Catching the Tube on the Metropolitan Line
Created | Updated Oct 22, 2012
Essential materials required for your journey.
1. Paracetomol
2. Ball Point Pen
3. Charter Claim Forms
4. Newspaper
5. Ear Plugs
If you use the service between Amersham and London, then more often than not, you will be more than 15 minutes late. This is especially true if you travel from Rickmansworth or Chesham.
Regular travellers will know that 15 mins is the threshold time for being able to claim a refund. It is also the reason why Underground Staff will seldom admit to a train being any more than 13 minutes late! Listen out and you will see what I mean.
Before you board the train, check the paracetomol - you are going to get a headache!
A useful thing to do while your train is delayed is to fill in the charter claim form. By all means offer any spare forms to fellow passengers who might also like to enjoy this ritual. And remember "Don't get mad, get even!!!" Make then pay!!!
If you have a daily or weekly ticket, then just write the ticket details in the space where they tell you to stick the ticket. That way, the machines can grab your ticket from you but you can still make the claim. I have often had to claim for both the outward and return journeys on my return ticket, so writing in the details is essential (and to their credit, the claims dept do generally honour claims)
Make a diary note of the claim as well. The claims department can 'forget' sometimes.
Take special note of the use of the newspaper. When the train is moving, then it is the custom to hold your newspaper aloft and pretend that no one else exists. If the train gets stuck, notice how quickly the newspapers are put down and people start taking to one another. This must of course cease the instant the train starts moving again.
If you find yourself at Harrow on the Hill station, marooned because of a lack of trains, save your breath. Don't bother to find a member of staff, they flee to the mess room as soon as there is a problem. Just recognise that, as a customer, you are dross and not worthy of being treated with any sort of courtesy and certainly are not fit to be told when your next train to home or office is arriving.
Things NOT to do.
Never write in and complain - you are wasting your time.
Don't bother to report the loose track bolts at Rickmansworth station - they won't bother to attend to those either.
And finally, the ear plugs.
You will need these if you find yourself unfortunate enough to be sitting near someone with a not so personal stereo. If you find the noise to irritating, use the ear plugs. I was lucky enough to find myself sitting next to a delightful young lady on one journey. She had noticed how requests to the lout opposite, who had his headphones on full blast, had been ignored. She got out her handbag and cut the wire with her nail scissors. We all applauded, and the lout was confounded.
1. Paracetomol
2. Ball Point Pen
3. Charter Claim Forms
4. Newspaper
5. Ear Plugs
If you use the service between Amersham and London, then more often than not, you will be more than 15 minutes late. This is especially true if you travel from Rickmansworth or Chesham.
Regular travellers will know that 15 mins is the threshold time for being able to claim a refund. It is also the reason why Underground Staff will seldom admit to a train being any more than 13 minutes late! Listen out and you will see what I mean.
Before you board the train, check the paracetomol - you are going to get a headache!
A useful thing to do while your train is delayed is to fill in the charter claim form. By all means offer any spare forms to fellow passengers who might also like to enjoy this ritual. And remember "Don't get mad, get even!!!" Make then pay!!!
If you have a daily or weekly ticket, then just write the ticket details in the space where they tell you to stick the ticket. That way, the machines can grab your ticket from you but you can still make the claim. I have often had to claim for both the outward and return journeys on my return ticket, so writing in the details is essential (and to their credit, the claims dept do generally honour claims)
Make a diary note of the claim as well. The claims department can 'forget' sometimes.
Take special note of the use of the newspaper. When the train is moving, then it is the custom to hold your newspaper aloft and pretend that no one else exists. If the train gets stuck, notice how quickly the newspapers are put down and people start taking to one another. This must of course cease the instant the train starts moving again.
If you find yourself at Harrow on the Hill station, marooned because of a lack of trains, save your breath. Don't bother to find a member of staff, they flee to the mess room as soon as there is a problem. Just recognise that, as a customer, you are dross and not worthy of being treated with any sort of courtesy and certainly are not fit to be told when your next train to home or office is arriving.
Things NOT to do.
Never write in and complain - you are wasting your time.
Don't bother to report the loose track bolts at Rickmansworth station - they won't bother to attend to those either.
And finally, the ear plugs.
You will need these if you find yourself unfortunate enough to be sitting near someone with a not so personal stereo. If you find the noise to irritating, use the ear plugs. I was lucky enough to find myself sitting next to a delightful young lady on one journey. She had noticed how requests to the lout opposite, who had his headphones on full blast, had been ignored. She got out her handbag and cut the wire with her nail scissors. We all applauded, and the lout was confounded.
