Southern Trains - Ticket machine woes

[Sena]

I was travelling with my wife to London from Reigate on Sunday. I wanted to buy 2 return tickets with London travel card for our day out in London. I reached the station the ticket office was closed, so I had to use the ticket machine outside the station to buy my tickets. The menu options is very confusing if you want to buy anything other than a return ticket for a single passenger. I queue was forming behind me and in my hurry I ended up with 2 single tickets to London.

 

When I realised my error, I could do nothing to correct the error as the machine does not returns. I thought it would be easy for the ticket checker to correct. On the entire journey to London, we did not see a ticket checker. On reaching London, I went to the ticket counter and told the person in the counter what had happened. He said, he could not help me as the station in London is managed by a different company. Due to this problem, I had to buy 2 single return tickets and separate travel cards in London.

I ended up spending £49.50 for the trip instead of £26.40.

 

I wrote to Southern railways and I got a standard rejection letter stating

 

“Under the ‘National Rail Conditions of Carriage’ it is the customer’s responsibility to check their tickets upon purchase before they depart. You are, however, able to amend your ticket, or apply for a refund at the station before you depart on your journey.”

 

I called the call centre to reason with them that I would have loved to do so, but the ticket office was closed!!! The ticket machine is not sophisticated enough to issue refunds. The person over the phone was very rude and said it was my fault that I bought the wrong tickets in the first place.

What can I do?

 

Sen

[The Urbanite]

I was travelling with my wife to London from Reigate on Sunday. I wanted to buy 2 return tickets with London travel card for our day out in London. I reached the station the ticket office was closed, so I had to use the ticket machine outside the station to buy my tickets. The menu options is very confusing if you want to buy anything other than a return ticket for a single passenger. I queue was forming behind me and in my hurry I ended up with 2 single tickets to London.

 

When I realised my error, I could do nothing to correct the error as the machine does not returns. I thought it would be easy for the ticket checker to correct. On the entire journey to London, we did not see a ticket checker. On reaching London, I went to the ticket counter and told the person in the counter what had happened. He said, he could not help me as the station in London is managed by a different company. Due to this problem, I had to buy 2 single return tickets and separate travel cards in London.

I ended up spending £49.50 for the trip instead of £26.40.

 

I wrote to Southern railways and I got a standard rejection letter stating

 

“Under the ‘National Rail Conditions of Carriage’ it is the customer’s responsibility to check their tickets upon purchase before they depart. You are, however, able to amend your ticket, or apply for a refund at the station before you depart on your journey.”

 

I called the call centre to reason with them that I would have loved to do so, but the ticket office was closed!!! The ticket machine is not sophisticated enough to issue refunds. The person over the phone was very rude and said it was my fault that I bought the wrong tickets in the first place.

What can I do?

 

Sen

 

Had you approached my window having purchased the wrong ticket, I'd have done a refund and reissued the correct ticket - provided you bought it from the TOC I work for.

What you should have done upon arrival in London was purchase your two Reigate Travelcards, then written to Southern's customer services for a refund on the singles, explaining that you had made a mistake and held two tickets for the same journey.

 

Unfortunately, once the CoC goes against your desired course of action, the best you can hope for is a goodwill refund.

[Old-CodJA]

I thought it would be easy for the ticket checker to correct. On the entire journey to London, we did not see a ticket checker. I wrote to Southern railways and I got a standard rejection letter stating

 

“Under the ‘National Rail Conditions of Carriage’ it is the customer’s responsibility to check their tickets upon purchase before they depart. You are, however, able to amend your ticket, or apply for a refund at the station before you depart on your journey.”

 

I've edited your post down to the bits that I think remain as relevant to my thinking

 

I have to ask, did you walk through the train actively seeking someone to speak to in order to correct your ticket? I ask that because they may have a local policy for dealing with exactly this sort of problem and it is always the traveller's responsibility to seek someone to speak to in order to correct any ticket if they are aware they have a problem before travelling. In this instance, it isn't that you didn't have a valid ticket because you did, but that there wasn't facility to correct an error.

