As a means of tempering the 'Rail Staff did wrong' type threads, I thought I'd share with you the stories of three incidents I've encountered this week!
Yesterday, I was working a morning train, heading north. I was doing my first ticket check when I came to a man. He blatantly admitted he had no ticket, and no means to pay and just offered his name and address for an Unpaid Fares Notice. It's as if the railway now does a 'travel now, pay later' service - like the deals that DFS do or something. When challenged, he admitted he 'does this lots'. Well, his luck as run out this time! I still can't believe the barefaced cheek though - try doing that on the buses or the airlines!
Just when I thought barefaced cheek had reached it's limits, along comes a fine pair today. First of all, apparently if you have a baby and pushchair, you're entitled to an upgrade to First Class. It says so on the website apparently! Now, if there's one thing I hate in life, it's a liar. 'There's no seats'. Well, they hadn't looked very hard - there were about 30 vacant seats on the train at this point. And if anyone can find me where it says on any TOC website that having a baby means a free first class upgrade then I'll happily eat my hat. Why do people think they can use their children in this way? Here's a top tip - don't try bullying your way into First Class like that - it'll only lead to a Byelaw prosecution. What made it worse, was the women concerned were well dressed and well spoken! But still bullying liars who threw a hissy fit when they couldn't get their own way.
And then, the coup de grace. As the train was getting busier, following some cancellations courtesy of bad weather, a family of four decided they'd occupy someone else's reserved seat. Of course, the rightful occupants of those seats were another family - and they wanted their seats. So, allow me to describe blatant liar number 2. I had an assistant today - he'd checked a couple of carriages of tickets for me as we were busy. When the family with reservations boarded my train, they asked lying Navy man if he'd kindly move. This guy refused to move saying 'the Guard told me to sit here'. So, somewhat put out, the reservation holders come and find me and my colleague. They tell me what has been said, and my colleague is aghast. So, off I go and ask them to move. He repeats his allegation about having been told to sit there! It was only when my colleague got involved that this bloke realised he was flogging a dead horse. I felt sorry for the reservation holders, who were clearly embarassed despite having done nothing wrong. But what really annoyed me was that this liar was a member of our Armed Forces. Now, I really expect better from the people who serve our Country. His conduct was an utter disgrace, and yet he has the cheek to lecture me on how he thinks I shouldn't be a Train Manager. In the end, I informed him that I wasn't prepared to talk to him any longer, and walked off to leave him with his own impotent rage. I'm afraid I had something else to deal with - ah yes, an unpaid fares notice for yet another gent who claimed to have forgotten his railcard.
I've remarked to colleagues recently that the general public seem to be getting worse. They all agree!
Yesterday, I was working a morning train, heading north. I was doing my first ticket check when I came to a man. He blatantly admitted he had no ticket, and no means to pay and just offered his name and address for an Unpaid Fares Notice. It's as if the railway now does a 'travel now, pay later' service - like the deals that DFS do or something. When challenged, he admitted he 'does this lots'. Well, his luck as run out this time! I still can't believe the barefaced cheek though - try doing that on the buses or the airlines!
Just when I thought barefaced cheek had reached it's limits, along comes a fine pair today. First of all, apparently if you have a baby and pushchair, you're entitled to an upgrade to First Class. It says so on the website apparently! Now, if there's one thing I hate in life, it's a liar. 'There's no seats'. Well, they hadn't looked very hard - there were about 30 vacant seats on the train at this point. And if anyone can find me where it says on any TOC website that having a baby means a free first class upgrade then I'll happily eat my hat. Why do people think they can use their children in this way? Here's a top tip - don't try bullying your way into First Class like that - it'll only lead to a Byelaw prosecution. What made it worse, was the women concerned were well dressed and well spoken! But still bullying liars who threw a hissy fit when they couldn't get their own way.
And then, the coup de grace. As the train was getting busier, following some cancellations courtesy of bad weather, a family of four decided they'd occupy someone else's reserved seat. Of course, the rightful occupants of those seats were another family - and they wanted their seats. So, allow me to describe blatant liar number 2. I had an assistant today - he'd checked a couple of carriages of tickets for me as we were busy. When the family with reservations boarded my train, they asked lying Navy man if he'd kindly move. This guy refused to move saying 'the Guard told me to sit here'. So, somewhat put out, the reservation holders come and find me and my colleague. They tell me what has been said, and my colleague is aghast. So, off I go and ask them to move. He repeats his allegation about having been told to sit there! It was only when my colleague got involved that this bloke realised he was flogging a dead horse. I felt sorry for the reservation holders, who were clearly embarassed despite having done nothing wrong. But what really annoyed me was that this liar was a member of our Armed Forces. Now, I really expect better from the people who serve our Country. His conduct was an utter disgrace, and yet he has the cheek to lecture me on how he thinks I shouldn't be a Train Manager. In the end, I informed him that I wasn't prepared to talk to him any longer, and walked off to leave him with his own impotent rage. I'm afraid I had something else to deal with - ah yes, an unpaid fares notice for yet another gent who claimed to have forgotten his railcard.
I've remarked to colleagues recently that the general public seem to be getting worse. They all agree!
).
Scotsman works on a heritage railway where people don't usually have luggage, or 80lb backpacks.
and my single biggest tip was £9.72, which for a nonchalant, miserable-looking man with a fully buttoned-up shirt was not bad going I think.
