What are the chances of the guard remembering them the next time though?
In my opinion-
The ticket should be marked "no railcard shown" and then a new full price ticket issued, if they do have a railcard then they can get a refund once on the full price ticket at a ticket office by showing the railcard and tickets, if they forget it again tough they should be more careful and the aggro involved will help focus their minds.
The terms and conditions are quite clear.
I completely agree. I honestly wish the industry would get more consistent on ALL ticketing issues including railcards.
It's time we made sure that every passenger who steps onto a train knows exactly what will happen if they are not in posession of a valid ticket for the journey they wish to make and they've boarded at a station with ample purchasing facilities, ie an open ticket office.
Honestly, the current situation is a complete farce.
Depending on whose train you are travelling on, a passenger who ignores an open booking office and elects not to purchase a ticket, or travel with the wrong ticket, or forgets a railcard', or whatever, could face:
a) Prosecution
b) Being ejected from the train
c) A Penalty Fare
d) Being sold a full price ticket
e) Being sold whatever ticket they want with any railcard discounts they chose
f) Being sold no ticket at all and travelling free of charge
Is it really any wonder that people:
a) genuinelly get caught out and fined because they thought it was ok not to buy
b) Consistently don't bother to buy a ticket because hey, the train manager (I'm looking at YOU, Cross Country) will just sell them the full range anyway
c) Always 'forget' a railcard
etc etc when it's so completely random?
Depending on where you are you could attempt to evade a £2 fare and be prosecuted and charged with a criminal offence or you could attempt to evade a £100 fare and simply... be charged the price you should have been anyway with no further action.
Madness.