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The Ticket Collector

Class of guards… How to spot the difference

December 9, 2006 on 11:35 pm | In FGW, GNER, Staff |

What is it about Guards, Train Managers, Conductors, Senior Conductors, Service Delivery Assistant, Customer Service Manager, Customer Service Host, RPI, RCO, Ticket Collector. (or whatever the latest name for them is this week).

Some days you have a really really nice and pleasant one that goes beyond the call of of his job and makes sure everyone has a pleasant journey.

Then you get the really evil nazi’s such as Lisa on GNER who are hellbent on making your journey the worst its ever been deliberately. They go and decide your ticket which youve already paid for isnt vaild on this service/expired 2 seconds ago/not validated/wrong time/wrong restriction/wrong time of year/moon not shining/etc and try and charge you upwards of 100quid. Then then when you question them about their jobs they accuse you of verbal abuse. We all know that there is only a few revenue people on GNER who are nazis but they sure as hell make up for it.
GNER needs to sack these nazi’s and not just pretend that they are doing somthing about it and send fobb off letters to any complainants.

Ways to spot the Nazis:
They have to be asked to give you assistance onto the Train.
You get told standard is down there beacuse they assume your a Standard Class passenger.
They charge their own Grandmother £200 because they got on the wrong train with the wrong ticket.
They accuse you of abusing staff when you ask questions which they dont want to answer.
They repeat the Ticket Restrictions every 5 seconds and after every single sodding station.
They check your ticket individally every time they come past, then they make some comment.
Will take your passes, railcards, tickets off you and lie and sate you abused them.
Just Lie generally to get themselves out of a hole.
Continually say “its Head Office orders mate”, as if you belive that bullsh*t.
always have an attitude problem.
Ways to spot the Pleasant Guards:
The way they dress, they look proud to be working on the railway, proud to work for their company.
Will offer assistance on the train without having to be asked.
They also tend to look in their late 30’s and upwards. Prehaps this is somthing to do with them having worked previously for British Railway?
Will say “thats okay” when you offer to show your ticket to them for the second time.
Will not charge you £200 for having the wrong ticket, but will charge you for the cheapest ticket, or give you a warning for the first time.
Will try and answer any questions you have, or find out the answer.
Will work out a timetable plan if your train is late.
Look and act happy.
Think ive only got a few years left for my pension.

If you have any more ways please use the comments system to add them.

7 Comments

  1. I love the guards that have a chirpy voice over the tannoy. It’s almost as if they are taking the p1ss, but I don’t think they are. The ones on SouthWest trains in the morning tend to be surprisingly amiable - I’ve always had nice ones.

    You’ve gotta hate those ticket restrictions though.

    Comment by Girl on a Train — December 14, 2006 #

  2. hmm quite a thing reading you remarks so i thought i waould go over some of your comments.

    The train guard makes several announcements for passengers who are on restricted services with wrong tickets (note train companies dont make these restrictions)mostly on GNER its for Advance Purchase tickets if you but tickets for next to nothing and are told you must travel on that train why oh why do some [assenegrs just think “oh well this does not apply to me” and board any train they see fit, and then wehen you try to explain, that they have to pay the full fare then they get all arsey with you.You want to travel when ever buy an OPEN ticket.

    not all the 30 + people used to work for British Rail, and can still be poilte smartly attired and will still charge you the correct fare.

    maybe Lisa in you eyes is a “Nazi” but is it the fact that she is a horiible person , or the fact that she is doing her job properly and not letting you get away with a slap on the wrist or the possibilty of a “cheap fare”

    Comment by badwolf06 — December 15, 2006 #

  3. Hi badwolf I notice that in your post you mentioned a few things.
    Firstly the post was from an email sent into the site which the admin team thought was worthwhile publishing.
    I note you have stated that the train companies dont make the restrictions. They do in fact make the restrictions. Take the saver return for example, is it virgin that makes a restriction that it is not vaild on trains before such and such a time but if you have a Railcard it is vaild at anytime or is it say someone else?
    Shall we take the GNER Reader Offer Single, is it GNER that state that its only vaild if you have printed out a token from their website or is it someone else?

