No reply to email and deadline is today

[helptrain]

I’m scared of being prosecuted as they haven’t replied back to my email. I have attached the email below that sent. How long do they normally take to reply?

I am writing in response to the letter I received regarding the recent rail fare issue. I am concerned that this matter may be escalated to court, as it could appear that I have not replied within the required 14-day period. However, I want to confirm that I responded immediately upon receiving the letter, despite the letter being dated November 25th.

The issue occurred because I mistakenly selected the 16-17 Saver railcard as my default option, which led to its continued use. As soon as I became aware of the error, I corrected it and have since ensured that I am using the correct railcard.

I am keen to resolve this matter without court involvement and am prepared to pay the fine. To assist in verifying my situation, I have attached copies of my valid railcards for your reference.

I would appreciate your assistance in resolving this issue swiftly.

Thank you for your attention, and I look forward to your prompt response.

 

[Hadders]

The train company will normally take several weeks to reply to your reply.

 

[helptrain]

Will I be prosecuted cause they will argue that I haven’t replied back

 

[WesternLancer]

Will I be prosecuted cause they will argue that I haven’t replied back

But you say you have replied back, and I assume that is a copy of what you sent in your message. Is that correct?

Do you have proof that they received your reply? eg when yo sent your reply did you use any form of postal tracking so you know they have received it?

I am assuming you sent your reply by post not e-mail.

Which train company are you dealing with (ie who you sent this to)?

 

[helptrain]

I am dealing with chiltern railways and I sent them an email at fraud@chilternrailways.co.uk. This is the email I sent them so I don’t have any proof of them receiving it

 

[WesternLancer]

I am dealing with chiltern railways and I sent them an email at fraud@chilternrailways.co.uk. This is the email I sent them so I don’t have any proof of them receiving it

Thanks - that's OK then as e-mail you can prove you sent it.

You could always also print a copy of the e-mail you sent, make sure it has your postal address, ref number etc on it, sign it, and send it in the post to Chiltern Railways (you can write on it 'copy as sent by e-mail on xxx date')

I believe the letter you will have received from Chiltern Railway has a Freepost address on it so you don't need a stamp if you post it to that address. If you take your print out in an sealed and addressed envelope to a local post office and hand it over at the counter you can obtain a 'proof of posting' from the post office staff.

I don't think you need to be concerned about being prosecuted without hearing from them until some time has gone by since you e-mailed them - for example 6 to 8 weeks at least, and even if they did decide to do that they would write to tell you - and if they do then you can ask for more help and advice form here.

 

[helptrain]

The letter specified to reach out by email only so do you think I should still sent a letter. I’m just concerned as my friend received a reply within two days when she emailed them so I’m just scared of getting prosecuted. I’m scared that they are taking a while to reply as they are finding evidence to prosecute me

 

[transportphoto]

I’m just concerned as my friend received a reply within two days when she emailed them so I’m just scared of getting prosecuted. I’m scared that they are taking a while to reply as they are finding evidence to prosecute me

There’s very little you can do to stop them finding evidence. You’ve replied to their correspondence, all you can do now is sit and wait.

 

[WesternLancer]

The letter specified to reach out by email only so do you think I should still sent a letter. I’m just concerned as my friend received a reply within two days when she emailed them so I’m just scared of getting prosecuted.

It can do no harm to send a copy of your e-mail by post. Sometimes things do get lost and that will help as a 'back up' and it won't count against you if you did send that in my view. But fundamentally you just need to wait until you hear from them.

I’m scared that they are taking a while to reply as they are finding evidence to prosecute me

Is there likely to be more evidence to prosecute you? for example have you evaded fares persistently over a period of time and left a digital footprint of this?

You have not explained, I don't think, as to what was wrong with the ticket you had and why they stopped you on the day in question. If you set out more details we might be able to explain how serious they might consider whatever you did to be.

 

[helptrain]

How often do they do prosecute people or do they allow people to pay the fine and not get a criminal record

 

[WesternLancer]

How often do they do prosecute people or do they allow people to pay the fine and not get a criminal record

The forum askes people who want advice to read this and give as many details as asked here as possible - this helps give the advice you might want.

