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Ticket Anomalies with TL

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matt_world2004

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GTR have a habit of randomly shaking down people who make a lot of delay repay claims. I wonder if this is the same thing
 
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matt_world2004

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Interesting. I wonder if Network Rail do that when they claim delay attribution payments?
There was a thread on here about a year ago of gtr accusing someone of committing delay repay fraud. There only evidence was a lot of (subsequently turned out to be valid ) delay repay claims.

Iirc it wasn't even that unusual a journey. It was something like Milton Keynes to Shepherd's Bush which didn't run for several months and five days of delay repay claims a week soon adds up.
 

Bensonby

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This raises a lot of questions:

-is the discussion under caution? if it isn’t, what is your status? I’d want it to be clear what they are precisely investigating and whether you are under suspicion of an offence (if you are, it should be under caution).

- have you had any disclosure? I would expect some degree of disclosure of what evidence they have before an interview.

- if it is under caution, or you are under suspicion then I’d seek legal advice, or decline to answer questions until I have legal advice.
 

Puffing Devil

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I would never attend a voluntary interview with a TOC without understanding exactly what they wanted to talk about. I would ask them politely what were their specific concerns and why did they need to talk to me.

That information I would take to my solicitor and discuss the next move. Unfortunately, you would need to pay for this advice, unlike a police interview.

Do not be fooled that they are not the police. They are interviewing with an intent to build a case and prosecute. If they did not think it worth investigating, they would have dropped the matter and moved on. If they are going to charge you, they will do so anyway. By attending an interview you are allowing them to test their case and fill in pieces in their jigsaw puzzle. It is very much their puzzle - they will not be looking for facts to disprove their case, they will be looking for evidence to support it.

You are under no obligation to comply at this early stage. Despite what they may say if the matter comes to court your compliance, unless you make an early guilty plea, will stand for very little. Compliance during the investigation has very little bearing on the final sentence.
 

packermac

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16 Sep 2019
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Location
Swanage
Isn't that just a modern equivalent of the face to face interview that might have been held pre-Covid
I do not know but my fathers car caught fire two summers ago, so long before Covid, and his insurance company conducted two "phone interviews" both apparently virtually the same, all but implying in them that he had done it deliberately.
Eventually by the time they did pay out after about 3 months (and the car being removed to Southampton to be examined by "an expert") he had already had to purchase a different car.
Maybe TL just do not like the OP's history with them.
 

WesternLancer

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12 Apr 2019
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No accusations but is everyone aware that we can see every event (scan onboard or at gates) that takes place with smart (ITSO or Barcode) tickets ?
Obv not, but it seems pretty obvious to me that this would be the case! If you wanted to find a way to evade fares I doubt electronic ticketing is a good ticket of choice for that...
 

No Expert

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To update on this, we have reached an out of court settlement.

I initially had sought some legal advice on seeing the word 'prosecution' and panicking - the advice was to 'ignore all correspondence until they write to you formally'. This seemed needlessly antagonistic and against the spirit of co-operation on a serious matter. I queried it again with the legal representative, but was told to hold firm. This wasn't sitting right in my mind, so I contacted Thameslink anyway and went in for an interview and have agreed an out of court settlement.

I'm not sure how useful this will be for other people - and I hesitate about saying this but it's probably better written down anyway for future people who may be in my position. Don't take legal advice as the gospel. In my case had my gut not made me contact Thameslink it seems this would have progressed in a much more negative manner (to court and prosecution). If you are contacted, respond productively. It won't go away by ignoring it.

Of course just don't do anything in the first place to get into this position, having been in it now it's very clear that it's not worth it and obviously wrong. Pay the bloody correct fare.
 

WesternLancer

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12 Apr 2019
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6,996
To update on this, we have reached an out of court settlement.

I initially had sought some legal advice on seeing the word 'prosecution' and panicking - the advice was to 'ignore all correspondence until they write to you formally'. This seemed needlessly antagonistic and against the spirit of co-operation on a serious matter. I queried it again with the legal representative, but was told to hold firm. This wasn't sitting right in my mind, so I contacted Thameslink anyway and went in for an interview and have agreed an out of court settlement.

I'm not sure how useful this will be for other people - and I hesitate about saying this but it's probably better written down anyway for future people who may be in my position. Don't take legal advice as the gospel. In my case had my gut not made me contact Thameslink it seems this would have progressed in a much more negative manner (to court and prosecution). If you are contacted, respond productively. It won't go away by ignoring it.

Of course just don't do anything in the first place to get into this position, having been in it now it's very clear that it's not worth it and obviously wrong. Pay the bloody correct fare.
Good to hear that you have sorted this in a way that you feel happy with. Thanks for the update.
 

packermac

Member
Joined
16 Sep 2019
Messages
543
Location
Swanage
To update on this, we have reached an out of court settlement.

I initially had sought some legal advice on seeing the word 'prosecution' and panicking - the advice was to 'ignore all correspondence until they write to you formally'. This seemed needlessly antagonistic and against the spirit of co-operation on a serious matter. I queried it again with the legal representative, but was told to hold firm. This wasn't sitting right in my mind, so I contacted Thameslink anyway and went in for an interview and have agreed an out of court settlement.

I'm not sure how useful this will be for other people - and I hesitate about saying this but it's probably better written down anyway for future people who may be in my position. Don't take legal advice as the gospel. In my case had my gut not made me contact Thameslink it seems this would have progressed in a much more negative manner (to court and prosecution). If you are contacted, respond productively. It won't go away by ignoring it.

Of course just don't do anything in the first place to get into this position, having been in it now it's very clear that it's not worth it and obviously wrong. Pay the bloody correct fare.
I am pleased to hear that you have this resolved. I would however suggest that not taking a Solictor's advice to 'ignore all correspondence until they write to you formally' is not always the best advice depending on the type of case.
In the past in a dispute with our previous neighbours we were correctly advised to not respond to any letter from their solicitior.
So it is very much horses for courses.
 
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