Please i need help

[topfad]

Subject: Appeal Against Penalty Fee for First-Time Offender Status

Dear GWR,

I hope this message finds you well. I am writing to formally appeal against the penalty fee I have been issued as a first-time offender for boarding the train without a ticket unknowingly on Saturday, the 3rd day of August at Plymouth.

As a regular traveller on your train services, I have always complied with the ticketing policies and have purchased tickets either in advance or on the day of travel. On the day in question, I had bought my weekly ticket the Saturday before.I boarded a train with my smart card confident I had a day left since I bought it on a Saturday and used it on Friday The barricade was open so didn't have to tap the smart card before crossing to the platforms before boarding.

However, instead of being given the opportunity to purchase a ticket after the train crew found out my ticket had expired, I was immediately issued a penalty for travelling without a valid ticket. This came as a surprise to me, given my consistent record of purchasing tickets and the so expected level of flexibility.

I believe this penalty is unjust, particularly considering my status as a regular traveller who has always adhered to the rules. The intention was never to evade payment, but rather I didn't know my ticket had expired because i still travelled with it yesterday. I requested to buy a ticket on board immediately I was told it ran out yesterday by the train crew but he refused to sell ticket to me and instantly gave me a penalty as a first time offender.

I kindly request a review of this penalty, taking into account my regular travel history and the specific circumstances of that day.

I am more than willing to purchase the ticket for the journey taken and hope that this matter can be resolved fairly, allowing me to continue using your services without this mark on my record.

Thank you for your understanding and consideration.

Yours sincerely,

Topfad

 

[Fawkes Cat]

Subject: Appeal Against Penalty Fee for First-Time Offender Status

Dear GWR,

I hope this message finds you well. I am writing to formally appeal against the penalty fee I have been issued as a first-time offender for boarding the train without a ticket unknowingly on Saturday, the 3rd day of August at Plymouth.

As a regular traveller on your train services, I have always complied with the ticketing policies and have purchased tickets either in advance or on the day of travel. On the day in question, I had bought my weekly ticket the Saturday before.I boarded a train with my smart card confident I had a day left since I bought it on a Saturday and used it on Friday The barricade was open so didn't have to tap the smart card before crossing to the platforms before boarding.

However, instead of being given the opportunity to purchase a ticket after the train crew found out my ticket had expired, I was immediately issued a penalty for travelling without a valid ticket. This came as a surprise to me, given my consistent record of purchasing tickets and the so expected level of flexibility.

I believe this penalty is unjust, particularly considering my status as a regular traveller who has always adhered to the rules. The intention was never to evade payment, but rather I didn't know my ticket had expired because i still travelled with it yesterday. I requested to buy a ticket on board immediately I was told it ran out yesterday by the train crew but he refused to sell ticket to me and instantly gave me a penalty as a first time offender.

I kindly request a review of this penalty, taking into account my regular travel history and the specific circumstances of that day.

I am more than willing to purchase the ticket for the journey taken and hope that this matter can be resolved fairly, allowing me to continue using your services without this mark on my record.

Thank you for your understanding and consideration.

Yours sincerely,

Topfad

Welcome to the forum!

Just to check - are you asking for our comments on what you have written, or do you think posting here is the way to appeal to GWR? Because if so, it won't work. We're happy to help as much as we can, but we're not the railway.

 

[jfollows]

Welcome to the forum!

Can you please post what you received, suitably "redacted" to remove personal information?

In particular, was this a Penalty Fare or not?

I suggest that if it was, your best course of action will probably be to pay the reduced amount immediately and that concludes the matter. However if this isn't a Penalty Fare we can help your appeal once we know more details.

Also, your first sentence is one I would never use, it implies your words were generated by some kind of "AI".

 

[WesternLancer]

Subject: Appeal Against Penalty Fee for First-Time Offender Status

Dear GWR,

I hope this message finds you well. I am writing to formally appeal against the penalty fee I have been issued as a first-time offender for boarding the train without a ticket unknowingly on Saturday, the 3rd day of August at Plymouth.

