Out of date railcard

[robbeech]

I think this is good advice fwiw.

Agreed, especially since you have form for fare evasion and/or similar in other parts of the country.

 

[mazza887]

I am not going to complain

 

[SCDR_WMR]

It didn't because you purchased it without a valid railcard.

That doesn't make the ticket invalid. Using the ticket made it invalid due to the out of date Railcard. It's not the same thing.

 

[nw1]

That doesn't make the ticket invalid. Using the ticket made it invalid due to the out of date Railcard. It's not the same thing.

Interesting point. If you bought a railcard-discounted ticket two days before travelling, with no railcard at the time - but bought the railcard one day later, i.e. still before travel - would that make the ticket invalid because it was bought before the corresponding railcard?
I suspect not.

However this case is a bit different as travel began before having a valid railcard. I have no idea whether the ticket became valid as soon as the railcard was purchased, though.

 

[Haywain]

I have no idea whether the ticket became valid as soon as the railcard was purchased, though.

The ticket might have become valid but an offence had been committed in boarding a train without a valid ticket. There's really no point in getting tied up in knots around this.

 

[RPI]

I personally would consider writing to customer services, the member of staff chose to deal with this by way of selling a new ticket, therefore the offence is disposed of. To then sell you a ticket from Birmingham sounds a bit sus?

 

[Fawkes Cat]

I personally would consider writing to customer services, the member of staff chose to deal with this by way of selling a new ticket, therefore the offence is disposed of. To then sell you a ticket from Birmingham sounds a bit sus?

The problem with this advice is that neither side has behaved impeccably - and if the OP's misbehaviour (albeit inadvertent) is picked up, they'll have a lot more pain than the railway will.

I'm with the consensus that walking away and not looking back is the best option, although I would suggest hanging on to any remaining paperwork just in case the railway do follow up on this.

 

[Darandio]

That doesn't make the ticket invalid. Using the ticket made it invalid due to the out of date Railcard. It's not the same thing.

But as the answer was directed to a specific point, in this case it makes no difference.

 

[Hadders]

This all sounds like a but of a sorry saga!

@mazza887 didn't commit an offence by purchasing a ticket without a railcard
but using a a railcard discounted ticket without a valid railcard is an offence.

In this situation the member of staff had four options:

1. Issue a Penalty Fare
2. Take details for further investigation
3. Sell a new ticket
4. Do nothing

Unfortunately, for reasons best known to them, the member of staff decided to sell a new ticket but to Birmingham. @mazza887 managed to get this new ticket refunded at Temple Meads, even though technically it had been partly used.

Normally, I would say you should subit a formal complaint about what happened to GWR. On this occasion, given that the additional ticket purchased was refunded, I would not be inclined to complain.

 

[RPI]

Sorry, I'd missed the bit about it being refunded at Bristol! In which case, leave well alone

 

[MarlowDonkey]

Unfortunately, for reasons best known to them, the member of staff decided to sell a new ticket but to Birmingham. @mazza887 managed to get this new ticket refunded at Temple Meads, even though technically it had been partly used.

They didn't confiscate the Bath to Bristol ticket which was invalid because of the expired railcard, but still operated the gates at Bristol. This left the Bath to Birmingham ticket sold on the train not tagged by a barrier.

 

[Haywain]

They didn't confiscate the Bath to Bristol ticket which was invalid because of the expired railcard, but still operated the gates at Bristol. This left the Bath to Birmingham ticket sold on the train not tagged by a barrier.

That doesn't alter the fact of its partial use.

 

[johnny_t]

In the circumstances, I'd just keep quiet and hope it all goes away. I suspect they don't do much retrospective auditing of refunds, so that probably won't catch up with you, but I also would keep quiet about any complaint you may have and let sleeping dogs lie. The overall outcome is, roughly, morally correct.

One thing I would do, though, is very carefully document everything that happened whilst it is fresh in your memory, rather than try to remember it all if something does happen in a few months time.

 

[mazza887]

Thank you! Today I got the money in my account so I’m hoping that closes the matter. I won’t be doing any complaint and just leaving well alone - I made the suggestion of raising a complaint before I decided to seek the refund.

 

[GadgetMan]

They didn't confiscate the Bath to Bristol ticket which was invalid because of the expired railcard, but still operated the gates at Bristol. This left the Bath to Birmingham ticket sold on the train not tagged by a barrier.

That's a risky assumption, because the selling guard may well have scanned it as soon as it printed.

Either way, what's done is done now.