Wrong Tickets - Help !

[whole diary]

[moonrakerz]

My wife and I are going to London, from Westbury, this Saturday on Advance tickets which I bought online and collected from the machine at Warminster some time back.
We both have Senior Railcards. I got the tickets out tonight to check the train times and found that both tickets are shown as "disabled" rather than Senior ! I can only assume that I wasn't looking too closely when I bought them - or perhaps I can blame the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) website   

Any ideas please ?

[inspector_blakey]

You can try blaming the website but I doubt it'll get you anywhere.

Might be worth taking them to a ticket office, explaining the situation and asking if they can sort it out for you. Seeing as the fares for the journey are (I assume) the same, this may be possible. You could also try calling FGW^▸ (First Great Western) customer services and asking them what to do; I don't suppose you're the only person who has ever made this mistake. What I wouldn't recommend doing is getting on the train and trying to "wing it".

[JayMac]

Well, I would hope that any staff you encounter will exercise common sense and descretion. You've paid the correct fare, just don't forget to take your railcards!

[moonrakerz]

What I wouldn't recommend doing is getting on the train and trying to "wing it".

Surprisingly, this is just what the man at a booking office has told me to do ! He said that I had paid the correct fare for either ticket, etc, etc and that he couldn't see a problem on the train. He concluded by saying that I probably wouldn't get asked to show my card anyway !

Ummmm   !

Might try another booking office.........

[devon_metro]

You could always just "not notice"

Besides, if the 'gripper' trys to excess you, he isn't going to make much commission on ^0!!

[inspector_blakey]

True, but if s/he is feeling nasty, vindictive or wants to do things absolutely by the book they could deem the ticket to be invalid since the appropriate supporting railcard cannot be presented with it.

Remember that if you cannot present your railcard with your ticket then it's not an excess to the non-discounted fare, your ticket is deemed invalid and it's an anytime single or penalty fare.

[vacman]

True, but if s/he is feeling nasty, vindictive or wants to do things absolutely by the book they could deem the ticket to be invalid since the appropriate supporting railcard cannot be presented with it.

Remember that if you cannot present your railcard with your ticket then it's not an excess to the non-discounted fare, your ticket is deemed invalid and it's an anytime single or penalty fare.

To be honest, even the keenest of gripper would use common sense in this situation as both railcards have no time restrictions, are both valid with that ticket type and as long as you both have your railcard with you then you should be ok, as added insurance I would find the TM^▸ (Train Manager, or Ticket Machine, or Temple Meads (Bristol), depending on context) before boarding or seek them out when on board.

[Hafren]

Surprisingly, this is just what the man at a booking office has told me to do !

If they actually check the railcard and charge you (unlikely I'd hope!) you could always kick up a fuss with customer services, and re-claim  the money on the basis that 'the man at a booking office has told me'!

[Phil]

I would also rather hope that since a large number of genuine disabilities aren't visible to the naked eye, that TMs^▸ (Train Manager, or Ticket Machine, or Temple Meads (Bristol), depending on context) would be trained by their employers to use discretion first rather than risk causing unnecessary offence.

[JayMac]

I am one of those DSB railcard holders whose outward appearance shows little sign of disability. I did once have a bit of an altercation with a gateline staffer at Charing Cross, who, on examing my ticket, asked to see my railcard. I had trouble locating it and whilst I was searching every pocket he said to me "You don't look disabled". I replied "You don't look like an idiot, would you like my medical history?"

[Super Guard]

I am one of those DSB railcard holders whose outward appearance shows little sign of disability. I did once have a bit of an altercation with a gateline staffer at Charing Cross, who, on examing my ticket, asked to see my railcard. I had trouble locating it and whilst I was searching every pocket he said to me "You don't look disabled". I replied "You don't look like an idiot, would you like my medical history?"

Be careful about using the "well the man in the booking office said..." because i'm pretty sure that gets used once or twice a day already in not so genuine circumstances.

While i'm rather appalled at the comment from the Charing X gate line, bravo for your response!

[moonrakerz]

Booking office #2: same response as booking office #1.. Except he said "you can quote me on that" as well.

Just have to see what happens on Saturday, I suppose.

My wife is going to get a DSB card when her present SNR one expires - I must show her the "you don't look like an idiot" quote, may come in handy.

[Brucey]

There is always the "ignorant" approach - "I didn't realise".  To be honest, how many people actually realise that DSB on their ticket means you've received a disabled discount - to most people it is just some random letters.  It isn't even labelled as discount/railcard/anything - just three letters stuck in a random place on your ticket.

[moonrakerz]

What actually happened:

Train up: Never asked to show our tickets.

Train back: Tickets inspected, neither reservation nor Railcard asked for.