Great Western Coffee Shop

I ventured down to Warminster station the other day to collect some pre-paid tickets from the machines.
Started on the Bristol platform, the "keypad" on the touch screen display only accepted some of the characters I tried to enter. Went to the Salisbury platform - this machine is not under the canopy, and in only cloudy-bright conditions the screen was all but unreadable. I spent about 10 minutes hunched up over this machine with my arms outstretched so that my coat was (not very effectively) shielding the screen from the daylight. Heaven knows what the people on the other platform thought I was doing !

After I had finally recovered my tickets I went to the booking office to report the defect and say how useless the siting of the other machine was.
The clerk said that "they" had been out several times to fix the machine, "they" said they had fixed it - but each time "they" hadn't ! The siting of the other machine had also been reported - but no response !

If FGW can't site/keep two ticket machines properly .....................!!

At least the machines are still there at Warminster. Keynsham's have both disappeared lock, stock and barrel (as of Sunday, anyway). Fortunately the SWT conductor on the service I caught believed me and sold me a ticket with all the relevant discounts.

They don't work in cold weather.

I, too, had the same problem with pre-paid tickets. Not knowing the above, I used the machine.

I went to the ticket office and said that the machine was broken and the clerk just glared at me! (the multi million pound machine was band new)

Later, I learnt that the machines rely on heat from fingers to work.

I was aware of that - I wasn't wearing gloves ! Perhaps I should have tried a lighted cigarette on it rather than my index finger.

:P

Just so you know Salisbury is an SWT station, so can't fully blame FGW as you are currently doing.

I thought the OP was referring to the Salisbury [bound] platform at Warminster?

Paul

Correct !

I was suprised to see the TVM at Frome in full working order today ;D

That TVM can be a right nusiance when it wants to be ;)

My bad for skimming the post, apologies.

*Slap on the wrist for Ollie

I must be a glutton for punishment ! Tried to get some more pre-paid tickets from the self same machines.

Neither machine would accept my credit card saying "Transaction refused" or something similar. Which is rather strange because I wasn't actually trying to carry out a "transaction", only using my card to identify myself as the person who bought and paid for these tickets on-line the day before.
Nothing wrong with my card, checked with Barclaycard and made a purchase on it shortly afterwards.

These machines are a good idea ..........but !

The pin pad always says "transaction refused" when collecting tickets from the S&B TicketXpress machines, although in my experience they have worked every time: press the appropriate command ("collect pre-paid ticket" or some such) on the initial screen, put card in, wait for it to be read, remove card then type in the CTR. It's an indication that your card has not been charged at the point of ticket collection.

It is also an indication that the machines are cobbled together with a standard PIN pad bolted onto the TVM.

Urr - I was trying to look up fares this morning on a ticket machine, but as it was before 9, it would not show Off peak tickets.

This evening, I tried again, but it would not show "Off peak" tickets. (as opposed to "Off peak day")

Oh well, at least the machine was working (even though it was useless)

Grrr

The other thing machines won't do, in the old NSE area, is sell you 4 for 2.

Correct, they won't do GroupSave anywhere. I assume this means that a group of 3 or 4 wanting to travel using GroupSave can legitimately board the train without a ticket since the NRCoC say you can do this if the ticket machine does not sell you the ticket that you want. I wouldn't fancy testing that though, come up against the wrong RPI and you might find yourself on the sharp end of four penalty fares.

Can any staff advise on what the policy is for passengers wanting to travel using GroupSave from stations equipped only with ticket machines in the penalty fares area?

I believe the get out is that somewhere it says Groupsave is only available from manned ticket offices.

Which is quite a cop out. Certainly limits revenue loss when 4 travelling together from unmanned stations.

Not sure if they are available online

Groupsave is a railcard option.

Can you clarify that...? I'm not sure if you mean that GroupSave has the same status as a railcard discount (and thus must be made available where appropriate) or that the S&B machines will issue GroupSave tickets but that the relevant option is hidden away under the Railcard button.

It's certainly not just available from staffed ticket offices as West conductors will cheerfully sell the tickets to customers boarding at unstaffed stations.

He is referring to purchasing online, where GroupSave is in the railcard options

Indeed, GroupSave tickets can be bought from staff on board - see http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=4361.msg36976#msg36976  ;) :D ;D

I just wouldn't be confident enough to try that with some of our "friendly" local RPIs around Oxford... Although penalty fares do not currently apply in the Bristol area (despite the posters at stations) they certainly do in these parts and a minority of the Thames Valley RPIs appear to take a little too much pleasure in enforcing them. My experience of the West conductors round Bristol is that they tend to be much more easy-going. I'm still not sure if joining the train without a ticket because you couldn't buy a GroupSave from the machine is considered acceptable by the letter of the rules.

Frome TVM was out of service this evening. Luckily I already had a ticket ;D

An interesting point, inspector_blakey.

In fact, those big laminated posters (threatening all sorts of dire consequences, from fines to transportation), appeared at Nailsea many months before the installation of any TVMs, or the eventual appointment of our local chap in the ticket office.

And even now, there are no penalty fares.  I'm not complaining, just pointing out that the proliferation of such posters, where there are actually no penalty fares being applied, just makes a bit of a mockery of their warning.

There was a penalty fare-based faux pas in the Thames Valley as well.

Originally the penalty fares zone only came out as far as West Drayton or somewhere like that, then it crept as far as Twyford and subsequently Reading (at which point I believe passengers on the "old" FGW could be PFed between RDG and PAD).

Shortly after the new franchise started posters appeared informing all and sundry that the penalty fares zone would be extended to cover Didcot, Oxford, Banbury and Bedwyn. Unfortunately the requisite consultation with Passenger Focus was not carried out which led to egg on faces, the posters being removed and a three month delay.

I really don't understand what the seemingly insurmountable obstacle to implementing "FGW west" penalty fares is, especially given that they were a franchise requirement.

I'll try that next time. In the past (long time ago !) when I have managed to get tickets from these ******** machines, I wasn't getting "transaction refused" message.