Thank you for your advice. To be honest, at the time I really didn't know what to do other than tell the driver that "It's not working" and wait for response but not getting anything back. By saying that I'd "gladly accept" is if I'd just boarded a bus and intentionally not swiped my card - not saying this is what I intend to include in my appeal, I acknowledge the fact that this will not be in my favour, it's my beliefs that I would drop my concerns and move on.

I am not suggesting me spending time on appeals clears my innocence but clearly stating that I did not intentionally skip the bus fare and if i did, I would not be spending time on appeals. The lady in front of me swiped her card several times and it did not work so she went to sit down without saying anything - the bus driver did not stop her. I swiped my card twice and it did not work so told the bus driver but he did not acknowledge me or the lady in front of me who just walked on. I am trying to explain the mere fact that the bus driver was not paying attention - even before I left the bus questioning him didn't seem to want to know. By requesting CCTV footage shows that I attempted to swipe and even the problems the lady had with the Oyster machine. It could even show my mouth moving or if they record voices will defiantly evident the fact that I told the bus driver that the machine was not working. I did wait for a response from bus driver but he did not seemed focused in his role. What would one do in this situation? Bus drivers in the past would say "Go". The bus inspector tested my Oyster and I handed it over with no hesitation as I believed that I did not intentionally skip a fare while explaining my situation. What I do not agree with is the way she handled the situation. If she made it clear that I will get a penalty fare for "not having a valid ticket" then I would gladly accept. But that is not the case, on the PF it states offence no. 4 = Non-validated -Pre-pay. She said "Only if you don't contact IRCAS within 21 days that you will have to pay a fine". So really, her information was mis-leading.

I have no idea why the incident occurred at the particular time me and the lady got on and have not been standing there long enough to notice whether it worked for the majority of others. I stated that I and the lady as the incident occurred at the time and TFL could check whether there was a delay in swipes at the time provided. I am a regular bus passenger on that very bus and use it on a daily basis, to and from work. The inspector did not inform me that she was issuing me a PF hence why would I question her when she started taking down my details? I have never been in a situation like that so assumed what she was saying was true (back office checks etc). I would never have thought that she would have issued my ticket on a sly and why would she lie???! Very unprofessional isn't it? Why would she hide the ticket in the leaflet and held onto it and only handed it over when she hurried off? I will put in a second appeal as I don't believe that I was fairly judged either? If someone committed a crime, shouldn't there be supported evidence to show as accused? If I was guilty, why would I find the time of day to stress or spend so much time trying to appeal? I have requested that they look at CCTV to prove my innocence but clearly they did not investigate this.

Ok, thank you for your advice and if anyone can help with professional advice, please do! As it is causing me a little stress!

Thank you for 'moving to transport forum'. Newbie here. I have already received a penalty fare notice prior to my response from IRCAS and today, a turned down appeal letter. I have 14 days to pay the £40 but I believe their accusations are incorrect and unfair so feel hard done by to just pay up! You mean await letter from TFL? The machine did work for some people, unfortunately when I and the lady in front of me swiped, it did not work - besides if they investigated throughly they will have noticed in that 6 or so seconds, the machine was unresponsive as there was plenty of people getting on that day. Their reason for rejecting my appeal is not supported with any evidence that I had not swiped correctly. Just that I had to wait for green light and hear a beep? Which I didn't and informed the bus driver. So is that not a fault of the bus driver/bus inspector in their unprofessional manner in dealing with the situation? When requesting that the staff be investigated on their work ethics, IRCAS responded by saying that: "As an independent Appeals Service we are unable to investigate complaints about service and delivery or the behavior of a member of staff." So the main points/evidence to take into consideration for my appeal seems invalid to them. The Penalty fare ticket states that if not paid in within 21 days, will have to pay increased fare of £80!! I have 11 days now (from rejected appeal) left until the fine is due for the £40. Is it worth me putting in a 2nd appeal? As this time it will be through post and may delay me (First appeal online). Will they allow sufficient time for me to put in a 2nd appeal?

Hi All, When boarding my usual bus journey back from work last week, I tapped my Oyster on the Oyster card machine, it did not respond so I tried again (I had swiped correctly, with card flat against it). Prior to this, a lady in front of me had swiped her card several times and it also did not work for her - No beeps, Green or Red signals, so she went to sit down. I took her experience into account after I had tried swiping my card and informed the bus driver that the machine did not work (either she froze the machine or the machine was coincidently unresponsive for us both), he did not respond so I went to sit down (The lady and I was not stopped). About 15 minutes into my journey, a bus inspector got on, my Oyster was swiped and she informed me that my card had not been registered, I explained the incident to her and she took down my name and was asking for my address. Half way through her note-taking, I questioned whether she was issuing me with a fine. She said "No" and that it is just for "Back office checks" to see whether there is a fault with my card or the Oyster machine. I did not argue and was cooperative as I knew I was not guilty of any intentions to skip a bus fare, though I did ask whether we could check my card there and then (with every intention to pay my usual bus fare). She told me not to worry and that she would check with the bus driver. Suddenly , one of her colleagues came up to her and said they had to leave the bus at the next stop, she quickly said "Respond to the website within 21 days or you will get a fine" and handed me a folded leaflet with the website on and left. I opened up the leaflet to find a Penalty fare inside. I felt cheated as she had issued me a fare without me knowing and left the bus without checking with the bus driver as promised. I went downstairs to the bus driver and questioned him, telling him that he did not reply when I told him that the machine did not work. To this, he got defensive (I assume as he did not want to take responsibility) and said "No, no, no! I would have told you if your card had not swiped! You people do not swipe your card properly and this is what happens!" I angrily took down the bus details and went home to make a direct complaint to TFL and tried contacting IRCAS on the telephone. The number given on the IRCAS leaflet was an automated line, being frustrated not being able to get through to a real person, I decided to complain to TFL online through their CCTV and Bus Complaints links, requesting CCTV footage of the incident. I appealed to IRCAS and received a letter to say that my appeal has been turned down. This is the reason I was given: " When traveling on the bus, you must touch your Oyster card flat on the card reader on boarding the bus. It is your responsibility to touch in correctly and to check for the green light and single beep to ensure that your Oyster card has been validated. Failure to touch in correctly may result in the issue of a Penalty Fare." 1. I did touch my card correctly and swiped it twice to be sure. 2. It didn't work for the lady in front of me so I don't believe that we were both not accurate in our swipes. 3. I informed the bus driver who did not respond. 4. The bus inspector slyly issued me the penalty fare and mislead me with information. Anyone experience this kind of lousy service? The bus driver does not take notice of his passengers and the bus inspector saw me as an easy target just to fill her quota. I'm not exactly a trouble-maker but wanted to question the bus driver. I do not believe that I should be forced to pay the fine with a invalid reason that they had given me. It seems like they did not investigate the incident throughly and just sent me a letter of rejection. I have not heard back from TFL, anyone know how long (if they do) they take to get back to you? Do I have a leg to stand on if I appeal again? Please help!