First Capital Connect says sorry to woman over wrong fine (From The Argus)
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First Capital Connect says sorry to woman over wrong fine
1:50pm Tuesday 19th March 2013 in News By Emily Walker, Chief Reporter
First Capital Connect
A rail company criticised for its poor customer satisfaction levels has issued an apology to a grieving passenger it wrongly fined and then accused of being confused by ticket rules.
First Capital Connect (FCC) incorrectly fined Lucy Graubart, claiming she had bought the wrong kind |of ticket to travel to a friend’s fun-|eral.
When Ms Graubart, from Brighton, complained through The Argus that FCC’s inspectors had been “rude, aggressive and intimidating”, the rail company insisted the passenger was mistaken and must have bought the wrong kind of ticket.
She said she had been subjected to “20 minutes of bullying” before being issued with a fine for having the wrong ticket by an inspector named Theo.
FCC claimed she had been correctly fined more than £50 as her ticket was only valid with a railcard.
But after Ms Graubart said she was determined to prove she had bought the correct ticket and been unfairly treated, FCC has finally admitted it was wrong.
'People power'
Customers rated FCC the third worst train company in the country for customer satisfaction with a rating of just 42 out of 100 last year.
Thanking The Argus for helping to resolve her complaint, Ms Graubart said: “Southern has now confirmed to me that the FCC staff were wrong. I was right.
“FCC treated me in that manner for nothing. It is ridiculous to have ticket inspectors out there without the proper training.
“People power does exist.”
Promotional offer
A spokesman for the train operator said: “We want to apologise to Ms Graubart for this genuine misunderstanding and the distress this has caused.
“We do need to ensure people pay for their journeys but clearly, in this case, Ms Graubart had indeed done so.
“As a result of her appeal, we have now been made aware of a promotional offer Southern is running on its website for tickets that are valid on our services.
“Ms Graubart is being compensated. The penalty fare of £50.40 is being refunded twice over in cash with a further £30 in travel vouchers.”
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Comments(6)
rolivan
says...
3:51pm Tue 19 Mar 13
I would hate to think what it has cost the Taxpayer since Privatisation but to say it has been a failure is an understatement
davyboy
says...
5:06pm Tue 19 Mar 13
rolivan wrote:totally agree. bring back a national rail service, and get rid of the shareholders. to much emphsis on profits and dividends, rather than the service they provide. a simple ticketing structure is needed. single, day return and period return. off peak and peak. simples!
This is the problem you get when you have a supposed National Rail Network that is franchised and each Franchisee doesn't know or care what the other is doing.My wife travells all over the South Coast and I try to find out the cheapest and best way to get from job to job,i Have twice been given wrong information regarding what tickets can be used where. The right hand doesn't know what the left is doing especially when it is attached to another body.
I would hate to think what it has cost the Taxpayer since Privatisation but to say it has been a failure is an understatement
rolivan
says...
7:46pm Tue 19 Mar 13
davyboy wrote:My wife wanted to travel from Portsmouth to East Grinstead and to stop overnight in Hove at Her mums but had to buy to seperate tickets even though She was returning to Portsmouth.So She had to buy an open return from Portsmouth to East Grinstead and a single from Hove to East Grinstead for the following morning so it cost her about an extra £20 to stop overnight
rolivan wrote:totally agree. bring back a national rail service, and get rid of the shareholders. to much emphsis on profits and dividends, rather than the service they provide. a simple ticketing structure is needed. single, day return and period return. off peak and peak. simples!
This is the problem you get when you have a supposed National Rail Network that is franchised and each Franchisee doesn't know or care what the other is doing.My wife travells all over the South Coast and I try to find out the cheapest and best way to get from job to job,i Have twice been given wrong information regarding what tickets can be used where. The right hand doesn't know what the left is doing especially when it is attached to another body.
I would hate to think what it has cost the Taxpayer since Privatisation but to say it has been a failure is an understatement
Dirk Von Roden
says...
4:40pm Thu 21 Mar 13
talltim10
says...
10:52am Fri 22 Mar 13
The article doesn't mention that the ticket in question had a DISC code on it which covers a variety of discounts, not just the railcard discount the poorly trained RPI thought it covered. FCC don't seem to have actually said that they will train their staff correctly for the future to prevent similar future incidents.
Mart says...
3:12pm Tue 19 Mar 13