Thanks so much for all your responses. Would I be correct in assuming that because I defaced my ticket, it would be unlikely for me to be able to sucessfully make my case, and to do so I would have to go to court and potentially face escalated charges? One thing I forgot to mention was that the ticket inspector, alongside being very rude and accusing, also informed me that I would recieve a letter to 'make my case' within 20 days, when in fact it even states on the letter that my 'offence' occured on the 14/07/2012 it was only send on the 20/09/2012, although I guess this is kind of irrelevant I don't think I'd be comfortable taking the matter to court simply because of the time and stress it would be bound to cause me, and the possibility of recieving a worse pentalty

Hi, I recently recived this letter from the Prosecutions Unit of Transpennine Express tinyurl. com/9hr4mqc (please remove space) EDIT: sorry it won't let me put up the link. It basically says that I would normally be charged under Section 5(3) of the Regulations of Railways Act/Bylaws (max fine £1000/3 months imprisonment) but "we are prepared to conclude this matter upon payment of £86.90" and was wondering whether it was worth my time trying to negotiate with them for the reasons details below, or to just pay the £86.90 fee. First off I acknowledge that I made a number of errors of judgement, but I still feel like I'm being robbed by Transpennine Express. I was travelling on return tickets purchased for me by the Terriotorial Army from Telford Leeds (was out of the country on exercise for a week). Halfway through my trip, I realised that the ticket inspector on the way from Telford -> Leeds had marked up my Leeds -> Telford ticket instead of my Telford -> Leeds ticket. Having been in this situation before where I pointed out the error to the ticket inspector, who duly rubbed out the mark he had put on the incorrect ticket, I too - foolishly - attempted to erase the incorrect marking on my ticket, and in doing so damaged the ticket. Needless to say, the ticket inspector on my train from Leeds -> Telford had no sympathy for my case and accused me of attempting to use the same ticket twice, despite my having all the tickets I had been issued to hand. He then informed me that I could "make my case" to First Transpennine Express and issue me another ticket if I gave him my Name/Address details. I have only just recived this letter, having informed the inspector that I was in the process of moving house, although it was sent on the 20th Sep 2012. Obviously I feel that the error of the ticket inspector on my Telford -> Leeds train is responsible for all this trouble, and was wondering if I have any chance of making my case, or whether it will just lead to further fines??? Thanks for reading, any advice would be greatly appreciated

Sorry for horrible layout, the forums keeps deleteing all my spacing

First off I'd like to say that I'm furious with myself for being such a complete fool...but on with my sorry tale: *7/02* Took a laptop with a screen issue to a local shop to be repaired (The Gadget Exchange, Merrion Centre, Leeds) -> Was informed it would be £55 to fix the problem -> Agreed for them to repair. -> When I requested a reciept, was told that they would give me one when I picked it up *08/02* Informed that the problem was one on the motherboard, which would cost £65 to fix -> Agreed for them to repair *10/02* Informed that the motherboard problem could not be fixed. -> Offered to transfer my components to another working laptop for the cost of £90 -> Agreed for them to go ahead *11/02* Paid £90 IN CASH -> Picked up laptop without charger.-> Was informed that my charger for my traded laptop would work with 'new' laptop -> No receipt -> later realised that my charger did not work in 'new' laptop *12/02* Went back to shop, was given a charger for the laptop in exchange for my old charger which I had brought along -> Booted up new laptop: two keys ('e' and '2') didn't function on keyboard + My components have not been transferred + Graphics card problem would not allow update of drivers ***** I'm feeling really stupid right now. I've essentially paid £90 for a terrible laptop (which is much worse than my original) and given away my original laptop which is almost definitely worth more than the one I recieved (even broken). If I could get some advice on what exactly to say to the shop owner in an attempt to resolve the issue, or the relevant authorities I could contact for poor (illegal?) business practice it would be much appreciated,thanks so much

Hi there. Here's a quick factual runthrough of my situation in chronological order. 1. Purchased an advance ticket from Bristol Temple Meads Station to Telford Central via Birmingham New Street, departing at 1000 on 12/09, for £15.20 2. To get to Bristol Temple Meads, intended to take a train from Redlands Station, arriving at Bristol Temple Meads Station at 0950. 3. Upon arrival at Redlands Station, the ticket machine was out of order, so was not able to purchase a ticket 4. 10 or so minutes after the timetabled arrival time of the train, we were informed that the train was cancelled, and a minicab driver - presumably sent from the rail company - drove myself and other passengers waiting at the station to Bristol Temple Meads, arriving at 1001. 5. Thus unable to catch the train I held an advance ticket for. 6. Ticket desk informed me that it was impossible to put me on the next train to Birmingham unless I purchased a new ticket for £27.40 7. Purchased Ticket to Birmingham. Travelled to Birmingham using newly purchased ticket. 8. From Birmingham to Telford, I used the advance ticket which I had purchased on the 12/9, as no train time was specified regarding the connection. I'm obviously very unhappy at having to end up paying £42.60 for a journey which should have cost me £15.20 The manager at the ticket office was of very little use to me, stating that all I could do was lodge a complaint with the rail provider and "maybe get some vouchers" as a refund to quote her exact words. In an attempt to 'appease' me, she also revealed that had I, at no extra cost, booked my advance ticket from Redlands Station to Telford, she could have put me on a train with my already purchased ticket. The problem, she claimed, lies in that it was obviously entirely up to me get to Bristol Temple Meads, and thus catch my train. The fact that the failure of ANOTHER TRAIN SERVICE caused my lateness was entirely negligible, and due to the nature of my advance ticket she could do nothing to assist me. On a personal level, I feel like I am being grossly mistreated by the train companies; I am more or less restricted to buying advance tickets because of their affordability, yet when, through no fault of my own, the same companies fail to run their services properly, I, the consumer, am powerless and punished due to their ineptitude. I truly hope that I can be reimbursed, and would be delighted to be advised on the best way to go about addressing my issue. Many thanks