anonymous2026
Member
Last week, I got stopped as I was exiting an overground station in north London. I had my oyster card out already as I of course intended to tap out of my journey. I had started in East London. When I first tapped in, money that I had added to my account through the app two days before was added to my balance, which can literally only be used to pay transport fares. I had had to transfer twice. At one of the stations, I had to tap out and tap back in at one of the larger stations as I was transferring from underground to overground line. I attempted to tap back in while being swept along by other passengers (walking the wrong direction, obviously), but when I went to exit, literally two stops down the line, the guy did not have a register of my tap back in.
He wrote me penalty fare and the whole process took quite a long time, about 20 minutes, during which time I counted at least two other people walking past and pushing out of the barriers without paying, also during which he made some weird comments about my status as a student and then gave me the penalty fare receipt thing. He also gave me the little piece of paper that had my name and address on it, which it weird because, like I know that information? But then I noticed that it also seemed to have a cell phone number on it, presumably his, which I was so irritated by at the time that I just tossed it in the rubbish but I'm wondering if I should have kept to present to TfL. He also repeatedly told me to dispute the penalty fare and they'd look at my journey history and dismiss it. The receipt said I had 21 days to pay £50, but the clock on that 21 days is stopped while it is in dispute.
So that night I filed the dispute. I laid out a long description of the incident, leaving out the bit about him giving me his phone number because it felt like petty gossip in a formal complaint at the time and I no longer had the paper anyway. I included pictures of my proof of adding money to my oyster card that day, money which I can only use to pay fares anyway, as well as a screenshot of my extensive paid journey history and a description of the medical appointment that I was traveling to and had been instructed to attend alone which caused a lot of anxiety on its own.
Today I got notice that it was rejected. I think it's absolutely ludicrous that they're trying to get £50 out of me for accidentally not using the fare I JUST added to my payment card to go two stops. Why would I tap in at the start of my journey if I did not intend to tap out at the end of my journey? I pay for every single one of my journeys, as is evidenced by my journey history, I have a damn oyster card, I registered it, I have the app, I've gone out of my way numerous times to ensure I always have a way to pay and tap up my payment card. I am a student and this causes a massive financial hardship to me. I work ten hours a week, live in Zone 3, and often take a two hour (paid) bus ride into central London because tube fare is more expensive and I can't always swing it. I'm not trying to screw over TfL over a two-stop journey, but now they're going out to their way to be cruel and get every penny they can out of me, a person doing the right thing, while people braisenly lie, cheat, and steal journeys in front of their noses without consequence every day. It's not right. Also, in the rejection, it's now stating that I only have 14 days to find £50. Frankly if I have to gift £50 to TfL, I'll be eating nothing but rice for those 14 days. What happened to the 21? Why are different documents saying different things? Why am I being punished for fighting a penalty, which is my right as a consumer of this service?
I wish to submit my second appeal but am looking for advice on how to achieve a better outcome. I've talked to others who have copped silly penalty fares for similar instances and have always gotten "we won't always do this, but we'll take back the penalty this time, don't do this again." Not sure why I'm being singled out, and why I have documents that state different things about the amount of time I theoretically would have to pay within, which seems to be shrinking with my exercising of my legal right to dispute the penalty.
Help?
He wrote me penalty fare and the whole process took quite a long time, about 20 minutes, during which time I counted at least two other people walking past and pushing out of the barriers without paying, also during which he made some weird comments about my status as a student and then gave me the penalty fare receipt thing. He also gave me the little piece of paper that had my name and address on it, which it weird because, like I know that information? But then I noticed that it also seemed to have a cell phone number on it, presumably his, which I was so irritated by at the time that I just tossed it in the rubbish but I'm wondering if I should have kept to present to TfL. He also repeatedly told me to dispute the penalty fare and they'd look at my journey history and dismiss it. The receipt said I had 21 days to pay £50, but the clock on that 21 days is stopped while it is in dispute.
So that night I filed the dispute. I laid out a long description of the incident, leaving out the bit about him giving me his phone number because it felt like petty gossip in a formal complaint at the time and I no longer had the paper anyway. I included pictures of my proof of adding money to my oyster card that day, money which I can only use to pay fares anyway, as well as a screenshot of my extensive paid journey history and a description of the medical appointment that I was traveling to and had been instructed to attend alone which caused a lot of anxiety on its own.
Today I got notice that it was rejected. I think it's absolutely ludicrous that they're trying to get £50 out of me for accidentally not using the fare I JUST added to my payment card to go two stops. Why would I tap in at the start of my journey if I did not intend to tap out at the end of my journey? I pay for every single one of my journeys, as is evidenced by my journey history, I have a damn oyster card, I registered it, I have the app, I've gone out of my way numerous times to ensure I always have a way to pay and tap up my payment card. I am a student and this causes a massive financial hardship to me. I work ten hours a week, live in Zone 3, and often take a two hour (paid) bus ride into central London because tube fare is more expensive and I can't always swing it. I'm not trying to screw over TfL over a two-stop journey, but now they're going out to their way to be cruel and get every penny they can out of me, a person doing the right thing, while people braisenly lie, cheat, and steal journeys in front of their noses without consequence every day. It's not right. Also, in the rejection, it's now stating that I only have 14 days to find £50. Frankly if I have to gift £50 to TfL, I'll be eating nothing but rice for those 14 days. What happened to the 21? Why are different documents saying different things? Why am I being punished for fighting a penalty, which is my right as a consumer of this service?
I wish to submit my second appeal but am looking for advice on how to achieve a better outcome. I've talked to others who have copped silly penalty fares for similar instances and have always gotten "we won't always do this, but we'll take back the penalty this time, don't do this again." Not sure why I'm being singled out, and why I have documents that state different things about the amount of time I theoretically would have to pay within, which seems to be shrinking with my exercising of my legal right to dispute the penalty.
Help?
