Ticket office problems

[tubeprune]

When I was doing booking office training, my trainer told me, "If a passenger leaves their change behind, make sure you attract their attention by tapping smartly on the ticket office window with the sponge."

[Deleted]

hers a bit of banter we had during my station days, 'how longs the next train?' to which the reply was 'six cars mate as it usually is'

[Colin]

Best question I had whilst working in the ticket office was:

"can you tell me where I can buy a ticket please?"

Other gems:

"how much is a single?" (did not state a destination)
"how much is a return?" (did not state a destination)
"do you work here?"
"can I check in here?" (airport bound customer)
"do you sell ciggarettes?"
"I want a £5 vodafone top up please"
"can I have a book of six first class stamps?"

[Oracle]

Tubeprune will remember but in an issue of UndergrounD magazine we published a list of Underground Slang. My memory fails me but I do recall that OAPs, or correctly in today's society, especially as I will be one one day, Senior Citizens, were called "Twirleys". This was of course because they used to ask the ticket office bod "Are we too early?", i.e for the free travel @ 09.30.

By the way this, and other ticket office and general slang, was immediately picked up by the media. The author consequently got a call to go to BBC Radio London and I taped his time on the radio. The NEWS and/or STANDARD also picked up on it. However a disgruntled old salt who said he had retired from the Underground wrote to one of the evening papers and said that he hoped that the list was not published as he had never heard of any! Too late, matey, it was already out there!

[Deleted]

Well the signs around Uckfield in East Sussex occasionally gain an extra consonant...

[Tomcakes]

oracle said:

My memory fails me but I do recall that OAPs, or correctly in today's society, especially as I will be one one day, Senior Citizens, were called "Twirleys". This was of course because they used to ask the ticket office bod "Are we too early?", i.e for the free travel @ 09.30.

It's still used! (it's 9am these days, though, I think)

As for Uckfield - I did hear someone suggest one of the announcers on the Central announced "Epping" more like "Fepping" and thus was glad the line didn't go to Uckfield!

[Colin]

No, it's still 0930 for freedom passes.

[setttt]

colin said:

No, it's still 0930 for freedom passes.

Strange...... The TfL site agrees with you, but having just done my tickets assessment for CSA training this week, we were told it's currently 0900!

[Colin]

Was that Ashfield House by some chance? They're well known for getting their facts wrong

[Deleted]

The TFL website agrees with Ashfield House trainers

You can travel free from 09:00 on weekdays and at any time on weekends and public holidays.

But perhaps confusingly adds:

If you are travelling on the Tube/DLR from 0930 Mondays-Fridays, or at anytime at the weekend/public holidays, you can take up to four under-11s with you for free.

AND I was trained at Acton, so I can't be wrong

[Colin]

In that case, I stand embarassingly corrected ;D ;D

[Deleted]

colin said:

In that case, I stand embarassingly corrected ;D ;D

No need- How long since you joined 'the darkside of the force'

And I'm sure the last thing on your mind is ticket availability

The booking office has changed hugely over the past couple of years and now with ESAF it's virtually unrecognisable.

[setttt]

centralsimon said:

The TFL website agrees with Ashfield House trainers

You can travel free from 09:00 on weekdays and at any time on weekends and public holidays.

But perhaps confusingly adds:

If you are travelling on the Tube/DLR from 0930 Mondays-Fridays, or at anytime at the weekend/public holidays, you can take up to four under-11s with you for free.

Confusing indeed! ;D Must've missed that first bit.

[Colin]

centralsimon said:

How long since you joined 'the darkside of the force'

I defected from the ticket office in......ermmm......ooooh.....June 2004.

centralsimon said:

And I'm sure the last thing on your mind is ticket availability

Very true ;D

centralsimon said:

The booking office has changed hugely over the past couple of years and now with ESAF it's virtually unrecognisable.

And from what I've heard recently, I'm well glad I'm out of it.

[Deleted]

When you say Freedom passes, the Elderly one is 0900 M - F and the disabled ones can be used any time. As for ESAF this is putting loads of people off wanting to be SAMF's, and to be honest it's not surprising.

[Colin]

alexh said:

As for ESAF this is putting loads of people off wanting to be SAMF's, and to be honest it's not surprising.

Well if ESAF dosen't put people off - Oyster will take care of any excess staff

[tubeprune]

Sorry but when I last worked in a ticket office they had Edmonson tickets in tubes and the proof book was done by hand. What is ESAF, SAMF?

