Refund assistance - fear of fraud

[Jack D]

Hi all,

So this matter has been playing on my mind so I thought it best to seek advice or simply reassurance, if that is the case.

On Wednesday night, after attending a music gig in London I went to St Pancreas with my friends and my flatmate and purchased a ticket to EbbsFleet International, one way, for £22.20. I used the ticket to get through the barrier onto the platforms but we then decided as a group to go home via the tube. I left the platforms via an open barrier.

Today I popped down the Ebbsfleet station and asked for a full refund. The man behind the counter took said ticket from me and issued me a complete refund including a print off of a refund receipt form. Perfect!

I left the receipt form on my kitchen counter where my flatmate noticed it. He read a sentence on the top right corner that says "fraudulent claims will be subject to legal proceedings" and he's worried that Southeastern's computer systems will see the ticket was used at one end but not the other and question the refund. I told him not to worry but as I haven't actually done anything wrong but now the worry is starting to nag at the back of my mind.

What are the chances of Southeastern contacting me about this? If they do is there anyway I can prove I didn't use their train? Would I need to supply my Oyster card history for the tube perhaps for the day of travel?

Or is my flatmate, and now me, just being a bit paranoid? I've not done anything wrong so I don't think I have anything to fear...

Thanks in advance.

 

[rg177]

Companies are more interested in suspicious patterns of refunds than a ticket which has been put through a gate the once. Rest assured that nothing is going to happen - especially if this was a paper ticket bought and refunded at a station.

When I used to handle refunds for a retailer (which were all entirely manual) you'd take the customer's word for it unless they kept doing the same thing, their explanation made no sense or the ticket had been scanned on a train. Even then you'd usually just refuse the refund.

In a nutshell, you're fine - no need to worry. What you've done is entirely legitimate and you won't be the first or last to do it.

 

[Jan Mayen]

I'd suggest the OP makes a brief written account of what happened (especially date & times), keep this and the refund receipt in a safe place. This us so IF Southeastern query it at some point, you've got all the information needed.

 

[Haywain]

If the ticket wasn't used for travel the claim wasn't fraudulent.

 

[Jack D]

I'd suggest the OP makes a brief written account of what happened (especially date & times), keep this and the refund receipt in a safe place. This us so IF Southeastern query it at some point, you've got all the information needed.

How long should I hold onto my notes for? A month, would you say?

 

[Hadders]

The claim isn’t fraudulent if the ticket wasn’t used for travel, but it would be sensible to download and keep a copy of your Oyster journey history, in case there is any query. Note this is only accesible for 8-weeks via the TfL website.

One thing that puzzles me is how did you get home from St Pancras to Ebbsfleet using the tube?

 

[Jack D]

The claim isn’t fraudulent if the ticket wasn’t used for travel, but it would be sensible to download and keep a copy of your Oyster journey history, in case there is any query. Note this is only accesible for 8-weeks via the TfL website.

One thing that puzzles me is how did you get home from St Pancras to Ebbsfleet using the tube?

We ended up dropping some of our friends off home first. We tubed to bank and then London Bridge and caught an overground train.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 8 Jun 2025 ==

The claim isn’t fraudulent if the ticket wasn’t used for travel, but it would be sensible to download and keep a copy of your Oyster journey history, in case there is any query. Note this is only accesible for 8-weeks via the TfL website.

One thing that puzzles me is how did you get home from St Pancras to Ebbsfleet using the tube?

We ended up dropping some of our friends off home first. We tubed to bank and then London Bridge and caught an overground train.

 

[jfollows]

How long should I hold onto my notes for? A month, would you say?

They can’t prosecute you after six months. Extremely unlikely as others have said. Personally I scan and save important letters of any sort for ages, but that requires you to have a scanner, they come as part of many computer printers these days.

 

[Haywain]

They can’t prosecute you after six months. Extremely unlikely as others have said. Personally I scan and save important letters of any sort for ages, but that requires you to have a scanner, they come as part of many computer printers these days.

It's really easy to scan a document using a smartphone as well.