Virgin Train unfair charges

robt_2

robt wrote: »

You know it is accidental because...?

£100 says it wasn't accidental.

arbitrabbit wrote: »

Because this woman was sitting adjacent to me and we could both see the ticket checker approaching from a long distance away and she never made the attempt to evade him. If I was doing it delibrately, I would have at least made the attempt to either go to another coach or maybe the rest room but she tried neither.

Neither of which are very effective.

ben500

If the train was going to Wigan and she had an off peak ticket to Wigan at peak times she is liable for the difference to Wigan, not any location on the route she is willing to pay for, do you suppose she would have got off early if not caught? No of course she wouldn't getting off the train is another attempt to avoid to pay what is due that is all and that is why it is not an option, if your caught your caught and you have to pay up not run away with the train company's blessing.

Robt I'd say your £100 is safe buy yourself something nice for Christmas with it.

I get the impression the tale is about the op, a little too much protesting for me.

elisebutt65

I was on the train from Newcastle to Leamington (Cross Country) yesterday and the ticket collector pulled up a girl sat near me for having the wrong sort of ticket, but he just told her to get off at the next stop (York) and wait until her ticket was valid. No mention of penalties or paying the difference at all.

Have to say that I don't have a clue anymore about what is peak and off-peak as they seem to be changing all the time, depending on where I'm going or who I'm travelling with. I just book and reserve the ticket and pray that the ticket is the right one:rotfl:

AirlieBird

On the first point: The National Rail Conditions of Carriage clause 12 states that if you travel on a train for which a restriction applies and your ticket is not valid, you are required to pay the difference between the price of your ticket and the lowest priced ticket that you should have purchased immediately before you got on the train.

shefstudentboi

The correct procedure would be to excess the off peak ticket to an open return (anytime) ticket. It is incorrect to order someone to purchase a completely new ticket on trains which dont operate the penalty fare system.

She should have only had to pay the difference in fare. Causing her to buy a new ticket would be overcharging her. *emember guards earn a commission on the tickets they sell (9%)*

Ironically, if she had a family railcard she would have been able to travel during the peak with an off-peak railcard discounted ticket (a concession only Virgin allows).

If anyone wants you to buy a completely new ticket, ask them to read the national rail conditons of carriage regarding excesses.

shefstudentboi

ben500 wrote: »

If the train was going to Wigan and she had an off peak ticket to Wigan at peak times she is liable for the difference to Wigan, not any location on the route she is willing to pay for, do you suppose she would have got off early if not caught? No of course she wouldn't getting off the train is another attempt to avoid to pay what is due that is all and that is why it is not an option, if your caught your caught and you have to pay up not run away with the train company's blessing.QUOTE]

You are permitted to break your journey without restriction with almost any type of ticket (except advance and the outward portion of off peak returns where you can only break your journey for changing trains) . The lady on the train may have wanted to get off the train at Crewe anyway.

She is entitled to claim a refund for the off-peak ticket from Virgin. Causing her to pay for both an anytime ticket and an off-peak ticket is an overcharge. The only reason a new ticket would need to be purchased is he they boarded the wrong train with an advance ticket.

anewman

geordieracer wrote: »

Take it from someone who works on the railway - the amount of people who try and avoid paying the correct fare for the train they are on is massive!! We have caught Lawyers Doctors people who work in the Home Office and all sorts abusing the system. Its rife and a !!!!! to actually police. Thats why 4 people on your train got caught because they all know.

There is no complaint to be made - there is an annoucement on every train mentioning about off-peak tickets not being valid(on peak) and sitting in first class with a standard ticket.
Being stupid is no excuse for not having the right ticket for the train you should be on and one of the reasons the fares are high is to employ people to catch those who do not want to pay the correct fare - if anything at all.

This suggests the people travelling with the incorrect tickets are unaware their tickets are not valid. I have never seen a ticket itself say "only valid between 10am and 12pm", it says "off peak only" which is unclear as this can mean many different things, and probably different for different operators. This is obviously intentional to make the train companies more money so the train Nazis (sorry ticket inspectors) can extort money from people. I'll bet the ticket inspectors get bonuses for each person they screw over. It's hardly abusing the system, if the system does not give the customer adequate notice of the validity of their ticket.

An announcement on the train - how does that help?! They've got on the train, sat down, the doors have closed, the train has moved off from the platform and everyone is held prisoner - then an announcement is made, wonderful. Or if it's anything like some of the trains I've been on the voice is completely inaudible because the voice is of a foreigner who's only just started beginner's English, or the sound system is too poor to be able to hear it.

The fares are so high because they're all run by private companies and are a rip off. It's no longer a public service - profits matter! Fact is the train companies want people to travel on invalid tickets to screw them over, if they did not it would be made more transparent! This makes the tickets cheaper! The enforcement of tickets more than pays for itself, otherwise the train companies would not do it.

mikey72

Easy way, don't use trains.
I tried to book online, Midlands to London, (advertised in the station at starting at £5), for a Saturday. Cost, £34 each.
Used the car, cost, £37 in petrol, and £1 to park. Travelpass for the tube needed in both cases, so a completely flexible day, and saving over £60.
(I remember the days when it used to have a "valid" time on train tickets as well, completely agree with the above.)

Tricky72

Although usually permitted it is possible, surely, that a break of journey was not permitted on the ticket held.

It is quite normal to come across this sort of incident and also those who try to evade fares altogether. I see it at least once or twice a week on my commute to work. I agree some train fares are silly on the price but my current journey to work costs me £28 a day by train, driving would cost me between £25 and £30 in fuel plus wear and tear. To get to my previous workplace driving cost £10 and the train fare plus bus fare at the destination cost £15 or more.

dzug1

anewman wrote: »

This suggests the people travelling with the incorrect tickets are unaware their tickets are not valid. I have never seen a ticket itself say "only valid between 10am and 12pm", it says "off peak only" which is unclear as this can mean many different things, and probably different for different operators. .

Don't know about Euston but at Paddington the departure boards display notices saying 'off peak tickets are not valid on this train' or similar.