Marstons Bailiffs

[wales01man]

Re: Marstons Bailiffs

I side with you completely Puff i think the OP has a low opinion of railway staff and as i said before an attitude going to university doesnt make anyone superior or above the law

[Hurricane Puffrose]

Re: Marstons Bailiffs

i never ever thought i would say it, and BB please forgive me, but I think that this may be the miracle case we have been waiting for when Marston have a legitimate reason to be there :X

Next I shall be saying Luke.. I am your father!!

[wales01man]

Re: Marstons Bailiffs

Steady on now Puff youll be starting a bailiff fan club

[Hurricane Puffrose]

Re: Marstons Bailiffs

and when the sky falls Wales my love, we shall all catch larks and they can sing to us

[labman]

Re: Marstons Bailiffs

There's just one part of this that still doesn't make sense to me. The OP states he was going to pay the £20 fine and in his words:

"I was going to pay the £20, as obviously it was my fault. Everyone makes mistakes. However why i was then not allowed to pay this £20 on the spot and told i would be dealt with differently, i am not sure."

This bit sits very uncomfortably with me, as either the rail company were clearly unfair in picking out one passenger to make an example of, or that passenger is not telling the full story.

However, there remains only one piece of solid advice on this, and I will quote it word for word from Ploddertom:

"You must contact the Court at your earliest opportunity but they may view it that you have been given every opportunty in the past and either failed to attend or failed to chase things up and now look upon it as you have to feel the weight of the law. As this is classed as a criminal fine it will be recorded on your record and failure to pay could well mean that an arrest warrant could be issued without bail, you may be at risk of being picked up at any time and imprisoned until a hearing can be arranged. That is at its worst and is not an everyday occurrence but is a possibility."

I think lach, it is really time to stop talking about this and do something before you end up in prison.

[CleverClogs]

Re: Marstons Bailiffs

Unfortunatly Wales, this is something staff have to face on a daily basis.

It may be, but I have rarely (if ever) even raised my voice to a railway servant.

I have had my jaw broken by a customer who queue jumped because I carried on helping an elderly passenger and "He had a train to catch",

Did injuring you delay the train?

a lot of the travelling public's attitude is, "You're scum and there to work for me!"

That is both arrogant and silly.

or to quote one (home-made) gentleman "I have made in 20 mins more money than you will ever make, I'm incredibly rich and you're not!"

I felt impelled to make the above correction to your post, as no true gentleman would ever boast about his wealth or earnings; such is, surely, the characteristic of the parvenu.

Had the moneyed oik said that to me, I might have retorted "opes non est qualitas, certe, tu es asinus ad lyram" or reflected that, when we were both dead, the worms would be unable to distinguish him from me.

To ask an Inspector to root through a bin for a ticket doesn't surprise me one bit, and the reason the whole thing went to court is possibly because he was asked to, he simply did his job and walked away.

Besides, finding a ticket in that bin does not prove that the ticket had been purchased by that passenger.

[Hurricane Puffrose]

Re: Marstons Bailiffs

There's just one part of this that still doesn't make sense to me. The OP states he was going to pay the £20 fine and in his words:

"I was going to pay the £20, as obviously it was my fault. Everyone makes mistakes. However why i was then not allowed to pay this £20 on the spot and told i would be dealt with differently, i am not sure."

Obviously I was not party to any conversation that took place, and I am not casting any doubt on the good character of the OP, meerly stating facts.

I worked as you may now for near 10 years on various train stations in the country, the amount of places would sound like a train timetable itself, but lets just say that Swansea station on a cold day is not gnomes rainbows and fluffy marshmallows

There are only 3 cases where a passenger is told they will be "treated differently" (which means the case go for prosecution) and again I AM NOT SUGGESTING THAT THE OP DID ANY OF THESE, MEERLY STATING FACTS!!!!

"The forwarding of fines and passenger details will only be actioned under the following circumstances

1) Where a direct act of violence has occured.
2) Where a threat of violence has occured , or a staff member has been subjected to verbal/racial/homophobic abuse
3) Where Staff have felt the likelyhood of one of the above taking place if contact is continued.

If you feel vunerable or you are threatened advise the passenger that this matter will be escalated and remove yourself from the threat"

Also the OP has stated about 20 people had the same thing happen.

And having actually helped RPI's (revenue protection inspectors) I find it very unlikely they would put themselves in danger by saying "you will be treated differently." Those words+ travelling public = no teeth.

[Hurricane Puffrose]

Re: Marstons Bailiffs

Bless your heart Cloggy you always make me smile! Ok the latin has be a bit but Im sure it means something.. Cloggyfied!

Yes unfortunatly it did delay the train slightly when I had free of charge plastic surgery thanks to a passenger, the driver got out of his cab and had to be restrained by a passengers while i regained my sight!

[CleverClogs]

Re: Marstons Bailiffs

The collection of old tickets depicted on page 1 has inspired a question for lach90:

Was the discarded ticket a 7 day season ticket, a single ticket or part of a return ticket?

[CleverClogs]

Re: Marstons Bailiffs

Bless your heart Cloggy you always make me smile! Ok the latin has be a bit but Im sure it means something.. Cloggyfied!

