National Express threatening court action Help!!

robt_2

silkyuk9 wrote: »

Thanks for all your replies from today. I have read all of them.

i think its just a little unfair when national express do know my daughter has a rail card. This is fact, they are aware of it, they have tracked it and its valid.

This being the case is what upsets me.

Im going to have to pay the fine i know that, but what niggles me is in this day and age with all technology we have we cannot get any leway from a company who admit they know mt daughter has a rail card which is valid.

If my daughter had travelled illegally and bought a ticket knowing that she did not have the concession, and got caught i would have said 'ok, you have to pay the fine' i would have no hessitation in admitting she was wrong and has to pay the penalty.

But when this can be proved on the spot i just think that is a wrong way to go about it.

You live and learn, thanks for all your replies.

I still don't think you have grasped that vital bit of information that you must carry it with you for the ticket to be valid. Whether your daughter owns a railcard or not has no relevance.

movilogo

Well, you need to play with the system.

If you refuse to pay, they will take you to court, who knows your daughter might get a criminal conviction (in fact traveling without a valid ticket is an offense) and many nasty things can happen after that.

These companies are idiots and stubborn. They lack common sense (that's why so many companies are going bust nowadays).

Anyway, you can appeal, then pursue financial hardship and ultimately haggle to pay @£0.50 per month. You will still be paying back the money, the but the administrative cost of handling such claim in Nat Exp end will ensure that they will think twice in future before playing this dirty trick to someone else.

Or will they?

moonrakerz

silkyuk9 wrote: »

i think its just a little unfair when national express do know my daughter has a rail card. This is fact, they are aware of it, they have tracked it and its valid.

This being the case is what upsets me.

Your daughter did not have her card on her, therefore the ticket she had was NOT valid ! What don't you understand about that ?

silkyuk9

moonrakerz wrote: »

Your daughter did not have her card on her, therefore the ticket she had was NOT valid ! What don't you understand about that ?

thanks for your greatfully accepted reply, just one comment, i hope you never have to help out your children with that kind of positive attitude.

dzug1

Neil_B wrote: »

I agree - but it doesn't make me feel any happier about a situation where an apparently honest person has made a mistake.

quote]

Sorry, but how do you tell (factually) the difference between an honest person who has made a mistake and a dishonest one who is winging it? They really do appear the same to an outside observer even though they themselves know the truth. So you have to treat them the same

silkyuk9

dzug1 wrote: »

Neil_B wrote: »

I agree - but it doesn't make me feel any happier about a situation where an apparently honest person has made a mistake.

quote]

Sorry, but how do you tell (factually) the difference between an honest person who has made a mistake and a dishonest one who is winging it? They really do appear the same to an outside observer even though they themselves know the truth. So you have to treat them the same

the honest person can verify her details simply, a dishonest person cannot!

robt_2

silkyuk9 wrote: »

the honest person can verify her details simply, a dishonest person cannot!

Still missing the point that actually owning a railcard has no relevance. You must travel with it.

lincroft1710

silkyuk9 - there is a contract between your daughter and NatEx, her part of contract is she MUST carry both valid ticket and railcard when travelling on their train. Regrettably she did not fulfil her part of contract and so NatEx want "compensation" for this. Even more regrettably they have law on their side. Greedy? Mean? Overzealous? Jobsworth? Perhaps. But...... er actually no buts unless you have time/money to challenge it, which only you can decide if it's worth pursuing.

moonrakerz

silkyuk9 wrote: »

thanks for your greatfully accepted reply, just one comment, i hope you never have to help out your children with that kind of positive attitude.

My "positive" attitude is just that, I taught my kids to play within the rules, if they get it wrong they pay the consequences. They learn things that way !

Your whole attitude appears to be "one law for me and mine, another for the rest of you ".

I will say again, and what others have said - you MUST carry your railcard with you - what makes you different ? Apart from the reluctance to accept the rules that is. If you don't like the rules imposed by the train company, can I suggest you walk ? But not down the motorway, that is not allowed - not for the rest of us anyway.

silkyuk9

moonrakerz wrote: »

My "positive" attitude is just that, I taught my kids to play within the rules, if they get it wrong they pay the consequences. They learn things that way !

Your whole attitude appears to be "one law for me and mine, another for the rest of you ".

I will say again, and what others have said - you MUST carry your railcard with you - what makes you different ? Apart from the reluctance to accept the rules that is. If you don't like the rules imposed by the train company, can I suggest you walk ? But not down the motorway, that is not allowed - not for the rest of us anyway.

Agreed.

My children have been brought up with respect for others and the law!!

don't you ever talk about my children as if they are unruly or do not follow rules.

Actually while you sleep at night my son is fighting for your freedom, so please do not tell me what is right or wrong!

The only thing if you read my replies to this subjest is that my daughters details regarding her rail card can easily be seen by the rail companies. My child made a mistake, i accept that, i will pay the fine. But when you can easily see that someone is who they actually say they are and can prove via computer systems that they are actually them then i hate to see something that can be sorted out easily be made to be unvalid.

yes she did travel on a theoretically unvalid ticket, but if you can verifiy simply there and then who you are and the train company can also say, 'yes its you' is it just common sence to say 'please do not forget your railcard again otherwise you will incur a cost'