I hate trains.
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More specifically, train companies. This week, I let my fiancée borrow my car (crazy I know), so I'm getting the train to work for a week. On Monday I tried to purchase a weekly travel pass, but was told I needed a photo Id in order to do so! How stupid. So on Monday I just purchased a normal ticket. I got my photo Id, and returned on Tuesday to get my weekly pass. On Wednesday I accidentally left my pass in the office. I asked at the station what I could do and was told I could buy a normal ticket, and if I brought the pass & ticket the next day I could get a refund. So I did that, and returned the next day for my refund. Well now they've changed their minds and won't give me a refund. If they had told me that before I would have considered walking the 5 minutes back to the office to collect my pass! It's not a huge amount of money, but it's the principle, at least I would have had the option. On top of all of this, it takes me 45 minutes longer to get to work, and 30 minutes longer to get home. It normally costs about the same as a weeks worth of petrol. Yesterday I had to walk 2 miles in the rain to get to the station. On Monday the first train was just suddenly cancelled, so I had to run the half a mile between stations in town to make my connection. And with all the messing around I've paid for a weeks pass, and 2 day tickets - that's 9 days worth of travel, for 5 days of work! I'm all for being eco-friendly, but seriously, sort your services out, then I'll consider it. (Did I mention, I hate buses too, but for different reasons :laugh: - That's another story)
Simon
I use the tube. Takes me under an hour, door-to-door on the Central line and I walk to/from the station both ends (included in the time). Costs me £5 a day. I only buy daily tickets as I rarely, if ever, use the tube in the day to go anywhere else and a weekly ticket is about £29.50 (cos they make you pay for 7 days so they can claim that you get a discount off the full cost of £35!) whereas buying daily tickets only costs me £25 a week and I don't lose out if I take a day off as they don't expire. The downside is the smell and cramped conditions. Only takes one git who can't be asked to bathe and the journey becomes distinctly uncomfortable and is made worse when it is hot as there is no air conditioning. Still, the service is not too bad although you get the odd breakdown or overrun. It is better than it used to be even 5 years ago and driving in London is unthinkable.
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More specifically, train companies. This week, I let my fiancée borrow my car (crazy I know), so I'm getting the train to work for a week. On Monday I tried to purchase a weekly travel pass, but was told I needed a photo Id in order to do so! How stupid. So on Monday I just purchased a normal ticket. I got my photo Id, and returned on Tuesday to get my weekly pass. On Wednesday I accidentally left my pass in the office. I asked at the station what I could do and was told I could buy a normal ticket, and if I brought the pass & ticket the next day I could get a refund. So I did that, and returned the next day for my refund. Well now they've changed their minds and won't give me a refund. If they had told me that before I would have considered walking the 5 minutes back to the office to collect my pass! It's not a huge amount of money, but it's the principle, at least I would have had the option. On top of all of this, it takes me 45 minutes longer to get to work, and 30 minutes longer to get home. It normally costs about the same as a weeks worth of petrol. Yesterday I had to walk 2 miles in the rain to get to the station. On Monday the first train was just suddenly cancelled, so I had to run the half a mile between stations in town to make my connection. And with all the messing around I've paid for a weeks pass, and 2 day tickets - that's 9 days worth of travel, for 5 days of work! I'm all for being eco-friendly, but seriously, sort your services out, then I'll consider it. (Did I mention, I hate buses too, but for different reasons :laugh: - That's another story)
Simon
If you write to the train company and complain, you should get a refund. I used to work in the customer service department for Virgin Trains and got a lot of stuff like this. If you can send in your travel pass and the extra ticket you had to buy, explain what happened, you should get your money back.
Words fade as the meanings change, but somehow, it don't bother me.
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Cant Say as I have a major problem. I live in Luton, 30 miles from London. For £17 I get a return ticket and all day pass on the underground/buses. The journey take 25 minutes to St Pancras, and I can spend all day traipsing across London.
