Railway silly season

[British Bulldog]

They are unreasonable terms and conditions and most on here seem to agree with that apart from employees of the railway.

Whether I think the terms and conditions are unreasonable or not is a different matter all together BoF, But the whole point is you cant go buying a ticket agreeing to all the T&C's then expect to change them as and when it suits you and then start bitching about it when you get pulled up.

 

[beorhthelm]

If the rail companies catch somebody who they believe is deliberately evading their fare, they won't issue a penalty fare, but simply take them to court.

fair enough, but thats not really what you said in the previous post, which gave the impression theres no legal avenue for evasion.

and interesting piece clarifying the process.

 

[Deleted User X18H]

I am travelling on one of Britain's top 10 scenic railways later on this morning Looe to Liskeard and I hear you occasionally have to alight early on the route, due to flooding and the fact some stations only get served once every four hours.

 

[CHAPPERS]

This thread is ridiculous. Do those arguing that these people should not have got fined use these pre booked tickets at all, out of interest?

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

Well, when I'm King of the World I'll privatise all the railways, bring the costs down and sort out this insanity

Until such time, I say, "Fight, Rise Up, Burn The T&C's. A Revolution At The Ticket Barrier"

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Trains in this country are shit and over priced.

This is difficult to argue against.

 

[Badger]

So if I understand correctly:

You CAN get a discounted ticket from London to Southampton
You CAN'T get a discounted ticket from London to Eastleigh

If that is the case then surely that is discriminating against the people of Eastleigh

 

[Beach Hut]

This thread is ridiculous. Do those arguing that these people should not have got fined use these pre booked tickets at all, out of interest?

No I don't, why ?

 

[Beach Hut]

So if I understand correctly:

You CAN get a discounted ticket from London to Southampton
You CAN'T get a discounted ticket from London to Eastleigh

If that is the case then surely that is discriminating against the people of Eastleigh

Really or perhaps SWT might have the right to decide what products they sell ?

 

[Hatterlovesbrighton]

This is difficult to argue against.

How often do you use trains?


As someone that has been using the trains every day for about 11 years, I can definitely argue agains this. About seven years ago my trains went through a time of being consistently 20 minutes late 4 days a week for about 4 months.

More recently my trains are rarely late (my morning one is often early) and the quality of them is infititely better than the old slam doors.

As for price, sure they are expensive but my yearly season ticket probably works out at about £15 a day to take me 65 miles and back again. Not that bad value.

 

[CHAPPERS]

No I don't, why ?

Just interested to see which side of the argument those who actually use these tickets fall on.

 

[Barrel of Fun]

This thread is ridiculous. Do those arguing that these people should not have got fined use these pre booked tickets at all, out of interest?

I do use pre-booked tickets on the odd occasion and I would like to think it is my right to leave the train at any point during the journey.

They still have my money, but I have decided to forgo the rest of their service for whatever reason. If I wanted to continue onto my destination then I would grudgingly buy a single from the station that I disembarked to the final destination.

Why should I be trapped on a service? There must be some scope for flexibility.

 

[Badger]

Really or perhaps SWT might have the right to decide what products they sell ?

Which highlights what a massive bunch of c*cks SWT are if they have a product which is so massively unfair on people that happen to live slightly further up the line.

 

[ROSM]

Whether I think the terms and conditions are unreasonable or not is a different matter all together BoF, But the whole point is you cant go buying a ticket agreeing to all the T&C's then expect to change them as and when it suits you and then start bitching about it when you get pulled up.

a bit like those who complain about unauthorised bank overdraft charges?

 

[sten_super]

I do use pre-booked tickets on the odd occasion and I would like to think it is my right to leave the train at any point during the journey.

What you'd like to think is completely irrelevant though. As I'm sure you know, there is a tick box which states something like 'I have read and agree to all of the terms & conditions'. In ticking that box you are agreeing to use the ticket in accordance with those terms & conditions, no matter how draconian or ridiculous they may be.

 

[CHAPPERS]

There must be some scope for flexibility.

But surely the reason they are so cheap is because there is NO scope for flexibility? Don't want to stay on the train for the whole journey? Don't buy the discounted ticket.

Simple.

 

[Acker79]

I would explain to them that there aren't many alternative ways to get to Eastleigh, other than car (a quick search of the national express coach and stage coach sites suggests neither stop there, a google search for 'london to eastleigh coach' doesn't provide any), and that there's a coach every 1.5 hours to southampton from london, therefore the train company has to compete with coaches for southampton customers in a way it doesn't for eastleigh customers, so has to lower prices for southampton, but can push the prices up for eastleigh.

There's also the factor that there are probably more southampton customers than there are eastleigh ones so they bump up the price to compensate, but I think it's more my first point - competition for customers.

I would then, after a night's sleep, also point out that sometimes train companies offer discount tickets off peak to busy stations to ease congestion during peak times (i.e. people who don't have to travel during peak time may be enticed by the discount to travel during specific times)

 

[Hatterlovesbrighton]

What you'd like to think is completely irrelevant though. As I'm sure you know, there is a tick box which states something like 'I have read and agree to all of the terms & conditions'. In ticking that box you are agreeing to use the ticket in accordance with those terms & conditions, no matter how draconian or ridiculous they may be.

That's not strictly true. If someone puts something in the terms and conditions that are "unfair" you aren't bound by them.

Consumer Direct - Unfair terms in contracts

 

[Beach Hut]

Which highlights what a massive bunch of c*cks SWT are if they have a product which is so massively unfair on people that happen to live slightly further up the line.

Not really, could be their marketing strategy or are you an expert ?

 

[keaton]

Why should I be trapped on a service? There must be some scope for flexibility.

Because you've not paid for flexibility, you've paid for a very specific thing that can't be changed.

It's like the all-you-can-eat restaurants which charge you extra for stuff you don't eat. If you went to a regular restaurant and they tried to charge you for food you didn't eat that would be ridicolous, if you go to an all-you-can-eat restaurant which states you will be charged for food you take but don't eat, you can't commplain if they charge extra