h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Brilliant Entry by the way!

How to travel for free legally.....

Not many people know that if your underground train is more than 15 minutes late you can claim a full refund for the single journey. The Metropolitan line is so bad in the peaks that atleast twice a week you can expect a refund (this is helped by the fact that two out of every three trains seem to go to Uxbridge, and atleast once a week your train will either stop additionally at Wembley or terminate at Harrow).

Double or Quits.....

This in itself is not hugely impressive, but as every gambler knows to win big you need to try an accumulator....... if you travel on from Finchley Road on the Jubilee your odds double. Helped by the incredibly temperamental signalling on the Jubilee, rest assured as your face is squashed into the arm pit of that sweaty city gent, that you are saving a fortune.

Just to make sure....

To finally further increase your chances change at Westminster onto a District line train. This is a double whammy as not only does the District line have more break downs than your average IT girl, Westminster also has more than its fair share of bomb scares.

The chance of making a journey from Croxley to Temple return without being atleast 15 minutes late in the rush hour is almost nil!

Hence you travel free next time. Spend any time in a Met line ticket queue in the morning and loads of people pull out their vouchers are at it!

The Catch........

It takes LU about a month to process your claim for a voucher, and you need Croxley ticket office to be manned (which is about a 1 in 4 chance!)

There is a way to automate the Customer Charter forms though.

It's from B Gower who recently signed my guestbook.

"Having spent many hours trapped in delayed trains on the Underground, I attempt to gain a level of retribution by completing the Customer Charter Refund Form. This too I find a total bind, so I have developed a small computer program to assist in this task. The system operates by retaining my personal information, as well as that relating to my season ticket. I then simply complete the details relating to that particular claim and insert a claim form in my printer. The program has been set up to fill in the appropriate blanks, except for the last line which is too close to the edge of the page. I then can simply post off the claim and wait for the return.

"In addition, the system then records each claim so I have a record of what claims are outstanding, and how long it takes London Underground to process them, as well as a record of the 'value' of my vouchers.

"This project started out as a bit of fun, simply for my own amusement. I was however quite appalled when I discovered that London Underground process some 21,000 claims a week. The cost of processing these claims in terms of stationary, manpower, and loss of revenue to London Underground must be horrendous. If anyone, especially from London Underground can corroborate these figures, I would be interested to hear from them. And if anyone is interested in my program please mail [details removed by moderator]"

For more on claiming check out this area on my site

[URL removed by moderator]

Cheers
The Mole
[URL removed by moderator]

Sorry about that folks only just realised I couldn't post URL. Visit my profile if you want to get in touch with me or have details of the automated program for claiming by B Gower.

Cheers