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Negative perception of booking offices and clerks

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riceuten

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This is why rather than closing them all we would be better off having a smaller number of very well trained staff with a decent level of responsibility at larger stations only. That I find works well with self service banking - with Monzo for instance I can do almost everything myself, but if I'm stuck I can chat with someone who really knows their stuff because they don't need many of them so they can be better paid and skilled.
And travelling to the "major stations" ? I too have a Monzo account but I would never use it as a main account because their CS function is lamentable and what staff I have encountered don't have a clue because...they are very poorly paid and overworked - notice a pattern emerging here?
The likes of the Merseyrail booking office with a bloke sat there producing returns to Liverpool and day tickets which could be dealt with via a simplified TVM with four buttons on it (adult and child version of each) and a contactless pad, or even tap in/out contactless, is just silly. But what the railway would benefit from is access to a problem solver, where you can spend some time resolving a complex issue and they have the ability and authority to resolve it regardless of the original sales channel.
The person concerned is also deterring ASB at the station just by his/her presence, and is there in case of an emergency.
 
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Bletchleyite

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And travelling to the "major stations" ?

You can't manage to buy a single from your local station to the nearest big city on your own?

(Formalising the ability to trade in tickets in this way would be very useful)

I too have a Monzo account but I would never use it as a main account because their CS function is lamentable and what staff I have encountered don't have a clue because...they are very poorly paid and overworked - notice a pattern emerging here?

Never had a problem with them. They've always resolved any issue I've had promptly.

The person concerned is also deterring ASB at the station just by his/her presence, and is there in case of an emergency.

Not at many Merseyrail stations where the booking office is a long way from the platforms.
 

158801

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A ticket office it like a branch/shop in a business. If it’s not profitable it will shut.

I used to work in a large railway travel centre. After 7pm it was only “tickets for today”. Needless to say, we weren't very busy. If someone arrived at my counter at 8pm wanting a ticket for tomorrow I would have gladly sold it. Most others wouldn’t have.

I’ll give a real world example :- Stalybridge. A customer arrives at at the counter and asks for a day return to Huddersfield. The clerk says you can buy cheaper on line by splitting you tickets. So that’s what the customer did. Stalybridge 0 : Trainline 1
Now, no doubt TPE ( who operate Stalybridge ) are looking at tickets sales and revenue and looking at saving money !

In the above example, it’s no cheaper to buy online and the clerk could have spent 10-15 minutes researching options so they knew where the splits would work.

Imagine a Lloyds bank in Stalybridge where the staff point out that customers’ who arrive at the counter to use the internet or cash machine. I don’t think that they would last very long.

I’ve also spent time in the fledgling Trainline call centre. This was in the days before booking on the internet. You could guarantee that colleagues would either hang up on you or say we didn’t sell it if people phoned wanting sail/rail or sleepers.
 

danm14

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Imagine a Lloyds bank in Stalybridge where the staff point out that customers’ who arrive at the counter to use the internet or cash machine. I don’t think that they would last very long.
I can't help but point out that you're describing almost every bank branch in Ireland there.
 

scragend

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Imagine a Lloyds bank in Stalybridge where the staff point out that customers’ who arrive at the counter to use the internet or cash machine. I don’t think that they would last very long.

That does happen in banks. When I occasionally go into a branch (mainly Halifax, but Lloyds too) there is usually someone walking along the queue asking each person what they have come to do and, if it's something that can be done at the machine, they are directed there.
 
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As someone who doesn't like talking, has a stutter and finds speaking to strangers an anxiety inducing task, ticket machines and online are a godsend
 

Harold Hill

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At Temple Meads, chatting to the clerk I mentioned I was only buying my return ticket to get me access to the platforms to see a steam tour which was due in. She then refused to sell me the ticket. Many spotters had already been let through by the barrier staff I later discovered
 

47296lastduff

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I have always found Prestatyn office very helpful, especially in buying obscure rover/ranger tickets they have never heard of. It only went wrong once, when I wanted a Cumbrian Day Ranger, and they gave me the Cambrian one. I can easily understand the confusion in this case, and it was promptly corrected with a smile.
 

yorkie

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At Temple Meads, chatting to the clerk I mentioned I was only buying my return ticket to get me access to the platforms to see a steam tour which was due in. She then refused to sell me the ticket....
Unfortunately some ticket office staff seem keen to act in a way which hastens the demise of the job role. I don't understand their logic but it is what it is.

