Wrong Railcard Selection

[wokspotter]

There have been lots of posts from people who have selected the wrong railcard when buying tickets, normally the 16-17 Saver which they don't possess,but gives a 50% discount.
What normally happens when someone with the above Railcard "makes an honest mistake"and selects say the 16-25 option that gives a lesser discount?
What would an RPO do in this situation as I imagine that the ticket would be invalid with the wrong Railcard applied.

 

[WesternLancer]

There have been lots of posts from people who have selected the wrong railcard when buying tickets, normally the 16-17 Saver which they don't possess,but gives a 50% discount.
What normally happens when someone with the above Railcard "makes an honest mistake"and selects say the 16-25 option that gives a lesser discount?
What would an RPO do in this situation as I imagine that the ticket would be invalid with the wrong Railcard applied.

Good question - would be interesting to read what some of the staff who do this job say about what typically happens in this scenario.

And how frequently they actually come across such an unfortunate mistake that has cost the passenger to pay more than they should have.

I recall a while ago someone on here who I think might have been a WMR RPI member of staff saying in relation to e Jobseeker Railcard discount that they were quite taken aback when they eventually came across a passenger who actually had that Railcard - ie they had seen a fair few Jobseeker Railcard discounted tickets but rarely if ever had seen the actual railcard legitimately held.

 

[swt_passenger]

Good question - would be interesting to read what some of the staff who do this job say about what typically happens in this scenario.

And how frequently they actually come across such an unfortunate mistake that has cost the passenger to pay more than they should have.

I‘ve suggested before that the number of the opposite ‘accidental selection’ is almost certainly much smaller...

 

[AlterEgo]

There have been lots of posts from people who have selected the wrong railcard when buying tickets, normally the 16-17 Saver which they don't possess,but gives a 50% discount.
What normally happens when someone with the above Railcard "makes an honest mistake"and selects say the 16-25 option that gives a lesser discount?
What would an RPO do in this situation as I imagine that the ticket would be invalid with the wrong Railcard applied.

Guess how many times that happens.

 

[6Gman]

Guess how many times that happens.

About as often as people "accidentally" select a starting station earlier than where they actually boarded?

 

[Trainman40083]

Guess how many times that happens.

I can't say I remember it though.

 

[Nigel]

A couple of years ago I did manage to buy a ticket without noticing until it was too late that that railcard discount that I had originally selected had somehow not been applied.

 

[WesternLancer]

A couple of years ago I did manage to buy a ticket without noticing until it was too late that that railcard discount that I had originally selected had somehow not been applied.

But that scenario wouldn’t invalidate your ticket though

A senior railcard holder who selected a 16-25 railcard would technically not have a valid ticket. Tho no financial loss to the railway of course

 

[jfollows]

“Honest mistake” annoys me every time I see it.
It’s just a mistake.
What’s a “dishonest mistake”?
It may be unfortunate, but it’s still wrong. The railway companies tend to be reasonably lenient. But they have their costs to cover also. Simply asking people to pay the difference between fare paid and fare owed with no costs is unlikely and unreasonable.

The reality is that different people will handle this in different ways, so I suspect we only see the “worst” cases, but we all make mistakes and we all need to own up to them and live with the consequences.

 

[SuspectUsual]

“Honest mistake” annoys me every time I see it.
It’s just a mistake.

Its not "just a mistake" in 99% of cases

Its a deliberate action

Like saying the dog ate my homework.....I'm sure that is true very, very occasionally

 

[Fawkes Cat]

A couple of years ago I did manage to buy a ticket without noticing until it was too late that that railcard discount that I had originally selected had somehow not been applied.

So if you bought a ticket with no railcard, you did nothing legally wrong - just because you can claim a discount, it doesn't mean that you must claim it.

