Trying to buy from Merseyrail

[faddy]

Scene 1: Earlier today at Conway Park

Me: "Can I have a Liverpool to London Super Off Peak Return please?"

Merseyrail ticket person #1 after 30 seconds of looking: "We don't have Super Off Peaks here, you'll have to try in Liverpool"

Scene 2: Later today at Liverpool South Parkway

Me: "Can I have a Lime Street to London Super Off Peak Return please. It's a London Midland fare."

Merseyrail ticket person #2: "How much do you want to pay?"

Me: "£33"

Supervisor notices her struggling to find it, and points out it's (unsurprisingly) a fare from Lime Street, not from Liverpool Stations which she'd been looking at.

I realise Merseyrail's bread and butter business is selling local tickets but am I wrong to be a little perturbed that two out of two ticket staff didn't know how to sell the cheapest walk up ticket from Merseyside to London?

 

[gray1404]

I would defiantly complain to Merseyrail about this. For this to happen is bad, for there to be issues at two stations is worse. Did you end up having to pay extra to get from Liverpool to Liverpool South Parkway as a result?

 

[Merseysider]

Nothing new. I've been having issues for years trying to get them to sell Advances and accept RTVs, and nobody in Customer Services or management seems to give a damn.

Bar a small number of excellent staff, a lot of Merseyrail clerks I've encountered unfortunately seem to treat the retailing of anything remotely difficult as a chore; effort they'd rather not expend.

In most cases, buying online and collecting from Lime Street solves this problem.

 

[185143]

Nothing new. I've been having issues for years trying to get them to sell Advances and accept RTVs, and nobody in Customer Services or management seems to give a damn.

Bar a small number of excellent staff, a lot of Merseyrail clerks I've encountered unfortunately seem to treat the retailing of anything remotely difficult as a chore; effort they'd rather not expend.

In most cases, buying online and collecting from Lime Street solves this problem.

Ever tried buying a 16-25 railcard advance for travel before 10AM from a Merseyrail station? Now THAT is hard work!

Hooton and Southport seem to be the best two ticket offices I've used-not that I've used very many admittedly.

 

[Gathursty]

Ever tried buying a 16-25 railcard advance for travel before 10AM from a Merseyrail station? Now THAT is hard work!

Hooton and Southport seem to be the best two ticket offices I've used-not that I've used very many admittedly.

You would hope that the interchange stations for Merseyrail and other TOCs would have staff familiar with tickets to stations beyond their network but I know of some passengers who only buy to the end of their line station or wherever the last train calls and then buy another ticket.

I'm not sure how simple the message can be made to both passengers and staff alike: You can get a ticket from any station in the UK to another one elsewhere (barring curiosities that are rarely asked for )

Southport and Earlestown have sold me tickets for journeys wholly off their network with little fuss.

 

[Paul Kelly]

Supervisor notices her struggling to find it, and points out it's (unsurprisingly) a fare from Lime Street, not from Liverpool Stations which she'd been looking at.

I wouldn't say that's surprising; it's a rather unusual situation. Until very recently the situation with those London Midland fares issued from Liverpool Lime Street (rather than the more usual Liverpool Stations) was quite exceptional, although if I remember correctly there were also a few Grand Central fares issued specifically from Wakefield Kirkgate and Bradford Interchange rather than the corresponding station groups.

It's going to stop cropping up a lot more though as ATOC are changing the way a lot of fares are issued from groups - we've already seen [thread=154124]this situation[/thread] from a few weeks ago which is similar to yours, except the fare was also available from the Warrington Stations group, but priced £3 more expensively than the equivalent fare from Warrington Bank Quay explicitly.

It looks like ticket office staff haven't been briefed about these changes.

