(Based on 2015 prices as I don't have 2014 prices to hand)
The tickets your wife purchased cost £27.40 + £32.10 = £59.50
The required ticket should have cost £94.80 per week (Travelcard from Woking).
Given that it appears that she has been depriving South West Trains of £35 revenue per week you will understand why they will not see this as a trivial matter.
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Depending on where her ticket was checked, it may well have been valid at that point. Unless the guard interrogates every passenger to confirm where they boarded and where they are travelling to, they can only check whether the ticket is valid at that point in time.
I am surprised the ticket checks were that often, I would say my tickets are checked onboard on less than 20% of journeys.
Even if your wife had been caught earlier by a ticket inspector on the train, she could well be in the same situation as she committed the offence when she boarded the train with the invalid ticket.
Hi and thanks for your reply.
I totally understand their point. I agree with you that from their point of view she didn't pay much. But let's see my point as well: my point is that almost everybody always looking for the best value for money. People spending whole night and fighting each other only to get minor discounts on Boxing Day. I mean looking for the best deal is not a purposeful criminal conviction, does it?
Again, I am
NOT bringing any excuses, I am just sharing my own thoughts about all this. Look it from my side please: we are quite new in the UK, we never used rail traveclards before; we were always using Oyster cards and are not perfectly familiar with all rail network. My wife is approaching to a member of railway team, asking them what is the best value ticket she can buy as she is not familiar with this, they are advising this option. She then going and buying oyster and rail tickets. Ticket inspectors checking her regularly on the same train and saying the ticket are correct. What conclusion can she make? - obviously that the tickets are correct! With this in mind she is continuing to buy the same tickets thinking they are right.
Regarding train checks: that train from Woking goes either Woking - Waterloo or Woking - Clapham Junction - Waterloo. I was advised that the ticket is wrong in both scenarios. This means that no matter on which point she was checked by inspector, the tickets were wrong and they should advise her that the tickets are wrong by just simply looking to the ticket and seeing the destinations. Am I wrong?
Look to this from our side: one employee advises that this tickets should be fine, another employees checking them regularly on the same route (not every single day but definitely once per 3 days) and saying they are correct. And then somebody catches and says that the tickets are wrong and tries to prosecute you saying that you did this with a purpose. Again, I am not talking about law side, I am talking basic human moral side - do you think this is fair?
I agree that maybe she used wrong tickets but she never did this with a purpose to avoid paying the whole price. SouthWest trains blames her that she was using this for a long time and thus with a purpose. My answer is:
if ticket inspectors had checked her ticket properly on the very first day they would advise her the tickets are wrong, she would have paid the penatly fare on place and use another tickets afterwards and this would never happen as they would simply see she just started to use that tickets and never tell her she was doing this for a long time with a purpose! As they never advised this she continued to use that tickets thinking they are right. So it means that if they checked her properly she would never use them for a whole month and SouthWest train would never blamed her that she did this with a purpose and would never prosecute her!
Also, if she was trying to avoid the fare how come she purchased the most expensive ticket possible after this incident and started to use it regularly?
Again, I am not providing excuses nor defending, I am just saying raw facts. Look to this from human side.
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I don't recommend that you continue to try and blame the staff, captain_hook. SWT will see this case as one where a deliberate attempt was made to avoid the proper fare. I won't judge anyone here, that's a matter for the court, but that is a fact. A court may agree, it may not, but it would probably be better for you and your wife if you didn't have to find out!
What you need to do is to concentrate on trying to obtain a settlement.
Thanks Greenback! I never tried to blame somebody! All I am saying is just my point and my thoughts. I think everybody is free to express their thoughts as long as they don't contain an abuse and complain with laws. I am just saying what I think. Likewise a customer can call to customer service and say "your service is rubbish, I strongly suggest you to train your staff". Is that an offence?
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You said the purchases were in the same transaction. The desk can't sell weeklies, and the machine can't sell Woking to Addlestone seasons. There's no way to buy those tickets at Woking or Waterloo in the same transaction.
Hi Fahad,
Again, I wasn't there and can't say for sure. My wife doesn't remember all bits and pieces of that day. I am not saying this for sure, I am just saying what information I have.