On the more general point, if someone has claimed a lesser discount than they're entitled to (so maybe 33% from 16-25 rather than 50% from 16-17) then I imagine that inspectors are using their discretion not to write the case up. Another point of friction is using the wrong card to claim the right discount but at an invalid time - morning peak 16-25 against Senior outside the SouthEast for example. I don't recall seeing this in any posts but surely it could be written up: we do see Anytime bought for the 1035 used on the 0735 (so right card, wrong time) pursued.

 

[jfollows]

Its not "just a mistake" in 99% of cases

Its a deliberate action

Like saying the dog ate my homework.....I'm sure that is true very, very occasionally

That’s another way of putting it, I agree.

Onboard a train, if nothing were done every time someone claimed an “honest mistake” there would be no Penalty Fares or possible prosecutions.

Clearly sometimes, maybe often, discretion is shown and nothing is done.

 

[Kite159]

I've seen it a handful of times (someone holding a 16-17 Saver but selects 16-25 by mistake), normally results in a "you do know you get a bigger discount by selecting the correct railcard" comment. It would take a seriously jobworth RPO to write someone up for claiming less of a discount than what they were entitled to...

...Cue Carlisle Revenue on Northern

It's similar to someone buying a 1st class ticket and sitting in standard class as they didn't notice they had a 1st class ticket (in those cases when a 1st class advance is cheaper than a standard class advance ticket)

 

[Starmill]

What would an RPO do in this situation as I imagine that the ticket would be invalid with the wrong Railcard applied.

It isn't valid without the railcard. Generally nothing though, beyond pointing it out potentially.

 

[WesternLancer]

I've seen it a handful of times (someone holding a 16-17 Saver but selects 16-25 by mistake), normally results in a "you do know you get a bigger discount by selecting the correct railcard" comment. It would take a seriously jobworth RPO to write someone up for claiming less of a discount than what they were entitled to...

...Cue Carlisle Revenue on Northern

It's similar to someone buying a 1st class ticket and sitting in standard class as they didn't notice they had a 1st class ticket (in those cases when a 1st class advance is cheaper than a standard class advance ticket)

Great post. Just the sort of insights I was hoping for.

 

[ricoblade]

But that scenario wouldn’t invalidate your ticket though

A senior railcard holder who selected a 16-25 railcard would technically not have a valid ticket. Tho no financial loss to the railway of course

I did this a couple of months ago (I have a senior railcard). I had been buying tickets on the Northern App for my daughter who has a 16-25 railcard. I then bought myself a ticket, the 16-25 railcard was automatically selected and I didn't notice (totally my fault but I'd managed to make a very tight earlier connection than I thought and had to buy a ticket pronto for that service before it departed).

The conductor on the TPE service I caught of course spotted this but was toatlly cool about it as there was no price difference as you say. She was generally really good with passengers anyway, even printing off tickets for one who was travellling on a booking confirmation.

 

[RPI]

I've actually had one or two people put the 16-25 discount instead of the 16-17! I just pointed out that they bought a more expensive ticket and it's in their interests to check next time!

 

[WesternLancer]

I did this a couple of months ago (I have a senior railcard). I had been buying tickets on the Northern App for my daughter who has a 16-25 railcard. I then bought myself a ticket, the 16-25 railcard was automatically selected and I didn't notice (totally my fault but I'd managed to make a very tight earlier connection than I thought and had to buy a ticket pronto for that service before it departed).

The conductor on the TPE service I caught of course spotted this but was toatlly cool about it as there was no price difference as you say. She was generally really good with passengers anyway, even printing off tickets for one who was travellling on a booking confirmation.

of course plenty of examples of this helpful approach by staff go on on a regular basis - but always good to experience them.

 

[FenMan]

Travelling to Stansted on a Sunday for a business flight to Ljubljana I used my Network Card to discount the rail ticket and thought I'd picked the right option despite the reflective glare of the early morning sun on the TVM's screen. I thought no more of it.

I was checked and it turned out I'd mistakenly selected the Disabled Railcard discount. The guard started to go through his spiel so I interrupted to explain what had happened and to point out the price was the same, so no loss to the railway. At which point he backed down and marked up the ticket accordingly.