I hate trains.
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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
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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
As a solution to problems exists as an illusion created by people who live in big cities that can't exist without the people that don't live in big cities.
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Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know. -- Ernest Hemingway -
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:
On Monday I tried to purchase a weekly travel pass, but was told I needed a photo Id in order to do so!
Funny how I guessed where you from based on just the fact that you're required photo to purchase the ticket. Well, funny for me, sad for you.
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Simon Stevens wrote:
On Monday I tried to purchase a weekly travel pass, but was told I needed a photo Id in order to do so!
Funny how I guessed where you from based on just the fact that you're required photo to purchase the ticket. Well, funny for me, sad for you.
Might have phrased that slightly wrong. I didn't have to provide photo Id to prove my identity before buying the ticket. I had to provide them with a passport sized photo for them to stick onto a card to go along with the ticket. (To prevent multiple people for sharing the same ticket I assume). Still crazy.
Simon
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Might have phrased that slightly wrong. I didn't have to provide photo Id to prove my identity before buying the ticket. I had to provide them with a passport sized photo for them to stick onto a card to go along with the ticket. (To prevent multiple people for sharing the same ticket I assume). Still crazy.
Simon
Possible, but doesn't make much sense. It would be hard for two people to use the same pass (the one without photo) on the same train. So either it's for 'security' reasons or to really stop people transferring the pass to a different person when they are not using it anymore. In either case you're being screwed.
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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
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Front door of house to front door of office - 3/4 mile (10 mins) I drive to work! OK I have to use the car for site visits and things, but a tank lasts about a month. (And I get a generous mileage allowance) Here's the thing... On days when I know I am not going to leave the office, I still drive! Why? Laziness? Habit? No! Answer? Sheer Bloodymindedness! If my wife has the car, she goes shopping!
------------------------------------ "Password Protected? You're dealing with Geeks, just turn it on, type Gandalf and you're in!" - Frankie Boyle
Dalek Dave wrote:
If my wife has the car, she goes shopping!
Engine Imobilizer ;)
I'm largely language agnostic
After a while they all bug me :doh:
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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."
AlphaMatrix wrote:
A pox on the house of First Great Late Western.
Indeed, I got screwed over by them last year. A reserved seat but, mysteriously, the carriage was not there!
I'm largely language agnostic
After a while they all bug me :doh:
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Front door of house to front door of office - 3/4 mile (10 mins) I drive to work! OK I have to use the car for site visits and things, but a tank lasts about a month. (And I get a generous mileage allowance) Here's the thing... On days when I know I am not going to leave the office, I still drive! Why? Laziness? Habit? No! Answer? Sheer Bloodymindedness! If my wife has the car, she goes shopping!
------------------------------------ "Password Protected? You're dealing with Geeks, just turn it on, type Gandalf and you're in!" - Frankie Boyle
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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
I used to live in Maidenhead, so I know that line reasonably well. Frequent, it is definitely not! Maidenhead to Cookham is a great bike ride in the summer though. :)
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