need help: intention to prosecute letter despite paying full fare

[choudhry]

hi

i was travelling from romford to denmarkhill on second of october. i charged my ouster card before travelling that day. i touched my ouster to on plateform oyster readers at farringdon because really i was under impression to do so when changing from tube to train. on my train from farringdon to denmark hill a revenue protection officer told me that my oyster is not valid as i have checked out at farringdon. now i know that peak hours fare from romford to farringdon on oyster is 6.50, which is exactly the same for journey to denmark hill and to any other station on that bromley south train.

i have received a intention to prosecute letter by FCC for not showing a valid ticket on my journey.

i have written back explaining the fact that i had already paid the correct fare when my details were taken.

my question is would they take it to court?

any advice how should i plead?

[honeybee13]

Hello and welcome to CAG.

 

I'm sorry you haven't had any replies yet, hopefully the guys will be along later today as and when their day jobs permit.

 

I don't know the answer to your question about the fare and I don't claim to be an expert, but do you think they are saying that you touched out at Farringdon and then should have touched in again for the rest of your journey? I hope someone here will help you with an answer.

 

My best, HB

[choudhry]

hi and thanks

yes they are saying that i checked out at farringdon and should have touched in again.

my problem is that i never left the station i touch my ouster to on platform ouster readers and took the next train.

i have checked with TFL and have got my ouster statement, the fare deducted for that journey (romford to farringdon) is 6.50. and if i had not touched at farringdon and continued my journey my fare would have still been 6.50 to any station of that train uptill its last stop that is bromley south. probably because that is the maximum fare you pay on ouster for peak hour journey. so essentially i had paid in full for the journey i was making, although by mistake (or lack of knowledge) i did touch my ouster card to on platfrom readers at farringdon.

hope fully that makes more sense now

thanks

[Old-CodJA]

Having got a print out of your Oyster usage, this will show the timings and your arrival time at Denmark Hill will have been noted by the RPI.

 

As a first step I would write back explaining what you have said here, explain it was a misunderstanding and send a copy of the Oyster print-out, evidencing the fact that it was a continuation of the journey. Technically you don't have a valid ticket from Farringdon to Denmark Hill, but ask them to note that no fare would have been avoided if you had not touched at the changeover.

 

I'm at a bit of a loss to understand this in asense, bec ause if what you say is true, the RPI ought to have been able to see the timings from your validation when you were at Farringdon.

[choudhry]

thanks for your advice

i have written back to them as advised.

i think the problem is that RPI had no clue what my fare would have been if i had not touched at farringdon. and he refused to listen to any explanation provided by me

any how i have tried calling them but no body picks up, i have tried leaving messages but no one calls back.

i have print out of my ouster which shows the timings and the fact that i paid the full fare. now if they do decide to prosecute me, how should i plead? guilty or not guilty?

[tiredTraveller]

Having got a print out of your Oyster usage, this will show the timings and your arrival time at Denmark Hill will have been noted by the RPI.

 

As a first step I would write back explaining what you have said here, explain it was a misunderstanding and send a copy of the Oyster print-out, evidencing the fact that it was a continuation of the journey. Technically you don't have a valid ticket from Farringdon to Denmark Hill, but ask them to note that no fare would have been avoided if you had not touched at the changeover.

 

I'm at a bit of a loss to understand this in asense, bec ause if what you say is true, the RPI ought to have been able to see the timings from your validation when you were at Farringdon.

 

I've been caught out before - in my experience the handheld reader they RPI had was lagged behind and when he first explained my route there were intermediate stops missing, then later on in the discussion one more appeared, but not the full list. Sending a screenshot of my travel history from later on in the day cleared the matter up, however