On Tuesday I bought, for the first time in ages, a peak one-day all
zones travelcard, at the quite new (less than a year old) ticket
machine outside Crayford mainline station in Zone 6. It cost £12.40,
which is what I expected.

On Thursday I did exactly the same thing in exactly the same place at
about the same time, but there were two differences.

1: The machine rejected my debit card before I'd even had a chance to
enter a PIN, but the card processing on this new machine seems hopeless
anyway and is out of order in some way almost as often as it works, so
that didn't surprise me.

2: More interestingly, the travelcard only cost £12.00. Why the 40p
reduction? Anyone know? I was worried that I'd picked a wrong option or
something but the ticket happily worked on the train, the DLR (my first
DLR ticket inspection!) and the tube all day so it seemed to be what
I'd asked for.

A glitch in the machine or a proper reduction, perhaps by way of
compensation for the fact that I currently have to pay 50p over the
odds for a day out in London, until South Eastern implement Oyster
Pre-Pay?

Paul

wrote:
2: More interestingly, the travelcard only cost £12.00. Why the 40p
reduction? Anyone know?

I've just been studying the two travelcards (since I have to hand them
over for reclaiming from work shortly) and thought I'd follow up my own
post with the only difference between them, apart from the date and the
time of issue (07:41 on Tuesday, 07:43 on Wednesday!):

After the price on Tuesday there is an X, whereas on Thursday there is
an M.

That is literally the only difference (apart from what I assume is a
sequential ticket number which has risen from 23585 to 23770 between
the two tickets). What does 'M' mean? 'Mistaken discount given'?

Paul

wrote:
After the price on Tuesday there is an X, whereas on Thursday there is
an M.

If you paid by a different method (cash, card, warrent), that would
give a different code. I think M is for cash ("*M*oney", perhaps?),
whereas X is for credit/debit cards.

Whether the machine has given the correct code or not is a different
issue.

PhilD

--

PhilD wrote:
If you paid by a different method (cash, card, warrent), that would
give a different code. I think M is for cash ("*M*oney", perhaps?),
whereas X is for credit/debit cards.

Ah, thanks, that makes sense as I did indeed pay by those methods.

A red herring, then, so the mystery remains. I can barely endure the
suspense until next Wednesday when I get my next peak travelcard to see
if it's £12.00 again

Paul

wrote:
PhilD wrote:
If you paid by a different method (cash, card, warrent), that would
give a different code. I think M is for cash ("*M*oney", perhaps?),
whereas X is for credit/debit cards.

Ah, thanks, that makes sense as I did indeed pay by those methods.

A red herring, then, so the mystery remains. I can barely endure the
suspense until next Wednesday when I get my next peak travelcard to see
if it's £12.00 again

I thought you can't charge some one extra for a credit card fee without
informing them.

Also on the machines, the amount to pay is displayed before you select
payment type.

(Unlike Ryanair, who charge you extra no matter what form of payment
you choose).

wrote:
I thought you can't charge some one extra for a credit card fee without
informing them.
Also on the machines, the amount to pay is displayed before you select
payment type.

Absolutely - neither I nor (I think) PhilD meant to suggest that the
change in *price* was caused by the change in payment method, only the
change in letter after the price (from X to
M).

The reason for the change in price is still a mystery - all solutions
to which are still gratefully received!

Paul

On 9 Jun 2006 06:22:19 -0700, wrote:

I can barely endure the
suspense until next Wednesday when I get my next peak travelcard to see
if it's £12.00 again

Well, I did endure it, and I'm afraid it was back up to its normal
£12.40 today, so whatever the problem was, it wasn't a permanent
reduction

Paul