Quote:
Originally Posted by markpb
The OP has said that they don't travel by train very often. Given that, how are they meant to know that different type of return tickets exist? Irish Rail were selling the ticket, they should have made that information available.
This is a very simple mistake by an IR employee turned into yet another PR mess because of their corporate intransigence and hapless idea about how customer relations work.
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As I said above - some common sense on both sides is needed.
The clerk should have asked when the OP was returning, something I've always found to be an automatic question, but apparently (and I have to say bizarrely) was not asked on this occasion.
The OP should have checked the ticket - the dates of travel are printed on it. It's not particularly unreasonable to expect someone to check something they just purchased.
Either way, I don't think that Intercity services should necessarily be a full penalty fares area. It's becoming too rigid. Such a system is fine for commuter services, but extending it across the country and applying zero tolerance is really taking things too far.
Personally, I still think that every Intercity service (by that I mean trains between Dublin and Cork, Limerick, Waterford, Tralee, Sligo, Belfast and Rosslare, and the regional routes) should still all have a checker on them, and he/she should then make sure everyone has the right ticket. I've no problem with commuter services being subject to the penalty fare principle, but by and large you will encounter people who are unfamiliar with rules when travelling longer distances.