    Comment by admin — December 16, 2006 #

  4. Hi,
    I just have to comment on this because I feel that it is an un-fair remark/email/worthwhile article. Yes, I am a train guard for gner, and yes I pride myself in the job I do. I meet some very nice passengers, who you can have a laugh, a joke, and a rather pleasant chat with. And you also meet the passengers who think they can just treat you like a piece of dog mess, that they’ve just stepped in, have no manners or because they’ve just had a really rotten day at work and feel like venting at the first person they interact with, because you wear a uniform.

    Yes some of the ticket restrictions are unfair.

    But also passengers have to help themselves as well, to avoid being charged extra on top of the fare they have already paid.
    Once you are in possession of the tickets you have purchased, it is up to you to look after them, keep them safe, not lose them, and make sure you travel on the correct trains. Correct me if I’m wrong but don’t most saver tickets say on them “see restrictions”, and that advance purchased tickets say something along the lines of “Valid on specified train. No refund. Limited change” (by the way limited change means sorting the ticket out proir to the departure of the train, not an hour into it).
    Why should I get sworn at and get threatened just because I’m doing the job I’m paid to do, when I point out that the ticket they are traveling on is either out of date, timed for a train that left 5 hours ago, or for whatever reason, just because people think “oh wow, look I got a £12.50 single ticket, that means I can travel whenever I want!”
    I love working on the railway, have done for a few years. I like meeting all the different people there are: from Familys from abroad, to daily commuters,to the squadies returning from different countries, to the uni students traveling home at end of term, to the nice old couple who you could quite happily see them as your own grand parents.

    It just really really annoys me when people get into a “I’m the customer who pays for the ticket and your wages, now lick my boots, wipe my backside, and by the way i’m never ever wrong!” kind of attitude.

    Now I can’t talk for every ticket inspector/RPI/Train Guard/CSM/Ticket examiner/train manager/ etc…etc… But with me, if you want a good reaction, treat me like a fellow human being and you’ll get a nice response. Treat me like something you stepped in, you might not like the response you get.

    To say someone is a “Nazi” because someone is doing their job, they are paid to do is unfair and uncalled for, just because you don’t agree with the restrictions.

    Comment by TallUn — December 17, 2006 #

  5. Well this is turning into an interesting convo. We dont edit or moderate the comments so what people say is what they originally said.

    Thing is TallUn, there are some Guards who really do have an attitude problem regardless of the fact you speak to them in a good nice way. They just seem to think about the commission on that £200 ticket they will sell.
    Yes there are some good guards on GNER and they do pass my staff pass (or is that because they have to at weekends), but then theres some that try and charge me for a full priced ticket even at weekends and im staff!!!!
    Thing is I know some guards arnt doing just their jobs, they are deliberlty aiming to piss everyone off.

    Comment by admin — December 17, 2006 #

  6. I think that there are too many restrictions and it can be confusing. However the advance purchase tickets are an issue. We do make announcments upon departure from originating stations and occasionally en-route as well. I do these until I go blue in the face sometimes and time and time again I find people who still insist that they were not told or they seem to think that the restrictions don’t apply to them. Not only do we make these unwelcoming announcements before departure, it is printed on the tickets it is explained on the website when the ticket is bought, it is explained by travel centre staff when sold over the counter, passengers are given a little leaflet explaining the restrictions and still they have not been told. I am understanding, I do help passengers with queries. We do get a lot of passengers who tell us that they are always right and they seem to think it acceptable to be abusive to a person in a uniform, not just a railway uniform, any will do, and that is not acceptable.

    Comment by Electrics need juice — December 19, 2006 #

  7. I think you must be one of the nice ones Tallun!

    Comment by Girl on a Train — December 21, 2006 #

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