Railcard discount refused

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

kayaitch wrote: »

I had a nice letter from SWT apologising that the guard did not give my son his railcard discount, and enclosing £10 worth of vouchers being the difference in the fare.

I'd send the vouchers back and insist that they give you £10 sterling.

rinoa778

If you're happy with that outcome kayaitch, then that is fine.

That is a strange comment PewPew. I take it the OP's son travels frequently on the trains so it is still £10 regardless of what form it is in.

robt_2

rinoa778 wrote: »

If you're happy with that outcome kayaitch, then that is fine.

That is a strange comment PewPew. I take it the OP's son travels frequently on the trains so it is still £10 regardless of what form it is in.

I agree with Pew Pew - I would send it back and ask for a cheque (or cash). The vouchers might be used in the future but it is the principle. But that is just me - as long as the OP is happy witht he result that is all that matters in this particular case

ticketcollector

Send them back, thanking them for their gesture but put some stuff in the letter about how the experience has left you traumatised, and worried it will happen again etc etc, and as such the vouchers are worthless as you wont be travelling via rail again.

terryya

Well done on the outcome OP, and for updating people.

I didn't post this at the time, but did wonder why your son, as 16 year old, couldn't buy his own tickets. Obviously the machine had gone this time, but surely on the journeys before he was capable of buying his own?

Sol00

Well done!

asbokid

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers! wrote: »

I'd send the vouchers back and insist that they give you £10 sterling.

So would I.. that's totally unacceptable. This happens quite often to me. I arrived at the station with 20 minutes to spare only to find the ticket office is inexplicably closed. So far, I've never had any problem buying tickets on the train. In fact, buying on the train is an altogether more pleasant experience than queueing for ages only to be barked at by an overworked ticket clerk at the station!

Why should South West Trains claw back the value of the refund by forcing your continued loyalty when they manifestly failed to satisfy their side of the original conditions?

MarkyMarkD

What a lot of stupid responses.

"Send back the vouchers and ask for cash".

D'oh!

Did none of you actually read the original post? He travels by train once a fortnight. Obviously he can use the vouchers.

robt_2

MarkyMarkD wrote: »

What a lot of stupid responses.

"Send back the vouchers and ask for cash".

D'oh!

Did none of you actually read the original post? He travels by train once a fortnight. Obviously he can use the vouchers.

Yes we did, hence my reply saying that it is the principle, but as long as the OP is happy with the outcome thats all that matters.

asbokid

robt wrote: »

Yes we did, hence my reply saying that it is the principle, but as long as the OP is happy with the outcome thats all that matters.

The OP may use the train regularly, but perhaps the vouchers are only valid for use on trains operated by SWT?

I was given vouchers to travel on the now defunct Silverlink Trains, only to find that their trains departed so infrequently, I was forced to wait at Bristol Temple Meads for four hours.

I watched in frustration as numerous trains operated by other train companies departed for my destination. In that case, my vouchers with their nominal value of £50 proved to be almost worthless.

Or perhaps the OP may wish to travel using another TOC simply because of his bad experience with SWT.

A voucher with a face value of £10 is invariably worth less than £10, and where a passenger has been overcharged, SWT has a duty to reimburse him fully for the difference, i.e. in cash.

I remember a story from modern Russia, a nation looted bare by the bankers behind Yeltsin. The Moscow school teachers had received no salaries for months. Their vodka was running dry and things were looking pretty dire.

The Moscow Schools Board eventually coughed up and paid them in rolls of lavatory paper, which the teachers were forced to sell on street corners at the weekends.

I can picture South West Trains doing something similar, in credit-crunch Britain.