Help with getting £669.60 refunded after i was sold the wrong ticket and fined a Penalty Fare also.

[big all]

Oh dear, what a pickle. Sorry to hear that you have had so much trouble. There's not a lot more that I can add to this that has not already been said really but I hope that both the police and Thamelink investigate this thoroughly and that you get your money back. You were treated disgracefully and should have been given a receipt for the penalty fare. In fact had the RPI had a heart or even some understanding of the mistake they should have sold you the correct tickets for your journey instead!

The moral of the story is check train times in advance and always check your tickets before walking away from the ticket office, especially when making a big purchase. It would also help in future if you paid by card so that there is a record of all the charges on your bank statement, the penalty fare would be much easier to trace had this been the case. You also could have saved yourself a percent cashback.

Good luck and thanks for sharing your story which I am sure many of us will will take on board having learnt a valuable lesson.

i think you will find like myself some think there is some information not shared
this can be deliberate to manoover our thoughts in the direction they want
it can also be unintentional or in an attempt to keep things simple
the thing is there is so much information indeed an overload from one side and virtually none from the other side off any use
not saying he or she isnt genuine and deserving but you cant give accurate suggestions without all the facts that includes the ones you omit

 

[sheff1]

Why didn’t you just take the unused incorrect tickets back for a refund?

The OP said they emailed Thameslink Customer Services the day after the event and included photos of all the tickets. Of course we do not know what was said in the email (or in the reply "a few weeks later" and the further exchange of "eight emails") but a reasonable assumption would be that they were attempting to get a refund or at least advice about how to get a refund .....

.... however, unless the OP comes back with more detail it is all just assumptions/guesswork.

 

[Western Sunset]

Just a thought.
The OP managed to find this (rather specialised) website to air the matter, but didn't check the ticket prices before travelling.

 

[philthetube]

I asked them to check the on train CCTV (which will show the ticket inspector dealing with us) to identify the ticket inspector and speak to him. But i was told that they were unable to as CCTV footage can only be viewed when a crime has been committed. I have now sent eight emails back and fourth to Thameslink and nothing is getting sorted. Their customer service department is just useless and very unhelpful.

If that request and reply is included in a paper trail then that should get you a long way towards a resolution.

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

Just a thought.
The OP managed to find this (rather specialised) website to air the matter, but didn't check the ticket prices before travelling.

I don't think that really bears any relevance to the matter. Railforums comes up as one of the top search results for a variety of rail-related queries, so it is well possible the OP found it that way.

 

[krus_aragon]

Just a thought.
The OP managed to find this (rather specialised) website to air the matter, but didn't check the ticket prices before travelling.

There's also about three months between the incident and the OP's posting here, in which to learn about this website. (If I found myself £600 out of pocket, I'd probably start searching for advice, including on rather specialised websites.)

 

[island]

There’s so much that doesn’t seem to make sense about this that I don’t know where to start. However with Thameslink’s typical (in)competency levels I wouldn’t be surprised if there wasn’t a kernel of truth behind it all.

I wonder whether we will see the OP again.

 

[Haywain]

If I found myself £600 out of pocket, I'd probably start searching for advice, including on rather specialised websites.

Would you just make 2 posts and then not come back to answer questions?

 

[Western Sunset]

Might make a good detective plot for DCI Banks.

There is something fishy here, but can't quite put my finger on it; I keep making 2 + 2 = -£669.60.

I do hope the OP enlightens us more, but who knows?

 

[Haywain]

I wonder whether we will see the OP again.

I have my doubts.

When I had access to Lennon and a really unusual ticket transaction was queried in these pages it took me 5 minutes to find out exactly where and when the ticket in question had been sold. Anyone with access to Lennon now could easily establish whether there is a kernel of truth in this because I doubt that tickets to Millbrook (Hants) are sold very often at St Albans City (let alone 6 at a time), and similarly tickets to Millbrook (Beds) sold at Luton. Search over a period of the last 6 months and it would take seconds of looking at the results to find out if such sales had taken place.

 

[gray1404]

I think it would be worth someone doing the above if they have access to Lennon and it doesn't breach any rules.

 

[JN114]

I think it would be worth someone doing the above if they have access to Lennon and it doesn't breach any rules.

To what end?

The purpose of this area of the forum is to provide advice to posters who find themselves in dispute with train operators, generally over ticketing matters. In order to remain impartial that advice needs to be on the facts given and based in fact. Some of the better advisors in the past were very good at this - threads rarely lasted more than a page.

It is not for us to question the validity of the tale we are told, just to advise on it.

I move that moderators lock this thread until the OP can clarify some of the points raised so that those so interested can offer further advice.

 

[gray1404]

I agree with you that it might be a good idea for the thread to be locked until (and indeed if) the OP returns to provide additional information.

To What End? I have noticed the comments from other posters that a lot might not add up about this case, given the list of failures and possible criminal activity of PF not being paid into the TOC. Nothing surprises me with GTR though. So, that is why I said it might be worth checking if the tickets stated were in fact issued, given they were rare ones, to see if there might be truth behind this story.

 

[MikeWh]

The OP hasn't been seen since 5 hours after starting this thread. As suggested, I'm locking it for now. If @countrysider wishes to answer any of the queries raised then they can contact the moderation team and the thread will be re-opened.