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Martin Underwood

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CJB wrote:

Last weekend, actually on Sunday, the Underground Piccadilly Line was
closed between London and Heathrow. However the Heathrow Express was
supposed to be an alternative. Indeed throughout the Underground
system it was widely advertised that Zone 1-6 Travelcards WERE valid
on the Heathrow Express to/from Paddington.

HOWEVER after a day in London, and arriving at Paddington to travel
back to Heathrow, we saw numerous displays clearly stating that
Travelcards were NOT valid on the Heathrow Express. The scam was
extended in that the HEX ticket machines had no warning notices on
them for that day, and they were only dispensing full fare tickets
at £14. I personally warned at least two intending passengers from
using these and sent them to get Travelcards from the FGWL ticket
office, thus saving each person more than £7. Then I pretended I
wanted to purchase a ticket from the HEX ticket office and I was
told it would cost £14 the same as the machines. I then mentioned
the misleading signs to three blue-uniformed HEX staff, who
responded by walking off laughing; not their problem.

Then we saw a HEX train arriving at Paddington and it was
unsurprisingly full. We wondered how many tourists, visitors to
rip-off Britain, had also been conned into paying for full fare
tickets into London? Probably most of them.

I assume you did a full survey and kindly distributed compensation
forms, or at least, told the passengers so?

So much for Travelcards being valid. So much for HEX / BAA customer
service. Rip-off Britain strikes again.

[I'd love to snip, but can't think of a decent way of doing it without
losing the points I'm commenting on]

Given that you said you "pretended" to buy a HEx ticket, how did you
get back from Paddington to Heathrow? On your travelcard? Thereby
showing that Travelcards were valid. If you did have to buy a HEx
ticket then they have reneged on the advertised agreement and you have
a case to take up with TfL and HEx. A compo form should be available
by writing to them.

Otherwise, you can't blame HEx for not actively advertising the fact
that Travelcards are valid on their service. Do you see taxis outside
LHR with the bus fare printed on their sides?

The problem is that ticket offices and stations are sometimes run by TOCs
and therefore their advice will not be impartial.

I'd like to see all ticket offices run by a separate, impartial company
which was on the side of the passenger and which was obliged by law always
to sell the cheapest ticket or combination of tickets so that a passenger
can say "can you sell me a ticket [implied "the cheapest ticket"] between A
and B", without needing to be an expert on the ticketing system in order to
get the best deal.

If the signs said that travelcards were not valid (which I think is what you
are saying) when in fact they were valid, then passenger were being wrongly
advised to buy the more expensive ticket. It's one thing not to advertise
and promote the cheaper ticket (though that's bad enough); it's another
thing entirely to give explicit information that cons people into buying a
more expensive ticket that they don't need.

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