I lent out my railcard and got fined. Who should pay?

tallgirld

Urmmmm you should.
You decided to loan the rail pass.
You forgot to ask for it back.
Your fine.
Lesson of the day= Do not loan your pass in future.
Simples........

Talent

I am a Daily Mail (and Mail on Sunday) reader, it's great, it winds me up, gets the blood coursing (and cursing) through my veins.
Peter Hitchen, Quentin Letts, et al.... can't get enough.....

Oh yes, about the railcard misuse, you deserve all you get, stop whingeing, stiff upper lip 'n all that!

Time for a nap.

dstanden

My son was on board a train. He used his season ticket to get through the electronic barrier and when approached by an inspector, discovered that the ticket and photo pass was not in his pocket and had probably fallen out on the platform or somewhere in the carriage.


Though he told the inspector that he had a season ticket, he could not produce it and so the inspector fined him and made him buy a day ticket. A few minutes passed and a helpful passenger spotted the missing railcard on the floor and identified my son by the picture within, returning the season ticket to him.


My son returned to the inspector, showed the valid season ticket and photo pass. The inspector checked the validity and took back the paperwork related to the fine, but did not refund the cost of the day ticket.


My son was told that he was free to go and assumed that was the end of it.


A month later, I received the £40 fine plus a bonus 'non-payment' fine on top because, as his parent, I am responsible for his unpaid fines.


Complaining that the fine was unjust and had been revoked on production of a valid ticket, did not wash. The inspector had a signed piece of paperwork accepting the fine.


The rail company said that I should have appealed within 14-days and I'd agree if the inspector had not taken back all of the paperwork.


Now I have to pay £60.:mad:

trukdiver

happyinflorida wrote: »

I am amazed at all these holier than thou replies.

This person has tried to do their "friend" a favour and lent them something so they get a cheaper ticket, that's nice of them to do that and I would do the same to be honest - the friend didn't say no, did they? Then the friend doesn't put it back as they should have done so the poor person asking the question has got lumbered with a £40 fine.

Now I would ask my "friend" to pay that back to me as it was their fault I got fined, they got their cheaper ticket and then didn't put my pass back in my bag as they were meant to do, they are the one at fault IMO.

They are two separate incidents. The fact that the friend forgot to return the "pass" should not have caused the person to forget it themselves. It was their responsibility. It's the same as if they had walked out of the house and forgotten it. A colleague left his on his desk then rang work when he was caught on the train. Who was he supposed to blame? The people who didn't notice he'd left it on his desk?

gaving7095

Your fault, you pay.
"Never a borrower or a lender be"

JonMOlsen

No-one should pay. Is this real? If you forget your ticket simply take the fine and a valid ticket for the time you were caught to any ticket office that sells these tickets and they should reimburse you. Particularly if its a pass as that proves beyond any doubt that its yours.

Obviously this is despite you being a fool for not checking you had it.

There may be a limited amount of time that you can do this.

Bowling_4_Gold

JonMOlsen wrote: »

No-one should pay. Is this real? If you forget your ticket simply take the fine and a valid ticket for the time you were caught to any ticket office that sells these tickets and they should reimburse you. Particularly if its a pass as that proves beyond any doubt that its yours.

Obviously this is despite you being a fool for not checking you had it.

There may be a limited amount of time that you can do this.

Huh? Surely if that loophole existed, nobody should buy a ticket whatsoever. Then, if caught, go to original station and buy ticket for that one journey to provide as 'evidence'. Then, resume daily routine of not buying ticket, until caught again.

Doesn't make sense!!

Voyager2002

dstanden wrote: »

My son was on board a train. He used his season ticket to get through the electronic barrier and when approached by an inspector, discovered that the ticket and photo pass was not in his pocket and had probably fallen out on the platform or somewhere in the carriage.


Though he told the inspector that he had a season ticket, he could not produce it and so the inspector fined him and made him buy a day ticket. A few minutes passed and a helpful passenger spotted the missing railcard on the floor and identified my son by the picture within, returning the season ticket to him.


My son returned to the inspector, showed the valid season ticket and photo pass. The inspector checked the validity and took back the paperwork related to the fine, but did not refund the cost of the day ticket.


My son was told that he was free to go and assumed that was the end of it.


A month later, I received the £40 fine plus a bonus 'non-payment' fine on top because, as his parent, I am responsible for his unpaid fines.


Complaining that the fine was unjust and had been revoked on production of a valid ticket, did not wash. The inspector had a signed piece of paperwork accepting the fine.


The rail company said that I should have appealed within 14-days and I'd agree if the inspector had not taken back all of the paperwork.


Now I have to pay £60.:mad:

Extraordinary. I am confident that this would not stand up in court if it got that far... Anyway, I suggest you start a new thread to get some expert advice on how to respond to this.

yorkie2

dstanden wrote: »

The rail company said that I should have appealed within 14-days and I'd agree if the inspector had not taken back all of the paperwork.


Now I have to pay £60.:mad:

Depending on the journey details, complain to:

• http://www.londontravelwatch.org.uk/complaints/online or
• http://www.passengerfocus.org.uk/contact/complaint

If they do not resolve it, escalate the matter to your MP.

mhg_2

In at least one European country you'd be embarrassed to ask this question. If you forgot to buy a ticket, you'd confess to the driver/conductor without even being challenged and ask where the nearest ticket machine was at the end of your journey so you could buy one and then dispose of it. As for embarking on a criminal fraud and conspiring in such a fraud by another...!

Unfortunately this question adds to the impression that others may develop that it is 'normal' and therefore 'acceptable' to defraud the services you use. It is by such 'normaility' perception that we have the bankers and financial services we have, the scamsters, the petty crooks etc. Think of yourself as a role model - someone you will not be embarrassed to be when you look back on it in years to come. Remember also that getting a criminal record for such a card fraud would rule you out of many professions (solicitor, barrister, chartered accountant) for the rest of your life and maybe even before you even think of taking it up. I know of trainee doctors who have told what they think are minor porkies which they have then repeated and consequently lost their jobs. Other professions even have an obligation to self report if they think they might have made a mistake.

Do not believe what you read in the papers or see on TV: the great majority of people are not as venal as you would think from the papers/TV: jounalists have a vested interest in concentrating on reporting on people from all walks of life who are more deceitful and anti-social than the average, thereby contributing to a dismal and depressing self-view of the world among the population.
Good luck with your new programme for self-improvement and recovery to the status of decent citizen.