Whilst I fully understand that it is my responsibility to arrive at the station with enough time to purchase a ticket for the journey, things don't always go plan, and on this occasion I was running late. The train was pulling up to the platform when we got there, and the ticket office was closed, so me and my partner were left with 2 options - wait an hour for the next train to arrive, or purchase a ticket on the train. Being frequent users of the trains, and due to never experiencing any difficulty or issues with purchasing tickets on the train, we decided to board. We were unaware that a ticket dispensing machine had recently been installed. The journey was Camborne to Falmouth Town.
Part of the way into our journey we noticed someone on our carriage having a disagreement with whom we thought was a ticket conductor, but we would later discover that he was in fact a revenue protection inspector. From what I could hear from the conversation, this person was in a similar situation to us, and had arrived at the station late. It was at this point that I decided to purchase our tickets online using the trainline app, to show that I had intended to pay for our journey.
I would just like to clarify here that the tickets were purchased before we were approached by the revenue protection inspector. Unfortunately this was a waste of money, as the inspector would not even acknowledge the fact that we had tickets.
We were then pulled to one side at Truro station, read the riot act, and told that we would probably receive a fine in the post. He then printed us out some 'free' tickets for the remainder of our journey, although I'm not sure why, as the tickets I purchased 30 minuted prior to this were valid for the journey.
We both received letters in the post a couple of weeks later. They have requested me to pay £107.50, for the out of court settlement. They state in the letter that "This amount is made up of £7.50 for the outstanding fare, and our charges which are a contribution towards the cost of recovering what you owe." However, my partner has been requested to pay £87.50. I'm not sure why there is a £20 difference in costs for 2 people in the exact same situation.
So I have 2 questions really...
1. Is it worth me appealing the fine, based on the fact that I had purchased tickets?
2. Failing the appeal, would I be able to get my charge reduced to the same amount as my partners?
Thanks in advance for any advice.
Part of the way into our journey we noticed someone on our carriage having a disagreement with whom we thought was a ticket conductor, but we would later discover that he was in fact a revenue protection inspector. From what I could hear from the conversation, this person was in a similar situation to us, and had arrived at the station late. It was at this point that I decided to purchase our tickets online using the trainline app, to show that I had intended to pay for our journey.
I would just like to clarify here that the tickets were purchased before we were approached by the revenue protection inspector. Unfortunately this was a waste of money, as the inspector would not even acknowledge the fact that we had tickets.
We were then pulled to one side at Truro station, read the riot act, and told that we would probably receive a fine in the post. He then printed us out some 'free' tickets for the remainder of our journey, although I'm not sure why, as the tickets I purchased 30 minuted prior to this were valid for the journey.
We both received letters in the post a couple of weeks later. They have requested me to pay £107.50, for the out of court settlement. They state in the letter that "This amount is made up of £7.50 for the outstanding fare, and our charges which are a contribution towards the cost of recovering what you owe." However, my partner has been requested to pay £87.50. I'm not sure why there is a £20 difference in costs for 2 people in the exact same situation.
So I have 2 questions really...
1. Is it worth me appealing the fine, based on the fact that I had purchased tickets?
2. Failing the appeal, would I be able to get my charge reduced to the same amount as my partners?
Thanks in advance for any advice.