Fined £20 for waitng in a queue

[matthew91]

So it was a Monday morning, first after the half term and so there was a big queue at the train station, full of people getting season tickets and such. The auto ticket machine was down so the queue was huge, was waiting there for about 15 minutes, eventually i got to the front and the train pulled up to the station the ticket guy told me to get a ticket on the train, which i have done many times before. So i got on the train sat down, and the ticket guy came along and i asked to buy a ticket, he said "il be back in a sec" so i waited, presuming he was going to get his ticket machine or something. Then the tallest man i have ever seen came over and asked why i hadn't got a ticket, i said the queue was 15 minutes long at the station and the ticket office staff told me to get a ticket on the train. He proceeded in saying "You haven't got a ticket so im going to give you a penalty notice," The first thing i said was "for standing in a queue!?" he said i should have gone to the train station erlier, Sorry but who goes to the train station 30 minutes early. I went on to say that the ticket machine was also faulty and he claimed i was lying. I looked behind him and there was a transport security staff member. I presumed they were trying to (unsuccessfully) intimidate me or something. So this lanky guy read all this shit about how i should have got a ticket. He got out a book and started writing me a ticket. He told me to write down my details so i did. He said i had to pay at least £5 of the ticket or it would increase, i realized this was a lie when i looked on the site, so i payed £5, ruining my plans for the day. This guy rung someone up and practically yelled my personal details out over the phone. He said pay it by 21 days or you will be taken to court (my ass). most of the time i kept on at how i was standing in a queue and how the staff member at the station told me to get it on the train. This lanky prick constantly saying i was lying. So... Now its time to appeal. They say that the average queuing time is 5 minutes. I waited 15 so surly im able to get this appealed? honestly ridiculous! warning people, don't travel on southern trains with busy stations, broken ticket machines & lying fine issuers. :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

[fredv3b]

Clearly out of order, write to the company's Chief Executive.

[colinmackay]

That completely sucks. It is most likely a jobsworth who makes themselves feel good by asserting themselves over others because they have "issues" there are not dealing with.

I hope you win your appeal.

[marshlander]

The ticket machines are a nightmare. I often catch a train from the unmanned station of Watlington in Norfolk and they have one machine for buying tickets for travel and for collecting tickets bought online and another, older, machine issues a ticket proving it was bought at Watlington. Whatever I pay for this would be deducted from the cost of a ticket bought on the train. Trouble is, both machines are frequently out of order. Guards on the train know that this is the case and make allowances. Even when working the new multi-function ticket machine has been placed strategically to catch the maximum amount of sunlight and render the screen unreadable during most of the hours of daylight!!

Try contacting Southern Railway and getting some redress. You should not have been fined. That was appalling treatment.

Once, leaving a concert in Hackney before the show finished I arrived at King's Cross to see my train just leaving. If you've ever tried to get from Hackney to King's Cross in the evening you'll realise it was not a straightforward journey. I had to wait until 6.30 the following morning to catch the first train back to Cambridge. By the time I arrived the car park attendants had already slapped a ticket on my windscreen for not having a valid ticket. I wrote and explained the circumstances and was excused the fine.