Re: Yarra Trams Article in Sunday Age

[Railvic <railvic@primus.com.au>]

Anthony Morton wrote:
> 
> Railvic  <railvic@primus.com.au> wrote:
> 
> >One thing that commuters did not know is that in the old days, most
> >station staff would pre-dated (pre-punched) tickets and all credit card
> >payments are processed manually.  Such practice maybe required because
> >Met tickets were not widely available like today.  Not to mention large
> >number of unsold tickets get cancelled and then pulped (such a waste of
> >money).  Some stations have cancelled so many tickets that I'm sure
> >those tree-loving (greenies) would go mad!
> 
> Come on, they were little scraps of paper.  Cost a fraction of a cent each
> to print, and could be shredded and recycled when no longer useful.  (Would
> I be right in guessing that Metcards with their magnetic stripe, once
> cancelled, are no use even for recycling?)

Yeah, when you start to accumulate them across the whole metropolitan,
it a different matter.

> Metcards are no improvement on paper tickets for causing a litter problem
> once expired, in fact they're probably worse because there's more material
> in each one and they're less biodegradable.
> 
> >As I have stated many times before, transport operators cannot force
> >customers to purchase tickets in advance.  However, if customers choose
> >not to take this advantage, then they must be prepared to queue up.
> >And, if you missed your train, don't blame the staff, but those queued
> >before you!!
> 
> It's this kind of customer-hating attitude that drives people away from
> public transport.

This is not a customer-hating attitude, this simply is the fact ...
Customer can pre-purchase tickets (fact!).  And if they choose not to
take this advantage, then they must be prepared to queue up during the
peak hours (fact!).  And if you missed your train, don't blame the
staff, but those queued before you (fact!).  Or you should arrive
earlier to be ahead of other customers!  First in first served!!

Like many other customers, I pre-purchase my tickets and cannot
understand why such a concept is not acceptable to people who choose not
to?  Afterall, this concept is not new and does apply to airlines and
interstate trains services, etc. as well.

Anthony, in pre-Metcards days, you cannot pre-purchase your tickets or
purchase tickets over the phone or from retail outlets, such as
milkbars, newsagencies, chemists, etc.  However such facilities are now
available to customers to help them avoid the queue during peak hours
and you consider this as a "customer-hating attitude"?  Sorry Anthony, I
must have missed something??