Train Journey - "E-Tickets" & Rude Staff

opinions4u

Next time knock on next door and ask if you can borrow their printer.

victor2

It works both ways. Maybe the customer initially irritated the conductor by refusing to accept the ticket was not valid. Of course, it could equally be the conductor was just in a bad mood. But generally it takes something to annoy the train staff.
On the "rude" staff theme, OH and I experienced just the opposite....
We had booked train tickets online and collected them from the machine at the departure station. When we presented them, the conductor asked where the second part was as we only had the seat reservation bit and not the actual ticket. It clearly said on the bits we had that it was not valid without the other part. I explained that was all we had and even showed a printout of the confirmation email.
The conductor explained that she believed us but it was still invalid and we'd have to buy another ticket on the train - at great expense. She even went and called the departing station to check if there was a reported fault with the ticket machine. She came back and said there wasn't. I said I didn't have enough money in the bank to pay for two full price tickets on my debit card. Conductor went away saying she'd see what she could do and would come back later.
We were approaching our destination and she never came back.
Problem solved. I couldn't even thank the conductor. So, maybe I was lucky, but she knew what she was doing and wasn't rude in the least...

dggar

I can't remeber if XC charge to issue tickets at a ticket machine at the staion of departure.

If they do it's worth using another TOC such as Virgin or East Coast to purchase tickets and pick them up before travel.

Rosemary7391

dggar wrote: »

I can't remeber if XC charge to issue tickets at a ticket machine at the staion of departure.

If they do it's worth using another TOC such as Virgin or East Coast to purchase tickets and pick them up before travel.

They do. I didn't realise that you can book advance tickets with another company, but now I know I'll definitely try and avoid booking with them!

mulronie

geordie_taxi wrote:

ask the offending person for their name, company and pay number they have to provide it.

ILW wrote: »

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

Maybe not the payroll number, but you are entitled to demand to see the ticket inspector's identification, and make a note of the information, under Section 5 of the Penalty Fare Rules 2002:

5.2 No-one except an authorised collector may collect penalty fares on behalf of any operator.

...

5.4 Each authorised collector must carry, and produce if asked, identification which proves that he or she is authorised to collect penalty fares on behalf of a specific operator or operators [...] Authorised collectors must allow passengers to make a note of the relevant details of their identification and authority.

It's important than anyone extracting money from you proves who they are, and that they have the right to do so. The moral of the story is: Know your rights (and responsibilities).

princeofpounds

Whilst a lot of people on this forum positively enjoy wading through reams of terms and conditions in order to figure out correct procedures, I have a great deal of sympathy for the OP here.

Calling it an 'e-ticket' is positively misleading, especially when there is a 'ticket wallet' on the app for it to be stored on. Most people's experiences of e-tickets, whether for flights or the cinema or anything else, are considerably more 'e'-based and not just a paper ticket where you get the amazing privilege of printing it yourself.

Sometimes it seems like the railway ticketing system mixes the worst parts of corporate over-complication with the worst parts of byzantine official bureaucracy. You shouldn't have to be a mix of lawyer and trainspotter to avoid falling foul of all these various clauses and sub-clauses.

Don't get me wrong, I do think that the ticket was invalid. But all my human sympathy is with the customer in this instance.

Owain_Moneysaver

mulronie wrote: »

Maybe not the payroll number, but you are entitled to demand to see the ticket inspector's identification, and make a note of the information, under Section 5 of the Penalty Fare Rules 2002:

But this isn't a penalty fare collector. This is a train conductor who is asking a passenger who doesn't have a valid ticket to buy a ticket. There is no suggestion of any penalty fare.

In any case, the train departure station and time is enough to identify the conductor through staff records for the train.

will.i.amnt

ILW wrote: »

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

Exactly. Sick of morons insisting that members of staff must supply their full name. They don't. (certainly not in areas where penalty fares do not apply).
It just takes one psycho with a chip on their shoulder to wreak their revenge.

You also tend to find that whenever the customer hasn't bothered their backside to follow the terms and conditions that the member of staff lumbered with the imbecile is always "rude" and "unhelpful" regardless of how they deal with the situation.

geordie_taxi

will.i.amnt wrote: »

Exactly. Sick of morons insisting that members of staff must supply their full name. They don't.

wrong again. for somebody to demand to see your ticket or in the event of filling out an mg11 or to get ur name and address to verify your identity they must be an official of the railway. to prove this they have to show u their railway pts/id card. which contains full name and pay number

most people just see the uniform and take it for granted but u r entitled to see id

BobBy_2

Was referred to this thread after I posted a similar recent experience:

see: 'Printed wrong part of ticket' thread

Is this a specialty of Cross Country? I'd be interested to hear if you ever resolved this satisfactorily with XC, to give me some hope.

I still feel there is an ambiguity in their e-Ticket conditions - 'You must ensure that you print the ticket clearly on A4 paper and carry the ticket with you when you travel.' It doesn't actually say whether you need to carry this paper copy of the ticket or the original electronic version!