South West Trains. Liars? Thieves? Generally unhelpful.

Livingthedream

steve-L wrote: »

Have you tried getting through the carriages on a train arriving in waterloo at around 08:30?
The guards have... which is why they usually don't try... least on the Shepperton line... since moving to Woking I actually SEE the guard on the train (sometimes) .....I don't think the guards on the Shepperton line actually have machines.... on at least 2 occasions I remember I got off in Richmond/Twickenham and bought the ticket their and told them I came from Hampton but couldn't buy it there.... (again never a problem and I think the Stations on the branch are known for closed ticket offices and broken or otherwise out of order machines) .. Hampton has 2 that I guess share the same phone line??? that is often both are not working.. and the ticket office is often closed.

Having previously done this and approached the revenue officers nicely and honestly, shown them the previous days ticket and explained whatever reason I didn't have a ticket (including I forgot a rather weaker excuse than the machine not working) and simply been sold a ticket, I approached the revenue officer.

A tip for yourself or others in the future, if you can't get a ticket because the ticket machine is broken or the ticket office shut then take a picture with your mobile of the office/machine if your phone has no date/time stamp, post it on facebook as this will record the time. If then the nasty man gives you a Penalty fare, appeal it with the photo evidence.

Even take a picture of the packed train to show that you couldn't get to the guard.

What I'm trying to explain is one needs to be proactive to avoid a penalty fare. If your not your easy prey as the rules are in SWT favor.

Or if you haven't got your mobile;)

Jeff_Bridges_hair

Its always a nasty man when people get caught without a ticket. Or even a jobsworth.

Amazing.

jkdd77

A PF, if one had been actually issued, seemingly ought to have been issued from Clapham Junction, not Guildford, so if the OP had physically accepted a PF from Guildford and then appealed it on the grounds that it was for the wrong amount, he/she probably would have won the appeal.

By refusing to accept the PF, the OP ended up in a much worse position.

RPIs *can* sell ordinary tickets if a passenger has a good reason for not showing a valid ticket on demand, for example if he or she started his or her journey at a station with no purchase facilities and has not had a subsequent opportunity to purchase a ticket.

prowla

I went to Reading today, and there is an Excess Fares counter service there.

To me it seems a much better way to run a business.

kerby_crawler

prowla wrote: »

I went to Reading today, and there is an Excess Fares counter service there.

To me it seems a much better way to run a business.

'Excess Fares' is a phrase I have not heard in recent times!

If you go to the 'Excess Fares' counter at Reading, do they simply accept whatever you offer?

In the days before 'Fixed Penalties', fare-dodging was a criminal offence, which seriously affected your career prospects.

Count your blessings.

Stigy

kerby_crawler wrote: »

In the days before 'Fixed Penalties', fare-dodging was a criminal offence, which seriously affected your career prospects.

Count your blessings.

Fare dodging still is a criminal offence, as are Byelaw offences. Most Excess Fares windows are used as a place for the staff to keep warm whilst Penalty Faring people these days.

prowla

kerby_crawler wrote: »

'Excess Fares' is a phrase I have not heard in recent times!

If you go to the 'Excess Fares' counter at Reading, do they simply accept whatever you offer?

In the days before 'Fixed Penalties', fare-dodging was a criminal offence, which seriously affected your career prospects.

Count your blessings.

Well, in the case of having a valid ticket up to a point on the journey, and then overrunning to that station, I assume that the amount would be a single ticket to cover the remainder (ISTR I purchased a return for that trip when I did it some time back).

It seems a perfectly honest and reasonable approach to me.

Neither me nor anybody here is condoning fare dodging; for me it is about working correctly with your customers rather than treating them badly.

Stigy

prowla wrote: »

Well, in the case of having a valid ticket up to a point on the journey, and then overrunning to that station, I assume that the amount would be a single ticket to cover the remainder (ISTR I purchased a return for that trip when I did it some time back).

It seems a perfectly honest and reasonable approach to me.

Neither me nor anybody here is condoning fare dodging; for me it is about working correctly with your customers rather than treating them badly.

It would be probably not as much, as the ticket could have been excessed. In any case, an offence had been committed, however you dress it up, which makes a PFN possible, or even court. Entirely up to the staff concerned.

timbo58

Reading excess fares may accept what is offered at face value, or they may not.
The staff that manned this desk when I was a RP manager there would be well appraised of what was acceptable and not and wouldn't simply accept 'any old' excuse for not having a valid ticket if it didn't ring true -i.e. they can see Platform 4 and the escalator ends from their booth hence they wouldn't accept a person leaving a train on '4' (i.e. HST from London) had joined anywhere other than Paddington or Slough at a push (in those days).

In a PF area an excess fare is only ever offered when it is appropriate, in this case it was not deemed appropriate this leaves 2 avenues:
PF or Report for prosecution.

prowla

Stigy wrote: »

It would be probably not as much, as the ticket could have been excessed. In any case, an offence had been committed, however you dress it up, which makes a PFN possible, or even court. Entirely up to the staff concerned.

Sure - the word "offence" is what I find offensive, and there will always be jobsworths.

My point, which I'm sure you grasp, is that the "offence" in the first place is contrived, and could be handled in a much more customer friendly way.

The companies do it because they feel like their customer base has no other choice, and so they don't need to try; in fact they can be as arsey as they like and it won't matter a jot.