As a regular traveller on your train services, I have always complied with the ticketing policies and have purchased tickets either in advance or on the day of travel. On the day in question, I had bought my weekly ticket the Saturday before.I boarded a train with my smart card confident I had a day left since I bought it on a Saturday and used it on Friday The barricade was open so didn't have to tap the smart card before crossing to the platforms before boarding.

However, instead of being given the opportunity to purchase a ticket after the train crew found out my ticket had expired, I was immediately issued a penalty for travelling without a valid ticket. This came as a surprise to me, given my consistent record of purchasing tickets and the so expected level of flexibility.

I believe this penalty is unjust, particularly considering my status as a regular traveller who has always adhered to the rules. The intention was never to evade payment, but rather I didn't know my ticket had expired because i still travelled with it yesterday. I requested to buy a ticket on board immediately I was told it ran out yesterday by the train crew but he refused to sell ticket to me and instantly gave me a penalty as a first time offender.

I kindly request a review of this penalty, taking into account my regular travel history and the specific circumstances of that day.

I am more than willing to purchase the ticket for the journey taken and hope that this matter can be resolved fairly, allowing me to continue using your services without this mark on my record.

Thank you for your understanding and consideration.

Yours sincerely,

Topfad

You do not appeal Penalty Fares to the railway company eg GWR. I think you send the appeal to an independent body.

There is no such thing as a ‘Penalty Fee’

Please provide more information about the situation you are in so people can help. See the guidance on the forum. Also please post copies of any paperwork you were given or been sent by railway company or court etc with your personal information not showing.

Then people can advise you on what best to do.

If you boarded a train before buying a ticket or only had a season ticket or such thing that had expired and was no longer valid that is a breach of the rules and a £100 Penalty Fare if that is what you got (reduced to £50 if paid promptly) is probably the correct sanction to issue to you unfortunately.

 

[jfollows]

I should also add, that - despite re-reading your post - I still don't understand what you're trying to say. It's difficult to read, so anyone else may well think the same as I do.

Unfortunately travelling without a ticket is an offence which isn't mitigated by a history of not doing so, it's a one-off occurrence. If you received a Penalty Fare this is probably the simplest and least painful outcome for you. If you think you want to appeal, we can help you with this if we know the facts, but if the facts are that you boarded a train without a ticket - for whatever reason - you're probably guilty and intent or otherwise doesn't come into it.

EDIT Compare it, if you will, with being prosecuted for speeding - saying that you never before exceeded the speed limit in the same place isn't a reason to be let off.

 

[Hadders]

Welcome to the forum!

If I'm reading this correctly you travelled with a weekly season ticket that had expired. This is an unfortunate error, and I'm assuming you were issued with a Penalty Fare. If so this is a correct outcome and you really don't have cause for complaint. There is nothing to stop you appealing, but I wouldn't expect it to be successful.

Can you upload copies of the paperwork you were given, but do redact any personal details, as it is possible that there are some technical reasons why it might be invalid.

 

[30907]

Two comments:
a Penalty Fare (assuming that it was) is perfectly correct for a "first-time offender"
I cannot work out why the OP thought their weekly ticket was valid on Day 8

 

[John R]

This came as a surprise to me, given my consistent record of purchasing tickets and the so expected level of flexibility.

I believe this penalty is unjust

I'm not sure why you are surprised or think the penalty is unjust. You didn't have a ticket for your journey - that's all there is to it in this instance. It's no different to being caught speeding and saying "but I normally keep to the speed limit". (EDIT: Oh, I've seen someone else has also used this analogy above too!)

As others have said, the application of a penalty fare is the appropriate action to take in such a circumstance, so unless there is some other factor at play, I wouldn't expect an appeal to be successful.

 

[topfad]

Welcome to the forum!

If I'm reading this correctly you travelled with a weekly season ticket that had expired. This is an unfortunate error, and I'm assuming you were issued with a Penalty Fare. If so this is a correct outcome and you really don't have cause for complaint. There is nothing to stop you appealing, but I wouldn't expect it to be successful.

Can you upload copies of the paperwork you were given, but do redact any personal details, as it is possible that there are some technical reasons why it might be invalid.