Roughly translated, it means: "Wealth is not the same as quality. Indeed, you are like a donkey playing a harp."

[CleverClogs]

Re: Marstons Bailiffs

"The forwarding of fines and passenger details will only be actioned under the following circumstances
1) Where a direct act of violence has occured.
2) Where a threat of violence has occured , or a staff member has been subjected to verbal/racial/homophobic abuse
3) Where Staff have felt the likelyhood of one of the above taking place if contact is continued.

If you feel vunerable or you are threatened advise the passenger that this matter will be escalated and remove yourself from the threat"

If the RPI had been of a darker hue than the OP, he might have decided that the suggestion that he (the RPI) must look for the discarded ticket was a form of racial abuse.

What seems unclear, however, is how the railway company obtained his details.

[Hurricane Puffrose]

Re: Marstons Bailiffs

AHA again i can shed light on that.

As a matter of course if you are given a fine you are asked for your details, some people pay with bank cards and things and they need the billing address, more than likely the OP freely gave these details himself.

As per your comments regarding the hue of the RPI's skin, I have known some very lazy RPIs who have heard someone cry OH NO!! i lost my ticket!! and forwarded their details as the passenger "raised their voice" hence my saying I mean no bad reflection on the character of the OP. Obviously without having been there I cannot comment on what exactly prompted the RPI to forward the details, but if the OP unknowingly and accidently swore while speaking to the RPI that is classed as verbal abuse (ie "Its in the bin, why dont you look for the ****ing thing")

[lach90]

Re: Marstons Bailiffs

Unfortunatly Wales, this is something staff have to face on a daily basis.
I have had my jaw broken by a customer who queue jumped because I carried on helping an elderly passenger and "He had a train to catch", A colleuge had the door of the gents loos slammed in his face because he dared say that they were out of order and ask a passenger to wait for me to say the ladies was empty.

Assault, both physical and verbal is rife on the railway, a lot of the travelling public's attitude is, "You're scum and there to work for me!" or to quote one gentleman "I have made in 20 mins more money than you will ever make, I'm incredibly rich and you're not!"

To ask an Inspector to root through a bin for a ticket doesn't surprise me one bit, and the reason the whole thing went to court is possibly because he was asked to, he simply did his job and walked away.

If you don't know the full facts, don't assume please.

I never asked the inspector to look at the bin as my single day ticket would be there, UNTIL i was told that it will be referred to SW Trains for them to make a decision.

I've never physically or verbally abused anyone in my life, let alone verbally abuse a ticket inspector. I've got better things to do in my life than belittle people for what job they do, I've been raised better than that, thank you. I couldn't care less how much money someone makes.

There's just one part of this that still doesn't make sense to me. The OP states he was going to pay the £20 fine and in his words:

"I was going to pay the £20, as obviously it was my fault. Everyone makes mistakes. However why i was then not allowed to pay this £20 on the spot and told i would be dealt with differently, i am not sure."

This bit sits very uncomfortably with me, as either the rail company were clearly unfair in picking out one passenger to make an example of, or that passenger is not telling the full story.

However, there remains only one piece of solid advice on this, and I will quote it word for word from Ploddertom:

"You must contact the Court at your earliest opportunity but they may view it that you have been given every opportunty in the past and either failed to attend or failed to chase things up and now look upon it as you have to feel the weight of the law. As this is classed as a criminal fine it will be recorded on your record and failure to pay could well mean that an arrest warrant could be issued without bail, you may be at risk of being picked up at any time and imprisoned until a hearing can be arranged. That is at its worst and is not an everyday occurrence but is a possibility."

I think lach, it is really time to stop talking about this and do something before you end up in prison.

Hi, one of the few people on here along with Ploddertom that hasn't made any sweeping statements, thanks.

Yes, that was exactly the case. The initial inspector was writing down my details to issue me with a £20 fine, then all of a sudden out of the 10-15 people that were stopped and being handed tickets, i was picked out of the group and taken to one side by a different inspector telling me that he will waive the fine and let SW trains decide.

I didn't use any profanities, i didn't make any excuses, i accepted it at first as i knew it was my fault. And £20 isn't exactly the end of the world.

I don't know whether they have CCTV there or not, but i will have to ask. I remember this clearly, i was stood in front of the double doors, giving the inspector my details, and out walks another guy from the main building straight towards me. Without even talking to the initial inspector he told him "I will take care of this mate", and scrapped the £20 fine notice.

He didn't even tell me why. I just thought, that this is a routine thing and that i would end up receiving the fine through the post.

I've been told to appeal the decision, and the court has put the bailiffs on hold for four weeks.

[lach90]

Re: Marstons Bailiffs

If the RPI had been of a darker hue than the OP, he might have decided that the suggestion that he (the RPI) must look for the discarded ticket was a form of racial abuse.

What seems unclear, however, is how the railway company obtained his details.

No, in fact i was the only one there from a racial minority. Every one else was a White British person.

[CleverClogs]

Re: Marstons Bailiffs

No, in fact i was the only one there from a racial minority. Every one else was a White British person.

Might that have been why you were singled out?

Were you wearing a big, woolly hat?