Someone else's tickets - computer glitch or someone's carelessness?

[Shimbleshanks]

I've just been to my local station (Purley, south London) to pick up some tickets ordered through Redspottedhanky.com. Grabbing the tickets from the tray of the machine, I found that as well as my own tickets (London/Liverpool, Crewe/London) there was a single Purley/Norwich, a Norwich/Purley plus seat reservations. I handed these in to the station staff.

There didn't seem to be anything in the tray when I inserted my credit card, though I suppose I could have missed it.

So are the mystery extra tickets likely to be caused by a computer glitch or someone's carelessness in leaving their own tickets behind previously?

 

[causton]

Some machines have a design flaw where some tickets get stuck in the top of the chute. A gentle (or not-so-gentle) knock will release the tickets, or as what probably happened in your case, when the next set of tickets are printed they all come out. Reasons like this are why it is very important to check you have all your tickets - many don't!

 

[47271]

I often find others' tickets in the tray, and sometimes they're of signficant value, such as Glasgow-Aberdeen.

The last twice it's happened I've been on my way to the ticket office with the extras and bumped into the flustered owner returning to the machine.

I had a new experience at Manchester Piccadilly the other day when I found an abandoned debit card in the slot when I tried to insert mine for payment...

 

[Merseysider]

I had a new experience at Manchester Piccadilly the other day when I found an abandoned debit card in the slot when I tried to insert mine for payment...

That's very odd. AFAIK all ticket machines at Piccadilly require that the card is removed before any tickets are printed.

 

[Bungle965]

That's very odd. AFAIK all ticket machines at Piccadilly require that the card is removed before any tickets are printed.

Yes the new ones also do not allow you to get the ticket before they have finished printing.
Sam

 

[Merseysider]

Yes the new ones also do not allow you to get the ticket before they have finished printing.
Sam

...but if you take longer than 5 seconds to retrieve the tickets after they've finished printing, they get locked in and you have to punch the flap open

 

[Shimbleshanks]

I often find others' tickets in the tray, and sometimes they're of signficant value, such as Glasgow-Aberdeen.

The last twice it's happened I've been on my way to the ticket office with the extras and bumped into the flustered owner returning to the machine.

I had a new experience at Manchester Piccadilly the other day when I found an abandoned debit card in the slot when I tried to insert mine for payment...

Sounds as if I was quite lucky then - it could have been my tickets that got caught in the chute...

 

[maniacmartin]

It's happened to me before at Purley - at one of the machines near the platform 6 exit.

Tray was empty, I bought a ticket and I also got a bonus Travelcard with a print date a few minutes earlier. I handed it to a member of staff who wasn't that surprised that a ticket might have got stuck in the chute at that machine.

 

[paddington]

I had a new experience at Manchester Piccadilly the other day when I found an abandoned debit card in the slot when I tried to insert mine for payment...

I think I abandoned my credit card once. Here's how...

I was collecting about 5 sets of tickets. After inserting my credit card the first time, I pulled it out a little ways but left it in the slot, since I would need to insert the card 4 more times.


If I'm only collecting one set of tickets, my order of actions is usually: press collect, wallet out, card in slot, card out and back into wallet (while tickets are printing), then pick up tickets.

So subconsciously, once I have picked up the tickets and had a quick look to make sure everything was printed, the next action is to walk away.


If there are only two sets of tickets, then I'll just print all of them and put my card back in my wallet, before taking the tickets.

But when there were 5 sets of tickets, I retrieved each set after they printed, so that it would be easier to check and organise them (and remove the superfluous bits such as the collection receipt).

So I must have picked up the last set of tickets and thought that I had already put my card back in my wallet, as that would normally be true. But it was actually still in the slot.


I didn't get the card back, but nobody used the contactless function fradulently, and a new one was delivered quickly enough.