RSH cheaper than National Rail and Trainline

[Mike@Raileasy]

Does this mean I can buy a ticket from Raileasy, have to pay the premium call charge for whatever reason (e.g. ToD failur), then as my contract is with the TOC, claim the charges back from the TOC under this new legisklation?

Or you claim it off us and we claim it from the TOC cos we're paying for ToD which I'd say is a contract? Or from ATOC cos we also pay them for inserting a ToD record in Lennon?
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I've worked in sales myself which meant paid search and the like was part and parcel of the job. Interestingly enough, Raileasy offers a local rate number for those who wish to complain about the premium rate number



650,000 tickets (50% sent for TOD) = 325,000
325,000 x 0.60 = £195,000 in TOD fees paid out by RE

MR: there's also £0.15p charge for inserting a ToD record in Lennon (on top of the 60p). Split is about 80:20 ToD/postal.

7.5% of sales via PPC = 48,750 sales

MR: Why so low a %?

Fares/Timetables/RG = £14,500

MR: that is around the cost of one "tt&f box", need more for resilence. You also haven't included test/live NRS/LSM, data lines and not forgetting ATOC account management.

web hosting = £1,000

MR: and the rest!!! way, way more

Assuming 62.5% bookings debit = 406,250
Assuming 37.5% bookings credit = 243,750

MR: great guess!

debit charges RE must pay = (406,250 x £0.08) = £32,500
credit charges RE must pay = ((243,750 x 60) x 1% fee) = £146,250
(total = £178,750)

MR: this is really interesting, where do you get these card charges from?


With this in mind, with £353,695 as a ballpark figure, we divide this by £39,000,000 to find the percentile. This turns out to be 0.907% (to three decimal places).

So - if the average ticket price was to decrease from £60 by just 1%, Raileasy would barely be above water.

Thus, the booking fee must be increased at a ratio of at least 10:9 for every penny the average ticket price sold by Raileasy drops below £60 in order to break even.

With the booking fee at 5/6 of the commission RE receives from the average ticket sale, (£2.50 vs £3.00) an increase in the booking fee by 20% would be needed to offset a 16.6% decrease in sales.

So as you can see, even if the precise figures are incorrect in some way, the start-up costs associated with the business alongside fees and charges Raileasy itself must pay means booking fees are strictly vital to the company's existence.

MR: This is why it annoys us so much when TOCs plaster their sites and marketing comms with "no fees" messages. It's like having your nose rubbed in the proverbial.

Don't know if you're aware but there is an ORR Retailing Review going on to see if innovation is being "stifled". Is it a coincidence there hasn't been any new entrants post RSH who of course don't charge fees?
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http://www.raileasy.co.uk/contact-us

That looks to me like a help line for "the purpose of consumers contacting the trader by telephone in relation to contracts entered into" on a no longer allowed premium rate number. When will Raileasy stop using it? I suspect it'll only be when Ofcom force them to. There really should be a financial penalty for each day past the deadline a business continues to use a number no longer allowed for by the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013. I suppose Ofcom could force any trader to reimburse call charges above the basic rate as that is explicity allowed for in the legislation. I doubt they'll do that though so it will be up to each individual who is overcharged to claim back the money as is their contractual right.

So, I urge anyone who has called Raileasy after making a ticket purchase after 14th June 2014 to write to them and claim a refund on the call charges above the basic rate. Remember, even the 0870 number available after a transaction is completed does not comply with the regulations.

I'm afraid we are not employing additional staff to cover calls outside office hours so I hope this satisfies the new regs:

For issues relating to existing bookings please phone 0208 989 3437 (Mon-Fri 09:30-17:00). Outside these hours please call 0871 512 2002. Calls to this line are charged at the National Rate of 10p/minute.

 

[greatkingrat]

I'm afraid we are not employing additional staff to cover calls outside office hours so I hope this satisfies the new regs:

For issues relating to existing bookings please phone 0208 989 3437 (Mon-Fri 09:30-17:00). Outside these hours please call 0871 512 2002. Calls to this line are charged at the National Rate of 10p/minute.

I'm a bit confused why the time of day makes a difference. If you have staff available outside office hours they can answer either number, and if you don't have staff available then surely neither number will be answered?