------------------------------------ "Password Protected? You're dealing with Geeks, just turn it on, type Gandalf and you're in!" - Frankie Boyle
That is because it is London, all services are optimised for it. Same here in Ireland. Getting to Dublin from pretty much anywhere is no problem. But getting from, say, Waterford to Cork involves going 200k North and then back down South. On paper it looks good ("our rail network gets you from Cork to Dublin faster than any car can") but in practice ("Waterford to Cork is 4 hours longer by train than by car") it is a PITA.
cheers, Paul M. Watson.
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More specifically, train companies. This week, I let my fiancée borrow my car (crazy I know), so I'm getting the train to work for a week. On Monday I tried to purchase a weekly travel pass, but was told I needed a photo Id in order to do so! How stupid. So on Monday I just purchased a normal ticket. I got my photo Id, and returned on Tuesday to get my weekly pass. On Wednesday I accidentally left my pass in the office. I asked at the station what I could do and was told I could buy a normal ticket, and if I brought the pass & ticket the next day I could get a refund. So I did that, and returned the next day for my refund. Well now they've changed their minds and won't give me a refund. If they had told me that before I would have considered walking the 5 minutes back to the office to collect my pass! It's not a huge amount of money, but it's the principle, at least I would have had the option. On top of all of this, it takes me 45 minutes longer to get to work, and 30 minutes longer to get home. It normally costs about the same as a weeks worth of petrol. Yesterday I had to walk 2 miles in the rain to get to the station. On Monday the first train was just suddenly cancelled, so I had to run the half a mile between stations in town to make my connection. And with all the messing around I've paid for a weeks pass, and 2 day tickets - that's 9 days worth of travel, for 5 days of work! I'm all for being eco-friendly, but seriously, sort your services out, then I'll consider it. (Did I mention, I hate buses too, but for different reasons :laugh: - That's another story)
Simon
Simon Stevens wrote:
More specifically, train companies
I commute by train into Bristol to work and have done for the majority of the past 11 years so I can sympathise with anyone who has suffered the state of the train services in this country. A pox on the house of First Great Late Western.
"I know you believe you understood what you think I said, but I am not sure you realize what you heard is not what I meant."
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Cant Say as I have a major problem. I live in Luton, 30 miles from London. For £17 I get a return ticket and all day pass on the underground/buses. The journey take 25 minutes to St Pancras, and I can spend all day traipsing across London.
------------------------------------ "Password Protected? You're dealing with Geeks, just turn it on, type Gandalf and you're in!" - Frankie Boyle
Dalek Dave wrote:
I live in Luton, 30 miles from London. For £17 I get a return ticket and all day pass on the underground/buses. The journey take 25 minutes to St Pancras, and I can spend all day traipsing across London.
Christ! I live about the same distance from Sydney's CBD. For that amount converted to AUD I can buy a Weekly ticket, allowing me to travel as many times a day for 7 days anywhere in and around the CBD and to and from any station between home and the CBD.
Michael Martin Australia "I controlled my laughter and simple said "No,I am very busy,so I can't write any code for you". The moment they heard this all the smiling face turned into a sad looking face and one of them farted. So I had to leave the place as soon as possible." - Mr.Prakash One Fine Saturday. 24/04/2004
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If you write to the train company and complain, you should get a refund. I used to work in the customer service department for Virgin Trains and got a lot of stuff like this. If you can send in your travel pass and the extra ticket you had to buy, explain what happened, you should get your money back.
Words fade as the meanings change, but somehow, it don't bother me.
Yeah, I guessed I probably would, but to be honest it's not really worth the hassle for the amount of money I'll get back. I'm just annoyed at the principle of the whole thing. They should be falling over themselves to be nice to me. Their services are so shocking, they need to make up for it with fantastic customer service.
