Yesterday I bought a train ticket on the FGW website which I then collected from a FGW ticket machine at a FGW station. It was an open ticket where I could return on a different day. As soon as I collected it I realised that I had bought the ticket the wrong way round - i.e from place B to place A rather than place A to place B. This means that as it stands I can travel out on the 'return' part as it's valid for one month but I can't get back on the 'out' part as it's tied to a specific day. My mistake, but a genuine one. I've done this a few times before, and it's always been a simple matter to get this sorted - the clerk just sells me a new ticket, and then voids and refunds the original one. A few days later the money goes back on my card and all is well with the world. But this was always at a ticket office. This time I've been informed that the ticket machine counts as a 'different location' (even though it's at the station I collected it from) and so they can't do that. In order to process a refund at a 'different location' I will be charged an administration fee of £10. Since the ticket only cost £7.55, this means that effectively I can't get it refunded as the admin charge is more than just buying a new ticket. The clerk suggested that I should probably just board the train anyway and explain to the guard (and the people on the ticket gates who will need to let me through) what had happened. The problem with that is that this area is part of a penalty fares scheme and there are some extremely jobsworths guards about. Doing that could risk me being charged £20 for the journey. As it stands I've had to buy a new ticket and am now stuck with another ticket I don't want and intend to make complaints to get it refunded. As I bought it online I thought I'd be protected by the Distance Selling regulations but apparently these exclude contracts to provide transport. Could their policy be considered a breach of The Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts legislation? It seems very wrong to provide a refund process which costs more to use than the cost of the purchase - essentially they are advertising a process which can't be used in my case. It also seems wrong that if I go back to the original location (as in a ticket office) they would have refunded without an admin fee but in this case the £10 is for the service of being refunded from a 'different location' when they are providing no way of being refunded from the actual location (i.e. the ticket machine itself) which also seems wrong. I'm particularly irked when I spend about £2000 / year on rail travel, almost all of which is on First Great Western, to then be treated like this!

The line i use has all unmanned stations. On each station there are permit to travel machines and signs warning on fines if you don't have a ticket. Last night on my regular journey of 3 stops approx 12mins i got my permit to travel as usual boarded the train and sat down and waited for the guard to come round selling tickets just the same as any week and the same as the several others who got on at the same time did. As i boarded i noticed 2 revenue officers in the carriage - no problem always get a permit. Normally when they come round they'll check your permit and tell you to get a ticket when the guard appears. Not this time. This time the officer ordered all those that had just boarded to leave their seats and walk down the other end of the train where the guard is waiting. Is this now a standard procedure? I wasn't too happy still having some vague notion of being a customer and expecting a bit of customer service rather than just being viewed as a potential fare dodger as this guy did. I told him i wasn't happy but he just talked to me like i was trying to avoid paying. If this is the case it'll be interesting when the station is busier and, say, 20 people board and start walking up and down looking for the guard. Feeling pretty angry about this as the guy was just talking to me like i was a criminal when i had and always have every intention of paying my fare.

OK guys,a rather unusual one here. I was travelling on a FGW train from Exeter-Cornwall. Just before Plymouth station, the cleaner came through the train asking for any rubbish to be collected. As I hadn't got anything that needed to be taken, I just said No and went back to my book. I turned back in time to see him taking a paper bag out of my holdall which was on the seat next to me and throwing it into the sack. I yelled at him to stop but it was too late-it had been put in there . By then,people were getting up to get up at the station, and he got to the doorway before I could .I managed to get hold of the Train Manager and explained the situation, and was told that there was nothing they could do-once it was in the sack and had been taken off the train,it would be incinerated. 44 Besides some odds and sods, it also had in my wallet with my onward ticket and railcard and about £30 in cash. I've put in a complaint, but I've been told that even though it was their fault, there is nothing they can do unless I can provide proof of purchase for the railcard and proof of what else was in there. It was not just left unguarded, but was actually inside my property sitting next to me when it was taken. What to do next?

