First tram operations rejecting my appeal re penalty Fare

[vjs]

Dear all,

 

I am seeing very good advise given on this forum and wish to check if there is any opportunity for me to appeal.

 

I regularly travel on tram in croydon and always make sure i tap in. On this particular day, i remember tapping in and got in to tram and was stopped by tram ticket checkers to say my oyster was not tapped in. I was pretty sure that i had tapped in, so I was surprised when their reader didnt show the details. I was issued with a penalty fare notice, which i appealed on the 29th nov.

 

In reality what had happened was - I was carrying two PAYG oyster cards. I usually keep one for me and other for my wife, and on this particular day, i had tapped in one card, but for some reason didnt realise this and was showing the other card to inspectors. I realised this mistake later in the day, and verified it by getting a copy of my card statement.

 

I appealed on the same day by sending a copy of the oyster statement mentioning this. last week 16th Dec, i got a letter from First tram operations rejecting my appeal with a mention that there is no validation of the card that was checked on the day.

 

I am now being asked to pay £40 by the 30th or risk paying £80 or appeal within 14 days.

 

Both cards are registered in my name and it now looks like i might pay the fine. I however still want to appeal, and wanted to check if it was worthwhile doing so.

 

Any advise or pointers?

Thanks

Suresh

 

just to add

card -1 - I had made many payG jouney with all day cap applied by evening on that day between Zone 1- 3, This incident happened in the morning though when i started my journey.

Card 2 - tapped in for Tram only by mistake without realising i was carrying that card at all.

[honeybee13]

Hello and welcome to CAG. The forum guys should be along later, although as it's nearly Christmas it's hard to know when they'll be available.

 

What reason did they give for refusing your appeal please apart from the validation part please?

 

My best, HB

[vjs]

Thank you honey bee.

The Full text for rejection is as follows

After checking your oyster card history on the card produced, there was no PAYG validation nor a valid season ticket to permit you to travel on tram link. Merely having a credit balance on the card is not in itself sufficient.

Therefore after giving full consideration to why a valid ticket was not produced on request, I regret to say that we can find no justification for waiving the penalty fare.

 

I did send them card statement for card 2 showing that the tap had occurred around 10 minutes prior to the penalty issue time. I asked the penalty fare collector to mention time on the notice he issued just in case.

[firstclassx]

Thank you honey bee.

The Full text for rejection is as follows

After checking your oyster card history on the card produced, there was no PAYG validation nor a valid season ticket to permit you to travel on tram link. Merely having a credit balance on the card is not in itself sufficient.

Therefore after giving full consideration to why a valid ticket was not produced on request, I regret to say that we can find no justification for waiving the penalty fare.

 

I did send them card statement for card 2 showing that the tap had occurred around 10 minutes prior to the penalty issue time. I asked the penalty fare collector to mention time on the notice he issued just in case.

 

Pay the reduced £40 before it gets out of hand.

 

You did not produce a valid ticket or smartcard to the Inspector on demand. Unfortunately it is as simple as that.

 

Once you have paid the Penalty Fare, you may wish to contact customer services and explain the circumstances to them, but my advice is to simply pay and pay closer attention next time!

 

Failing to pay the PF or being demanding from the operator is a fast track course to a crimimal court appearance.

[Conniff]

Another sad case of a transport company ripping people off with a an 'I don't care if you have paid, we have a way of making you pay even more' attitude.

 

When shown the statement there can be no justification except 'cash cow' to not cancel the demand.

Edited December 26, 2015 by Conniff