate? If he's making it up he will own up before you pick up the phone.

 

[premier01]

We've been told to issue a UPFN with as much detail as we can put on the "comments" box (reference no., time spent queueing, broken TVM etc), and the passenger than has ten days to collect the original ticket and forward it with the UPFN for cancellation of the UPFN.

Some people say OK, some people say "That sounds like too much hassle, I'll just buy a new ticket (!), some people say "I'm not giving you any details", and leave the train at the next opportunity I have to get a revenue bod to chat about it with them (!!).

The problem is that a certain class of fare-dodger worked out that if they turn up on the train with a random number written on the back of an envelope, that they would probably get away with it if they played the "I'm an indignant passenger it's your stupid companies fault" arguement

I was about to say that it would be unfair for me to have paid out £200 for a new ticket but never having had UPFN was overlooking the fact that this wouldn't require immediate payment on the train and isn't necessarily an inference of guilt against the customer-sounds logical process in this case.

I would be against having to pay £200 on the spot though when not my fault-guess re minimum times perhaps an extra 5 mins should be allowed at peak times in my travel plans : - )

 

[MikeWh]

I realise it's difficult if you can't easily get to a TOD enabled TVM, but you can actually pick tickets up soon after you have bought them (some say immediately, others advise leaving 2 hours). In general I will never leave picking tickets up until the day of travel. The sooner you pick them up the less chance you have of getting problems because your card was swallowed by a machine, or stolen, etc.

 

[Flamingo]

Surely it is trivial to get on the phone and confirm that the reservation code is legitimate? If he's making it up he will own up before you pick up the phone.

Lovely idea, doesn't always work.
1. Depends on who it is booked with - different numbers for FGW telesales and internet sales, different again for Trainline. Also, some operators say they can't give out details if we are not the cardholder.
2. They need a physical ticket - otherwise we are back to a variation of the "using a multiple-date ticket as a season-ticket"
3. It is assuming we have a phone signal and the time - both can be in short supply (although admittedly filling in a UPFN takes time as well.)

If he's making it up he will own up before you pick up the phone.

The odd punter will be a poker player, however I find that the threat of a full-priced ANYTIME ticket to be paid in ten days or court will follow (phrased in such a way that I am being ever so helpful, and of course the passenger will be printing off their ticket as soon as they get to Paddington so it's all academic anyway), sorts out the genuine from the chancers. The genuine say "Yea, no problem", the not so genuine take me up on the offer to sell them a cheaper alternative now. The odd one runs away and locks themselves in the toilet.

 

[premier01]

Lovely idea, doesn't work.
1. Depends on who it is booked with - different numbers for FGW telesales and internet sales, different again for Trainline. Also, some operators say they can't give out details if we are not the cardholder.
2. They need a physical ticket - otherwise we are back to a variation of the "using a multiple-date ticket as a season-ticket"
3. It is assuming we have a phone signal and the time - both can be in short supply (although admittedly filling in a UPFN takes time as well.)

It would be good if the ticket system could access the booking database but understand the connectivity issuse with online connections-so is there any connectivity with on train systems then.

 

[Flamingo]

Not really. It involves phone calls to friendly ticket office staff, etc.

 

[premier01]

I realise it's difficult if you can't easily get to a TOD enabled TVM, but you can actually pick tickets up soon after you have bought them (some say immediately, others advise leaving 2 hours). In general I will never leave picking tickets up until the day of travel. The sooner you pick them up the less chance you have of getting problems because your card was swallowed by a machine, or stolen, etc.

I agree but I don't live near a station with a TVM-would be great if tickets could be printed online like airline boarding passes etc but guess they are all validated with ID at the airport.

 

[island]

I do believe XC provides for home printing of tickets, as does HEX. But this is limited in application, because it requires giving the guards particular equipment, and online-printed tickets don't work gates.

 

[Daniel]

I do believe XC provides for home printing of tickets, as does HEX. But this is limited in application, because it requires giving the guards particular equipment, and online-printed tickets don't work gates.

Do at MYB IIRC!

 

[bnm]

As a small point. Do UPFNs come with a freepost address or does a passenger have to fork out for postage?

Not ideal if you have to fork out extra, when it is the system that is at fault and not the passenger.

 

[island]

I don't know, but I seem to remember reading that they can be paid over the counter at a station in cash. On some TOCs anyway.

 

[rail-britain]

Preston is normally well staffed at that time in the morning
Clearly if the queue is not going to clear in time, and you arrived at least 20 minutes before advertised departure time, then ask a member of staff
They should advise you to board without a ticket and explain at the first available opportunity as to why you are travelling without a ticket
The on-board staff should know what to do, which has pretty much been explained above
If it is demanded that you purchase another ticket, then ask for a receipt

When posting, keep copies for yourself, and always send by Recorded delivery
Some TOCs also accept scanned copies and then provide a freepost so that the ticket can be sent in for payment to be made

 

[Flamingo]

As a small point. Do UPFNs come with a freepost address or does a passenger have to fork out for postage?

Not ideal if you have to fork out extra, when it is the system that is at fault and not the passenger.

FGW's don't have freepost. I'm not saying whether this is right or wrong.

 

[transmanche]

I agree but I don't live near a station with a TVM-would be great if tickets could be printed online like airline boarding passes etc but guess they are all validated with ID at the airport.

I do believe XC provides for home printing of tickets, as does HEX. But this is limited in application, because it requires giving the guards particular equipment, and online-printed tickets don't work gates.

East Coast do 'Print@Home' tickets and the new ticket gates at Newcastle (and some other East Coast stations) have scanners to read them - but not the new gates at Kings Cross.

Deutsche Bahn do self-printing too - and just like airline boarding passes, the ticket has to be validated with ID. When purchasing the ticket, you even have to specify what form of ID you will show (e.g. Visa card with number ending 1234) and the ticket is only valid if you can produce the matching ID.