My 17 year old son arrived at a train station as the train was pulling in. He did not use the ticket machine which is located juast outside the station as this would have meant he would miss the train. He intended on purchasing a ticket from the conductor on the train. When he was on the train an inspector asked to see his ticket and my son said he did not have one but was intending to purchase one on the train. The inspector then said my son had broken a law and that he would be prosecuted for doing so. He collected some information from my son and said a letter would be issued. The train guard later apologised to my son because he felt the way my son had been spoken to was innaprorpriate and he was rude. He gave my son the details of how to make a complaint. A complaint has been logged and a holding response has been issued by the train company. Today my son received a letter from Transport Investigations Limited stating they have received a report which indicates that sufficient evidence does exist to warrant a prosecution. The file is presently with their prosecutions team who are considering whether to issue a summons. They have stated that if they do not receive a written response within 14 days a summons may be issued. His friend who got on the same train at the same time without a ticket has been sent a £30 fine in the post but no mention of a prosecution. The train company is Arriva Trains. Has anyone any advice that may help.

In august after receiving my a level results a took the train from st helens to liverpool without paying when i got off the train i hen went to buy a ticket but didnt have enough so I bought one from a closer stop. On friday i recieved a letter from the debt recovery and prosecutions unit asking for all my details. It says that the maximum fine is £1000, how could I possibly afford that much though? I'm a jobless student. Could anyone offer any advice? Has anyone been in this situation before?

Hi everyone. On reaching the train station today I found myself stuck in a queue. I was running late and had to be at an appointment and so when the train arrived 30 seconds after joining the queue, I decided I would buy a ticket from the conductor. (as I and many others have done previously). Unfortunately, there was no conductor on the train and so on alighting the train, I queued again to buy a ticket at the pay stand which has been present for as long as I can remember. I was refused a ticket and instead was ushered to a waiting revenues officer. I explained the situation regarding the queue at the start of my journey and also that there was no conductor on the train and that was the reason for me queueing to buy a ticket at the destination station. The revenues officer went on to baffle me with, section this and bye-laws tha,t which i had no idea about. He also told me that there are A-boards in stations which set out a passenger's obligations (which, again I had no idea about). The officer then asked me for my details, (which I refused to do as I felt I wasn't dodging a fare and I was trying to pay my fare). Due to my refusal, he then brought a police officer who said if I didn't give my details, he would arrest me for travel fraud!! Of course, by then I obviously had no choice and so gave my details. When I travelled back to the first station (with a valid ticket) I looked for an A-board setting out my obligations as a passenger. I found a red A-board up against a red vending machine! All the information says is "Buy before you ride" and that travelling without a valid ticket is an offence which COULD get you a criminal record, a £1000 fine or imprisonment. My return journey fare should have been £3.10 but because I wasn't able to buy my ticket, I had to buy a single to get back home which was £3.00. I was told by the revenues officer that I would be charged the single journey fare of £3.30 which would be payable when I receive notice to pay. That means that my journey would've cost me £6.30 instead of the £3.10!!...Would I only have to pay the 30p difference and will they charge me any admin fee? Thanks for taking the time to read this Loooooong thread, any advice greatly appreciated.

If I want to use the train to go from A to B, how would I get to Platform 2 which is the other side of the tracks and is normally accessed using the gantry? I use elbow crutches and there is no way I would be able to use the gantry to cross over the railway lines. Any advice please? Thanks.

Good afternoon, I will attempt to give you all the relevant facts in the hope that someone can please point me in the correct direction. Since being made redundant I am now retraining in a different industry. My employer is kind enough to pay my uni fees in regards to my day release degree course. My degree course is a vital professional qualification in my new career. I have been told I can claim from HMRC the cost of the textbooks for my degree course and the cost of my 1 day a week train ticket to uni back. Is this correct? I have trawled the internet and HMRC website for hours but keep going round in circles and getting no closer to the answer. In my current trainee role I am on a modest salary and PAYE. In order to help ends meet I also work part time evenings and weekends in my friends shop. NB these earnings are also subjected to PAYE. Any help / pointers gratefully appreciated cheers

Hi, i am after some general advice. I commute in to london via train, i purchase a weekly ticket via a ticket machine using my bank card as there tends to be no one waiting. Ive noticed a large some of money has been taken from my account, all from my train line company 7 transactions in total. Having spoken with the costomer service departement this is due to a fault with the ticket machine system which caused my transactions to not go through correctly. Over the weekened work has been carried out on the system and all pending payements have now gone through. My main arguments are that there has been 7 weekly tickets payments taken from my account, so therefore the system had been down for nearly 2months. Are they legally allowed to take backdated transactions without notifying me as it is a fair bit of money. I have asked for the dates and times each tickets was purchased! Is there anything else i should be asking? Thanks in advance for your hel A very skint man

