Refused entry to platforms because ticket will not print

[BluePenguin]

I'm so annoyed! I got to the train station and the stupid machine would not print out my ticket. I put my reference number in correctly three times and it still said it couldn't find anything.

I showed my booking confirmation to man at the barrier and he said there was nothing he could do it. Staff at Southampton are rubbish anyway and on this occasion they failed to deliver once again. He refused to let me through so I missed my train >:-/

It was only a cheap ticket and I wish I hadn't bothered now for the 3% cashback from Greater Anglia, it was not worth the delay.

I think I will use a different website next time

 

[Bungle965]

I'm so annoyed! I got to the train station and the stupid machine would not print out my ticket. I put my reference number in correctly three times and it still said it couldn't find anything.

I showed my booking confirmation to man at the barrier and he said there was nothing he could do it. Staff at Southampton are rubbish anyway and on this occasion they failed to deliver once again. He refused to let me through so I missed my train >:-/

It was only a cheap ticket and I wish I hadn't bothered now for the 3% cashback from Greater Anglia, it was not worth the delay.

I think I will use a different website next time

Did you visit the ticket office?
They should have been able to print out the tickets for you.
Sam

 

[gray1404]

Can you ask the ticket office to print it off for you while you are still there? What sort of ticket was it for?

This is most unusual for a booking to be confirmed and TOD reference number generated and then for it not to be found.

At the very least phone the company you got the ticket from and see what they can do. If nothing, insist on a fe free refund.

 

[BluePenguin]

Did you visit the ticket office?
They should have been able to print out the tickets for you.
Sam

Yes I was going to and probably would have done first had it been open. Although sadly it is not open which makes no sense to me seeing as it is the weekend

 

[BluePenguin]

Can you ask the ticket office to print it off for you while you are still there? What sort of ticket was it for?

This is most unusual for a booking to be confirmed and TOD reference number generated and then for it not to be found.

At the very least phone the company you got the ticket from and see what they can do. If nothing, insist on a fe free refund.

It is closed annoyingly. I took your advice called Greater Anglia a moment ago but all they told me was to wait a bit longer. I know their website is funny about collections and won't let you buy less than an hour before the train. However I bought this ticket 3 hours ago so the ticket.

 

[gray1404]

2 hours is the maximum it should take to be available.

 

[swt_passenger]

Both up and down side ticket offices closed on a Sunday, mid-day? That’s unusual.

 

[BluePenguin]

I went to Greggs to get a sandwich and have walked back to the station now and still no luck.

I spoke to the same barrier staff again and they did not want to listen. I got slightly annoyed at them and explained how I am late to meet someone and that I needed to go. I was told that I should have left more time and told me buy another ticket!

Then a man got up from their seat and started shouting "you ##### foreign jobsworth give him his ticket"

*sigh* I am fed up now lol

 

[BluePenguin]

Both up and down side ticket offices closed on a Sunday, mid-day? That’s unusual.

Actually I have't checked the otherside. It is very very busy though so if it is/was I woulf have been in for a long wait

 

[gray1404]

Are you able to give it another try and failing that buy another ticket? I would argue that GA should be refunding the cost of the additional tickets. Try and get a not of the name of the person on the barrier too in case they ask who you spoke to at the station.

 

[BluePenguin]

Are you able to give it another try and failing that buy another ticket? I would argue that GA should be refunding the cost of the additional tickets. Try and get a not of the name of the person on the barrier too in case they ask who you spoke to at the station.

Hooray! I tried one more time and it finally printed my tickets. Thankfully I didn't need to buy another one. I am still absolutely livid that this has wasted an hour of my time. Does anyone know if I can claim delay repay?

 

[Intermodal]

Hooray! I tried one more time and it finally printed my tickets. Thankfully I didn't need to buy another one. I am still absolutely livid that this has wasted an hour of my time. Does anyone know if I can claim delay repay?

I would personally try writing to them, explaining the situation and asking if there is anything they can do in goodwill to compensate the delay rather than just submitting a delay repay form which is likely to be refused.

 

[BluePenguin]

I would personally try writing to them, explaining the situation and asking if there is anything they can do in goodwill to compensate the delay rather than just submitting a delay repay form which is likely to be refused.

Thanks Intermodal I will do that. Hopefully my letter to explain wil get me a voucher or something.

 

[najaB]

Does anyone know if I can claim delay repay?

No, since your train wasn't delayed or cancelled. You should, however, make a complaint as you might get a goodwill gesture.

 

[yorkie]

Hooray! I tried one more time and it finally printed my tickets. Thankfully I didn't need to buy another one. I am still absolutely livid that this has wasted an hour of my time. Does anyone know if I can claim delay repay?

Did you use a different type of machine? Do you have any photos of what message was displayed and what the machines looked like?

Do you know if other people had the same problems, or if they were also unable to print their tickets?

I would definitely put in a complaint, but I wouldn't refer to it as a 'Delay Repay' claim.

 

[Hadders]

I purchased a ticket through GA a couple of weeks ago. I arrived at my local station about 45 minutes later and it wouldn't print. First time this has ever happened to me - I usually use webtis sites and have collected within seconds previously. I had a couple of phone calls to make and tried again a few minutes later and this time it did print.

GA use trainline and my experience suggests it does seem to take an hour for bookings to appear in the system.

 

[NSEFAN]

No, since your train wasn't delayed or cancelled. You should, however, make a complaint as you might get a goodwill gesture.

Is this actually true? The OP had tickets and should have been able to collect them, according to GA. However, he incurred delay because he was unable to collect them, i.e. the railway delayed him. I'll admit that it's not so easy to prove, compared to a train which was physically late and leaves a record of this in TRUST...

