But even using the zoom function, all the screenshots the OP has shown include a railcard icon at the very least.
So the only information missing is the type of railcard, which makes no difference to the discounted fare (it may affect whether a discount is applied, though). I cannot see that there is any sense in which the OP could claim discrimination - nor, more importantly, that they have been misled.
Its called a False Floor, the user believes that they are at the bottom of the screen because the auto scroll takes them there, however they are not and they need to manually scroll further to reach the truth bottom of the screen.
If you’ve frequented the forum for a while you’ll know that some users are more passenger focussed than others, and I like to think I fall firmly in the fair to all category with an emphasis on passengers rights.
That said, I don’t see as you have many here. Each price on the list as you scroll down is greyed out and the railcard discounted price put in its place. The railcard icon is also present.
Add this to :
*Railcard number and (when scrolled) type on the Home Screen
*Railcard type message at the top of the next screen
*Railcard numbers on the payment screen.
*Railcard discount shown on the ticket itself.
....and you’ll find you don’t have a lot to argue about.
You’re not obliged to use the app, or any app to purchase a ticket. GA do not require this so someone unfamiliar with the app is more than welcome to use the other methods to purchase a ticket such as a ticket machine or a ticket office. Where none are available then a purchase on board or at the destination is permitted.
The bottom line is, however you managed it you’ve purchased a ticket you do not have a valid railcard for, and you’ve travelled on a train and attempted to use that ticket to do so. This is against the rules and GA have every right to take steps to penalise you as the passenger for this. If your current exit strategy is £156.50 then you are incredibly lucky and you should jump at this chance and clear the matter up at your earliest convenience.
Trying to deal with a 3rd party retailer, the largest one at that for this matter will be pointless but I can see you are determined to make them pay for your mistake so I wish you well in that.
A little further advice, Trainline, for at least 2 years used to charge 16-25 railcard holders up to 60% more than none railcard holders on selected flows that crossed over the morning time limit due to a bug. They also allowed you to generate any itinerary with shared routing points so you could travel a long distance for the price of a 1 stop ticket, this lasted several months. Nothing came of this because there is nobody to stop them doing what they want. If this sort of thing can go on, I’d suggest it’s unlikely you’ll get actual money from them because they haven’t provided a 6th opportunity to tell you your ticket holds a railcard discount.
The point I wish to make and am frankly astonished how long it has taken to arrive at after establishing other pit falls in the app, is that there should be two extra screens presented to the consumer before they are asked to make payment:
There is a rail card applied to this booking
Annual Gold Card
(Card number)
Is this correct
YES or
NO?
Once
YES is selected, the next screen will say:
Are you sure
YES or
NO?
Once
YES is selected then the app takes the consumer to the payment page. Naturally any errors at the booking stage are boldly highlighted to the consumer and affording them the option, several times, to rectify it, thus protecting them from potential prosecution. I have not been protected and as a result I am under threat of prosecution.
This is not ground-breaking consumer protection. Whatsapp the social media app changed one its message protection features some years ago. Previously all the user had to do was left swipe and the option to delete or archive was displayed. Select delete and that message was permanently deleted. The very obvious issue is that the delete or archive buttons were next to each other, similar to Trainline’s ‘Find times and prices’ and ‘Add railcard’ buttons.
Now when the user left swipes they are presented with 2 options, More and Archive. Archive will automatically put the message in the archive box, from which it is easily retrievable. If More is selected, then a menu is displayed. Delete Chat is on this menu and is highlighted in RED and not faded like Trainline’s app. If Delete is selected, then another screen is displayed which again enforces the user to confirm their decision, again delete is highlighted in RED.
Whatsapp are customer focused, Trainline either are not or behind the times of Consumer Protection. I will laugh if this changes within the year and will take full credit for it from my report to them!!!
Thanks for all your replies. I will look to make the £156.50 payment but currently cannot because the case number on the SJPN is incorrect and missing a digit. Also the Statement of Facts is incomplete and doesn't detail Day/Date/Time/Place. Sure it's on the charge wording, but we are talking about a professional law enforcement agent here are we not, so these week 1 day 1 mistakes should not occur.
The MG11 is truly shocking, so with all the above, GA are making a lot more mistakes that I every did and this is their day job!!!