Last weekend, actually on Sunday, the Underground Piccadilly Line was
closed between London and Heathrow. However the Heathrow Express was
supposed to be an alternative. Indeed throughout the Underground system
it was widely advertised that Zone 1-6 Travelcards WERE valid on the
Heathrow Express to/from Paddington.

HOWEVER after a day in London, and arriving at Paddington to travel
back to Heathrow, we saw numerous displays clearly stating that
Travelcards were NOT valid on the Heathrow Express. The scam was
extended in that the HEX ticket machines had no warning notices on them
for that day, and they were only dispensing full fare tickets at £14.
I personally warned at least two intending passengers from using these
and sent them to get Travelcards from the FGWL ticket office, thus
saving each person more than £7. Then I pretended I wanted to purchase
a ticket from the HEX ticket office and I was told it would cost £14
the same as the machines. I then mentioned the misleading signs to
three blue-uniformed HEX staff, who responded by walking off laughing;
not their problem.

Then we saw a HEX train arriving at Paddington and it was
unsurprisingly full. We wondered how many tourists, visitors to rip-off
Britain, had also been conned into paying for full fare tickets into
London? Probably most of them.

So much for Travelcards being valid. So much for HEX / BAA customer
service. Rip-off Britain strikes again.

CJB

HEX tickets don't suddenly stop being available when that happens. Heathrow
Express are not obliged to stop selling their tickets and accept travelcards
as the main ticket. All they have to do is let you travel on travelcards.
Of course their machines don't issue tfl travelcards - they're hex machines,
not tfl.

I think you've completely misunderstood what tfl and HEX were doing that
day. No wonder the ticket agents laughed at you it's very funny.

dave

"CJB" wrote in message
oups.com...
Last weekend, actually on Sunday, the Underground Piccadilly Line was
closed between London and Heathrow. However the Heathrow Express was
supposed to be an alternative. Indeed throughout the Underground system
it was widely advertised that Zone 1-6 Travelcards WERE valid on the
Heathrow Express to/from Paddington.

HOWEVER after a day in London, and arriving at Paddington to travel
back to Heathrow, we saw numerous displays clearly stating that
Travelcards were NOT valid on the Heathrow Express. The scam was
extended in that the HEX ticket machines had no warning notices on them
for that day, and they were only dispensing full fare tickets at £14.
I personally warned at least two intending passengers from using these
and sent them to get Travelcards from the FGWL ticket office, thus
saving each person more than £7. Then I pretended I wanted to purchase
a ticket from the HEX ticket office and I was told it would cost £14
the same as the machines. I then mentioned the misleading signs to
three blue-uniformed HEX staff, who responded by walking off laughing;
not their problem.

Then we saw a HEX train arriving at Paddington and it was
unsurprisingly full. We wondered how many tourists, visitors to rip-off
Britain, had also been conned into paying for full fare tickets into
London? Probably most of them.

So much for Travelcards being valid. So much for HEX / BAA customer
service. Rip-off Britain strikes again.

CJB

In oups.com,
CJB typed:

... we saw numerous displays clearly stating that
Travelcards were NOT valid on the Heathrow Express.

I travelled on Heathrow Express with a Z1-6 ODTC on Sunday as I have
done several times when the facility has been available. The only signs
that I saw said that Travelcards other than Z1-6 were not valid.

Are you sure you are not mistaken? Did you take a photo of one of these
notices so that you could send it to TfL to complain that Heathrow
Express were not acting as contracted to do.


--
Bob

"d" wrote in message
. ..


I think you've completely misunderstood what tfl and HEX were doing that
day. No wonder the ticket agents laughed at you it's very funny.

He's just so typical of anyone who loves to yell 'rip-off' at every
possible opportunity.

CJB, HEX is not a philanthropic society - it's there to make money for its
shareholders and to pay its staff. Business is business.

Ian

"Bob Wood" wrote in message
...
In oups.com,
CJB typed:

... we saw numerous displays clearly stating that
Travelcards were NOT valid on the Heathrow Express.

I travelled on Heathrow Express with a Z1-6 ODTC on Sunday as I have done
several times when the facility has been available. The only signs that I
saw said that Travelcards other than Z1-6 were not valid.

Are you sure you are not mistaken? Did you take a photo of one of these
notices so that you could send it to TfL to complain that Heathrow Express
were not acting as contracted to do.

They're only contracted to accept the tickets on the service, not to sell
them as the only tickets on the service... I don't think CJB realises the
arrangement is to allow LUL travellers the ability to travel, not to turn
HEX into a branch of the underground for one weekend.


--
Bob

CJB wrote:

Last weekend, actually on Sunday, the Underground Piccadilly Line was
closed between London and Heathrow. However the Heathrow Express was
supposed to be an alternative. Indeed throughout the Underground system
it was widely advertised that Zone 1-6 Travelcards WERE valid on the
Heathrow Express to/from Paddington.

HOWEVER after a day in London, and arriving at Paddington to travel
back to Heathrow, we saw numerous displays clearly stating that
Travelcards were NOT valid on the Heathrow Express. The scam was
extended in that the HEX ticket machines had no warning notices on them
for that day, and they were only dispensing full fare tickets at £14.
I personally warned at least two intending passengers from using these
and sent them to get Travelcards from the FGWL ticket office, thus
saving each person more than £7. Then I pretended I wanted to purchase
a ticket from the HEX ticket office and I was told it would cost £14
the same as the machines. I then mentioned the misleading signs to
three blue-uniformed HEX staff, who responded by walking off laughing;
not their problem.