Simon
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More specifically, train companies. This week, I let my fiancée borrow my car (crazy I know), so I'm getting the train to work for a week. On Monday I tried to purchase a weekly travel pass, but was told I needed a photo Id in order to do so! How stupid. So on Monday I just purchased a normal ticket. I got my photo Id, and returned on Tuesday to get my weekly pass. On Wednesday I accidentally left my pass in the office. I asked at the station what I could do and was told I could buy a normal ticket, and if I brought the pass & ticket the next day I could get a refund. So I did that, and returned the next day for my refund. Well now they've changed their minds and won't give me a refund. If they had told me that before I would have considered walking the 5 minutes back to the office to collect my pass! It's not a huge amount of money, but it's the principle, at least I would have had the option. On top of all of this, it takes me 45 minutes longer to get to work, and 30 minutes longer to get home. It normally costs about the same as a weeks worth of petrol. Yesterday I had to walk 2 miles in the rain to get to the station. On Monday the first train was just suddenly cancelled, so I had to run the half a mile between stations in town to make my connection. And with all the messing around I've paid for a weeks pass, and 2 day tickets - that's 9 days worth of travel, for 5 days of work! I'm all for being eco-friendly, but seriously, sort your services out, then I'll consider it. (Did I mention, I hate buses too, but for different reasons :laugh: - That's another story)
Simon
For a while at the beginning of the year, it was looking like the train would end up costing about the same as me driving my Ford Focus, if I included tyres, road tax, servicing and insurance costs, and I bought a full year season ticket. Possibly if you include depreciation the train might come out ahead, although by that stage the car had already depreciated most of the way (it was nearly seven years old). Then I bought a Toyota Prius and got a 33% reduction in fuel usage (the Focus averaged 38mpg, the Prius is getting around 58mpg - it's displaying 59.7 but I believe this to be a bit optimistic). Car remains cheaper even after the crazy fuel price ramping. The difficult bit for me is the last leg. I live in Reading and work in Cookham. I can manage the 20 minute walk to Reading train station (about a mile) but the three miles from Maidenhead to Cookham is too far to be practical. That means waiting for the Maidenhead to Cookham train, which is quite infrequent: I could arrive at 8:21, 9:14 or 9:45am. (Cookham is on the Maidenhead to Marlow branch line.)
DoEvents: Generating unexpected recursion since 1991
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More specifically, train companies. This week, I let my fiancée borrow my car (crazy I know), so I'm getting the train to work for a week. On Monday I tried to purchase a weekly travel pass, but was told I needed a photo Id in order to do so! How stupid. So on Monday I just purchased a normal ticket. I got my photo Id, and returned on Tuesday to get my weekly pass. On Wednesday I accidentally left my pass in the office. I asked at the station what I could do and was told I could buy a normal ticket, and if I brought the pass & ticket the next day I could get a refund. So I did that, and returned the next day for my refund. Well now they've changed their minds and won't give me a refund. If they had told me that before I would have considered walking the 5 minutes back to the office to collect my pass! It's not a huge amount of money, but it's the principle, at least I would have had the option. On top of all of this, it takes me 45 minutes longer to get to work, and 30 minutes longer to get home. It normally costs about the same as a weeks worth of petrol. Yesterday I had to walk 2 miles in the rain to get to the station. On Monday the first train was just suddenly cancelled, so I had to run the half a mile between stations in town to make my connection. And with all the messing around I've paid for a weeks pass, and 2 day tickets - that's 9 days worth of travel, for 5 days of work! I'm all for being eco-friendly, but seriously, sort your services out, then I'll consider it. (Did I mention, I hate buses too, but for different reasons :laugh: - That's another story)
Simon
Back when I was living at my parents it would take about an hour and a half by car (total each day) and 5-6 hours by public transport to get from one end of Manchester to the other. And they want to bring in a congestion tax. And none of the so-called improvements to public transport they're promising in exchange go anywhere near my parents or my workplace.
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That is because it is London, all services are optimised for it. Same here in Ireland. Getting to Dublin from pretty much anywhere is no problem. But getting from, say, Waterford to Cork involves going 200k North and then back down South. On paper it looks good ("our rail network gets you from Cork to Dublin faster than any car can") but in practice ("Waterford to Cork is 4 hours longer by train than by car") it is a PITA.
cheers, Paul M. Watson.
Paul Watson wrote:
But getting from, say, Waterford to Cork involves going 200k North and then back down South.
two weeks ago, my wife and i were going from Montreal to Raleigh, NC. the only way we could do it, thanks to cancellations, was flying all the way down the east coast of North America, from Montreal to Miami, FL, then half-way back up to Raleigh. mmm... efficient!