 

I would write again, explaining that you checked and were aware that your tickets were not what you wanted to purchase through an error, made as a result of being unfamiliar with the self-service machines.

 

State that you immediately attempted to comply with the National Rail Conditions of Carriage, but the rail company's failure to provide the facility to do so, (i.e. lack of a staffed booking office ) prevented you from correcting them before travelling in accordance with their rules.

 

I would demand a writtenn explanation from Southern as to why they were not providing the facility for travellers to comply with NRCoC if they are going to hide behind those rules in rejecting your claim. It is a two-sided agreement.

 

You cannot be responsible for the policy of having your destination station managed by a different company from the one that you started your journey at and neither should you be penalised because of it.

 

Good luck.

Edited May 22, 2011 by Old-CodJA

[Sena]

Hi Old-CodJA,

Thanks for your advice. I kept a eye open for a ticket checker but I did not spot any on the train. On reaching London, I spoke to both the counter staff and the person at the information counter. None of them advised me to buy a completely new return ticket as suggested by Urbanite.

 

Regards

Sena

[Sena]

Hi Urbanite,

I will remember the option of buying two new Reigate travelcards in the future. I spoke to the person at the ticket counter and the lady at the information counter and none of them advice to do so. They just asked me to write to Southern's customer services.

 

Regards

Sena

[The Urbanite]

Hi Urbanite,I will remember the option of buying two new Reigate travelcards in the future. I spoke to the person at the ticket counter and the lady at the information counter and none of them advice to do so. They just asked me to write to Southern's customer services.RegardsSena

Really and truly, the staff at that ticket office should have offered to give you a refund form, take your tickets and forward them to Southern to process the refund, then sold you the correct ticket. This is a lengthy process which could take a couple of weeks. Given that I work in London where virtually every TOC in the area has their own ticket office somewhere in the vicinity, I advise that it may be quicker to approach the issuing TOC directly for a refund, but the option for me to take it in is always there.Part of the CoC (clause 27? Not got it to hand) does state that this can be done. If you asked for a refund and the staff neglected to offer this option then you have legitimate grounds for complaint - I'd write to whichever TOC operated that ticket office. Coming from Reigate, presume this happened at London Bridge?

[Old-CodJA]

You are right in that Condition 27 deals with refunds where applicable, but this is in respect of un-used tickets. The difficulty in this instance is that the single ticket was not unused once the journey from Riegate to London had been made. Nonetheless, i believe a bit of commonsense could be applied in this case.

 

The 'get out' that they are relying on is in Condition 21, which states:

 

21. Buying tickets

As soon as you can, you should check that the details shown on the ticket are consistent with the journey you intend to make and that you have received the correct change. If you think a mistake has been made you should tell the person who sold you the ticket

 

I've been involved in prosecuting ticket issues for 30 years, but I am at a loss to understand how the traveller is expected to comply with that if the only facility is a machine.

.

[Sena]

Really and truly, the staff at that ticket office should have offered to give you a refund form, take your tickets and forward them to Southern to process the refund, then sold you the correct ticket. This is a lengthy process which could take a couple of weeks. Given that I work in London where virtually every TOC in the area has their own ticket office somewhere in the vicinity, I advise that it may be quicker to approach the issuing TOC directly for a refund, but the option for me to take it in is always there.Part of the CoC (clause 27? Not got it to hand) does state that this can be done. If you asked for a refund and the staff neglected to offer this option then you have legitimate grounds for complaint - I'd write to whichever TOC operated that ticket office. Coming from Reigate, presume this happened at London Bridge?

 

It was at Charing Cross.

[SRPO]

Im not an expert on self service machines but dont they all show the most popular fares on the main screen before you go through to making selections?

On the main screen there would have been 1 button to press for a travelcard, then you would either buy it or add another passenger.