I am frequent user of Merseyrail, though because I hold an aged person's pass I only need to use the ticket office on the rare occasions I travel in the morning peak. I have noticed in recent months that the office at my local station (Cressington) is often completely closed, with shutters down and no sign visible; this is often around 9.30 to 10.00, so I don't know if it has been open before then. More recently (only in the last week or so) I have seen the notice, with the clock face as pictured, in the window with the shutters up. I assume this is because the staff are only briefly absent. But if a passenger enters the system when the shutters are down and no obvious instruction on what to do (I know that there are posters elsewhere saying this) they can't be blamed for travelling without a ticket. If they have travelled before they might perhaps assume from the regular presence of staff collecting fares inside the barriers at eg Liverpool Central, that they are expected to pay there. It's difficult to see what else they could do.