TheTrainLine.com selling INVALID tickets

AlNuT

Not sure if you've come across this before... But I've just bought a ticket from thetrainline.com and it is actually INVALID. I hadn't used their new 'print your tickets at home' option before and genuinely didn't see the conditions that the name of the passenger had to match the name of the cardholder. The site allowed me to continue with the purchase of the ticket even though there was nowhere to enter my name next to my card details - surely if there was a field which automatically populated the name from what you entered earlier for the passenger name, it would alert the customer to the problem. I think that's really unfair - is it unlawful too, the fact that the ticket is not valid?!?!

Lum

AlNuT wrote: »

Not sure if you've come across this before... But I've just bought a ticket from thetrainline.com and it is actually INVALID. I hadn't used their new 'print your tickets at home' option before and genuinely didn't see the conditions that the name of the passenger had to match the name of the cardholder. The site allowed me to continue with the purchase of the ticket even though there was nowhere to enter my name next to my card details - surely if there was a field which automatically populated the name from what you entered earlier for the passenger name, it would alert the customer to the problem. I think that's really unfair - is it unlawful too, the fact that the ticket is not valid?!?!

Sounds like an anti fraud measure. Normally they would post the tickets to you and so would require that they be sent to the cardholders address, thus preventing me from using your credit card to buy tickets.

With the print at home option, this fraud prevention measure is gone, but by sticking the name on the ticket the risk is reduced. I would have to steal a credit card belonging to someone with the same name as me, which is much harder.

If it's stated in the T&Cs, that nobody ever bothers to read but happily clicks to say they accept, then I suspect you are out of luck on this one.

dzug1

It's normal for all print ar home tickets - Virgin and Chiltern have been doing it for a while, First Great Western (one line only) more recently. It's also common with air tickets.

It reduces the risk of you printing off extra copies, giving them to your mates with each of you sitting in a different carriage.

And saying it might be 'illegal' is plain silly.