 

[gordonthemoron]

I managed to buy a Leighton Buzzard to Milton Keynes season ticket from Moorfields station with no trouble at all (in 2013)

 

[dave4jackie]

i have just checked the star machine and it will only show the ticket if the person enters from lime st to euston, if they put liverpool stations to london terminals will not show, neither will lime st to london terminals

 

[faddy]

I wouldn't say that's surprising; it's a rather unusual situation. Until very recently the situation with those London Midland fares issued from Liverpool Lime Street (rather than the more usual Liverpool Stations) was quite exceptional, although if I remember correctly there were also a few Grand Central fares issued specifically from Wakefield Kirkgate and Bradford Interchange rather than the corresponding station groups.

It's going to stop cropping up a lot more though as ATOC are changing the way a lot of fares are issued from groups - we've already seen [thread=154124]this situation[/thread] from a few weeks ago which is similar to yours, except the fare was also available from the Warrington Stations group, but priced £3 more expensively than the equivalent fare from Warrington Bank Quay explicitly.

It looks like ticket office staff haven't been briefed about these changes.

It seems only common sense that a ticket routed "LM only" would only be available between stations served by LM. In fairness to the Conway Park clerk I neglected to mention there that it's an LM fare.

A slightly odd situation at LPY is that Merseyrail are the ticket sellers at a station serving during the Lime Street closure as Liverpool's main station.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I was at Moorfields on Saturday and noticed that a desk for ToD has been opened (opposite the Mtogo - the old ticket office?). It appeared to be staffed by Virgin uniformed staff.

 

[185143]

I was at Moorfields on Saturday and noticed that a desk for ToD has been opened (opposite the Mtogo - the old ticket office?). It appeared to be staffed by Virgin uniformed staff.

That'll be to do with the Lime Street blockade. They were setting up desks at South Parkway on Friday night too.

That counter at Moorfields was the lost property office during the loop closure

 

[Bletchleyite]

That'll be to do with the Lime Street blockade. They were setting up desks at South Parkway on Friday night too.

Yes, I figured that would be the case.

That counter at Moorfields was the lost property office during the loop closure

Why move it there? Where from?

 

[185143]

Yes, I figured that would be the case.



Why move it there? Where from?

Thw Water Street exit at James Street.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Thw Water Street exit at James Street.

Why was that? James St was still open during the Loop closure, wasn't it?

 

[185143]

Why was that? James St was still open during the Loop closure, wasn't it?

Only during Phase 2. I suspect they decided it'd be easier to move it for the entire duration of the closure rather than keep moving it for each phase of the works?

 

[Bletchleyite]

Only during Phase 2. I suspect they decided it'd be easier to move it for the entire duration of the closure rather than keep moving it for each phase of the works?

Ah, fair enough.

 

[Hadders]

Supervisor notices her struggling to find it, and points out it's (unsurprisingly) a fare from Lime Street, not from Liverpool Stations which she'd been looking at.

This is RDG/DfT simplification for you. It's actually issued as Liverpool Lime Street to London Euston.

Liverpool Stations to London Terminals would be far simpler...

 

[gray1404]

I defiantly think that you should email Merseyrail customer relations to make them aware of both of your experiences. I think it is important for a number of reasons:
1. to enable to provide the right training to staff where clearly a gap exists
2. so that they see that a lot of their customer to want tickets to destinations served by other TOCs
3. because they are a member of ATOC and thus must sell such tickets when requested
4. they are the ticket provider at Liverpool South Parkway during the Lime Street closure, so its about time they got their act together

Please let us know what their reply is and if they offer you any assurances. When contacting them it is important to let them to know the date and roughly what times you visited their stations.

 

[Joe Paxton]

This is RDG/DfT simplification for you. It's actually issued as Liverpool Lime Street to London Euston.

Liverpool Stations to London Terminals would be far simpler...

What'd be best would be if the ticket had Liverpool Lime Street to London Euston printed on it, but if it nonetheless appeared in searches for Liverpool to London (on all systems).

 

[Bletchleyite]

What'd be best would be if the ticket had Liverpool Lime Street to London Euston printed on it, but if it nonetheless appeared in searches for Liverpool to London (on all systems).

It would make sense that TISs and TVMs show everything for the group if you enter either the group name or any station within it. That would solve the issue.