 

[Hadders]

Thanks for uploading. You've been issued with a Penalty Fare which is a higher than normal fare issued to people who have made an honest mistake. This really is the least worst outcome and my advice would be to pay it.

There is nothing wrong in appealing it but as I said above I wouldn't expect an appeal to be successful. I'll leave it to others to comment on whether there are any technical reasons why the notice might be invalid.

 

[AlterEgo]

Why didn't you buy a ticket at Plymouth before you boarded? The Penalty Fare has been correctly issued if the ticket office was open or the ticket machines were in service.

Having an expired ticket on you to make the journey and presenting it also doesn't look great. If you do decide to appeal, I recommend not using ChatGPT to construct the appeal, as you have done in the first post, at least not without editing it so it is in your own words.

 

[MotCO]

I am confused. If you are a regular user, do you regularly buy a weekly season ticket, in which case why would you not know it had expired?

You can by all means appeal, but don't expect to win. The advantage of appealing is that the rail company cannot then prosecute you, and you have a few more days to find the money to pay the penalty dare.

 

[furlong]

The writing is very small in that picture, but is that the complete notice? If I haven't missed anything in the tiny writing, where does it tell you that "the 21 days to pay the reduced amount of the penalty fare does not
include any time on appeal" in accordance with 5(2A)(ii) of the amended Penalty Fares Regulations? Where does it say that "the person is entitled to a receipt if they pay the penalty fare" ? Were you handed any additional explanatory card or leaflet?

 

[John R]

Why didn't you buy a ticket at Plymouth before you boarded? The Penalty Fare has been correctly issued if the ticket office was open or the ticket machines were in service.

In the original post they said that they thought there was one day left on their season ticket. In which case clearly they would not have considered it necessary to buy a ticket.

 

[MotCO]

Saturday to Friday is 7 days, is it not?

The first paragraph in the OP says he was caught on Saturday 3rd August, having bought the ticket the previous Saturday ( I assume). Which begs the question why did he think it was still valid? He/she has not responded to my post #12, so is everything all it seems to be?

 

[Ducatist4]

I wonder how many previous time a seven day ticket has been pushed to that extra day?

 

[bakerstreet]

The first paragraph in the OP says he was caught on Saturday 3rd August, having bought the ticket the previous Saturday ( I assume). Which begs the question why did he think it was still valid? He/she has not responded to my post #12, so is everything all it seems to be?

Depending on how the OP’s letter is written and read there’s room for confusion.

In first para (my bold) OP writes

Subject: Appeal Against Penalty Fee for First-Time Offender Status

Dear GWR,

I hope this message finds you well. I am writing to formally appeal against the penalty fee I have been issued as a first-time offender for boarding the train without a ticket unknowingly on Saturday, the 3rd day of August at Plymouth.

In the second para (my bold)

As a regular traveller on your train services, I have always complied with the ticketing policies and have purchased tickets either in advance or on the day of travel. On the day in question, I had bought my weekly ticket the Saturday before.I boarded a train with my smart card confident I had a day left since I bought it on a Saturday and used it on Friday The barricade was open so didn't have to tap the smart card before crossing to the platforms before boarding.

The penalty notice was issued Saturday 3 August.

To the OP. Did you think a weekly season lasted 8 days not 7, with the use on Friday (day 7) making you think it would still be valid the following day.
Or did you think that the day you actually travelled (Saturday) was Friday.
Be careful stating you have ‘always complied with ticketing policies’ if you’ve always been under the mistaken belief that a 7 days season is valid all day on the 8th day and have travelled as such.

 

[Titfield]

Doesnt the ticket show the expiry date?

 

[Krokodil]

Doesnt the ticket show the expiry date?

A physical one would show the date. The expiry date of one loaded onto a smartcard won't be obvious unless you actually check the card.

 

[Titfield]

A physical one would show the date. The expiry date of one loaded onto a smartcard won't be obvious unless you actually check the card.

Yes I appreciate that. The comment was for the OP who seems to be somewhat confused as to when the tickets validity ended and suggests he was only aware of its expiry when it was checked by the staff.