Season Ticket Discount

[Pagan98]

Does anyone know how season ticket Customer Charter discounts work when the ticket allows travel via multiple routes?

I have a season ticket issued by South West Trains but travel into Reading and then on into London Paddington by First Great Western, so the bulk of the journey is via FGW.

FGW are currently failing to meet their Customer Charter punctuality target so I would expect a discount of 5% on this ticket. However, no discount was applied when I renewed today.

I have emailed SWT to ask but would like to check their response when it comes - presumably there is DfT/ORR/ATOC guidance on this issue - plus the automatic response suggested they will take up to 20 days (!) to respond...

 

[sonic2009]

Could we please have more information?

Where is your season ticket from and to ?

 

[Pagan98]

Could we please have more information?

Where is your season ticket from and to ?

Sorry, Winnersh Triangle (2 stops out of Reading on the Waterloo Line) to London Z1-6.

 

[yorkie]

If FGW delay you:
http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/About-Us/Customer-services/Compensation

For delays of 1 hour or more on FGW High Speed services between Reading & Paddington they will compensate the full value of the ticket. In the event of a Season being held this will be pro-rata based on the cost per day.

Edit: The above only applies to Weekly seasons, the OP has since revealed he has an Annual season so the above does not apply in this case

 

[sonic2009]

Welcome to the Forum Pagan98

I have a feeling Winnersh Triangle to London Z1-6 fares are set by South West Trains, this meaning that for a discount to apply on your season ticket, South West Trains performance would have to fall below the trigger amount, even though going via Reading is a Permitted Route if your ticket is Any Permitted and Quicker. I may be wrong though.

It appears from South West Trains Performance here

that their Suburban Routes which includes the London Waterloo to Reading Line didnt fall below the Targets :

Where applicable, discounts will be deducted when you renew a season ticket of one month or more. A 5% discount will be given if, on average over the previous 12 months:

Punctuality has fallen below the threshold (more than 2.5% below standard).

Reliability has fallen below the threshold (more than 1.0% below standard).

A 10% discount will be given if both punctuality and reliability fall below the discount threshold.

From what i can see on the Website none of the Targets fall below the Discount Threshold, so this may be why you did not get any discount this month.

 

[Pagan98]

Thanks, but that link only mentions singles/returns/weekly tickets, not monthly and longer seasons which I believe are covered by the Customer Charter discount arrangements described here: http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/About-Us/Our-business/Performance

...from which:

"The following discounts are currently being offered to holders of season tickets valid for one month or more

HSS No void days apply. Punctuality is below trigger, 5% discount applies
LTV No void days apply. Punctuality is below trigger, 5% discount applies"

 

[yorkie]

http://fgw.2020apps.co.uk/Content.aspx?id=265

The following discounts are currently being offered to season ticket holders.

High Speed: No void days apply. Punctuality is below trigger 5% discounts apply.

So as far as I can see you should get a 5% discount on the Season ticket.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Welcome to the Forum Pagan98

I have a feeling Winnersh Triangle to London Z1-6 fares are set by South West Trains...

FGW set Route: Any Permitted.
SWT set Route: Staines.

 

[Pagan98]

Thanks Sonic. I suspect you may be correct, inequitable though that would be. I wondered if there was any industry agreement in the same way as there will be for determining the fare split between SWT and FGW.

 

[IainH]

The route from Winnersh direct is priced by SWT, via Reading by FGW. So you are entitled to the discount as you hold the via Reading ticket.
I recently renewed my season ticket for another FGW priced route at a SWT station. When the clerk refused the discount for various made up reasons, I asked to see the station manager, who also made up some other reasons. I stood my ground, and he eventually made a phone call and agreed I was entitled to the discount. So the issue here is with SWT.

It makes no difference what routes the tickets can be used by, it is who prices the flow that determines the discount.

If you write to them they will probably put it right, but I am considering a complaint to PF as you should get the discount automatically. There is also a void day due as well!

 

[Pagan98]

Just to update, after an initial attempt to fob me off (which earnt them a quotation from the NR Conditions of Carriage and FGW Passenger Charter, all copied to Passenger Focus) SWT have now refunded me for the missing discount. I'll keep an eagle eye on them in future...

Thanks to everyone on here for their assistance.

 

[barrykas]

For what its worth, Great Western's punctuality has recovered to the point that Charter Discounts no longer apply. The only TOC offering a discount this period (for renewals up to the 10th of March) is Virgin on Euston - Scotland.

Cheers,

Barry