Then we saw a HEX train arriving at Paddington and it was
unsurprisingly full. We wondered how many tourists, visitors to rip-off
Britain, had also been conned into paying for full fare tickets into
London? Probably most of them.

I assume you did a full survey and kindly distributed compensation
forms, or at least, told the passengers so?

So much for Travelcards being valid. So much for HEX / BAA customer
service. Rip-off Britain strikes again.

[I'd love to snip, but can't think of a decent way of doing it without
losing the points I'm commenting on]

Given that you said you "pretended" to buy a HEx ticket, how did you
get back from Paddington to Heathrow? On your travelcard? Thereby
showing that Travelcards were valid. If you did have to buy a HEx
ticket then they have reneged on the advertised agreement and you have
a case to take up with TfL and HEx. A compo form should be available by
writing to them.

Otherwise, you can't blame HEx for not actively advertising the fact
that Travelcards are valid on their service. Do you see taxis outside
LHR with the bus fare printed on their sides?

AE

wrote in
:

CJB wrote:

Last weekend, actually on Sunday, the Underground Piccadilly Line was
closed between London and Heathrow. However the Heathrow Express was
supposed to be an alternative. Indeed throughout the Underground
system it was widely advertised that Zone 1-6 Travelcards WERE valid
on the Heathrow Express to/from Paddington.

HOWEVER after a day in London, and arriving at Paddington to travel
back to Heathrow, we saw numerous displays clearly stating that
Travelcards were NOT valid on the Heathrow Express. The scam was
extended in that the HEX ticket machines had no warning notices on
them for that day, and they were only dispensing full fare tickets
at £14. I personally warned at least two intending passengers from
using these and sent them to get Travelcards from the FGWL ticket
office, thus saving each person more than £7. Then I pretended I
wanted to purchase a ticket from the HEX ticket office and I was
told it would cost £14 the same as the machines. I then mentioned
the misleading signs to three blue-uniformed HEX staff, who
responded by walking off laughing; not their problem.

Then we saw a HEX train arriving at Paddington and it was
unsurprisingly full. We wondered how many tourists, visitors to
rip-off Britain, had also been conned into paying for full fare
tickets into London? Probably most of them.

I assume you did a full survey and kindly distributed compensation
forms, or at least, told the passengers so?

So much for Travelcards being valid. So much for HEX / BAA customer
service. Rip-off Britain strikes again.

[I'd love to snip, but can't think of a decent way of doing it without
losing the points I'm commenting on]

Given that you said you "pretended" to buy a HEx ticket, how did you
get back from Paddington to Heathrow? On your travelcard? Thereby
showing that Travelcards were valid. If you did have to buy a HEx
ticket then they have reneged on the advertised agreement and you have
a case to take up with TfL and HEx. A compo form should be available
by writing to them.

Otherwise, you can't blame HEx for not actively advertising the fact
that Travelcards are valid on their service. Do you see taxis outside
LHR with the bus fare printed on their sides?


The problem is that ticket offices and stations are sometimes run by TOCs
and therefore their advice will not be impartial.

I'd like to see all ticket offices run by a separate, impartial company
which was on the side of the passenger and which was obliged by law always
to sell the cheapest ticket or combination of tickets so that a passenger
can say "can you sell me a ticket [implied "the cheapest ticket"] between A
and B", without needing to be an expert on the ticketing system in order to
get the best deal.

If the signs said that travelcards were not valid (which I think is what you
are saying) when in fact they were valid, then passenger were being wrongly
advised to buy the more expensive ticket. It's one thing not to advertise
and promote the cheaper ticket (though that's bad enough); it's another
thing entirely to give explicit information that cons people into buying a
more expensive ticket that they don't need.

CJB wrote:
snip
Then we saw a HEX train arriving at Paddington and it was
unsurprisingly full. We wondered how many tourists, visitors to rip-off
Britain, had also been conned into paying for full fare tickets into
London? Probably most of them.
/snip

Good. They don't contribute to TfL from their taxes, so why should they
benefit from a subsidy programme designed to reduce the financial
expense to Londoners of the Picc closure?

--
John Band
e: john at johnband dot org
w: www.johnband.org

John Band wrote:

Good. They don't contribute to TfL from their taxes, so why should they
benefit from a subsidy programme designed to reduce the financial
expense to Londoners of the Picc closure?

Not Londoners. London Underground users.
There are not yet border controls at the M25.
--
http://gallery120232.fotopic.net/p12598536.html
(57 601 at Stableford, 6 Jan 2005)

John Band wrote:
CJB wrote:
snip
Then we saw a HEX train arriving at Paddington and it was
unsurprisingly full. We wondered how many tourists, visitors to rip-off
Britain, had also been conned into paying for full fare tickets into
London? Probably most of them.
/snip

Good. They don't contribute to TfL from their taxes, so why should they
benefit from a subsidy programme designed to reduce the financial
expense to Londoners of the Picc closure?


Are you suggesting that travelcards are only available to people who
live in London, or that only people who live in London use the
Piccadilly Line to get to and from Heathrow?

The real question here is how much did TfL compensate HEX for taking
their passengers. HEX might have felt it reasonable to assume that
anyone who knew anything would take advantage of the situation and get
a travelcard instead of the HEX ticket they might have got, ie that TfL
should compensate them for every passenger they carried.

If they charged TfL on that basis, then there is a hint of ripoff if
they made every effort to disguise the availability of travelcards.
But did they? Does anyone know?