Anne Keothavong - Dont you know who I am?

[Clip]

Ok whilst she didnt actually say that, she did do wrong and thinks she whould not be treat like everyone else who forgets to touch in.

Evening Standard

British tennis No 3 Anne Keothavong says she was marched off a London tram “like a criminal” after forgetting to tap in her Oyster card.

She had been travelling from Wimbledon railway station when she was challenged by an inspector to prove she had paid for her journey.

Keothavong, from Hackney, had swiped her card to get into the station, but failed to tap in again on the platform. To her embarrassment, she was then forced off the tram in front of other passengers. A friend said that after she explained her mistake the inspector came back to ask if she was second or third in the rankings.

Keothavong, 29, vented her anger on Twitter, saying: “So, I’ve just been marched off the tram like a criminal coz I didn’t realise I was meant to touch my Oyster card on the platform.

“I touched it to get into the station and then planned to do the same at my destination. Thought that was all u had to do?”

Keothavong was warned that she could have faced a fine but the inspector accepted her explanation. Nick Baker, head of operations on London Tramlink, defended the actions of staff and said it took fare evasion “extremely seriously”.

He added: “Anyone found on the tram without a valid ticket or Oyster card will be questioned by revenue inspectors. This is normally carried out off the tram, and as such the passenger will be asked to leave the tram while these discussions are held.

“We have recently improved signage around the two yellow Oyster readers on the Tramlink platform at Wimbledon to make it clearer which one is for tram passengers and which one is for passengers interchanging onto National Rail.”

A friend of the star told the Standard the whole episode was “ridiculous”, adding: “The idea that Anne was somehow trying to get a free journey is just ridiculous. There was a misunderstanding but this guy was just incredibly rude and forced her off the tram in front of everyone and then threatened to fine her.

“Most ridiculous of all is that after she explained the situation he went off to his mates and then came back to ask her if she was British number two or three. Anne was obviously understandably very angry so just ignored him.”

Keothavong has dropped down the rankings behind fellow Brits Laura Robson and Heather Watson.

 

[yorkie]

I have sympathy for people in this situation. It is quite right that you should normally only have to touch in when you enter a gateline at your origin, and touch out again at your destination when using rail services in London. Indeed this is the case for light rail in London if it's branded DLR. But it's not the case for light rail if it's branded Tramlink. The latter counts as a bus, and so you only need to tap in, not out. Sounds relatively straightforward so far, but...

Wimbledon is a special case as the tram stop is located within the station. As I understand it, the gateline will charge her a maximum fare and she will then be refunded the difference when tapping at the tram reader. (Normally the refund occurs when you tap out, but on trams you don't tap out, as they are treated like a bus).

So, by only tapping once, she was charged a maximum fare.

It is confusing and someone who makes this mistake is being charged extra, and is not acting in a way that is "criminal". Surely the RPIs have the tools (and intelligence) to realise this? If not, why not?

I don't think she could have been "fined" as a prosecution would surely not succeed if someone had paid extra for their journey?

Did the RPI really threaten her with a fine? If so that's out of order and he should be disciplined. However I suspect the RPI may have informed her she was eligible for a Penalty Fare - a charge made in certain circumstances for an honest mistake. We may never know what was said but these bad news stories will continue as long as some RPIs have bad manners (and some really do need a lesson in how to behave).

As for her Olympic status, do we know for certain if this a case of her playing the "do you know who I am?" card, as suggested in the title, or did the RPIs recognise her name and then choose to poke fun of her?

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

The comment of "Don't you know who I am" seems rather strange for someone such as her to have made, as her prowess upon the tennis courts of the world are not exactly "ground-shaking" and most people should respond with the riposte..."No, who exactly are you""...

 

[Clip]

I have sympathy for people in this situation. It is quite right that you should normally only have to touch in when you enter a gateline at your origin, and touch out again at your destination when using rail services in London. Indeed this is the case for light rail in London if it's branded DLR. But it's not the case for light rail if it's branded Tramlink. The latter counts as a bus, and so you only need to tap in, not out. Sounds relatively straightforward so far, but...

Wimbledon is a special case as the tram stop is located within the station. As I understand it, the gateline will charge her a maximum fare and she will then be refunded the difference when tapping at the tram reader. (Normally the refund occurs when you tap out, but on trams you don't tap out, as they are treated like a bus).

So, by only tapping once, she was charged a maximum fare.

It is confusing and someone who makes this mistake is being charged extra, and is not acting in a way that is "criminal". Surely the RPIs have the tools (and intelligence) to realise this? If not, why not?

