TVMs not issuing prebooked tickets

[whole diary]

[Reginald25]

On Monday I prebooked (and prepaid) Bradford-on-Avon to Bath, in my case only £3.90, and specified collection at Melksham, in case I was tight for time at BOA. When I tried to collect ticket at MKM^» (Melksham (Station code) - next trains), the TVM^▸ (Ticket Vending Machine) wouldn't allow use of my card as identification. OK, so I thought I'd get a ticket at BOA before travelling, same again. Here other users were having the same problem of nonacceptance of cards (I have had this at BOA before).
The train and Bath Spa team were very helpful and I got my tickets eventually. well done.

In this case the sum involved was small, and I could claim reimbursement by phone when I got back, but what if the ticket had been one to London at full fare (over £100) and the traveller was less familiar with railway operations.

It is essential that the TVM  failures are reported internally to the support team and the situation remedied quickly.

[Phil]

Usually if a TVM^▸ (Ticket Vending Machine) fails to accept a card it's because there are insufficient funds on the account, or it may be an Electron card (which as far as I know aren't accepted at all), or the card may have a problem with the chip that's embedded into the card. Or of course it's always possible there's a fault with the machine. But I can definitely confirm from considerable personal experience that you do NOT have to use the same card to collect pre-paid tickets as you paid for them with.

[Tim]

were you using an Amex card by any chance?  It appears that the machines no longer recognise such cards.  I've had to do a couple of "manual" collections from the ticket office window at Bath recently.

[Fourbee]

The Amex issue will apparently be fixed on 2nd February.

Card reader software fault on S&B machines.

[didcotdean]

It has even been hit and miss to pay with Amex cards at TVMs^▸ (Ticket Vending Machine) recently. One wouldn't take mine at all - another seemed not to yet after a few seconds spat the tickets out anyway, without me having entered a PIN (it was charged).

[JayMac]

Usually if a TVM^▸ (Ticket Vending Machine) fails to accept a card it's because there are insufficient funds on the account, or it may be an Electron card (which as far as I know aren't accepted at all), or the card may have a problem with the chip that's embedded into the card.

The OP^▸ (Original Poster / topic starter) does point out that they were not alone in experiencing problems using a card at a TVM this morning. They were trying to collect pre-booked tickets so insufficient funds aren't a possible issue either. There is no call to the card holders bank account when collecting pre-booked tickets.

[Surrey 455]

From https://www.journeycheck.southwesttrains.co.uk/

American Express payment problems.
Unfortunately a software fault means we are unable to accept payments via American Express on our ticket machines at present.
Software engineers have investigated the cause of the problem and a fix is now available. This is being installed on affected ticket machines across our network, and all machines should have received the update and be able to accept American Express cards by Friday 3 February.

This is also affecting customers who wish to collect tickets using their American Express card. If you have a prepaid ticket for collecting and have booked it using an American Express card, please visit a ticket office who will be able print off tickets for you.

We are sorry for any problems this may cause.
Last Updated:29/01/2017 22:05

[ChrisB]

Of course, ticket offices often refuse to do this, or rven say it's not possible from their machines!

[Fourbee]

Without wanting to conflate the issue raised, something else I noticed again on the card reader on S&B machines - occasionally the card will not go all the way home. It's almost as if it is spring loaded on the last bit. Looked for signs of tampering, but found none.

Holding the card in and tapping my PIN in with my left hand allowed me to complete the transaction(s).

[chrisr_75]

Without wanting to conflate the issue raised, something else I noticed again on the card reader on S&B machines - occasionally the card will not go all the way home. It's almost as if it is spring loaded on the last bit. Looked for signs of tampering, but found none.

Holding the card in and tapping my PIN in with my left hand allowed me to complete the transaction(s).

I experienced the same issue recently with the TVM^▸ (Ticket Vending Machine) at West Drayton when topping up my Oyster^▸ (Smartcard system used by passengers on Transport for London services) card there (3 hands would've been ideal to hold debit card, type PIN and shield the keypad!), so I guess it is perhaps a wear and tear issue with some of the machines?

[Reginald25]

Thanks to all responses, it was an Amex card so that clearly was the problem but had nothing to do with funds as the ticket was  prebooked. In my case I can only say the train staff & gate/ticket office staff at Bath were happy to assist.

One response indicated that you can collect prebooked tickets using a different card to that used when booking. How?

[JayMac]

One response indicated that you can collect prebooked tickets using a different card to that used when booking. How?

Use the actual card that you made the purchase with and TVMs^▸ (Ticket Vending Machine) often dispense pre-booked tickets with no further input. Use a different card and the TVM will ask for your 8 digit booking reference.

[Tim]

Thanks to all responses, it was an Amex card so that clearly was the problem but had nothing to do with funds as the ticket was  prebooked. In my case I can only say the train staff & gate/ticket office staff at Bath were happy to assist.

One response indicated that you can collect prebooked tickets using a different card to that used when booking. How?

My experience with Staff at Bath was that they were very familiar with this issue and able and willing to issue pre-booked tickets at the ticket office window quickly and cheerfully.

As for your second question, it is my understanding that at most (if not all) TVMs^▸ (Ticket Vending Machine) any card will do for collecting the tickets.  The tickets are already paid for so there is an argument that the code alone without any card should be sufficient for collection (and that would make it easier to book tickets for someone else and simply text them the code), but apparently they choose to require a card so they have the identity of the person collecting, but they don't check it against the purchase.

Other interesting fact about collecting pre-booked tickets from a TVM is that although you are asked to select a station to collect from, you can usually collect from a machine elsewhere.  Maybe you shouldn't reply on this, but I have successfully collected tickets nominated for collection at Bath from Paddington and also Glossop (Northern)

[TaplowGreen]

I buy most of my non season tickets via the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) website and collect from TVMs^▸ (Ticket Vending Machine), my default station is Taplow but I've never had any problems collecting them from TVMs at other stations, however despite using the same card to pay for/collect them I'm always asked to input the code.

Similarly though if the machine isn't working, "Taplow Ted" is always willing to print them out in the ticket office! 

[Fourbee]

I buy most of my non season tickets via the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) website and collect from TVMs^▸ (Ticket Vending Machine), my default station is Taplow but I've never had any problems collecting them from TVMs at other stations, however despite using the same card to pay for/collect them I'm always asked to input the code.

Similarly though if the machine isn't working, "Taplow Ted" is always willing to print them out in the ticket office! 

And IIRC^▸ (if I recall/remember/read correctly) in the distant past, CrossCountry once offered the option of collecting at a ticket office on their website. The capability obviously exists whether advertised or not.