I was travelling on a train to Hertford North from Finsbury Park. I did not realise Hertford was out of zone 6 and I scanned my Oyster card at finsbury park. I was asked by a ticket inspector for my ticket and I gave him my oyster card to scan. He saidthat was not valid and I had to pay a fine. I said ok. I gave him my name and address and then got off as it was my stop. I then was away on holiday and I came back to a letter from a prosecutions officer asking me to explain why I had no ticket and that they were planning to take me to court and then I had also received a letter from the court explaining I had been summons. The inspectors version of events are different as what I believed happened is he forgot to properly do his paperwork or follow protocol. 1ST discrepancy is that He did not ask where i had travelled from. In his statement he says he did and I said Bowes Park (lie). Secondly, he says I was asked to sign something which again is untrue. This did not happen as I would have. I had already given him my details. He said he then told me it would be reported which again is another lie as if he had of done either I would have. I now have a summons next friday and have been asked to plead guilty and attend or guilty and not attend or not guilty and have it rearranged. admin costs £110 which I am happy to pay if it means I do not get a criminal record. I am tempted though to plead not guilty as I have done nothing wrong. It also says even if I plead guilty and then submit mitigating circumstances which would suggest otherwise which I will. Then they will change my plea and it will be reaaranged. As I scanned my at finsbury park then surely the charge of * entering a train for a purpose of travelling without a ticket entitiling travel is not a valid one? I made a mistake which I was happy to pay for but I feel this has already gone too far as it is.. I have to send the letter by tomorrow and not sure what to do.. thanks in advance for any help you can give.

My partner flew out to Africa and 2 days later a letter arrived which to me looked suspicious. I opened it and found that it was from TIL saying that they have noted his comments about failing to show a valid ticket, there were pre-paid facilities available as that the Rail compnay have advised they see no reason not to pursue. Says "an application for a Summons may now be made" but as there are no instances on his file, they are "authorised to allow a final opportunity of an administrative settlement as an alternative disposal in this case". The letter says 10 days to pay and if that if you do you accept a wriiten warning. I remember him telling me that he travels on the train daily due to a disability and that he always pays for his ticket via the conductor on the train. We both do as where we live it is 'normal' to do so and staff at the station say not to use the machine as it steals cards and money! However he was near Cardiff, rather than in West Wales. The fare was £1.50, he had the money in his hand and waited for the conductor, then looked for him and no-one was around. As he got off the train and went to pay, the people said he was unlucky and they were doing a revenue generating activity. Apparently there was a ticket machine across the bridge on the other platform at his starting station that he should have used. The man said to wait for the letter, reply with what my partner had told him and the matter would be dropped. My partner said in his letter that he would be away in Africa for 2 months and that if TIL wanted to pursue further could they do so at the end of August on his return. He felt very embarassed about it as he was not intending to fare dodge. I am really upset as I don't know what to do as he is out of the country and I cannot contact him. All I've had was a quick phonecall the day he arrived to say there had been a landslide killing 100 people and he was going to see how he could help- it has been in the news. A) Can/should he fight this? £70 is a lot for a £1.50 fare B) What do I do about the fine as he is not here? He would not want it to go to Court

Hi all...Earlier in March I travelled Super off peak single with a railcard that was a couple of weeks out of date. I didn't realise until I hopped on the train. I recieved a letter this morning from FGW telling me they are preparing the case for court! If i am convicted of an offence I could be ordered to pay a fine of £1000 and/or be sentenced to 3 months imprisoment. Basically I think it's completley unjust that they are charging me £160.95 as I already payed the original fare just my railcard was out of date! I think this is completley taking the P@**S! Please help if you know of anything I can do as I can't afford this money!!! Thanks I really look forward to hearing a response, I am prepared to go to court as I feel it's so unjust for them to force me to pay this when I don't have the money - does anybody know what will happen? Thanks

