MET (Melb) ticket ripoff

[Mick Stock <mzs@eastwood.apana.org.au>]

Yesterday, I had to travel into town for about 4 hours during the middle
of the day.  Normally I'd be able to get an off-peak ticket, but the local
station (East Ringwood) was unattended.  The ticket machines there are
still(!) not in operation, so I went across the road to the local
newsagent to get a ticket.  I asked for an off-peak ticket, but was told
that the MET refuses to supply them with off-peak tickets! So I had to pay
several $$'s more for a ticket type that I didn't need.

I don't know about you, but this to me is an outright case of
discrimination (not to mention a total rip-off).  Why should I have to buy
an all-day ticket when I only need an off-peak ticket, simply because the
local station is unmanned?  Any money that if I had travelled without a
ticket & inspectors had shown up, I would have been fined for fare evasion
even though I couldn't get the ticket I wanted.... 

Can ANYONE at the MET explain this ripoff??????
Can ANYONE at the MET tell me if I'm entitled to a refund for the
difference in ticket prices? (I bet not!)

Mick.

p.s. I wasn't the only one at the time - there were several others trying
to get off-peak tickets as well!

p.p.s. Could someone at the MET either forward a copy of this to the
appropriate section, or advise me of an appropriate email address (I'm
not going to waste my time sitting on hold while trying to phone the
customer service number). 

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| email:  mzs@eastwood.apana.org.au         |
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