I don't think she could have been "fined" as a prosecution would surely not succeed if someone had paid extra for their journey?

Did the RPI really threaten her with a fine? If so that's out of order and he should be disciplined. However I suspect the RPI may have informed her she was eligible for a Penalty Fare - a charge made in certain circumstances for an honest mistake. We may never know what was said but these bad news stories will continue as long as some RPIs have bad manners (and some really do need a lesson in how to behave).

As for her Olympic status, do we know for certain if this a case of her playing the "do you know who I am?" card, as suggested in the title, or did the RPIs recognise her name and then choose to poke fun of her?

It is an odd situation at Wimbledon but there are signs telling you what you should do when entering the main entrance. Remember its an NR station first and foremost, tramstop after.

I doubt he threatened her with a fine - remember they operate a PF scheme on the Tram but as you well know, people think PFs are 'fines' and when relaying their story, as we see so often in the fares forum, they call them fines and not penalty fares. Ive seen enough RPIs in action over the years on the Tramlinnk and never heard one call it a fine.

Again, we only hear the one side of the story and from someone famous then it will be their word taken above anyone elses because thats the nature of the press and even if the RPI came forward and denied it no one would believe them.

It is worth noting that she was let off from paying a penalty fare. And whether or not they took the mick out of her - would they and do they let off non sportsmen and women who are not famous?

 

[SS4]

The comment of "Don't you know who I am" seems rather strange for someone such as her to have made, as her prowess upon the tennis courts of the world are not exactly "ground-shaking" and most people should respond with the riposte..."No, who exactly are you""...

It's almost as much fun as abusing double negatives which I am never known not to do

Alternatively, if you have a decent singing voice there is always the opening to Who are you?


For the story itself I'm not sure. Like Yorkie says Wimbledon is a pain in the rear to deal with but apart from perhaps poor customer service I wouldn't say the RPI treated her differently because of her stature and there is really no other way to march someone off a tram without making it look slightly like they're a criminal?

 

[richw]

or did the RPIs recognise her name and then choose to poke fun of her?

Never heard of her and she could sit next to me on the tram and I'd know no different to any other person.

 

[bb21]

“Most ridiculous of all is that after she explained the situation he went off to his mates and then came back to ask her if she was British number two or three. Anne was obviously understandably very angry so just ignored him.”

Why? Ego, busted.

 

[GodAtum]

It's an interesting situation. Can you be fined/pay a PF if you have paid more then what your journey would cost you?

 

[Deerfold]

It's an interesting situation. Can you be fined/pay a PF if you have paid more then what your journey would cost you?

Certainly. If you do not have a ticket valid for your journey you'd get a PF.

 

[table38]

The comment of "Don't you know who I am" seems rather strange for someone such as her to have made, as her prowess upon the tennis courts of the world are not exactly "ground-shaking" and most people should respond with the riposte..."No, who exactly are you""...

Or you go on the PA and say "excuse me Ladies and Gentleman, could I have your attention please. We have someone here who doesn't know who they are, if anyone can help..."

 

[ATW Alex 101]

Would the RPI know you haven't tapped in where appropriate without asking (e.g by tapping on a little machine he has)?

How do you go about when you are asked for tickets on a service you can use oyster, is it just a simple case of showing you oyster card or does the guard have a little machine on him you have to tap?

 

[gingerheid]

Edit... posted before reading the whole thread; table38 said what needed saying first!

 

[Eagle]

It's an interesting situation. Can you be fined/pay a PF if you have paid more then what your journey would cost you?

How much you pay is irrelevant if what you paid for doesn't cover the journey your making.

For example, I would expect a PF if I tried to travel from Leicester to Nottingham when I held a (more expensive) ticket from Leicester to London.

 

[Clip]

Would the RPI know you haven't tapped in where appropriate without asking (e.g by tapping on a little machine s/he has)?

How do you go about when you are asked for tickets on a service you can use oyster, is it just a simple case of showing you oyster card or does the guard have a little machine on him/her you have to tap?

They have a little handheld reader which tells them what you have done on your card.

 

[LexyBoy]

Wimbledon is confusing and I bet this situation occurs frequently, especially to irregular users. If you understand how Oyster works - which lets face it is a bit of a mystery even to many of us here - then you can see why the "double touch in" is needed, but I'm sure lots of people are concerned that they might be charged more or accidentally end their journey by touching again (though I appreciate there are clear signs explaining what to do).

TfL devote as much space to explaining what to do at Wimbledon as they do for using Oyster on the whole of the rest of the bus & tram network, and MikeWh thought it deserving of a whole page.