West Midlands trains

[sister]

Can anyone help me, please
I have received an email from [email protected]

Last year in 2 months I refunded 13 tickets as I was not well and had issues with stomach pain which later GP found was a problem. I am suffering from “endometriosis”means pain can come any time of the day and I have to leave my planned things. Hence refunding tickets was the biggest example.
Noone likes to refund the tickets because when you refund the tickets you have to pay almost £10 per ticket. But situation like mine you have to refund.

Trainline asked me for the evidence and I have given them a GP letter and other evidence. They are not happy with the evidence and still trying to prosecute me. The fine is around £550.

I am terrifying and not sure what to do. Feels like when I have not done any wrongdoing and still have to pay the fine just because they are asking me to pay.

I did not use the tickets whatsoever and they are not believing me that I did not use the tickets plus they are not giving me any evidence that I was using the tickets it is kind of impossible to use the tickets and refund because the ticket officer comes to check the tickets and make his sign over the ticket

Not sure if these people are even true or it’s a fraud e-mail.

It has been happening for over a month now and I am tired of it.

Can anyone help or direct me to what else I should do?

They are not giving me any appeal department number. It is harassment and I am losing my mental peace.

They are not giving me any evidence that the ticket has been used.

More likely I feel that I was sending the tickets to the refund department and they were using the tickets somehow and I ended up becoming a culprit

 

[skyhigh]

Firstly it would help provide relevant advice if you share screenshots of the emails you have received (with any personal details covered over) so that we can see what was said. Please also include what you have said to the train company.

Not sure if these people are even true or it’s a fraud e-mail.

More likely I feel that I was sending the tickets to the refund department and they were using the tickets somehow and I ended up becoming a culprit

If the emails are coming from the address you quoted then they are genuine as this is a real email address used by West Midlands Trains. The chance that Trainline have been using tickets that you have submitted refunds on are realistically zero, they will not have been doing this.

If you are 100% certain that you have done nothing at all wrong (such as refunding an entire return ticket when you only used one leg of it) then you should simply tell them that you are certain all your refund requests were genuine and cease any further communication. If you haven't used the tickets there will be no evidence for them to use and they should drop the matter. If they issue you with a court summons then come back here and ask for further help.

However, if you are not 100% certain that you have done nothing wrong then you should look engage with them. Why might they think that you have done something wrong? Have you ever been stopped due to an issue with a ticket and your details taken?

 

[Titfield]

Some more information may be helpful in our understanding and thus the advice forum members give.

In that two month period how many tickets did you buy, how many did you use, how many did you not use and get a refund for?

If the % of tickets refunded is higher than what they think is likely, this would trigger an investigation and hence the email to you.

The point you have to pay an admin fee of C£10 for a refund does not really assist you, because, and for the avoidance of doubt I am not suggesting you have, some fare evaders are quite happy to pay a £10 admin fee for a ticket they have used because it may be a low price to pay overall for their journey.

 

[Brissle Girl]

As these tickets are refundable, then presumably they are flexible tickets that you could buy on the day? If so, I suspect their suspicion might be aroused as they might wonder, given your illness, why you didn’t just get tickets on the day when it was clear that you were able to travel.

 

[AlterEgo]

OP, are you absolutely, 100% sure that none of the refunded tickets were used?

If you are sure, and only if, tell them very simply and plainly, in a response of extreme brevity -

"Thank you for your further correspondence.

As explained in my previous letter, I have not ever refunded tickets wrongly nor used any tickets which were refunded. I trust this information is satisfactory and you will close your case."

Do not include any niceties. You are hereby telling them to eff off. This is standing your ground and being assertive.

If you have done nothing wrong then you will hear no more from them.

 

[WesternLancer]

This - from post #2 is absolutely critical in making 100% sure you have not refunded tickets that you are not entitled to a full refund on, even if by error or misunderstanding

"such as refunding an entire return ticket when you only used one leg of it"

esp relevant I would think in cases where a return ticket costs only a modest amount more than a single ticket (ie a return is not the costs of two singles) as if often the case with tickets like Off Peak Returns'

 

[glasgowniteowl]

Also what type of tickets were you buying, was it paper tickets or etickets just because you said inspector was writing over them and usually(but not always) the digital teams seem took at e ticket refunds