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More specifically, train companies. This week, I let my fiancée borrow my car (crazy I know), so I'm getting the train to work for a week. On Monday I tried to purchase a weekly travel pass, but was told I needed a photo Id in order to do so! How stupid. So on Monday I just purchased a normal ticket. I got my photo Id, and returned on Tuesday to get my weekly pass. On Wednesday I accidentally left my pass in the office. I asked at the station what I could do and was told I could buy a normal ticket, and if I brought the pass & ticket the next day I could get a refund. So I did that, and returned the next day for my refund. Well now they've changed their minds and won't give me a refund. If they had told me that before I would have considered walking the 5 minutes back to the office to collect my pass! It's not a huge amount of money, but it's the principle, at least I would have had the option. On top of all of this, it takes me 45 minutes longer to get to work, and 30 minutes longer to get home. It normally costs about the same as a weeks worth of petrol. Yesterday I had to walk 2 miles in the rain to get to the station. On Monday the first train was just suddenly cancelled, so I had to run the half a mile between stations in town to make my connection. And with all the messing around I've paid for a weeks pass, and 2 day tickets - that's 9 days worth of travel, for 5 days of work! I'm all for being eco-friendly, but seriously, sort your services out, then I'll consider it. (Did I mention, I hate buses too, but for different reasons :laugh: - That's another story)
Simon
Poor bastards, I live in the city state of Singapore, I catch a bus and an MRT (underground to you brits) to work and it takes me approx 30 minutes. The cost bus 63c (double during peek) the train 76c :laugh: and they just put it up. Admittedly the bus is for 3 stops but the train is for 7 stops. There is no timetable, the buses run every 15 minutes and the trains between 2 and 6 minutes(on the weekend). I don't own a car, a car will cost me approx 3 times what a car in Oz or the Uk will.
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity RAH
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Yeah, I guessed I probably would, but to be honest it's not really worth the hassle for the amount of money I'll get back. I'm just annoyed at the principle of the whole thing. They should be falling over themselves to be nice to me. Their services are so shocking, they need to make up for it with fantastic customer service.
Simon
Simon Stevens wrote:
they need to make up for it with fantastic customer service
You have such a rich and varied fantasy life :laugh:
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity RAH
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Poor bastards, I live in the city state of Singapore, I catch a bus and an MRT (underground to you brits) to work and it takes me approx 30 minutes. The cost bus 63c (double during peek) the train 76c :laugh: and they just put it up. Admittedly the bus is for 3 stops but the train is for 7 stops. There is no timetable, the buses run every 15 minutes and the trains between 2 and 6 minutes(on the weekend). I don't own a car, a car will cost me approx 3 times what a car in Oz or the Uk will.
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity RAH
Perhaps it's about time I considered the electric skateboard[^] option. Eco friendly, convenient, efficient, and dam cool.
Simon
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Go to work by car: 45 min. Go to work by train: 2h27 at best, commuting 4 times (OK, I have to cross the border, but...), and I would have to drive additional 15min from home to the station and 12min from the station to my workplace, which means leaving my car the whole day on an expensive parking lot. Eco-friendly I am, but train is definitely not an option for me. Plus train companies, may it be in France or in Germany, just plenty suck.
Rage wrote:
Go to work by car: 45 min. Go to work by train: 2h27
Getting fired for being late: priceless! ;P
My .NET Business Application Framework My Home Page My Younger Son & His "PET"
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Paul Watson wrote:
But getting from, say, Waterford to Cork involves going 200k North and then back down South.
two weeks ago, my wife and i were going from Montreal to Raleigh, NC. the only way we could do it, thanks to cancellations, was flying all the way down the east coast of North America, from Montreal to Miami, FL, then half-way back up to Raleigh. mmm... efficient!
Look at the bright side, the frequent flyer miles could come handy one day.
My .NET Business Application Framework My Home Page My Younger Son & His "PET"
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That is because it is London, all services are optimised for it. Same here in Ireland. Getting to Dublin from pretty much anywhere is no problem. But getting from, say, Waterford to Cork involves going 200k North and then back down South. On paper it looks good ("our rail network gets you from Cork to Dublin faster than any car can") but in practice ("Waterford to Cork is 4 hours longer by train than by car") it is a PITA.
cheers, Paul M. Watson.