Please read before posting in Disputes & Prosecutions

Guidance for those asking for advice: Please bear in mind the following, when asking for advice in this section: We need to know all relevant facts in order to assist you, including, for example: The stations* where you actually started & finished your journey The stations* where you changed...

www.railforums.co.uk

You only get a fine if they prosecute you in court and the court issues a fine nd you also have a criminal record. What you want to be able to do is to persuade them to offer you an out of court settlement which is often offered if you engage with them about whatever it was you did wrong. The first stage in doing that is the sort of reply you have sent.

When you say 'pay the fine' i suspect you are thinking of a penalty Fare - which you often see posters on stations about. These are not designed for deliberate or persistent fare evasion, and not all staff can issue them - which are reasons why you were presumably not issued with a Penalty Fare.

 

[helptrain]

I was caught buying a child ticket after I clicked on the 16-17 saver a few months ago in feb and continued to use it as my default as I have a 16-25 railcard until August when I was caught. I acknowledge what I have done is wrong and would like a out of court settlement

 

[WesternLancer]

I was caught buying a child ticket after I clicked on the 16-17 saver a few months ago in feb and continued to use it as my default as I have a 16-25 railcard until August when I was caught. I acknowledge what I have done is wrong and would like a out of court settlement

I assume this isn't the same thing that your friend did - which is perhaps why your friend might have got a speedier response?

So they will be looking at all the tickets you purchased to see when child rate fares were bought or 16-17 saver fares were bought and they may come back and ask you about all those occasions, or they may simply factor it in
either way they will be looking for a full adult Anytime Single fare for your journey for each and every occasion that 'mistake' happened, with no allowance made for the ticket you did buy which was not valid as you were not entitled to the ticket - which would clearly have had stated on it somewhere that it was only valid with a 16-17 Railcard.

 

[Lewisham2221]

I was caught buying a child ticket after I clicked on the 16-17 saver a few months ago in feb and continued to use it as my default as I have a 16-25 railcard until August when I was caught. I acknowledge what I have done is wrong and would like a out of court settlement

Did you buy a child ticket?
Or an adult ticket with 16-17 Saver discount applied (which gives the same price as a child ticket)?
Did you hold a valid 16-25 Railcard during that time?
Was your 16-25 Railcard still valid (in date) when you were caught?

 

[helptrain]

I bought 16-17 saver discount applied tickets and did hold the valid 16-25 railcard and proved evidence for it in my email.

 

[WesternLancer]

I bought 16-17 saver discount applied tickets and did hold the valid 16-25 railcard and proved evidence for it in my email. My friend did the same thing and received an email within two days

For what it's worth you will no doubt appreciate that both you and your friend making the same mistake, a mistake that resulted in a higher discount that you were entitled to, is a bit of a co-incidence.

You will juts have to wait and see what they reply with I think.

 

[helptrain]

Should I email them again as today is my 14 day deadline to reply or just wait for them to reply back to my email

 

[WesternLancer]

Should I email them again as today is my 14 day deadline to reply or just wait for them to reply back to my email

Just wait for them to reply back to your e-mail.

Then if they choose to ask you more questions you can reply to those in due course with help from people with expertise on what to say on this forum.

 

[helptrain]

Just wait for them to reply back to your e-mail.

Then if they choose to ask you more questions you can reply to those in due course with help from people with expertise on what to say on this forum.

I’ll just wait for them to reply how long do you think I will have to wait until I email them again

 

[WesternLancer]

I’ll just wait for them to reply how long do you think I will have to wait until I email them again

why not have a read of what I posted in post #6 in relation to that.

 

[helptrain]

Thank you for all your help you guys have been very helpful

 

[Blinkbonny]

And Christmas of course is likely to create greater delays to the process.
It's not pleasant having this sort of thing hanging over you, but if it helps at all, this is almost always settled by you paying a sum of money to the train company and they are very unlikely to want to take you to court.

 

[sara shah]

Thank you for all your help you guys have been very helpful

When you emailed them did you get an automated email response? Ive sent my email but got not confirmation of it being received. Thank you

 

[splendour]

When you emailed them did you get an automated email response? Ive sent my email but got not confirmation of it being received. Thank you

Have you gotten a reply?

 

[sara shah]

Have you gotten a reply?

Hey i got the automated email was lost in spam but still waitin on official reply its been 3 days. Hoping it doesnt take too long

 

[splendour]

Ok no worries still waiting for my reply as well…. Hopefully we get this sorted and move forward