Train Journey - "E-Tickets" & Rude Staff

gregg91

Hi all,

About 2 hours ago I had a call from my distressed partner, who I had earlier dropped off at the train station. The conductors on her Cross Country train to Manchester had refused to accept her 'E-Ticket', using the Cross Country mobile app on her smartphone.

When booking her ticket the night before, we were unable to print the ticket due to a problem with our printer, but since she had the Mobile App on her phone, we downloaded the ticket on to there instead. The App advertises itself as a booking device, as well as a way of displaying your ticket.

There is a 'Ticket Wallet' section of the App, & in that section there was an 'E-Ticket' with the details of her journey, seat reservation, & all the standard stuff you get on a train ticket.

Anyway, when she boarded the train, the conductor said that her ticket was not valid, & told her she would have to pay a fine of £33 for not having a valid ticket. My partner attempted to explain herself to the two conductors, but they were extremely rude to her & would not listen. One of the conductors refused to look at her while she spoke, and only spoke about her in the third person, ie. "has the lady done this?". Eventually, when my partner gave over her debit card to pay the £33, the card machine would not recognise it (we don't know why), & this made the two conductors treat her even more rudely, loudly accusing her of not having paid & embarassing her in front of a full carriage of passengers (by this point she was in tears).

She handed over her Driver's License as proof of her address, & then the conductors even accused her of having a fake post code on her License! She's from Manchester so it wasn't too unorthodox! They then issued her with an unpaid fare form & threatened her (again, very loudly) with legal action.

After she contacted me about what happened, I called Cross Country Trains & spoke to a booking enquiries representative, who explained that an 'E-Ticket' is not valid for such a journey, & instead you must instead have an 'M-Ticket'. She said that tickets not purchased via the mobile app are not valid on the app itself, thus making the whole process a bit pointless.

Either way, I gave her the Booking Reference Number & she acknowledged that my partner had payed for the ticket, but was unable to do anything with regards to the rude staff members. She then forwarded me to Customer Services.

The Customer Service rep was quite sympathetic, & explained that this sort of matter was left at the discretion of the Train Manager. She apologised for the rude staff members, & explained the misunderstanding that had taken place on our part. She advised me to email the customer service department explaining what had happened in full & said that a reply would advise us what to do next.

I find it ridiculous that Train Managers could treat someone who has made an honest mistake as if they are some kind of criminal, and although I understand their position of not merely accepting proof of purchase, it seems ridiculous to handle the matter as such.

I'm just about to write an email to the customer service department, but wondered if anyone had similar experiences to this, or any advice as to how I should move forward with the complaint.

Thanks,

Gregg

Jeff_Bridges_hair

Always rude members of staff when people get in to a bit of bother. I bet it was a print at home ticket of which cross country's terms and conditions clearly state that the ticket must be printed on A4 paper and presented when requested.

The whole idea of the app is to either purchase m-tickets to show on your phone or other E-Tickets which are print from a printer - its not solely to be used as medium of holding a valid train ticket

thelawnet

lesson is - get a decent printer.

gregg91

Ah, you misunderstand me, I don't mean that the whole app is pointless, I just meant that the concept of displaying an E-Ticket that you can't use seems strange. I understand that it serves other purposes, but why give people the ability to display "tickets" on a a device which they can't then use?

I understand that it's a mistake on our part, we misunderstood the 'E-Ticket' 'M-Ticket' thing, but it is on record that the journey was paid for, & the Customer Service Rep said that they "prefer to reimburse passengers that have double paid for their journeys", so I'll submit the email & see.

Re: the printer, I'm online looking at new ones now...!

thelawnet

get a laser.....

Jeff_Bridges_hair

gregg91 wrote: »

Ah, you misunderstand me, I don't mean that the whole app is pointless, I just meant that the concept of displaying an E-Ticket that you can't use seems strange. I understand that it serves other purposes, but why give people the ability to display "tickets" on a a device which they can't then use?

Because of the ease of fraud if they did so. With an M- Ticket (m for mobile) it has a Qcode or barcode on it which once scanned cannot be used again.

gregg91

Yeah I agree, I'm just saying the nature of the 'E-Ticket' appearing on my partner's smartphone screen was misleading. I understand the significance of a 'M-Ticket' obviously, & the difference between the two. My point was that It wasn't clear enough that an 'E-Ticket' on the screen wouldn't work. They shouldn't label it as a ticket if it won't let you on the train..!

Jeff_Bridges_hair

How do I use an e-ticket?

E-tickets need to be printed at home before you travel. On CrossCountry and Virgin Trains Advance purchase tickets you will be presented with this delivery option.

Once you have selected it please ensure the e-mail address you have supplied is correct and continue with your booking.

We will ask you to provide the name of the lead passenger if travelling in a group or the passengers name along with a selected form of ID in the booking process. Please ensure that the selected form of ID is brought along with the printed e-ticket on your journey.

Once you have paid for your tickets we will send you a confirmation e-mail. You will then receive a second e-mail containing a link to download your e-ticket. Once you have downloaded the e-ticket this needs to be printed.

To get the e-ticket you will need:

A printer
Adobe Acrobat Reader

http://www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/customer-service/faqs/ticket-deliverycollection#how-do-i-use-an-e-ticket

geordie_taxi

rude staff you shouldnt have to take that. ask the offending person for their name, company and pay number they have to provide it. submit a complaint against the train company and you will get loads of compo from said train company. works nicely for you next train trip

ILW

geordie_taxi wrote: »

rude staff you shouldnt have to take that. ask the offending person for their name, company and pay number they have to provide it. submit a complaint against the train company and you will get loads of compo from said train company. works nicely for you next train trip

No they don't unless their terms of employment say so.

rdwarr

You never see references to "rude staff" in posts where the person has done nothing wrong. It looks like another case of somebody assuming "It will be OK" and being surprised when the TOC sticks to the rules (which in this case were pretty clear).