Great Western Coffee Shop

Today I went to Melksham to collect a prepaid to London for tomorrow (Wednesday),  just under £50s worth of tickets, split at Swindon. This staion has only 1 machine and it was out of service with no advice as what to do. If I had left it till travelling on Wednesday and the machine was still out of service, technically I would have had to buy another ticket to Swindon as the conductor can't issue prepaid tickets, and this would be the first opportunity I had  to get the ticket set.

I had deliberately collected the ticket today to allow time to sort any problems out (this has happened before), and as someone witha bit of knowledge of the system, drove to Chippenham this evening and got the tickets there.  All's well that ends well.

However not everyone would be aware that although you can specify a station to collect a prepaid, you can actually collect it at any most other station TVMs, and not everyone would have the time/facility to go to Chippenham as I did.

Easy to identify a problem, not sure what solution is possible. A second TVM at Melksham might alleviate the problem (not necessarily solve it if the fault was  common) but certainly would not be cost effective. Any ideas?

Ironically on a number of occasions over the last few weeks Journeycheck has been showing the TVM at Melksham as out of order when it has in fact been working.   Today there is no report and you have discovered it not to be available.

The TransWilts CRP at a meeting last week did raise this issue and it is being investigated.

As you point out it is usually possible to collect your ticket from any TVM not just the one you specify although that wasn't always the case.  I also believe that, based on any problems with transactions in the past, it is an option for the system to restrict it to the specified location.   I know from experience it is also the case you have to specify a machine when you order tickets from a call centre that are not available on line (eg sleeper berth reservations having already purchased the travel ticket).

I am not sure if you are planning to start your journey from Melksham but if so and the TVM is out of order when you arrive on the day you should have been allowed to travel with proof of purchase and then collect your tickets from a working TVM along the way - but as you say an inexperienced traveller wouldn't know that.

In the past I have made a special journey to a TVM to collect tickets, not Melksham, because part of the package was a PlusBus ticket and found the TVM wanting.  Thanks to a benovolent bus driver I was allowed to travel on the day - but I was very lucky.

Surely that means changing trains enroute in order to collect said tickets from a TVM, which if you are on a direct service, you cannot do?

Indeed - bob m's answer is excellent in the context of the Melksham question though were there are no advanced tickets for sale for any direct journeys.

Slightly poor wording on my part.  Although the majority of longer journeys from Melksham require a change en route, where if time allows you could collect your tickets, there is always the option at the end of your journey - assuming it has a ticket office or working TVM(s).

I have in the past taken a photo of a faulty tvm to support why I hadn’t purchased a ticket. Another occasion I videoed it as it wouldn’t take more than £25 in cash. My fare was £48, for which I had cash payment, as soon as i reached £25 it returned the notes back I’d already fed it!

Many thanks for all the comments. I was only trying to describe a potential problem for someone who isn't a frequent user, and who might be put off rail travel as a result.
I'm sure the conductor would have let me travel, all of them on the line are knowledgeable,  helpful and cooperative.
And yes, as I was breaking my journey at Swindon, I could have obtained the SWI-PAD ticket there, albeit with a long walk to the station entrance.