Trouble at Mill?

[Anon Mouse]

Last night whilst at work I had the following scenario.

A stopping service to a destination on a different route was cancelled and I had passengers with tickets to destinations on the line on which the cancelled train was supposed to run. One passenger, who was going to the destination of the cancelled train asked if he could use my train to the first stop on my route (but different direction) as "The Man at the Station" said it was ok. This guy was sold a full SDS to his new destination.

A couple with season tickets were not quite so easy. The Guy had a season ticket to the first stop after the deviation of route for cancelled train and the Lady had a Season ticket to the stop before the first stop on my train (the cancelled station would have stopped at her station). Because they had season tickets and that their train was cancelled they expected to be able to use their seasons to my first stop. Instead of charging the full SDS to my first stop, I charged the fare from their respective season ticket destinations to my first stop saving them £2 on the total fare.

I am wondering what others would do in this situation and indeed if I was fair and correct in the solution. (the couple were unhappy at paying anything)

cheers!

 

[bb21]

Must say I'm not surprised at people having to pay again, but excuse my ignorance, where was "Mill"?

 

[MikeWh]

I guess you want to protect your anonymity, but it's very hard to picture without example places.

 

[Anon Mouse]

I guess you want to protect your anonymity, but it's very hard to picture without example places.

yeah I guessed that. I've read it again and the post seems a bit cryptic!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Must say I'm not surprised at people having to pay again, but excuse my ignorance, where was "Mill"?

sorry I'm being a bit cryptic I was meaning trouble at work!

 

[pemma]

Whose service was cancelled and which operator do you work for?

If it was, for example, a Northern service that was cancelled and a Northern service that you worked and the 'guy at the station' was a Northern employee then you'll have created an embarrassing situation for the Northern Rail customer relations to deal with.

On the other hand if it was a Northern service cancelled and you were working a TPE service and the 'guy at the station' was a Northern employee but no-one had cleared the passengers travelling off route with TPE then you'd did the right thing as Northern made the mess and didn't resolve to sort it properly.

(Northern and TPE can be reversed in the above and you can add use East Coast and CrossCountry instead to not make it sound anti-Northern.)

 

[Anon Mouse]

Whose service was cancelled and which operator do you work for?

If it was, for example, a Northern service that was cancelled and a Northern service that you worked and the 'guy at the station' was a Northern employee then you'll have created an embarrassing situation for the Northern Rail customer relations to deal with.

On the other hand if it was a Northern service cancelled and you were working a TPE service and the 'guy at the station' was a Northern employee but no-one had cleared the passengers travelling off route with TPE then you'd did the right thing as Northern made the mess and didn't resolve to sort it properly.

(Northern and TPE can be reversed in the above and you can add use East Coast and CrossCountry instead to not make it sound anti-Northern.)

I work for a different operator to the cancelled train. Cheers I feel a bit better now!

 

[pemma]

I work for a different operator to the cancelled train. Cheers I feel a bit better now!

Sounds like what Virgin used to do when they ran XC. They diverted late running trains scheduled to go via Leeds to not go via Leeds and told passengers for Leeds to use other services. However, some travelled on tickets that weren't valid on other operators services (usually Arriva Trains Northern) so were charged for new tickets by Arriva Trains Northern guards.

Just for clarity - when I said you did the right thing I meant in selling them new tickets if the tickets weren't valid for your route. As I don't know the destinations and exact tickets presented I obviously don't know whether the new tickets you sold them were the correct ones.

 

[John @ home]

the couple were unhappy at paying anything

It is not clear whether

• alternative transport was provided to enable the couple to get to their destination but they chose not to use it, or
• Condition 43 of the National Rail Conditions of Carriage applied.

Anon Mouse's actions were reasonable if alternative transport was provided. They were not reasonable if Condition 43 applied.

 

[90019]

sorry I'm being a bit cryptic I was meaning trouble at work!

I didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition!