Hi everyone,
I have recently taken a train to Castle Cary (going to Glastonbury on June 26) and when I was presenting my ticket on the exit I realised that my Railcard expired so they have sent me to a GWR representitives on the side who were taking details from anyone with a similar situation. They presented an ID and asked to record our conversation, I said yes. I have explained that I have made an honest mistake and forgot to renew when it expired at the end of april, he had asked to see my Trainline history (which is how I get all my tickets) and I said I have my little brothers tickets there too so that's why I have booked tickets since my railcard exired(he haqs taken jurneys in may and june using my trainline with his 16-17 saver card), he didn't check it in detail and wrote a lot of things down without saying anything, noting this comment about my brother.
He then asked that the GWR needs to make a GDPR request to Trainline for my account and I need to provide evidence for my brother's Railcard to which I said yes without thinking too much. I have now receved a whopping £5563 fine from GWR for the jurneys that I have allegedly taking 'improper' from May 3 2018 till June 18th 2023 without a valid 16-25, 26-30 and 17-18 railcards. They did not explain which specific jurneys and where does this number come from and basically just assumed I didn't have any Railcards for 5 years. I have always had a Railcard and I have a proof of that, however I think I had physical railcards with my university account pre 2019 so I cannot even get proof for the Railcards that far ago, I have called the railcard support asking if they can provide me with the evidence but they delete inactive accounts after 2 years.
I am just appalled that GWR can retrospectively charge me this insane amount without any proof or evidence that I didn't have the Railcards or have taken the jurneys at all. I undestand I need to pay a penalty for that one jurney they stopped me for but I can't undestand how they can charge me for 5 years worth of jurneys based on my trainline history. I have bought tickets for friends and famlily at times in the past 5 years that I can't even remeber now and I don't understand how they can do this to me. Additionally I have taken many trains with different train companies over the past 5 years and I am confused how GWR can issue me a penalty for all of those jurneys even if they are not the operator. This whole thing seems absurd and a little bit like a scam. They said I don't have railcards because they are not recorded in the trainline app, I use the railcard app to store my digital railcards.
Does anyone know what is the regulation or the law for this kind of situation as I am shocked by this and not sure how to go about appealing about all my train jurneys for the past 5 years.
Thank you in advance! Would appreciate any help!
I have recently taken a train to Castle Cary (going to Glastonbury on June 26) and when I was presenting my ticket on the exit I realised that my Railcard expired so they have sent me to a GWR representitives on the side who were taking details from anyone with a similar situation. They presented an ID and asked to record our conversation, I said yes. I have explained that I have made an honest mistake and forgot to renew when it expired at the end of april, he had asked to see my Trainline history (which is how I get all my tickets) and I said I have my little brothers tickets there too so that's why I have booked tickets since my railcard exired(he haqs taken jurneys in may and june using my trainline with his 16-17 saver card), he didn't check it in detail and wrote a lot of things down without saying anything, noting this comment about my brother.
He then asked that the GWR needs to make a GDPR request to Trainline for my account and I need to provide evidence for my brother's Railcard to which I said yes without thinking too much. I have now receved a whopping £5563 fine from GWR for the jurneys that I have allegedly taking 'improper' from May 3 2018 till June 18th 2023 without a valid 16-25, 26-30 and 17-18 railcards. They did not explain which specific jurneys and where does this number come from and basically just assumed I didn't have any Railcards for 5 years. I have always had a Railcard and I have a proof of that, however I think I had physical railcards with my university account pre 2019 so I cannot even get proof for the Railcards that far ago, I have called the railcard support asking if they can provide me with the evidence but they delete inactive accounts after 2 years.
I am just appalled that GWR can retrospectively charge me this insane amount without any proof or evidence that I didn't have the Railcards or have taken the jurneys at all. I undestand I need to pay a penalty for that one jurney they stopped me for but I can't undestand how they can charge me for 5 years worth of jurneys based on my trainline history. I have bought tickets for friends and famlily at times in the past 5 years that I can't even remeber now and I don't understand how they can do this to me. Additionally I have taken many trains with different train companies over the past 5 years and I am confused how GWR can issue me a penalty for all of those jurneys even if they are not the operator. This whole thing seems absurd and a little bit like a scam. They said I don't have railcards because they are not recorded in the trainline app, I use the railcard app to store my digital railcards.
Does anyone know what is the regulation or the law for this kind of situation as I am shocked by this and not sure how to go about appealing about all my train jurneys for the past 5 years.
Thank you in advance! Would appreciate any help!
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