Endless delay in trying to buy a ticket

[whole diary]

[broadgage]

I recently had to travel at short notice from Paddington to Taunton, without any advance ticket.
I allowed plenty of time, knowing what a slow busineses ticket buying can be.

I had a debit card with ample credit available, and enough cash, and knew what ticket I needed (first single to Taunton at about ^160)

First attempt was from a ticket machine "pay by cash or card" , chose the ticket I wanted and attempted to buy a ticket, paying by cash. The machine then displayed "pay by card only"
Thinking the machine perhaps defective, I tried another, having confirmed by observation that it was accepting cash, but not from me ! "pay by card only" after I had choosen the ticket.
I then concluded that perhaps the machines only accept cash up to a certain limit, though I saw no mention of this on or near the machine.
I therefore tried to pay by card, at two different machines "unable to process this transaction" And yes it was a proper debit card from a high street bank, not solo, electron, or any variety of pre paid card.

As a last resort I joined the long queue at the ticket office and eventually managed to part with ^160+
As a result of these delays I missed my prefered train, 18-03 by at least 15 minutes and had to wait about 45 minutes for the 19-03.

So the time taken to buy a ticket, and the time wasted as a resulted of missing the train, was nearly as long as the journy itself!
There seems little point in spending billions on new high speed lines, or millions on increasing speeds on existing lines when the ticket buying time is comparable to the journy time.

I see nothing unreasonable in requiring that TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) must limit ticket queues to say 10 minutes. It is no good encouraging customers to use the ticket machines when a fairly simple ticket type was not available.

At least I got a seat in the Pullman on the 19-03, and this was as good as ever.

[JayMac]

At least I got a seat in the Pullman on the 19-03, and this was as good as ever.

Every cloud..... 

Do send in your concerns to FGW^▸ (First Great Western) Towers to find out whether there is some sort of floor limit on TVMs^▸ (Ticket Vending Machine). That would be my theory and if so the floor limit may apply equally to cash or card. Just a theory mind, but if it is the case then a notice on the machines would be handy.

[BerkshireBugsy]

At least I got a seat in the Pullman on the 19-03, and this was as good as ever.

Every cloud..... 

Do send in your concerns to FGW^▸ (First Great Western) Towers to find out whether there is some sort of floor limit on TVMs^▸ (Ticket Vending Machine). That would be my theory and if so the floor limit may apply equally to cash or card. Just a theory mind, but if it is the case then a notice on the machines would be handy.

According to the NRE^▸ (National Rail Enquiries) web site there is no specified limit on the amount of cash used to purchase a ticket

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/payment_methods.html

[6 OF 2 redundant adjunct of unimatrix 01]

From the fgw charter

.   You can buy a full range of tickets from First Great Western ticket offices. When buying a ticket we promise to give you fair and impartial information and to sell you the most appropriate ticket for your journey. You will be able to purchase a ticket with cash, cheque and most credit and debit cards. A list of accepted cards will be displayed clearly at each ticket office window. Ticket office opening hours will be displayed at each station along with alternative methods to purchase a ticket. When purchasing a ticket from our ticket offices you should not have to queue for more than five minutes during peak periods, and no more than three minutes outside of peak periods. (Peak periods are busier periods of the day when customers are travelling to and from work, e.g. between 0700 and 0900.) Regular checks will be carried out to ensure that these standards are consistently met and any shortfall rectified.   

[broadgage]

Does the ticket office at Paddington EVER comply with the "3 minutes waiting times off peak and 5 minutes in the peak" stipulated above.

I do not recall EVER buying a ticket in less than 10 minutes, and 20 minutes or more seems to be normal.
Ticket machines dont help if they dont or wont sell the ticket required, and remembering that my requirement was a simple one.

[eightf48544]

Makes the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) charter a bit hollow especialy as I assumme it's not enforceable

[vacman]

No problems with the TVM^▸ (Ticket Vending Machine)'s today? went and played with a few of them???

[Chris from Nailsea]

Hmm. 

The left-hand TVM^▸ (Ticket Vending Machine) of our pair at Nailsea & Backwell station was playing up this morning - accepting payment by card, promising to print tickets - but then not printing them, due to it having run out of stock, apparently.

On my return at lunch time, the problem had been addressed by 'someone' sticking a couple of yellow post-it notes onto the touch screen, warning potential users of the problem.

Technology, eh? 

[BerkshireBugsy]

At my local station yesterday (Thatcham) the TVM^▸ (Ticket Vending Machine) appeared to be working but then wouldn't accept any payment. According to the NR^» (Network Rail - home page) website at the time of my visit (about 11am) the ticket office should have been open but it wasn't. It seemed like a burglar alarm was going off in the office which was - to say the least - very loud (probably meant to be!)

So no chance to buy tickets before boarding the 11am ish to London Paddington. Either the TM^▸ (Train Manager, or possibly Ticket Machine, depending on context) on that service was going to be busy or there would have been a big queue at the excess fairs office on arrival! I can imagine that if passengers had to pay at Paddington there would have been some unhappy passengers if they would travelling on via the Hammersmith and City line (it is a while since I have been into Paddington but I am assuming the excess office is still at the east end of the station and the H&C line at the other end)