Wrongly prosecuted. What do I do???

[grabbitt]

A month ago I was stopped at Stanstead airport by a revenue officer and asked to see my railcard. I went onto Trainline, couldn’t find it. The officer then grabbed the phone out of my hands and direct the app to the railcard section. The app stated my railcard had expired. This was news to me as I thought I had renewed in January. I was then on the spot prosecuted and told a letter would be sent in the coming week with a fine.

Not long after in the airport I had to check my emails as I was certain I had renewed. I came to find I had renewed, Trainline hadn’t updated this. Having sent all the evidence off to customer services that I had in fact bought a valid ticket with a railcard, I am still being prosecuted and threatened.

Am I right to take them to court??

 

[Gloster]

Do you mean that you were charged a Penalty Fare on the spot or were you told that you would receive a letter? In the latter case have you received the letter? In either case, please post any paperwork you received in this thread. Please obscure your name, address and any other identifying details, such as reference numbers.

 

[SuspectUsual]

Take a deep breath and slow down a bit.

You weren’t “on the spot prosecuted”. That doesn’t happen outside a court

You won’t be needing to take them to court either

If you cover up your personal details and then post pictures of the letter(s) you’ve received, you’ll get some good advice

 

[grabbitt]

Take a deep breath and slow down a bit.

You weren’t “on the spot prosecuted”. That doesn’t happen outside a court

You won’t be needing to take them to court either

If you cover up your personal details and then post pictures of the letter(s) you’ve received, you’ll get some good advice

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 4 Sep 2024 ==

Take a deep breath and slow down a bit.

You weren’t “on the spot prosecuted”. That doesn’t happen outside a court

You won’t be needing to take them to court either

If you cover up your personal details and then post pictures of the letter(s) you’ve received, you’ll get some good advice

 

[soil]

they haven't prosecuted you, it's just a threat. you need to answer it in order to prevent them prosecuting you.

I wouldn't use thetrainline app because it's a rip-off with unnecessary fees, but it strikes me that it was inappropriate of the inspector to grab your phone and insist that the railcard must be in the app, when there are dozens of places to buy railcards and you are perfectly likely, and indeed entitled to, buy your railcard by some other means and not store it within the rip-off trainline app.

therefore providing that you have proof that you did buy the railcard you can write to them explaining that the inspector took your phone without your consent and claimed that you had no railcard because there was a long-expired one in the trainline app, whereas in fact you did have a valid railcard but you were not given the opportunity to present it to the inspector. you would also need to send proof of the railcard to them, and they would be likely to respond dropping the threat of prosecution.

 

[Starmill]

Trainline did loads of promotional codes for Railcards a few years ago and thus many people have them stored in the Trainline app. They also don't charge a fee for the privelage of selling you a railcard, or ticket in the app on the departure date, and have a decent customer-focused UI. It's not my chosen way to buy tickets (usually) but this is a clear, convenient use case. I can understand why people might like it.

 

[grabbitt]

they haven't prosecuted you, it's just a threat. you need to answer it in order to prevent them prosecuting you.

I wouldn't use thetrainline app because it's a rip-off with unnecessary fees, but it strikes me that it was inappropriate of the inspector to grab your phone and insist that the railcard must be in the app, when there are dozens of places to buy railcards and you are perfectly likely, and indeed entitled to, buy your railcard by some other means and not store it within the rip-off trainline app.

therefore providing that you have proof that you did buy the railcard you can write to them explaining that the inspector took your phone without your consent and claimed that you had no railcard because there was a long-expired one in the trainline app, whereas in fact you did have a valid railcard but you were not given the opportunity to present it to the inspector. you would also need to send proof of the railcard to them, and they would be likely to respond dropping the threat of prosecution.

Appreciate the advice thank you

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 4 Sep 2024 ==

Trainline did loads of promotional codes for Railcards a few years ago and thus many people have them stored in the Trainline app. They also don't charge a fee for the privelage of selling you a railcard, or ticket in the app on the departure date, and have a decent customer-focused UI. It's not my chosen way to buy tickets (usually) but this is a clear, convenient use case. I can understand why people might like it.

Best believe I won’t be using them again

 

[jamiearmley]

When you sent in your information, did you send it to the prosecutions office who have written to you, or did you send it to customer services?

Customer services may not be the best place to contact for this. They are often not linked to the prosecution dept, which may be why you have received this letter even though you have sent in your information.

Also, be sure that your new Railcard was purchased, as you say, before your journey. They will be able to tell when the transaction was made, and if made after the event will not be valid.

 

[AlterEgo]

Do you have an email confirmation of the purchase of the railcard? As @jamiearmley says, they will be able to check when this was purchased if you insist you had a valid one at the time of travel. They’ll ask you to send proof of it.

 

[grabbitt]

Do you have an email confirmation of the purchase of the railcard? As @jamiearmley says, they will be able to check when this was purchased if you insist you had a valid one at the time of travel. They’ll ask you to send proof of it.

I have email confirmation as well as a digital railcard with the purchase and expiry date on it

 

[Hadders]

I would write a short, concise letter to Greater Anglia telling them that you did posses a valid railcard at the time you made the journey. Enclose a copy of the railcard and the confirmation email and refer them to the policy of the rail industry where someone who is unable to produce a railcard at the time of inspection is normally allowed to produce it at a later date, on one occasion each year.