Fans fear rip-off over rail prices from Swindon to London (26 May 2010)

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Swindon Advertiser:

An internal investigation has been launched by First Great Western (FGW^▸ (First Great Western)) after discrepancies in the company^s ticket prices for Swindon fans wanting to travel to London for Saturday^s Wembley final.

The probe comes days after one fan said he was quoted three different prices by the train company^s staff before finally securing the tickets for ^15.95.

Another disgruntled fan said that his friend was offered ^15.95 return tickets to London a day after he purchased the same fare on the same train for ^45.

Daniel Harper, a taxi driver from Park South, said he was left ^disgusted^ after he was offered tickets almost three times more expensive than his rail ticket to the Swindon versus Fulham match in January.

The 29-year-old said: ^When I asked why the tickets were so expensive operators told me the company had removed their cheaper offer, this turned out to be false as I know others going up to London on this day with the same offer. I rang them on three separate occasions and every time I was given a different price but they were all around ^45. They^re a disgrace and are trying to rip people off rather than encouraging people to use public transport. Everyone wants to enjoy our day out at Wembley. I think the funniest part though is that I received a letter from the company saying that the ^15.95 promotion was removed because of high demand, even though I ended up getting my ticket for that price.^

Meanwhile another fan also contacted the Adver with a similar story.

Kane Wollen, a garage manager from Kingsdown, said he paid ^45 return for four tickets with the rail operator on Sunday before discovering that other fans had been quoted ^15.95, including a tube journey, for return tickets from Swindon railway station on Monday.

The 36-year-old said: ^I think this is really appalling, you have an entire town that is feeling good about a real positive event and then you have a big company trying to make money off it. You may have only heard from two fans on this occasion but I bet there are thousands that will come out of the woodwork after this.^

A First Great Western spokesman said: ^Our specialist team is currently investigating the situation to see what happened.^

[IndustryInsider]

From the Swindon Advertiser:

A First Great Western spokesman said: ^Our specialist team is currently investigating the situation to see what happened.^

In other words, "Crap, our ridiculously complicated fares system has been rumbled - how can we spin our way out of this one...?"

[devon_metro]

Sounds like Advance Purchase quotas, or perhaps the NRES^▸ (National Rail Enquiry Service) was down momentarily thus showing no advance tickets.

Doesn't sound like anything fishy to me, just a good excuse to moan in the local rag.

[inspector_blakey]

You've hit the nail on the head - note that Wollen bought his tickets on Sunday when the reservation system was down, temporarily removing advance purchase tickets from sale, which was clearly advertised on all the ticket sales websites I saw. Maybe the headling should be "Swindon Town fan didn't read notice talling him to wait until 1100 when advance tickets would be available again" but it doesn't have quite the same ring.

But seriously, why is this such an issue? On any train on a weekend you'll have passengers who paid 50p for their advance fare three years before they were born, as well as people who have bought more expensive "walk up" fares. It's called yield management, and happens on long-distance trains and aircraft all over the world. And I have to be honest, I don't regard GBP 45.00 as a "rip off" for a fully flexible ticket on a weekend. Chances are they might be having the last laugh if the game runs late anyway!

[John R]

If the game runs late no doubt people will moan if their advance ticket is not accepted on a later train.

Given the possibility of queuing at Paddington if the passenger volume is great, how does it work if you have a ticket for a specific train?

[Ollie]

If the game runs late no doubt people will moan if their advance ticket is not accepted on a later train.

Given the possibility of queuing at Paddington if the passenger volume is great, how does it work if you have a ticket for a specific train?

Usually done with two queues, reservations and no reservations.

[JayMac]

You've hit the nail on the head - note that Wollen bought his tickets on Sunday when the reservation system was down, temporarily removing advance purchase tickets from sale, which was clearly advertised on all the ticket sales websites I saw. Maybe the headling should be "Swindon Town fan didn't read notice talling him to wait until 1100 when advance tickets would be available again" but it doesn't have quite the same ring.

To be fair, the story makes no mention of Mr Wollen trying to buy the tickets online and it also says that the ^15.95 fare was a promotional return including tube travel. And if Mr Harper was attempting to buy them by phone from FGW^▸ (First Great Western) Telesales they may've been unaware of a local promotion. It is however difficult to work out from the story what the timeline is and where these promo tickets were available from. Can't see a combination of advance singles plus tube that would add up to ^15.95.