Lost my railcard - now have an unpaid fare notice

Complain about it/ They'll reject it a few times but don't back down. My dad had booked tickets for a Virgin train, he accidentally got on a train at a different time. It wasn't full, but the ticket inspector still decided to try and be a dick about it. He got issued with a fine, and complained about it for ages and went to his MP. We ended up getting Virgin vouchers as an apology

Seriously, these people make their money by assuming people are pussies who have no idea what they're rights are. Don't take it.

Okay, so I bought tickets from Nottingham to Sutton over a week ago with my railcard (I am 20). Whilst walking to the train station, I somehow lost my card, and as a result, was issued an unpaid fare notice for £78.50. I am seriously panicking because, as a university student, there is absolutely no way I can afford to pay this, and I am far too embarrassed to tell my parents, as they have bailed me out too many times already. I am planning to appeal this, but am not sure how to word my appeal/how successful I am likely to be.

I am actually so stressed out/upset by this

But if you don't have your railcard, your tickets are invalid. The inspector wasn't being a dick in your dad's case - unless you buy open tickets, your ticket is only valid on a certain train.

That's so pathetic though, surely. I mean anyone with a scrap of common decency can understand that people make mistakes, he had a ticket so he wasn't trying to dodge, the ticket he had was for a MORE EXPENSIVE train than the one he got on so he wasn't pissing about or anything. Why do people have to be so anal? It's ridiculous. There is no need

But his ticket is still invalid, which is no different to not having a ticket in the first place.

That's so pathetic though, surely. I mean anyone with a scrap of common decency can understand that people make mistakes, he had a ticket so he wasn't trying to dodge, the ticket he had was for a MORE EXPENSIVE train than the one he got on so he wasn't pissing about or anything. Why do people have to be so anal? It's ridiculous. There is no need

It's their train. If you've not paid to be on it then they have every right to fine you.

He accidentally got on the wrong train it's not like he was deliberately being decietful or anything. ****ing hell whatever happened to decency.

In my experience most ticket inspectors are really petty about the most trivial of things. I'm not sure why they are so anal about people making little mistakes. Fair enough if you've jumped on a train without a ticket hoping to get a free ride, but if you've made a genuine mistake and can prove so then I don't see why there is a major problem.

A fine of up to £60 is nothing on the grand scale of their profit margins every year, but to an individual it's quite a hefty sum of money. It just goes to show that companies value money over people. Sad really.

Capitalism.

Regardless of whether people think the ticket inspector should have given the OP a break or not because they lost their railpass, it makes no difference. Without the accompanying valid railcard, the tickets aren't valid. The inspector isn't to know if you have a pass or not, pure and simple, and the OP was therefore travelling without a valid ticket. The smart thing to do in this case is to try and contest it using the previously mentioned methods of ordering a replacement.

Agree with this. It's not like they're going to miss £60. The ticket inspectors get commission for their unpaid fare notices which is why they're so keen to give them out to everyone who makes even the smallest mistake. Idiots.