I really hope somebody here can help me out as I am extremely concerned by a situation that has arisen with Northern Rail.
I am British but since 2007 I have lived in Brazil - I am currently here visiting with my Brazilian partner and our one-year-old daughter as we wanted her to spend time with her British family.
In March I hopped on a train from the village where I am staying with my mother (the amusingly-named Broadbottom, near Manchester) to visit the gym in nearby Glossop - a journey of around 10 minutes, costing £1.70. There is no ticket machine at Broadbottom, and the ticket office was closed (indeed it is always closed in the afternoons).
It is customary in these situations for staff to sell tickets on the train or, at the other end of the line at Piccadilly, to sell tickets at the platform end.
There was no opportunity to buy a ticket on the train on this occasion, and when I arrived at Glossop I headed to the ticket machine that I saw when leaving the train. There was no option to buy a return ticket FROM the station I had come from, only TO, so I approached a Northern Rail representative standing at the exit and told him I needed to buy a ticket. He asked me to step to one side while he checked further tickets. I happily did this, thinking he was about to sell me a ticket.
However, on his return he told me that he would be reporting me for not having a ticket, and I would have to explain the reasons for this to Northern Rail. He pointed to the ticket office behind me (this had moved since I last lived here, for 30-plus years it had been next to the exit and is no longer visible when leaving the train) and asked me why I hadn't bought a ticket there. As I had headed straight for the more visible ticket machine, this seemed ridiculous - indeed I hadn't even spotted the ticket office until he pointed it out.
Furious at having my time wasted - as well as looking after my daughter I am a freelance travel writer (I know, the irony...) and have very very little free time - I emailed Northern Rail's customer services to complain. They responded that they could not deal with this and that I would have to deal with Northern's debt response team. I duly received a letter from them and, despite responding and outlining the facts, I have today received a letter stating that they are preparing to send me to magistrates court unless I pay £80 to settle out of court. As I am in no way in the wrong I am not prepared to pay this, but this is very distressing for me, my mother and my partner. I am not even going to be in the country at the time if this goes to court and am terrified of receiving a criminal record. I have never deliberately avoided paying for a ticket in my life and am appalled that I am being punished for their lack of ticketing facilities. Any help, please?? This is hugely stressful and I am having to use precious childminding time to try and resolve this when I should be working -loss of earnings in addition to all this stress. Any advice hugely appreciated!
I am British but since 2007 I have lived in Brazil - I am currently here visiting with my Brazilian partner and our one-year-old daughter as we wanted her to spend time with her British family.
In March I hopped on a train from the village where I am staying with my mother (the amusingly-named Broadbottom, near Manchester) to visit the gym in nearby Glossop - a journey of around 10 minutes, costing £1.70. There is no ticket machine at Broadbottom, and the ticket office was closed (indeed it is always closed in the afternoons).
It is customary in these situations for staff to sell tickets on the train or, at the other end of the line at Piccadilly, to sell tickets at the platform end.
There was no opportunity to buy a ticket on the train on this occasion, and when I arrived at Glossop I headed to the ticket machine that I saw when leaving the train. There was no option to buy a return ticket FROM the station I had come from, only TO, so I approached a Northern Rail representative standing at the exit and told him I needed to buy a ticket. He asked me to step to one side while he checked further tickets. I happily did this, thinking he was about to sell me a ticket.
However, on his return he told me that he would be reporting me for not having a ticket, and I would have to explain the reasons for this to Northern Rail. He pointed to the ticket office behind me (this had moved since I last lived here, for 30-plus years it had been next to the exit and is no longer visible when leaving the train) and asked me why I hadn't bought a ticket there. As I had headed straight for the more visible ticket machine, this seemed ridiculous - indeed I hadn't even spotted the ticket office until he pointed it out.
Furious at having my time wasted - as well as looking after my daughter I am a freelance travel writer (I know, the irony...) and have very very little free time - I emailed Northern Rail's customer services to complain. They responded that they could not deal with this and that I would have to deal with Northern's debt response team. I duly received a letter from them and, despite responding and outlining the facts, I have today received a letter stating that they are preparing to send me to magistrates court unless I pay £80 to settle out of court. As I am in no way in the wrong I am not prepared to pay this, but this is very distressing for me, my mother and my partner. I am not even going to be in the country at the time if this goes to court and am terrified of receiving a criminal record. I have never deliberately avoided paying for a ticket in my life and am appalled that I am being punished for their lack of ticketing facilities. Any help, please?? This is hugely stressful and I am having to use precious childminding time to try and resolve this when I should be working -loss of earnings in addition to all this stress. Any advice hugely appreciated!