Recent content by furlong

There are no circumstances where they are permitted to accept cash for a Penalty Fare without giving you a receipt for what you have paid. If they are unable to give you a receipt for any reason they are required by law to return the cash to you on the spot. There are no circumstances where...

My basic question is: Is this thread real? If it is, I'd try to get the transport police interested. (Quite apart from pocketing the cash, if that's what happened, even just offering to sell a child ticket for the use of someone known not to be a child might be considered to warrant a criminal...

They are required to give reasons for their decision. The reason they have given bears no relation to the grounds upon which you made your appeal. It's as if they didn't even read it - see their very own use of the words "in line with the regulations" which your appeal claims did not happen...

That quote seems very high for this. They might have quoted for a worst case rather than the normal case. The question to ask is how many cases they have settled previously with this train company. You'll see lots of threads on here that managed to settle without a solicitor - by sending a...

A Penalty Fare is enforceable against the person to whom it was issued regardless of the correctness or otherwise of the name recorded. (Recording a person's name is optional with a Penalty Fare. If requested, the correct name must be provided and there is no obligation to show any ID nor...

On the contrary - you don't know the mindset of the person handling the appeal, and to some people (who care about keeping good customers happy) the second reason may be more compelling than an attempt to get off on a technicality they don't really understand!

They absolutely should have included their calculation in the letter. It is quite wrong for them to claim they have done an in-depth investigation yet not to have provided you with any breakdown of the random figure they are asking for! They are also oddly defensive about their investigation...

Because since the very beginning of the Routeing Guide, permitted routes have been directional. Permitted routes from A to B are not necessarily the same as permitted routes from B to A. Therefore it's necessary for easements to state the directions in which they apply. Underlying this, both...

While the byelaw offence is complete after boarding, from the T&Cs I've long argued the railcard is valid retrospectively from the beginning of the day, so once purchased there is no loss to recover and this is another case where I think the common sense of the ORR review is clear that there...

The key to this one is WHY you now want to end your journey early. Is it a genuine reason you can justify with evidence or did you just notice that Reading tickets were cheaper? The price difference can be significant so the Darlington exemption won't necessarily apply.

You should also - separately - pursue a complaint with GWR and seek financial compensation. In the first instance, they should treat this as a disciplinary matter. It is a basic shortcoming of the system that neither passengers nor GWR staff are given access to live information about...

Yes - it really should be a lot more complicated to buy a ticket online that appears likely to be used fraudulently! This would affect only a tiny tiny fraction of sales - but exactly the ones the passenger should probably not be buying! It could even include nudges to "do the right thing" -...

(continuing) It is the traveller's responsibility to be in possession of valid tickets before boarding the train. At London Waterloo, please note that the e-ticket you are purchasing will not open the automated barriers and the traveller will be asked to present a combination of tickets...

Yeah - I'd try that. The two arguments work in tandem. A technical one and a public policy one. The final paragraph is designed to make things awkward for them later if they choose to deny the appeal without being in possession of legal advice and providing you with their legal reasoning...

As I've said many times, this needs addressing primarily at the point of sale. It's just like spending on a credit card or requesting a bank transfer. Fraud checks are best done in real time at a point where you still have a chance to prevent the fraud! There needs to be serious investment in...