The jobsworth Southeastern guard on my Redhill to Tonbridge train has tried telling me that my Southern Daysave was not valid because it was a Southeastern service.
He checked tickets after leaving Redhill and says my ticket is not valid because this is a Southeastern service and my ticket is for Southern only. I tried correcting him but he was very stubborn and not having it. He told me that the Redhil to Tonbridge line is a Southeastern service that borrows rolling stock from Southern to use on the line. I told him he was talking nonsense and he should look on the Southern website and see for himself that it is a Southern service but he was not having it. I then told him to listen to the automated announcements that announce at every stop "this train is the Southern service to" but he replies that is because the train is borrowed from Southern so the announcements have not been changed. He kept insisting that it was simply a Southeastern service that borrows rolling stock from Southern and that the livery of the train makes no difference. He was a very dumb individual that insisted he was right no matter what evidence you give him.
He tells me i need to either get off at the next station or buy a new ticket from him. I completely refused and said i was staying on until Tonbridge and not buying a new ticket. He gives up after then and walks away. Then after Nutfield he makes an announcement over the PA saying this "this is a Southeastern service and Southern only tickets are not permitted" which was obviously directed at me. After departure he then comes back and starts giving me more hassle about how i have to buy a new ticket from him or get off. Then when we approach Godstone he gives up and walks away again and i am left alone until Tonbridge station.
Then when we approach Tonbridge he comes back and as i alight he tells me he is reporting me to their revenue protection department. I laughed out loud at him and asked how they will get my information from a paper card ticket with no barcode and he says they can use CCTV to aquire my details. I know this is just an empty threat and i very highly doubt he will go to the effort of reporting me to revenue protection. But his attitude was ridiculous.
The line between Redhill to Tonbridge has always been worked by Southeastern drivers and guards mostly. Currently around 80% of services are worked by Southeastern drivers and guards with only around 20% of services worked by Southern drivers and obs. This arrangement goes back to Connex days so it is nothing new. So you would really think that staff would be trained properly. But instead we get muppets like this. To be fair this is the first time i have ever had an issue with a Southeastern guard so at least it seems to be rare. The majority of Southeastern guards on the Redhill to Tonbridge line are fine and i have used a daysave on this line before and had it checked by a Southeastern guard with no issue. So it seems like just an issue with this one guard rather than a bigger issue. But this man needs some serious retraining.
He checked tickets after leaving Redhill and says my ticket is not valid because this is a Southeastern service and my ticket is for Southern only. I tried correcting him but he was very stubborn and not having it. He told me that the Redhil to Tonbridge line is a Southeastern service that borrows rolling stock from Southern to use on the line. I told him he was talking nonsense and he should look on the Southern website and see for himself that it is a Southern service but he was not having it. I then told him to listen to the automated announcements that announce at every stop "this train is the Southern service to" but he replies that is because the train is borrowed from Southern so the announcements have not been changed. He kept insisting that it was simply a Southeastern service that borrows rolling stock from Southern and that the livery of the train makes no difference. He was a very dumb individual that insisted he was right no matter what evidence you give him.
He tells me i need to either get off at the next station or buy a new ticket from him. I completely refused and said i was staying on until Tonbridge and not buying a new ticket. He gives up after then and walks away. Then after Nutfield he makes an announcement over the PA saying this "this is a Southeastern service and Southern only tickets are not permitted" which was obviously directed at me. After departure he then comes back and starts giving me more hassle about how i have to buy a new ticket from him or get off. Then when we approach Godstone he gives up and walks away again and i am left alone until Tonbridge station.
Then when we approach Tonbridge he comes back and as i alight he tells me he is reporting me to their revenue protection department. I laughed out loud at him and asked how they will get my information from a paper card ticket with no barcode and he says they can use CCTV to aquire my details. I know this is just an empty threat and i very highly doubt he will go to the effort of reporting me to revenue protection. But his attitude was ridiculous.
The line between Redhill to Tonbridge has always been worked by Southeastern drivers and guards mostly. Currently around 80% of services are worked by Southeastern drivers and guards with only around 20% of services worked by Southern drivers and obs. This arrangement goes back to Connex days so it is nothing new. So you would really think that staff would be trained properly. But instead we get muppets like this. To be fair this is the first time i have ever had an issue with a Southeastern guard so at least it seems to be rare. The majority of Southeastern guards on the Redhill to Tonbridge line are fine and i have used a daysave on this line before and had it checked by a Southeastern guard with no issue. So it seems like just an issue with this one guard rather than a bigger issue. But this man needs some serious retraining.
