TVMs not issuing prebooked tickets

[whole diary]

[rogerw]

I've never had any problems collecting from the booking office at Trowbridge.  Indeed the email confirmation on my recent purchase gave me the opening hours of the booking office and stated that TVMs^▸ (Ticket Vending Machine) were also available at the station.  Mind you, I had used an AMEX card   

[PhilWakely]

I've never had any problems collecting from the booking office at Trowbridge.  Indeed the email confirmation on my recent purchase gave me the opening hours of the booking office and stated that TVMs^▸ (Ticket Vending Machine) were also available at the station.......

STAR machines in the ticket office do allow for 'Ticket on Departure' (ie pre-booked tickets) and most staff will happily deal with these if there isn't a queue.

[Surrey 455]

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.

I buy most of my tickets using the GWR website or app and usually collect at a Southern or SWT^▸ (South West Trains) station. I always have to input the collection code. Using SWT website and collecting at SWT station is the same. However booking from Southern website and collecting from Southern station I did not have to input code. I've not done that for a while so don't know if that's still the case.

[jdw.wor]

Help!! Although this issue did not occur at a GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) station GWR services pass through!! Guildford.
My wife had to go to London this evening and the best option was to go to Guildford and catch the train (she does not know the area). Because time was very tight and I have seen long queues at the booking office I went on line and bought her ticket, then gave her the booking reference. For the first time in more than 100 occasions I have bought on line (at varying locations) the machine refused to provide the ticket because the card was not the one used to buy.
My questions are
1) Is this a random issue
2) Why are the railways not prohibited from this condition as it contravenes the Conditions of Carriage (the ticket must be used by the person FOR whom it was bought not BY whom it was bought).
3) How can this rule be applied with purchases where no money and therefore no card is used.

Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of this happened when my wife queued up and spoke at the booking office. She showed her booking reference, the clerk saw the name similarity but refused to issue and would only give her a ticket if she paid again. This she did and missed the train. At the end of the conversation the clerk told her that I should go on line and cancel the ticket I had bought. I never knew this could be done and cannot find anywhere to do it. Any views and help from those up to date on these things would be much appreciated. As a final irony I was, for two years in the seventies,
ASM^▸ (Assistant Station Master) Guildford!!

[ChrisB]

1) No
2) This is covered elsewhere in the Conditions, and has been used by TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) for some years.
3) What tickets can be obtained

where no money and therefore no card is used.

- for free? Not sure what you mean here.

Some TOCS allow any card to be used, some insist that the card used for purchase has to be used - this has been discussed here a few times. The T&Cs for each TOC do cover this, but need reading carefully if you can find them. That's the TOC who owns/runs the machine at which you want to collect, in this case, SWT^▸ (South West Trains).

edit: At least I think that's right - I can't see how a machine could require a particular card when bought from one supplier, but not from another

If you don't know for sure about who runs the TVM^▸ (Ticket Vending Machine), always best to ask, and assume that you can't simply send someone to collect with a different card. Owing to fraud, TOCs are tightening up. It might be worth a thread listing each TOC and their policy.

If you go to your online account with whichever TOC you booked with, there is a list of purchases in there, and a link to request a refund, assuming it is a ticket that is refundable. If you haven't collected, it is very quick & easy to do online. If you have collected & then need a refund, it will guide you to printing off a form to post back with your tickets & a refund to the payment card usually follows in around 10 days from them receiving it. Many TOCs offer a Freepost address, but I guess, especially for high value tickets, is to pay for Recorded Delivery at least.

However, if you haven't set up an online account with that particular TOC, you've lost your ticket - although most, if not all TOCs now force you to do so as you pass through the purchasing process. You would have to collect the tickets with your card & apply offline via their refund form from a ticket office.

Bad luck, hope this helps

[Fourbee]

jdw.wor sorry to hear of those difficulties you and your wife had; you obviously were trying to increase her chances of catching the train, but unfortunately to no avail.

Which website did you use for booking tickets?

When you refer to free tickets perhaps you mean sites like Redspottedhanky where their eVouchers are used for payment?

[jdw.wor]

Thanks for responses. Yes I was thinking of sites like Redspottedhanky, where no card to pay is used and I believe there are others.
I just think this is another example of our railways doing themselves no favours. If there is to be a rule it is either enforced or not throughout (and I realise there are different companies but they are all bound by a standard set of rules). What truly bugs me is a requirement which does not fully comply with the Conditions of Carriage - which all companies are signed up to and the lack of empathy shown at Guildford where it was plain that the ticket had been bought and the correct person was asking for it. I suspect I will not be able to easily get a refund as the ticket was bought via the guest portal

[ChrisB]

Never buy via the guest portal - you have discovered why.

They do meet the Conditions of Carriage & the T&Cs that go with them. Transport Focus has looked at this.

Assume that your purchasing card will always be needed to collect - there is a way to enable any card, but only available via telesales. Explain that it's a business purchase to be collected by an employee, and it can be set up for any card collection