Does anyone know where these people are coming from? I don't believe they simply search for advice and come straight here - but are in fact being recommended to come here for advice from another forum.
All the posts seem to follow a similar pattern; confess to fare evading, then say they're terrified of being punished and getting a criminal record.
It's as if there's a forum that says people on here will help get people off (or find a way to lessen the impact) and I am worried that it might harm the reputation of this forum if true.
Now I know that all the advice on here is above board and some people are unfairly treated by revenue staff, but too many people in recent weeks seem to be totally 101% guilty of fare evasion and I'm not even sure people should get involved with giving advice at all - for the risk of this forum being one day exposed as a site that helps get fare evaders off.
I think we can all see the differences between people who made honest mistakes, weren't fully aware of the rules (whether they should have been or not) and those who are likely habitual evaders and suddenly got caught and now go crying to this forum for a sympathetic ear and advice on how to lessen the punishment.
I've had the same thoughts Jon, and indeed posted it on a thread (subsequently pulled) about a month ago started by a blatant fare-dodger.
I know that the railway by-laws are written in such a way that sometimes people can inadvertently fall foul of them - some people do, and one function of the forum that I agree with is giving these people advice on possible mitigation / defences thay can employ.
However, the similarity of all the posters who are approaching the forum for "get out of jail free" information leads me to suspect that they have seen an approach that works, in terms of getting a sympathetic approach from (some) members, and figure it works for them.
When someone comes on here, they have had time to reflect on their story, twist it to show them in the best light, and the rail staff in the worst. They have probably done some research on the thread, and in the relevant by-laws.
The story they give is not going to be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. It is going to be their interpretation of their "absolutely and totally necessary" rail journey without a valid ticket, and why they could not have possibly purchased a valid ticket before being challenged (caught) by a member of rail staff.
Most RPI's / ATE's / Guards / Gateline staff are reasonable people, with a job to do, that is not pretty at times. However, it is a necessary job. When they are given a story from a passenger, it is probably the unvarnished truth, or has not got the holes in the story closed up as the passenger has not had time to think about it enough to close the holes. The old line from Judge Judy, "if it doesn't make sense, it's probably not true" is pretty close to the mark.
At this stage, there are enough threads of the "I'm so worried, I'm going to be taken to court and the stress is killing me and I had to get on that train without a ticket because of my dying grandmother and the nasty man was so rude to me" that there is a case for a generic "information" sticky. However, IMHO there needs to be moderation on the starting of these threads, unless they are bringing something new to the party.
I don't know how this could be done, but, lately, I think that the forum (and those who provide advice) is being taken for a ride by people trying to avoid the consequences of their criminal behaviour.
Just to add, as someone who has the day-job of dealing with them, a huge majority of them, whilst they come on here all contrition and poor me, are nasty, nasty people to deal with face to face. The background to the "letter of prosecution" in the majority of cases involves a member of revenue staff who has probably been lied to, verbally abused, threatened, possibly accused of racism, probably had a complaint made against them in the expectation of disciplinary action, and this is not me over-egging the pudding - if you don't believe me, ask any of my colleagues on here (or in a station) that work in a revenue role.
If I am less than happy with the "group hug, lets tell you how to sort it all out" approach that is taken on some threads, I'm afraid all I can plead is that actually dealing with the individuals face to face has pretty much robbed me of all sympathy. Which is one reason I try not to contribute to those threads, as I actually agree with giving these fare-dodgers a hard time. I don't honestly see why they should think they can get away with it, or members on here think they should, either.
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