[c5]

SAMF is booking clerk using that old fasioned name Station Assistant with the suffix Multi Functional

ESAF is part of the next stage of Ticket Office "dumbing down" so that bog standard station staff can just float the Passenger Operated Machines in a few years I expect.
ESAF stands for Electronic Station Accounting Facility (or something like that) basically all monies go straight in the bag and off to the bank. There will not the be the sort of In House accounting at the moment.
I heard a rumour that Woolworths used a similar system to ESAF but stopped as they were losing too much money.

[Deleted]

c5 said:

SAMF is booking clerk using that old fasioned name Station Assistant with the suffix Multi Functional

Up to a few years ago the name badge for an SAMF actually had their name, and 'Station Assistant Multi Functional' written underneath - believe it or not it does fit on a name badge. When was 'Station Assistant' changed to 'Customer Service Assistant'? I believe it to be about three years ago. I would rather have the old title, as it is more appropriate If wearing a similar uniform to Sainsburys wasn't enough, their checkout staff are now wearing badges with 'Customer Service Assistant' on as well

And yes, someone has asked me where the beans are in Tescos

[tubeprune]

Thanks ZEDex. As for the term "customer", some members might remember the days when this was used as a nickname - slightly derogatory - for the passengers. The sooner they drop this silly "customer" name and go back to "passengers" the better.

[Deleted]

ESAF stands for enhances station accounts facility.

Basically as already described you no longer count your money, so you no longer know if you balance or not. So you wait until the duty manager send you a memo regarding any loses you've made.

In addition, everything you now do in the ticket office MUST be entered onto to the computer.

Take the float out of the safe, enter it on the computer, open the safe bag, enter it onto the computer, pass money to a colleague, enter it onto a computer.

It is another chapter in the dumbing down of the booking office. When I was trained the trainer said (as they always do) that LU are now looking at removing the individual money. So you'll have a starting float and a finishing float and all clerks will use the same money.

ESAF does have a few nice qualities, for example witnesses have to swipe the UTS card, so lazy Supervisors now actually have to do some work. Also security for the cash collection has been tightened.

Gladly my regular exposure to the booking office eneded earlier this year.

[Colin]

I had a rather interesting chat with a supervisor that may or may not be part of the station group that may or may not cover the west end of the Hammersmith & City line ;D ;D

The up-shot was that the stations on this certain station group (that I may have identified above) now have to close their ticket offices after around 11am. On one particular sunday, the aforementioned supervisor was so bored that he decided to open the ticket office when it should have been closed. Other supervisors on the same station group thought it was a good idea, and followed suit.

A few weeks later, the station supervisors concerned recieved a letter from a senior staff member (director level) telling them in no certain terms, that management were not happy!

Guess that was bad customer service then .........

[Deleted]

Um....

what?

Has the world gone completely mad?!?!?

I find it utterly shocking that the station supervisors are getting told off by senior management for OPENING A TICKET OFFICE...

[Phil]

Yes, but what has policy at director level got to do with common sense? The guys were doing extra work for no extra money.

Sounds like it's the old story of sour grapes 'We produced this policy so we are right. You cannot come up with something better because you make us look less than sensible, and that's rebellion'

Basically exactly the Sheriff of Nottingham's stance in the current BBC Robin Hood series!!! ;D ;D ;D

[Deleted]

colin said:

I had a rather interesting chat with a supervisor that may or may not be part of the station group that may or may not cover the west end of the Hammersmith & City line ;D ;D

The up-shot was that the stations on this certain station group (that I may have identified above) now have to close their ticket offices after around 11am. On one particular sunday, the aforementioned supervisor was so bored that he decided to open the ticket office when it should have been closed. Other supervisors on the same station group thought it was a good idea, and followed suit.

A few weeks later, the station supervisors concerned recieved a letter from a senior staff member (director level) telling them in no certain terms, that management were not happy!

Guess that was bad customer service then .........

Lets assume that in theory, the same also happened to Supervisors on a red line, in the West on town. It's only an assumption but the staff may have been told opening a ticket office would be a disciplinary offence, unless authorised by a duty manager.

You see, in theory, a document is produced, lets call it a business needs schematic (BNS). This theoretical BNS document then is used to work out staffing and in theory ticket office opening times. So, possibly, if staff opened any ticket office additionally, this may make the BNS document show that the public still wanted the facility open, which they obviously don't ('cos the BNS proves so).

In just the same way that queues at ticket offices are now shorter than previously and that the majority of customers are happy and comfortable with using the self service machines or the internet to purchase their tickets.