First great western want me to pay up - where do I stand?

[mantisinc]

Okay I'm currently absolutely fuming.

Basically me and 2 other mates travelling from Chippenham to Kent via rail to attend a music festival this year. We purchases tickets way in advance, and all was ok.

On the way back (in padington), we asked the lady at the desk if we could get the 2:30 train back (our ticket was for the 3:15 train), and she said if we'd paid for a valid ticket, then the time difference would be fine - we could board the earlier train with a later ticket.

Well we got stopped by a very violent sounding conductor, who took us off at a stop (swindon) before our last stop, and demanded to give him all our details as we were travelling with an invalid ticket. We explained that we were told by FGW staff we were allowed to travel with this ticket on that scheduled train - however he still maintained it was our fault.

This was 5 months ago. Today I received a letter from the FGW prosecutions department (revenue protection), demanding £50.50. We paid £22 (I believe - I'm trying to find the transaction details via email) per ticket, so we've got a whopping £28.50 admin charge on each ticket.

Where do we stand regarding this? We were told by a member of staff that our ticket was valid for the train we travelled on, yet another member of staff then prosecutes for a substatial sum.

Any input greatly appreciated!

[PGH7447]

write to them and explain this then see what they say

[74656]

I would say that the major problem, especially with a company as big as First Great Western is that there is little communication between staff. The member of staff who fined you was really only doing his or her job.

I would advise you to write to First Great Western, explaining the situation and that you feel the current situation is unjustified.

Revenue Protection and Prosecutions
First Great Western
Freepost SWB40576
Plymouth
PL4 6ZZ

If they fail to satisfy your problem, then write to the Rail Focus Watchdog. You can contact them via Passenger Focus - Putting Rail Passengers First or write to them at

Passenger Focus
FREEPOST (RRRE-ETTC-LEET)
PO BOX 4257
Manchester
M60 3AR

[mantisinc]

Well, spoke to the guys at FGW on the phone, and explained the situation to them on the phone. After a simple phone call, they realised the charge was not in order, and reversed it.

Was that easy!

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[PGH7447]

Excellent,

[74656]

Good on ya bud.