... what are the worst lies/incorrect information you have been given by someone acting on behalf of the railways. ...
Over to you!
I've thought hard as to whether I should answer a thread which brings out some of the most negative aspects. I
will do so, but please bear in mind that most of these are old examples and I have noticed a big reduction in incorrect information over the past few years. The institutionalised / systemic lying when asked for "cheapest way to get to EEE" remains and is a serious issue - puts the staff in a very awkward position, and brings the fare system they have to operate into disrepute.
* "There's no train to XXX for a long time. Catch the train to YYY then a bus" ... standing less that 50 yards from the train that had XXX as its second stop and was leaving in 10 minutes, but was run by a different
TOC▸ .
* "The Cheapest way to get to ZZZ on that train is AA.AA" when it could be done for about a half of the quoted price.
* "That ticket isn't valid until 19:30" at around 17:00, with a ticket valid on any service
* "The train has been cancelled. You'll have to wait there for the next one" [which wasn't due until the next morning]
* "You can't join the train without a valid ticket" when talking about a station with no ticket office, no
TVM▸ , no permit to travel machine ... and no sign instructing you to buy a ticket from the conductor either!
* On buying an incorrect ticket from the TVM (41 pound single v 42 pound return) and asking the conductor to sell me an upgrade - "can't do that on the train - ask at the ticket office when you get to DDD". And then on asking at the ticket office "I can't do that because you've already used the ticket - he should have done that on the train".
It was issues such as these which inspired some of the board categories here ... and we should probably celebrate that most of them are more of historic interest than current concern.
