National rail sending me to court

wealdroam

Onyx12 wrote: »

Why should I continue to speak to someone who is not acknowledging what I am saying, its a waste time and it was an appropriate thing to do, rather than me being rude back to him. Which would you rather ? Me, ignoring him or be a complete !!!! back to him causing more commotion on the train, you tell me?

I'll just address these points, if I may?

The reason you should not have ignored him is simply to avoid the situation you now find yourself in.
Your tactics don't appear to have achieved your desired result.

Oh... and your earlier point about not having enough money.
Did you have enough money to buy an adult ticket when for some reson you bought a child ticket?

My suggestion is that you start to act far more reasonably, and also perhaps seek help on RailUKforums.

jbuchanangb

I hope you still have the ticket in your possession. Tickets have details printed on them about where they were issued and when. Also a Child ticket has some indication that it is such a thing. (The word CHILD or the letter C for example)

Your attitude when challenged has not helped your situation.

The conductor who issued the ticket made a mistake. There will be records of what ticket was issued and when. Your defence, if you have one, is that you purchased the ticket from that conductor, on that service at that time, requesting an adult ticket for your journey. You did not know the fare, but paid what was asked and did not notice you have been issued with a Child ticket.
The mistake was not discovered until you showed the ticket on the return journey.

Be aware that it is a common fraud for thieves to purchase Child tickets to steal from the railway companies, because of course the automated barriers open just fine with these tickets, This why the revenue enforcement officers do not accept any excuse given by an adult travelling on a child ticket, but insist on following a well defined process.

Guest101

Should've paid the full price and then complained about the ticket office worker.


It is an offence not to provide details so that you can be summoned to court. However the conductor has no way of checking if those details are correct (just saying)

wealdroam

Guest101 wrote: »

Should've paid the full price and then complained about the ticket office worker.

I don't think there was a 'ticket office worker' involved, was there?

Guest101

wealdroam wrote: »

I don't think there was a 'ticket office worker' involved, was there?

Sorry you're right it was bought on the train - well complain to the operator.

Stigy

Guest101 wrote: »

It is an offence not to provide details so that you can be summoned to court. However the conductor has no way of checking if those details are correct (just saying)

Yes they do. Although often not the most accurate of systems, and not everybody is registered, staff use IRCAS or IPFAS who check the electoral roll.

Something seems amiss here. I'm not sure how easy it is for staff to accidentally issue child rate tickets. I always assumed the machines were set by default to full fares and the child concession had to be input manually. The TOC I work for has TVMs which warn the customer that they are about to purchase a child ticket and warn of the age limitations, making accidentally purchasing a child ticket using an machine impossible. Again, I just assumed Guard's machines were similar in their setup?

Guest101

Stigy wrote: »

Yes they do. Although often not the most accurate of systems, and not everybody is registered, staff use IRCAS or IPFAS who check the electoral roll.

Something seems amiss here. I'm not sure how easy it is for staff to accidentally issue child rate tickets. I always assumed the machines were set by default to full fares and the child concession had to be input manually. The TOC I work for has TVMs which warn the customer that they are about to purchase a child ticket and warn of the age limitations, making accidentally purchasing a child ticket using an machine impossible. Again, I just assumed Guard's machines were similar in their setup?

Absolutely, but as you say not everyone is registered.

Smidster

My personal opinion is that you should be doing everything you can to reach a settlement with EMT to keep it out of court.

As others have said it is the kind of excuse that train crew hear on a very regular basis so, while not always warranted, you can understand why they would be cynical. He also has no power to allow you to "upgrade" the ticket to an adult ticket. The rules are very clear that you had an invalid ticket and would be liable for a new full fare ticket.

From what you have described you have really hurt yourself by your behavior - If the fault was from a guard on a prior train then you need to have faith in the knowledge that you are in the right and can be vindicated at a later stage.. As it stands put yourself in the conductors position - he is faced with a customer who has produced an invalid ticket and then proceeds to act in a very belligerent manner and even forced BTP presence.

In future make sure you either buy yourself in advance (as technically you should do if boarding at a staffed station) or at least have some clue of the correct fare.

Good luck - I think you will need it!