Next time simply log onto any ticketing website (the forum's will do!), purchase an e-ticket, and scan that, with no need to interact with anyone.
 

robert thomas

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Unfortunately some ticket office staff seem keen to act in a way which hastens the demise of the job role. I don't understand their logic but it is what it is.

Next time simply log onto any ticketing website (the forum's will do!), purchase an e-ticket, and scan that, with no need to interact with anyone.
Did you ask for a platform ticket? I believe most staions have them if they look. Neath certainly has.
 

riceuten

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Unfortunately some ticket office staff seem keen to act in a way which hastens the demise of the job role. I don't understand their logic but it is what it is.

Next time simply log onto any ticketing website (the forum's will do!), purchase an e-ticket, and scan that, with no need to interact with anyone.
There are a variety of tickets that websites or TVMs don't sell. I suspect in the long run they will just get rid of these tickets
 

Krokodil

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I think that rededicating ticket offices to help people with lengthier queries is probably for the best.
Some larger stations have designated windows for those buying tickets for another day.

That does happen in banks. When I occasionally go into a branch (mainly Halifax, but Lloyds too) there is usually someone walking along the queue asking each person what they have come to do and, if it's something that can be done at the machine, they are directed there.
Or they'll point out that you can deposit cheques using an app without even leaving one's own home.
 

43066

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A cheque? How quaint.

I used one, once!

Literally. One. Once. To pay some ground rent about 15 years ago, to a freeholder that wouldn’t accept any other form of payment. They must be close to being phased out, surely!?

More topically, I can’t imagine railway booking offices still accept them?
 

zwk500

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I used one, once!

Literally. One. Once. To pay some ground rent about 15 years ago, to a freeholder that wouldn’t accept any other form of payment. They must be close to being phased out, surely!?

More topically, I can’t imagine railway booking offices still accept them?
Close to, but not fully yet. I was never given a Cheque book by my bank, so I've never used one, although I remember my parents sending me to music lessons and the like with them.

The only cheques I've received for at least 10 and probably nearer 15 years are from my grandparents at Christmas and Birthdays.
 

Jimini

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A cheque? How quaint.

Going a bit off-topic, but I got a PAYE tax rebate (!) at the end of the fiscal year back in 2019 I think, and they posted me a cheque! Genuinely felt like I'd gone back 20 years in time when I took it to the bank to cash it in!
 

Gaelan

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A cheque? How quaint.
Meanwhile in America, I was moving bank accounts a few months ago - turns out, by far the simplest/cheapest way to move money from one account to another was to write myself a check and take a photo of it with the other bank's app.
 

rapmastaj

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I've generally had positive experiences of booking office staff being helpful and providing good advice in finding the right tickets. I use the booking office when I can, just as I would prefer to support supermarket or library staff (disclosure: like myself :)) and interact with a human rather than a machine. But typically I'm in a rush to catch my train / simply hate queueing, and it's quicker to go straight to an unoccupied ticket machine than wait in a queue for the booking office.
 

MrJeeves

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But NR at Gatwick sold me an off peak return to Didcot, unaware (?) they cannot be used outbound in evening peak
I find the On Trak contract staff at Gatwick close to useless, so try to seek out GTR employees themselves who are more knowledgeable, and are usually willing to learn if they don't know something (had to teach one how to issue PlusBus on their TIS, once, but they remembered me again every time after that and knew what I wanted).

Going a bit off-topic, but I got a PAYE tax rebate (!) at the end of the fiscal year back in 2019 I think, and they posted me a cheque! Genuinely felt like I'd gone back 20 years in time when I took it to the bank to cash it in!
I had one pop through a few days ago for this FY... when they had sent me last year's a few weeks earlier by BACS...
 

AlbertBeale

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Sounds to me like the Merseyrail Day Saver perhaps rather than a single/return?

I'm not sure if these are available on the TVMs at Chester, though they are prominent on Merseyrails own TVMs.

From personal experience the office staff at Chester are usually pretty good, and Merseyrail office staff seem to be good too even for odd requests whenever I have used them.

A few years ago the booking office staff at Manchester Airport helped me out when the gateline staff refused to let me back into the station with a Cheshire Day Ranger. It wouldn't open the gates for whatever reason and was then told it wasn't in the valid area! A quick trip to the booking office with the gate staff, where they were told they were wrong. I always carry a validity map with me now if I'm using a ranger just incase.

