Unfair penalty

[lucieh]

Hi,

Can anyone point me in the right direction please. I'm a mature student studying an affiliated university of Chichester course and have recently been threatened to pay £400 by FGW trains for using a student railcard for 2 return journeys from penmere station to bristol templemeads when I had a Devon and Cornwall railcard. The reason for the error was that I had booked via trainline and had paid for a student railcard however it wasn't accepted because although my course is affiliated with Uni of chichester, my uni wouldn't sign the mature student form because I don't physically attend the uni. This seems really unfair and really unfair that they are chasing up a student for £400 when I paid for a return journey, but used the wrong railcard. Any advice much appreciated. They have written a threatening letter demanding payment otherwise I could go to prison for 10 years!!!!

 

[methecooldude]

First of all, calm down. There has been zero instances of someone going to prison...

Second, please upload a picture of anything received from GWR (I assume you mean instead of FGW), with personal information removed

Unfortunately, it is your responsibility to make sure you are using the correct railcard for your journey, you had no eligibility to select that discount until you had the railcard in hand. It sounds to me like you applied for it, then started using it straight away. If they are chasing you for £400, it will be the full Anytime single for every journey made, with a return being 2 singles, with what I assume is the 16-25 Railcard (there is no such thing as a student railcard), plus an admin fee

 

[Nova1]

It's fustrating but if they already offered you an out of court settlement, PAY IT
The problem is then finished and will go away.
They can still take you to court and criminally prosecute you.
You have no recourse, no matter if you think it's unfair you didn't have a valid ticket and that's all they care about.

 

[35B]

It’s also worth noting that the railcard has eligibility criteria that exclude distance learning (see https://www.16-25railcard.co.uk/help/faqs/mature-student/):

Please note that students on home study and distance learning courses are not eligible.

 

[Starmill]

Hi,

Can anyone point me in the right direction please. I'm a mature student studying an affiliated university of Chichester course and have recently been threatened to pay £400 by FGW trains for using a student railcard for 2 return journeys from penmere station to bristol templemeads when I had a Devon and Cornwall railcard. The reason for the error was that I had booked via trainline and had paid for a student railcard however it wasn't accepted because although my course is affiliated with Uni of chichester, my uni wouldn't sign the mature student form because I don't physically attend the uni. This seems really unfair and really unfair that they are chasing up a student for £400 when I paid for a return journey, but used the wrong railcard. Any advice much appreciated. They have written a threatening letter demanding payment otherwise I could go to prison for 10 years!!!!

The Devon & Cornwall Railcard is not valid between Tiverton Parkway and Bristol Temple Meads I'm afraid. The correct action was to book to Tiverton Parkway with the D&C Railcard then again from there to Bristol Temple Meads without a railcard. Sorry this isn't the best news but you don't have much choice. You can use this alternative method if you wish to take trains in the future. The train you're travelling on must stop at Tiverton Parkway, you do not need to get off though.

 

[WesternLancer]

It’s also worth noting that the railcard has eligibility criteria that exclude distance learning (see https://www.16-25railcard.co.uk/help/faqs/mature-student/):

Which is the reason that the university concerned have not endorsed/ stamped the railcard application presumably. This would seem to be correct action by the university in Chichester.

If the op thinks this is wrong I suspect the thing to do would be to ask the student union to challenge the university about it.

 

[30907]

Which is the reason that the university concerned have not endorsed/ stamped the railcard application presumably. This would seem to be correct action by the university in Chichester.

If the op thinks this is wrong I suspect the thing to do would be to ask the student union to challenge the university about it.

Surely they will reply saying that they follow the railway's rules.

 

[AlterEgo]

Surely they will reply saying that they follow the railway's rules.

Indeed. Nothing untoward has happened here. OP has bought tickets before they had the railcard and without checking if they were entitled to it. They weren’t entitled to it and travelled anyway instead of correcting the situation by changing the tickets.

OP wasn’t entitled to the discount, and unfortunately the settlement must be paid to avoid further action.

 

[WesternLancer]

Surely they will reply saying that they follow the railway's rules.

I completely agree - but we can't know if the University has carefully studied the railway's rules and checked these against the nature of the course concerned carefully. They may have done or they may not have done. It would be the role of the student union - or perhaps the individual student if they wished to raise it as an individual with the University - to check / challenge that to make sure it has indeed been treated correctly. I suspect it has been but if the OP wanted that checking that is the route I would recommend they use.

 

[Haywain]

if the OP wanted that checking that is the route I would recommend they use.

I would recommend that the OP doesn't waste their time over something that is so clear cut.

 

[WesternLancer]

I would recommend that the OP doesn't waste their time over something that is so clear cut.

Of course, but that's up to them if they wish to do so - but it's not going to make any difference to this incident. Only for future ability to get the Railcard or not.

 

[Haywain]

Only for future ability to get the Railcard or not.

But it won't make any difference to that either because the railcard is not available to those not actually attending the university for the specified minimum periods. This is something the university are clearly aware of.