 

[bnm]

Hoping it satisfies the regs?

Nothing I can see in the regs that permits use of any number that charges above basic rate. At any time.

Your defence if investigated wil be, "we hoped" ???

 

[bnm]

That said, well done for making the change to (almost) comply with the regulations.

There was never any intention on my part to refer the matter to the regulatory body. I think it much better to engage with a trader, (even one I don't use ) and see if they'll comply without resorting to use of a regulator.

I've said before that it's laudible of you to stick your head above the parapet here on RailUK. You don't have to. Any pot shots I take are always fired above your head!

Now, let's see if we can get thetrainline.com and mytrainticket.co.uk to comply with the regs. Their support team numbers are both 0871 throughout out the day. I suspect there though, at least with thetrainline, we may have to use the 'big stick'.

 

[All Line Rover]

For issues relating to existing bookings please phone 0208 989 3437 (Mon-Fri 09:30-17:00). Outside these hours please call 0871 512 2002. Calls to this line are charged at the National Rate of 10p/minute.

I would think that satisfies the regulations, although it is most odd that you have decided to offer an 0871 number for out-of-hours enquiries. Just because you are a train ticket retailer doesn't mean you have to offer 24/7 telephone support!

 

[Merseysider]

650,000 tickets (50% sent for TOD) = 325,000
325,000 x 0.60 = £195,000 in TOD fees paid out by RE

MR: there's also £0.15p charge for inserting a ToD record in Lennon (on top of the 60p). Split is about 80:20 ToD/postal.

So that £195,000 is actually £610,000.

7.5% of sales via PPC = 48,750 sales

MR: Why so low a %?

Had to be conservative - I imagined a lot of your customers would be repeat. Although thinking about it it's probably more than 7.5% of your customers who end up on your site via a search for "cheap train tickets" or the like.

Fares/Timetables/RG = £14,500

MR: that is around the cost of one "tt&f box", need more for resilence. You also haven't included test/live NRS/LSM, data lines and not forgetting ATOC account management.

web hosting = £1,000

MR: and the rest!!! way, way more

Certainly isn't cheap!

Assuming 62.5% bookings debit = 406,250
Assuming 37.5% bookings credit = 243,750

MR: great guess

debit charges RE must pay = (406,250 x £0.08) = £32,500
credit charges RE must pay = ((243,750 x 60) x 1% fee) = £146,250
(total = £178,750)

MR: this is really interesting, where do you get these card charges from?

Back when I worked in sales we had to pay a flat 0.8p charge for the handling of debit transactions, and for credit transactions, the charge could be anywhere between 0.75% and 1.25% of the total transx value. YMMV though.

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I'll admit that I'd never use a site that charged me more than I needed to pay. However I know a few sheep that use TTL no matter how many times I point them in the direction of VT/EC. I might as well have a go at pointing them in the direction of your splitticketing website - it'd do more good than harm.

Theoretically, could one advertise their business hours as only a few hours/day, having a local rate number for these hours - and then offer the more expensive number for those wishing to call OOH?

 

[island]

Hoping it satisfies the regs?

Nothing I can see in the regs that permits use of any number that charges above basic rate. At any time.

Your defence if investigated wil be, "we hoped" ???

This is incorrect.

The regulations state that if a customer is bound to pay more than the basic rate, the contract shall be treated as providing for the trader to repay the amount by which the cost of the call exceeds the basic rate.

A customer is not bound to ring the 0871 number if he can wait until office hours to ring the 020 number.

Possibly this might change if the journey is taking place before the office opens.

The pricing info should not however refer to "the national rate"; it should read "calls cost 10p per minute from a BT landline; calls from other networks may be priced differently and from mobiles will cost considerably more". 0871 numbers are legally premium rate and PhonePayPlus can raise fines against businesses that don't comply.

 

[button_boxer]

In common with many other people I have an inclusive allowance on my mobile contract which means that any number other than 01/02/03 or other mobiles is essentially premium rate, whatever the supplier chooses to call it. The marginal cost to me of calling an 01/02/03 number or a mobile is zero, for any other number it's at least 20p per minute.