That's interesting! Like I said before though, in law, the onus is on the passenger to pay their fare, not the TOC's employees to go hunting for the passenger. Whether you pay at origin, go looking for the guard or wait for him to come to you, or pay at your destination - so long as you do one of those then you've fulfilled your obligations!
Exactly. Like shoplifting, you should only be considered to be breaking the law if you got to your destination and walked out without making any attempt to pay. Not at the point where a TM gets to you and thinks you were 'hiding' in some way. If you board a train part way through its journey, how do you even know where the staff member is?
I do therefore agree that you should not need to go and hunt for someone on a train, potentially losing your seat, having to carry your bag(s) or lose them, and (which I hadn't thought of) annoy those who feel you're jumping the queue.
The rules state you must get a ticket at the earliest opportunity (when they come to you) or the destination. Now if nobody comes to you and you get to the destination to see the gates open, this is when you MUST seek to pay. Not walk out. Once you've done this, you've knowingly avoided paying your fare.
If there's absolutely no way to pay then
that's an issue worthy of discussion. In my case, I'd seek any member of staff and explain the issue - and they may well tell me to just go.
If the station is covered with RPIs and police, you approach and explain the problem and they must sell you a ticket - not treat you like a criminal. If they can't be bothered to check, I'd refuse to accept anything other than a ticket.
In either case, you could write to the TOC and complain about the lack of ticketing facilities and that you were unable to buy a ticket - which either resulted in you being unable to buy a ticket at all, or got you hassle at the destination. I'd love to see their response to a letter moaning that you couldn't give them money - but if enough people did so, they might actually do something about it.
I really don't see the need for petty arguing on here, as some valid circumstances would stop me seeking out staff. On the other hand, on a long trip, if I was with other people, I'd have no such problem as I could have my stuff/seat looked after.