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Post by sawb on Jan 12, 2015 18:07:49 GMT
I have a disabled adult railcard already loaded on to my oyster card for off peak rates.
I need to get it updated so that I also get peak discounts.
I'm guessing this operation needs to be performed each time my railcard is renewed? My current railcard runs out at the end of this year. If so, how do I go about doing this once ticket offices have shut please?
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Post by crusty54 on Jan 12, 2015 18:58:06 GMT
The station staff will have updated kit to process a lot of things
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Post by Deleted on Jan 12, 2015 21:12:30 GMT
It can currently be done from some(if not all) ticket machines I believe. Staff 'log in' to get access to services that would be done at a ticket office.
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Post by Tubeboy on Jan 12, 2015 23:05:46 GMT
Yes these super duper new ticket machines which at the station I work out break down on a daily basis. Jams, crashes, you name it, it happens regularly , leaving staff on the end of abuse and some passengers frustrated.
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Post by snoggle on Jan 20, 2015 23:43:22 GMT
On the subject of railcard discounts on Oyster Cards here is a Question to the Mayor for tomorrow's meeting 21/1/15. It is from Andrew Dismore, Assembly Member for Camden and Barnet.
I was really quite shocked to read this. I know service levels are not always 100% consistent but this seems to be a serious issue / failing. I await the written answer with interest.
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Post by whistlekiller2000 on Jan 21, 2015 9:08:13 GMT
On the subject of railcard discounts on Oyster Cards here is a Question to the Mayor for tomorrow's meeting 21/1/15. It is from Andrew Dismore, Assembly Member for Camden and Barnet. I was really quite shocked to read this. I know service levels are not always 100% consistent but this seems to be a serious issue / failing. I await the written answer with interest. I'd have thought the straightforward answer would be that the passenger's travel history on the Oyster system would allow a full reimbursement for the overcharges levied and loss of interest on that sum over the period of time mentioned. However, that would be too simple wouldn't it?......... |
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Post by knap on Jan 21, 2015 9:56:13 GMT
My experience of ticket office staff knowing how to register a railcard onto an Oyster is that some have no idea / knowledge but for others it's not a problem, I have tried 6 stations. Staff at Kings Cross St Pancras have always known what to do, but it is not always practical / convenient to go there. My local station did not know what to do, I raised the issue with TFL who apologised and said they had resent instructions out and I should go back to my local station. However by the time I received their reply I had already resolved the issue as I was passing through Kings X
I do feel there is an issue of trying to find the right person at TFL to solve disabled railcard issues. It is a shame the constituent gave up trying, a lump sum gesture to cover lost discount could be made.
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Post by Tomcakes on Jan 21, 2015 10:16:10 GMT
A similar problem existed when railcard discounts were first introduced and you had to have it added - very few staff knew (or said they knew) how to do it. If you tried at busy zone 1 stations and got a BR railcard out they assumed you were a sterotypical tourist who was getting confused! Fortunately things have got better recently and hopefully my last railcard update this summer will be before all the ticket offices close.
It does confuse me slightly that it could be so widely unknown about for this constituent over a period of years. Perhaps he is unlucky enough to live in an area where staff are not properly trained and supervised, and he's only going to the same ticket office and getting the same answer? If it were me I would have looked things up online or phoned TfL to clarify matters and, in the knowledge that I was correct, be confident enough to ask the assistant to check with his supervisor etc if it were turned down.
Really it ought to be easy enough to issue a notice in the traffic circular to remind all booking office staff about the validity of railcards - any person, having read this, subsequently giving the wrong information can have a meeting with The Boss - surely?
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Post by Deleted on Jan 21, 2015 20:38:42 GMT
I noticed that stations inside Zone One tend to know what to do - outer zones I am not that sure - perhaps a notice with pictures in the Traffic Circular would be a good idea - why has nobody thought of that one before???
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Post by tjw on Jan 21, 2015 21:19:02 GMT
I note posts above suggest Zone 1 Stations are good for all sorts of transactions, outer Zones less so.
A busy Zone 1 station with lots of transactions per day perhaps with many Booking Office staff, will see a greater range of different transactions and so will be more likely to help with unusual or rare ones. An outer Zone station with steps etc. will be unlikely to see a disabled person...
As a former Station Foreman my staff had a good idea of the common tickets, less so with some of the unusual ones. If only one is sold per year do we really expect the staff to know about it?
Having used Booking Offices (BR) regularly before the internet / Oyster, I found it a common occurrence for the staff not to know all the ticket types. I would regularly tell them what buttons to press / input code to get the ticket I wanted.
Unless we arrange lots of mystery shopper visits to test the staff knowledge nothing will change! Notices on walls do not always get read and can be quickly forgotten!
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Post by Tomcakes on Jan 21, 2015 22:47:46 GMT
Indeed, if only one ticket is sold per year it may be that the clerk cannot remember how to process it. But surely there is some manual telling them how, to be pulled out and referred to? And, if they don't know, they could ask their supervisor.
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Post by snoggle on Jan 22, 2015 0:28:17 GMT
Indeed, if only one ticket is sold per year it may be that the clerk cannot remember how to process it. But surely there is some manual telling them how, to be pulled out and referred to? And, if they don't know, they could ask their supervisor. There certainly used to be a series of books that told booking office staff have to deal with the full range of activities including the various ticket types, discounts etc. I haven't seen one in a few years so I don't know if they've changed again - I imagine something must have been produced for people using the new staff functions on passenger operated machines. In times long ago there was the UTS Ticket Office Handbook but that was replaced when the new books, written in a different format, came into being. I think part of the issue is the one already identified - low volume of sales / lack of product knowledge / lack of people asking for the more "obscure" products. When I renewed my Annual Travelcard last year I was asked if I got a priv discount (I have that on my Oyster) on the season. I had to tell the clerk that although it would be lovely to get the discount the clerk might get into a lot of trouble for selling me it.   |
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