 

[Starmill]

Is this actually true? The OP had tickets and should have been able to collect them, according to GA. However, he incurred delay because he was unable to collect them, i.e. the railway delayed him. I'll admit that it's not so easy to prove, compared to a train which was physically late and leaves a record of this in TRUST...

Delay compensation is for delayed journeys, and journeys are made by passengers. It is not for delayed trains. It does not matter what the cause of the delay was, unless some exception has been specified.

If the train runs exactly on time but is too full to board then this is eligible for delay compensation, as confirmed by Northern's FAQs on the matter.

On this occasion though I would set out the facts and complain about the ticket collection process, making it clear what delay was incurred as a result. I definitely would not use a Delay Repay form.

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

No, since your train wasn't delayed or cancelled. You should, however, make a complaint as you might get a goodwill gesture.

No, delay compensation is in respect to the delay to your journey. There are plenty of reasons why a journey may be delayed that does not involve a train actually being delayed; for example, a train being too full to board or being incorrectly refused access through ticket barriers.

A ticket machine being unable to print tickets is just one of these causes, and frankly it is utterly indefensible for the TOC to refuse access through the barriers when the only means of obtaining a ticket (the ticket machine) is not working correctly. It's on a similar level to the GWR/LNER incident posted yesterday. It's as if the railway isn't just shooting itself in the foot, it's actively amputating the foot despite it being healthy. What I would pay to go into the minds of the inane barrier staff who think their behaviour is acceptable...

I would contend delay compensation is indeed payable, although it is true that claiming this via the usual forms/channels is probably not going to be very effective; claiming via customer services is more likely to work!

 

[Bletchleyite]

I think I will use a different website next time

For purchases on the day, best to use one based on one of the other engines like ATOS WebTIS or the new one Southern use, as unlike Trainline they immediately put thet ticket in the ToD database rather than on a batch cycle, which it sounds like met with some delay.

This is of course not your fault - if Trainline was unable to fulfil they should not sell.

FWIW I have so little faith in the integrity of ToD that I always collect the day before if having to use it.

 

[najaB]

No, delay compensation is in respect to the delay to your journey. There are plenty of reasons why a journey may be delayed that does not involve a train actually being delayed...

True, but none of those apply here. Okay, simple question: which TOC was responsible for the delay?

 

[NSEFAN]

True, but none of those apply here. Okay, simple question: which TOC was responsible for the delay?

As far as the customer is concerned, it's Greater Anglia, since the tickets were bought from them. Of course in practice the actual fault could either be with South Western Railway (their TVMs) or Trainline (who seem to provide GA with their ticketing retailing). However, that's for GA's customer service department to sort out.

 

[Bungle965]

Chargeback would have been another option which you could have potentially have gone down if you had to buy a new set of tickets as a result.
Sam

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

As far as the customer is concerned, it's Greater Anglia, since the tickets were bought from them. Of course in practice the actual fault could either be with South Western Railway (their TVMs) or Trainline (who seem to provide GA with their ticketing retailing). However, that's for GA's customer service department to sort out.

True, but none of those apply here. Okay, simple question: which TOC was responsible for the delay?

In practice, it may be impossible to determine just one TOC that's at fault. In a scenario such as this it could equally well be the TVM at fault, as the retailer.

That doesn't matter to the passenger: ultimately both SWR and GA breached the contract which the passenger had, and so the passenger can pursue them jointly and severally for the applicable delay compensation. Since both TOCs operate delay compensation on the Delay Repay principle, the amount of compensation is the same for a 1 hour delay.

 

[najaB]

In practice, it may be impossible to determine just one TOC that's at fault. In a scenario such as this it could equally well be the TVM at fault, as the retailer.

That doesn't matter to the passenger: ultimately both SWR and GA breached the contract which the passenger had, and so the passenger can pursue them jointly and severally for the applicable delay compensation. Since both TOCs operate delay compensation on the Delay Repay principle, the amount of compensation is the same for a 1 hour delay.

Compensation? Of course. Delay Repay? Not likely to succeed.

 

[swt_passenger]

I purchased a ticket through GA a couple of weeks ago. I arrived at my local station about 45 minutes later and it wouldn't print. First time this has ever happened to me - I usually use webtis sites and have collected within seconds previously. I had a couple of phone calls to make and tried again a few minutes later and this time it did print.

GA use trainline and my experience suggests it does seem to take an hour for bookings to appear in the system.

I’m sure some of the TOD T&C still say to allow 2 hours. That’s probably what they’d argue, irrespective of whether or not it might work sooner in practice.

 

[tiptoptaff]

So, the TVM failed to work, and rather than attempting to collect your tickets from the ticket office, you decide to complain about the (Correct) actions of the barrier staff?

 

[Intermodal]

So, the TVM failed to work, and rather than attempting to collect your tickets from the ticket office, you decide to complain about the (Correct) actions of the barrier staff?

Whilst technically correct, "Nothing I can do about it" leaves a lot to be desired in terms of customer service, and anyone can see that.

 

[jon0844]

2 hours is the maximum it should take to be available.

Many sites now say 15 minutes (and often it's quicker than that). I'd check what it says from where this particular ticket was bought, and if it says 15 minutes then I'd expect there to be a valid claim for delay repay - with the TVM being the cause of the delay.

 

[najaB]

Whilst technically correct, "Nothing I can do about it" leaves a lot to be desired in terms of customer service, and anyone can see that.

It does, but what was the gate line attendant supposed to do about a ticket bought through another company that didn't print.