Greetings. I didn't see this issue raised on any other threads and so made a new topic. I hope someone can help me in my current predicament. My mum has just received a note from a Bailiff company saying that as I didn't appear in court (or pay the initial fine) for what appears to be travelling without a ticket on South West Trains I now owe them £675. Presumably this is Court charges etc. The issue here is that this is the first that I have heard of it. The initial letters were sent to an old address of mine and so I never received them and I do not currently live at the address they have sent the new letter to. I don't know when this was supposed to have happened and don't recall ever getting a fine. My mum just called them to say I don't live there (not saying where I currently live) and they requested a utillity bill of hers to prove that I do not live there. So whats the deal here? Should I simply ignore it and hope it will go away? Or should I contact the Bailiffs or South West Trains and argue the case that someone else had received this fine and used my name and address. I'm almost certain that I didn't live at the house they sent the letter to at the time I was meant to have got the fine. Also how (or why), if I am registered on the electoral roll at my Mums house did they send the letters to the other house? Don't they call up and check? They obviously have found my former (and at that time current) address somehow. Why wasn't that done initially? I will be honest, i'm kind of worried about this. Firstly I cannot afford to pay that amount. Secondly I work in a school and dont want them somehow causing issues with my ability to work there. Please, if anyone has any advice on this or has experienced a similar situation I would be very appreciative of the help. Peace and blessings to all.

Hi guys, So I was coming home from Uni but left my own rail card at home. I had no money on me so the only option was to use my friends rail card living with me. so when on train, the instructor asked for the ID and stupidly I showed my own and and he realised so I just admitted it and he wrote my details down (name + address) I did not know that this would be taken as a serious offense today I received a letter which I think is to confirm my address and other details, but it states do not send money with this letter. The letter says I could be fined £1000 or have 3 months imprisonment I am really worried? what can happen? how much fine will I be paying.. its my first ever offense and will this affect my future/careers?

hi, i just got caught using my girlsfriend's monthly travel card at an underground station, at a zone that the card doesn't cover. As i was attempting to leave the station i spoted an inspector and, as a panic reaction, turned the other way, and that's when other inspectors got me. They checked my details and came across the fact that, last year, on my only ever trouble with police/inspectors, i was issued a £50 penalty fare to which i successfully appealed (didn't have to pay). He was saying that the surenames didn't match and the date of birth is similar (i probably gave only my middle name at the time and the date of birth might have been written down wrong by the previous inspector). among the several questions/answers between me and the inspector, were: .is this card yours? - no .so your intentions were just leaving the station without paying? - yes .you have any money on you? - no i wasn't born in the EU although i hold a EU passport (fact that i didn't mention to the inspector). I also see the whole thing as a big mistake and certainly won't be doing it again. my main question is; what is the worst possible penalty in this case? Also, how long can it take for a letter to be issued to me - and, will i need a solicitor? any help would be very much appreciated Thanks

Hello all, i received a summons today and would greatly appreciate the advice of someone who knows what they are talking about. (Point three is my main concern/hope) Here is a brief summary: I have just recieved a magistrates summons, stating that on 10th January 2010 i was questioned between Surbiton and Wimbledon, having contravened railway byelaw 18(1) made under section 219 of the Transport Act, in that i did, in an area not designated as a compulsory ticket area, enter a train for the purpose of travelling on the railway without valid ticket entitling me to do so. A witness statement from a PCSO is also included in the envelope, including plea entering etc. No information is included as to how i can appeal. Just to state, fair enough; i was travelling with a Child Travelcard and i am 19 but at the time i literally had about £10 to my name. I would not do it out of choice but my journey was essential. So my queries/problems: 1. I have now moved up north and am absolutely unable to attend court on the 24th August. Can i tell them that i will not be able to attend, without just copping out and paying them the fine/costs? Perhaps to appeal? 2. In the witness statement provided by the female PCSO (she was writing in a notepad at the time of offence) It states: "At approximately 19.44 hours i cautioned him" "I explained he was not under arrest and was free to leave at any time" But im pretty much 100% sure that she did NOT state that i was "free to leave at any time", otherwise i obviously would have done so thereby avoiding this situation. Does it hold any bearing if she did not state this? Would i even be able to prove it? 3. The offence took place on 10th January 2010, but i have only received the summons today (12th August 2010). Now, it has been forwarded from my previous address, so we can assume perhaps 2 weeks delay at most from when it was supposed to be recieved. This still leaves a gap of more than six months between the offence and the issue of the summons. Is it not correct that there is a legal time limit which must be respected, between the time of the offence and the issue of the summons? Any help would be greatly appreciated as it was a real shock to find a summons on my doorstep when i am trying to start a new life for myself! Thanks in advance for any help Dom