Tickets & Railcards: problems with fading ink/magnetic strips (merged topic, ongoing discussion)

[whole diary]

[JayMac]

Small pedantic point. The RSP Common Stock isn't printed using ink. It uses thermal printing.

http://www.newburydata.com/nd4020.html

[6 OF 2 redundant adjunct of unimatrix 01]

i cant remember the last time i touched a printer that used ink to be honest! ... well since throwing my personal one across the garage in disgust

[devon_metro]

Ink printers in a retail environment are completely impractical, take an age to change, smudge, and of course they don't last very long.

The only thing that needs changing with a thermal printer is the till/print roll and that generally takes a matter of seconds.

[6 OF 2 redundant adjunct of unimatrix 01]

the only bad thing about thermal is that the print isnt that durable, after  time it gets rubbed away and heat of course kills it

[Andrew1939 from West Oxon]

The word "ink" is a generic word applied to any material that adds written information to a hard (or soft) surafce material whether it is old fashioned liquid ink aplied with a quill pen, liquid ink applied with heat with an ink jet printer, powder that is applied with heat through a laser printer or the chemical that has been pre applied to paper and changed with a thermal process to show written information.. What ever form it takes if what it is applied to and the result is intended to be read or understood for a period of time, such as an annual season ticket, it should be capable of lasting that pre-determined life and what ever is used on the season tickets that are commonly in use with now FGW^▸ (First Great Western) is just not up to the job at present. So let us not get het up about types of ink - it is the end result that matters.

[Alan Pettitt]

Just got informed by ticket inspector that my Senior Railcard is rather faded. Well I had noticed, my signature is still fine but the date, number and issuing station have nearly vanashed, and it's only 7 weeks old! Inks obviously not up to much at Frome that day.  I don't want to send it away for a replacement, any ideas?

[JayMac]

Senior Railcards are available at stations if I'm not mistaken.

From your OP^▸ (Original Poster / topic starter) I assume you bought it at Frome station. Should be a simple case of going to a staffed station and asking for a replacement. Maybe best if you go to the station that originally issued it. Shouldn't be a replacement charge as it's not your fault it's faded. If you are asked to pay ^10 then I suggest you decline the replacement and take the matter up with FGW^▸ (First Great Western) Customer Services.

[The Tall Controller]

You are indeed correct. Take it to any ticket office and a replacement can be issued. It is a common problem with the railcards these days. The problem is the type of card the ink is printed on. However, for it to go off in 7 weeks is pretty good going!!

Our trick in my ticket office is to put a cigarette lighter under the railcard for a couple of seconds. The card goes black but the areas where the ink was shines clearly though. The railcard is still valid despite being half burnt!

We did this trick to a chaps railcard and found it to be 3 years out of date! Needless to say he did not get his discount! 

[Nibat]

If the expiry date is not clearly visible, take it to the ticket office with the receipt you should have been issued with, the part of the application form the office should have stamped and given to you when you bought the railcard.  You can do it in any ticket office, as somebody said is to do with some older stock that fades as it was defective.

[Alan Pettitt]

Thank you everyone for your comments and advice.

[Chris from Nailsea]

With many thanks to all Coffee Shop forum members who have contributed to this particular subject over the years, I've now taken the opportunity to merge several previous topics here - purely in the interests of clarity, continuity and ease of future reference.

Or, just because I can. CfN

[ChrisB]

For the fullness of providing info on this topic, anyone know the solution to railcard fade when bought online? Can you still get a replacement wityh your receipt at any ticket office?

[rogerw]

Railcards bought on line are plastic cards and do not, in my experience, fade.  My last one looked as good at the end of its three year life as at the start.  My current one is two years old and looks as good as new.

[Nibat]

If the railcard bought online is in paper stock, the answer is yes.

Same as before, if the expiry date can be read take it to any ticket office (or to one that issues that type of railcard, i.e. if it's a Network Railcard don't take it to St Austell) and it will be replaced there and then.

If it's so faded that it cannot be seen, then take the receipt that shows the expiry date and the issue date and it will also be done there and then.

If you are not sure or you want to avoid a potential second trip, take the receipt with you anyway.  In both cases you'll have to fill in a replacement railcard form and surrender the old railcard.  The ticket office should NOT keep the receipt or charge you any fee in any case, they should endorse the form as "Railcard Faded" and attach the old one.

Please note that in the case of (at least) the Devon & Cornwall Railcard there isn't any receipt, so you MUST take to any ticket office in Devon or Cornwall before the date fades completely.

The fading is to do with the manufacturer of the stock, at the time when the previous supplier (Bemrose Booth) went into administration and the new supplier (Magnadata) took over.  Apparently they didn't use the correct call it paper to make the railcard stock, I think it was the same as the common stock, so it's not designed to last.  All the new stock should last longer, I'm not going to sure it won't fade, but as the railcards came in boxes of 10,000 I'm sure there are loads of them still around!

[SDS]

Just to make it even better, there is a batch of magnadata common stock tickets which have been recalled because the mag strip is b******ks broken and will not store any data on it, and of course won't go thru any barriers and come up error code 07 (as opposed to 09).