It's also probably quicker on-line unless the ticket-office can issue them there and then. Frankly for the ease and convenience the price difference make the station the better option than a flaky web-site.

The site offers either a "smart"-'phone version or plastic card. No mention of local purchase. Since I am not one of the Great Family We-all with half a Cray in my very large pocket, I have to request the physical card.

I am though wondering if my problem in not within that one web-site. The Railcard site is easy to use so I don't think I am cocking it up, but it just keeps failing. However, it is not the only one. I tried to reach the Members' Area of a club I am in, but it kept rejecting my password for no stated reason. It did not actually say so: it just did not do anything.

Sorted though for a year not three.

I ascertained by telephone call ("Press 4 for … &quot that our station does sell them.

A trip to town (Buss Pass!), a short form to complete, £30 transaction and there we are; done in just a few minutes. Instant too, no waiting for several days for its arrival.

The Railcard web-site is relatively simple to use, as big commercial sites go, IF it works. It's that IF which was the stumbling-block. It didn't! On the occasions it does work / might work / feels like working anyway, the site offers only two options: a plastic card posted a few days later, or something I-know-not-what sent to your "smart"-'phone.

So one option, as I've no such telephone anyway.

The paper form asked for my portable number but not home number. Since I can never remember the former, I left the line blank, but it was optional anyway.

Why do big organisations think that because they and a lot of their customers use "smart"-phones, everybody does?

I have thought that may be the case. So many businesses are now so assumptive. They are mirrored by the narrow-minded "lifestyle" columnists, creating between them what I call 'The Great Family We-All'.

Unfortunately too many of these organisations are also very poor at designing web-sites for the user rather than programmer. Oh yes they all know JavaScript, C++, graphics-editors etc., but miss the point of the site being to enable non-specialists to obtain information or send requests! Sometimes I think it is wilful, to deter any contact except for purchasing.

Railcards' web-site is fairly good for the user until something goes wrong.

The best site I have used is the UK.gov one.

I like that idea – the false number – but you'd have to careful not to use inadvertently a genuine one. Better to say, "I don't have one". If it's database that has an attack of the vapours when faced with a blank cell, it might work with just an 11-digit long string of one digit.

If the number is given to a large organisation, for it then to be used by the fraudsters and spammers suggests negligent security by the company. Or it is selling your details deliberately and negligently.

Another big irritation is not telling at the start, what supporting information you will be asked for, or what constraints you will meet, as you progress through the screenfuls of bumph.

.

I abandoned ActionFraud as useless several years ago when I discovered it could only accept certain types of incident. Once I had summarised Proust on it, it told me mine was of course, the wrong type of attack. Oh, and it had no facility for accepting forwarded messages for analysis! I was not really surprised to learn later that it is not even a UK Home Office branch, but some commercial contractor in the USA.

.

On the other hand…..

Some years ago I visited my bank for some account advice. The lady there was very helpful, opened the relevant Intranet site on a monitor visible to us both, and we started work; her tab-navigating a very simple, clear display. It seemed somewhere between later MS-DOS and the elegant default forms offered by MS 'Access' when was a database-builder offering very neat data-entry methods.

Afterwards I complimented her on the bank's excellent system design, saying my work's internal admin was an utter shambles. Ours was a random mix of 'Excel and 'Word' forms; very clumsy, no overall pattern or consistency, full of basic errors like the poorer choice of application for the form, no proper tab use, and very poor cell-locking that made entering and editing anything difficult and frustrating. All concocted by people paid much more than me to know much more than me, about such things.

The cashier told me that their system was from an external contractor, but made to try it out on over 100 employees of different grades in many branches, who were invited to judge it and suggest any improvements; before acceptance.

That resulted, she said, in a system very robust, simple to use for everyone, consequently very efficient and much less prone to errors.

So it can be done.

'

As I did say though, Railcard's site is simple to navigate. It just doesn't work properly.