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More specifically, train companies. This week, I let my fiancée borrow my car (crazy I know), so I'm getting the train to work for a week. On Monday I tried to purchase a weekly travel pass, but was told I needed a photo Id in order to do so! How stupid. So on Monday I just purchased a normal ticket. I got my photo Id, and returned on Tuesday to get my weekly pass. On Wednesday I accidentally left my pass in the office. I asked at the station what I could do and was told I could buy a normal ticket, and if I brought the pass & ticket the next day I could get a refund. So I did that, and returned the next day for my refund. Well now they've changed their minds and won't give me a refund. If they had told me that before I would have considered walking the 5 minutes back to the office to collect my pass! It's not a huge amount of money, but it's the principle, at least I would have had the option. On top of all of this, it takes me 45 minutes longer to get to work, and 30 minutes longer to get home. It normally costs about the same as a weeks worth of petrol. Yesterday I had to walk 2 miles in the rain to get to the station. On Monday the first train was just suddenly cancelled, so I had to run the half a mile between stations in town to make my connection. And with all the messing around I've paid for a weeks pass, and 2 day tickets - that's 9 days worth of travel, for 5 days of work! I'm all for being eco-friendly, but seriously, sort your services out, then I'll consider it. (Did I mention, I hate buses too, but for different reasons :laugh: - That's another story)
Simon
I'm so sorry but I'm gonna have to be reeeally really smug about this... I recently moved to Zurich and I can get pretty much anywhere in Switzerland within about 3.5 hours from my front door. There are two train stations, one each side of the business district where I work, and to get home takes me all of 15-20 minutes including walking time (that said I live quite near work). But overall the coverage is amazing. What's still more amazing is that this service is achieved under a consistently low tax regime. i can't go home to Dublin now without feeling a dull red haze of rage descend over me at the rank inefficiency of our transport infrastructure. The Celtic Tiger has come and gone, and the government has managed to make a bags of it. It's about the same service as it was ten to fifteen years ago(atrocious) and it's about 50-70% more expensive depending on what service you're on. Irish infrastructure is a disgrace and an embarrasment.
Smokie, this is not 'Nam. This is bowling. There are rules. www.geticeberg.com
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Rage wrote:
Go to work by car: 45 min. Go to work by train: 2h27
Getting fired for being late: priceless! ;P
My .NET Business Application Framework My Home Page My Younger Son & His "PET"
That deserves a 5, which I just gave you! :laugh:
------------------------------------ "Password Protected? You're dealing with Geeks, just turn it on, type Gandalf and you're in!" - Frankie Boyle
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Simon Stevens wrote:
More specifically, train companies
I commute by train into Bristol to work and have done for the majority of the past 11 years so I can sympathise with anyone who has suffered the state of the train services in this country. A pox on the house of First Great Late Western.
"I know you believe you understood what you think I said, but I am not sure you realize what you heard is not what I meant."
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Go to work by car: 45 min. Go to work by train: 2h27 at best, commuting 4 times (OK, I have to cross the border, but...), and I would have to drive additional 15min from home to the station and 12min from the station to my workplace, which means leaving my car the whole day on an expensive parking lot. Eco-friendly I am, but train is definitely not an option for me. Plus train companies, may it be in France or in Germany, just plenty suck.
Rage wrote:
Go to work by car: 45 min. Go to work by train: 2h27 at best
a friend of mine in LA has it worse with buses. 15m drive 2+hrs on the bus. X|
Today's lesson is brought to you by the word "niggardly". Remember kids, don't attribute to racism what can be explained by Scandinavian language roots. -- Robert Royall
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Yeah, I guessed I probably would, but to be honest it's not really worth the hassle for the amount of money I'll get back. I'm just annoyed at the principle of the whole thing. They should be falling over themselves to be nice to me. Their services are so shocking, they need to make up for it with fantastic customer service.
Simon
They're counting on your deciding it's not worth fighting them over. IF you give in they win and will continue to screw other customers over. The only way to stop them is for intended victims to make doing it cost them more than they pocket...
Today's lesson is brought to you by the word "niggardly". Remember kids, don't attribute to racism what can be explained by Scandinavian language roots. -- Robert Royall
