I travelled again on EMT today!
Boarded train at St Pancras (first stop Leicester of course) and the TM came to check my ticket. He didn't know where either station on the ticket was and because of the price of it, decided to summon the on board RPI.
I encountered this RPI before over a year ago back when I was using the Z1-2 Season with the multiple split Priv SORs. He didn't know about Condition 19c. As you might expect, an absolute pleasure to deal with. Overlooking the projectile spitting whilst talking, I only had to bite my lip whilst he spoke to me like I was a toddler and condescended me to high heaven. Back then, I used to keep quiet as I didn't want to draw unnecessary attention to my use of "loopholes." Even these days, I never let it be said that I'm rude to a member of staff. However, he's lucky that he had the sense to do the right thing and let it go today.
He initially he gave me back the ticket and asked me for ticket for the journey I was undertaking. So I gave him the same ticket again. He asked me where the two stations shown on the ticket were and when I identified that, he said that I was way off route and that I must have been confused. I politely explained to him that I was on a permitted route but he wasn't listening to me.
I asked him how sure he was that I was wrong. He said he was pretty sure, so I told him I was 100% sure, certain that I was right. This went back and forth and he eventually asked me for my YP Railcard. I showed it to him and he withdrew it along with the ticket because it didn't appear to be signed. I told him that I had signed it in a couple of years ago (it's a 3 year plastic version that's a bit worse for wear) so he handed it back and gave me a marker pen to sign it again.
As he had withdrawn the ticket, I told him to give me a free SOS to the destination shown on the ticket (worth well over £100.) He said he'd then sell me a ticket to the station where I was getting off the train, which I wasn't having from him. If he was going to withdraw the ticket, he would have to do it by the book which means a free ticket to complete the journey as shown on the ticket. Which means extra paperwork. So he gave me back the ticket and decided to issue a UFN to my destination.
I wasn't having this from him either. I told him that I don't ramp with UFNs and if he wanted to take the matter further, he should do an MG11 instead if he really believed he was certain that he was right. I told him I would prefer to see him appear as a witness in court and would not hesitate to cause severe embarrassment by providing a simple explanation to the court as to why my ticket was valid.
He said I would have to buy a new undiscounted Anytime Single. I immediately said I had no money for the purpose of buying a new ticket, so he decided to take out his UFN pad and was ready to start filling it out. I then told him I would pay for a new ticket after all, which he printed from his machine. I produced a £50 American Express Traveller's Cheque, a £25 Rail Travel Voucher and some cash and handed the lot to him. If Mr. RPI of 20 years knows so much that he openly admits he doesn't need to double check anything, this should have been a doddle for him.
He attempted to reject the Traveller's Cheque, but I gave it back to him and told him that if he had a problem with the methods of payment that ATOC stipulate must be accepted on board, he should take it up with them through the proper channels and not inconvenience me with it. I then said nothing and after a moment, he handed me back everything and non-issued the ticket he had just printed out. I asked why and he said he was no longer charging me and would pass the original ticket I presented as valid.
He left, then after a minute came back asking to take down the number of the ticket I presented him with. The way that he was looking at the date on the ticket (return portion of an SVR,) it was as if he was thinking about trying to investigate if I had already used it or something. He did say that he would be having the matter investigated further and if there was one single, tiny thing wrong with it then he would be making sure it would be followed up. I thought "yeah, whatever." He did say that I was a very knowledgeable, patronising man after I called into question the attitude of staff who refuse to drop matters despite not being certain whether or not they are right.
I didn't just work in a ticket office before - I also worked in revenue protection and so staff need to think twice before attempting any psychological tricks or covert methods to deduce if I have done something wrong. There seems to be a propensibility for these staff (old school and new breed) to look at me and either think I was born yesterday, or a fare evader trying to blag my way out of trouble by making things up. But never a fare paying passenger who might have done a little bit of homework, which I think is a sad indictment.
Initially, the TM was standing there smiling when the RPI was talking to me, but as it dawned that I wasn't having a bar of it from the RPI, the smile gradually disappeared. Funny that!
Ah well, another day, another journey completed in peace
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