Yes - I think that's what it must have been. It was a couple of quid cheaper than the cheapest return to Liverpool that the machine offered me. And - it turned out (though I had no time or inclination to do so) - I could have used it all day up and down that line and some other Merseyrail routes.
 

danm14

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Sounds to me like the Merseyrail Day Saver perhaps rather than a single/return?

I'm not sure if these are available on the TVMs at Chester, though they are prominent on Merseyrails own TVMs.

From personal experience the office staff at Chester are usually pretty good, and Merseyrail office staff seem to be good too even for odd requests whenever I have used them.

A few years ago the booking office staff at Manchester Airport helped me out when the gateline staff refused to let me back into the station with a Cheshire Day Ranger. It wouldn't open the gates for whatever reason and was then told it wasn't in the valid area! A quick trip to the booking office with the gate staff, where they were told they were wrong. I always carry a validity map with me now if I'm using a ranger just incase.
They are available on the TVMs at Chester, by entering the destination "NORTHWIRRALLINES" for the all areas version or "ME ONLY AREA G" for the Area G (Hooton to Chester and Ellesmere Port) version.

There is a printed sign on the TVMs advising of the process of purchasing the former and alerting that it is cheaper than a return ticket to Liverpool (although a return to Edge Hill is even cheaper again, and significantly so if you're a Railcard holder).

Merseytravel Saveaway tickets - which cost 5p more for the all area ticket and 15p (40p for children) more for a one area ticket (although there is none for Area G) - but cover all train operators and buses (and the Mersey Ferry in the case of the all area ticket) rather than just Merseyrail trains, can only be purchased from the ticket office.
 
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D6968

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A cheque? How quaint.
I used one, once!

Literally. One. Once. To pay some ground rent about 15 years ago, to a freeholder that wouldn’t accept any other form of payment. They must be close to being phased out, surely!?

More topically, I can’t imagine railway booking offices still accept them?
Some people do use cheques, not everyone uses smart phone apps, or BACS, there are some members of our society that like to do their banking that way.
 
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Some people do use cheques, not everyone uses smart phone apps, or BACS, there are some members of our society that like to do their banking that way.
To be honest, cheques are rarely used in the modern day. My elderly grandparents who are in their late 70s say that they haven't had a cheque book in 20 years, and they are typicaly very old fashoned. I could understand why many places wouldn't(and don't) accept them. In a world where cash is quickly in decline, I can't see much of a use for cheques apart from those who don't use the internet at all(and that is a very small minority of, mainly very elderly, people). Give it 10 years and I don't see Cheques existing at all.
 
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I’m all for keeping the offices. Where they are strong we should celebrate and where they are weak they should improve.

Great experience at all Manchester stations.
 
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L401CJF

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They are available on the TVMs at Chester, by entering the destination "NORTHWIRRALLINES" for the all areas version or "ME ONLY AREA G" for the Area G (Hooton to Chester and Ellesmere Port) version.

There is a printed sign on the TVMs advising of the process of purchasing the former and alerting that it is cheaper than a return ticket to Liverpool (although a return to Edge Hill is even cheaper again, and significantly so if you're a Railcard holder).

Merseytravel Saveaway tickets - which cost 5p more for the all area ticket and 15p (40p for children) more for a one area ticket (although there is none for Area G) - but cover all train operators and buses (and the Mersey Ferry in the case of the all area ticket) rather than just Merseyrail trains, can only be purchased from the ticket office.
Ah right that makes sense, I have never tried to buy one from the TVMs in Chester, but I did experiment to see if I could issue one with our Star mobile (guards) machines and it was the same process. It would certainly be interesting to print a bog roll version from an onboard machine to see what Merseyrail "rent-a-thug" revenue think about it!

I'm not sure if it's changed on TVMs, but on our portable machines the "Chester to NORTHWIRRALLINES" doesn't work anymore, instead you have to search for Chester to Mrail or something and it comes up.
 

Class800

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Positive
Exeter St Davids - excellent manner, knowledgeable, efficient, no fuss, have sold local railcards and issued seat reservations for a ticket bought online by work

Plumstead - surprisingly helpful sorting out seat reservations for Hull trains

Negative
Not sure whether fault of ticket office or destination gateline, but in my university days had a very bad experience of a Cambridge to Woolwich Arsenal ticket where what was sold was not accepted on arrival, though maybe that's Woolwich's fault, as should accept whatever rail colleagues have decided

Most interactions for me being neutral or positive
 
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