Passenger Voice June 2015: Case Study
29 May 2015
Miss H and her friend travelled from Gipsy Hill to Winchester. They are both in full-time education and hold 16+ Zip Oyster photocards which allow them to buy child-rate tickets within the London zones.
At the Gipsy Hill ticket office, operated by Southern, they were sold child tickets for the whole journey to Winchester after showing their 16+ Zip Oyster photocards.
When they arrived at Winchester, operated by South West Trains (SWT), they were correctly told that they should have been holding adult tickets and were charged a Penalty Fare.
Miss H and her friend then appealed without success to the Independent Appeals Service, before coming to Transport Focus for help.
We explained to SWT that we thought the Penalty Fares had been issued without considering what the passengers had been told by Southern staff at Gipsy Hill. We asked SWT to reconsider this case, which it did.
As a gesture of goodwill SWT agreed to refund the Penalty Fares and additional charges of £91, even though another train company had incorrectly sold the tickets.
Miss H and her friend were very pleased with this result.
