Train conductor took my money and didn't sell me a ticket

peteuk

Some what late to the party but as I see it. 

OP paid £10 for a £6 ticket, was then advised the ticket machine wasn't working (when did it stop), so was advised to purchase a ticket when he gets off. Which is high risk advice as OP could say he was only on the train for one stop and pay a cheaper fair (Dishonest I know but plausible) 

OP forgot to collect £4 change, which would have been handed over with the ticket, and equally did not request the £10 back when advised to buy ticket when leaving the station.   Which OP honestly did...where there barriers that needed a ticket to exit the station and if so where these before or after the ticket machine, on the way out. 

So my summer of journey OP got on the train at A going to D, tried to buy a £6 ticket with £10 (two £5 notes) but was advised ticket machine was broken and so buy ticket after leaving the train.   OP then did not receive either his £4 change (And why should he has hasn't brought a ticket) or the £10.  OP gets off the train at D and then honestly buys a ticket for A to D, even though he could have brought a ticket from C to D (Cheaper) or just walked out the station (even cheaper) but remember if he were to do this, he has over paid for a £6 ticket. 

My advice to OP would be let the train company investigate, it should be easy to do.  If they are not back to you within a set time frame (which will be set out in their complaints procedure) and then give them a gentle nudge.  I assume the questions they will look at is how faulty the ticket machine was and if the guards taking was up by £10, however if he punched in the £6 ticket and the printer didn't work then it might be he is only up £4, as it may still register the ticket as being sold. 

Equally as others have said, if they do come back with no evidence found then  let it go, police unlikely to do anything. 

born_again

Going back to the Op

>> It was only after I got off that I realised he didn't give me back the money when he realised the printer was broken.<<

Given they had not left the station, why not go back to train and speak to the conductor?

Money_Grabber13579

born_again said:

Going back to the Op

>> It was only after I got off that I realised he didn't give me back the money when he realised the printer was broken.<<

Given they had not left the station, why not go back to train and speak to the conductor?

I would suspect that it wasn’t at a terminus station and so the choice would either be to get back on again and speak to the conductor and not be able to get off again because the train would have left or to go back to the platform and find the train had already left.

GreatBritain

peteuk said:

Some what late to the party but as I see it. 

OP paid £10 for a £6 ticket, was then advised the ticket machine wasn't working (when did it stop), so was advised to purchase a ticket when he gets off. Which is high risk advice as OP could say he was only on the train for one stop and pay a cheaper fair (Dishonest I know but plausible) 

OP forgot to collect £4 change, which would have been handed over with the ticket, and equally did not request the £10 back when advised to buy ticket when leaving the station.   Which OP honestly did...where there barriers that needed a ticket to exit the station and if so where these before or after the ticket machine, on the way out. 

So my summer of journey OP got on the train at A going to D, tried to buy a £6 ticket with £10 (two £5 notes) but was advised ticket machine was broken and so buy ticket after leaving the train.   OP then did not receive either his £4 change (And why should he has hasn't brought a ticket) or the £10.  OP gets off the train at D and then honestly buys a ticket for A to D, even though he could have brought a ticket from C to D (Cheaper) or just walked out the station (even cheaper) but remember if he were to do this, he has over paid for a £6 ticket. 

My advice to OP would be let the train company investigate, it should be easy to do.  If they are not back to you within a set time frame (which will be set out in their complaints procedure) and then give them a gentle nudge.  I assume the questions they will look at is how faulty the ticket machine was and if the guards taking was up by £10, however if he punched in the £6 ticket and the printer didn't work then it might be he is only up £4, as it may still register the ticket as being sold. 

Equally as others have said, if they do come back with no evidence found then  let it go, police unlikely to do anything. 

Hello, apologies as I haven't checked this thread in a while. But a lot has changed since then and I even made a new thread post which I'll copy and paste here:

I contacted the rail company via their Web chat, East Midlands Railway. They said they would open an investigation. I then tried to use the chat a few days later but for some reason no one connected to talk to me. I had a wild idea that they were deliberately avoiding me and so I connected with a fake name and lo and behold, they connected. I then told them who I was and they claimed it was a server issue and that they were on the case so I gave them the benefit of the doubt.

They had said it could take up to 3 weeks for them to investigate and reply. Three weeks lapsed and so I decided to chase them up again. For some strange reason I can't find the Internet Web Chat anymore so I phoned up. The lady on the phone said that it was still under investigation by the manager and that she would put in an urgent appeal so that they would get back to me within a couple of days. They still haven't.

It is quite clear that they are ignoring me and hoping I go away after their conductor practically stole my £10. That's not going to happen. 

What do you recommend my next step be? Should I try contacting them one last time? And then do I have to go to the ombudsman? 

Ergates

Do you seriously believe a train company are taking deliberate steps to avoid you over £10?   For them to implement such steps would cost them more than £10.  Unless you were particularly obnoxious or threatened a staff member, then the reasons they gave are by far the most likely to be true.

Also, given you were quite capable of forgetting to ask for your £10 back, why are you not willing to believe the conductor was also capable of forgetting?

Zinger549

The issue is if they say they can't find evidence of the missing £10. It's your word against theirs. If you did complain to someone else how would you prove it.

user1977

GreatBritain said:

peteuk said:

Some what late to the party but as I see it. 

OP paid £10 for a £6 ticket, was then advised the ticket machine wasn't working (when did it stop), so was advised to purchase a ticket when he gets off. Which is high risk advice as OP could say he was only on the train for one stop and pay a cheaper fair (Dishonest I know but plausible) 

OP forgot to collect £4 change, which would have been handed over with the ticket, and equally did not request the £10 back when advised to buy ticket when leaving the station.   Which OP honestly did...where there barriers that needed a ticket to exit the station and if so where these before or after the ticket machine, on the way out. 

So my summer of journey OP got on the train at A going to D, tried to buy a £6 ticket with £10 (two £5 notes) but was advised ticket machine was broken and so buy ticket after leaving the train.   OP then did not receive either his £4 change (And why should he has hasn't brought a ticket) or the £10.  OP gets off the train at D and then honestly buys a ticket for A to D, even though he could have brought a ticket from C to D (Cheaper) or just walked out the station (even cheaper) but remember if he were to do this, he has over paid for a £6 ticket. 

My advice to OP would be let the train company investigate, it should be easy to do.  If they are not back to you within a set time frame (which will be set out in their complaints procedure) and then give them a gentle nudge.  I assume the questions they will look at is how faulty the ticket machine was and if the guards taking was up by £10, however if he punched in the £6 ticket and the printer didn't work then it might be he is only up £4, as it may still register the ticket as being sold. 

Equally as others have said, if they do come back with no evidence found then  let it go, police unlikely to do anything. 

What do you recommend my next step be? 

Wait until they've completed their investigation. The ombudsman isn't going to require them to do anything more than that.

force_ten

kiko4564 is the man he would have all the answers for you

moneysaver

The OP as stated it's not about the £10 it's the principal.

Not a lot of posters thinking this way but I think it was a fiddle by the conductor. It is unlikely the OP will find this out as he is already getting ignored, but the train company will know the truth.

It will be an internal investigation which he will not find out about.

Been going on for years with cash transactions, the old chestnut "machine broken".

The OP is right to pursue this all the way but might never get the right information. He will probably get his £10 back though.

Moneysaver

lemondrops69

Aylesbury_Duck said:

I very much doubt they've created an algorithm, or even an internal memo, just to prevent you accessing live chat and complaining about your missing £6.  Just be patient.

Have you not been reading the posts, its £10 not £6