to make complaint about ticket inspector who detained child and took their phone?

Absolutely I'd complain. If she's explained what happened and offered to pay the difference for her ticket that should have been an easy resolution then and there. There's plenty of times where I've got on the train and not had a conductor reach me to pay until I got to my stop and then had to pay at the station. Never been accused of trying to free load a ride so my guess is he was on a bit of a power trip because they were young and unaccompanied and he could. He had no right to go through her phone and access her personal data that's totally inappropriate. Her ringing an adult for help shouldn't have been stopped either. I run a service that a number of kids have to access via train and its amazing the number of difficult conductors they have to deal with who immediately change their tune when I get involved. I'm sure they deal with lots of challenging teenagers at times but this is unacceptable.

He doesn’t have the legal authority to prevent people from making phone calls or to confiscate a phone and he had no consent to go through her phone - which is illegal. She’s a child. He’s a jobsworth and overstepped his authority. Report him.

Precisely. Why are you letting a 15 year old wear crop tops or model them? If it’s not a concern to you then why is a ticket inspector an issue? How do you know she’s not exaggerating to get sympathy after a £52 fine?

Similar happened to my daughter at similar age she wrote to them in her best fountain pen a whole side of A4 explaining she was under 18 and it was a genuine error, a friend asked her to go back to theirs in next zone and it didn't occur to her it would cost more. Fine was quashed.Letter of apology sent.

These sub contractors ( that's what they are) are an absolute disgrace. Please do report. They think they are police. Absolute boils my piss when this happens. They have as much powers as a dinner lady. Please everyone tell your kids they have zero authority and to film them. Outrageous.

Yeah, I'd be livid! Absolutely take this further!

How do you know this? Why are you so desperate to accuse a random young person of lying? It’s weird. Some MNers couldn’t possibly believe that a teenager is telling the truth and an adult might be < shock horror > wrong!
How on earth are children and young people meant to trust adults if they practically seek delight in assuming lies?!

He doesn’t have the right to take her phone, go through it and so on. Whether she has Vinted and is modelling the clothes she is selling is absolutely nothing to do with it. He should have fined her and let her on her way. She is a minor in the eyes of the law. Complain he has overstepped the mark and what’s to stop him going further. A lesson is always carry ID but he is not the police and he can’t take her phone.

So the inspector grabbed her phone demanded her password and then thought of looking at Vinted to prove her age all on his own? No input from the daughter at all?

I suspect there are key facts being left out here.

I wonder how often you travel on a train. The ticket inspectors (not guards) are recruited and trained to be intimidating. I am pretty sure they would treat a young girl like this because I have witnessed how they've treated young lads, and lets face it, they will treat girls worse.

Perhaps he wouldn't have been asking an adult to prove that they were a child?

She has been the victim of over zealous (less sympathetic) ticket enforcers previously though, and when I spoke to the staff at the local station they told me they were often shocked by their heavy handedness and inconsistency too , but the enforcement branch is outsourced and they have no control over them.

They may be outsourced, but they are still representing the train company - most people won't know they're not actually GWR or SWR or whoever's employees. I can't believe they didn't put anything about appropriate behaviour, behaving legally and proportionately in the contract and not bringing either company into disrepute. I don't believe they have no control.

I'm also surprised at Vinted being seen as suitable as age verification. It's not like anyone has ever lied about their age online. Still, it seems to have worked in the OP's favourite this time, at least in terms of age. She should not have been intimidated or her phone taken either.

I agree it would be unacceptable if he took her phone without consent and scrolled through her apps and photos.

But I can't shake the feeling that dd offered the phone/app to prove she was 15 and should be processed as a child.

“The number of people finger wagging over the girl having photos on Vinted is unreal.

Can people not see the huge violation and sexual threat in a grown man in a position of authority taking a teenage girl's phone, clicking through her personal apps, entering her personal Vinted account on her phone and then scrolling through pictures of her bare stomach in front of her while he's denying her the right to speak to her mother and detaining her? This is not comparable to any other use of those photos, even by online creeps. She doesn't need a lecture about it. She could never, ever have foreseen that a man would do this and it isn't her fault. Would she be similarly to blame if he'd been scrolling through her private photos of her and friends at the beach in bikinis? Would it be her fault for having those on her phone too?”

I was going to post similar but you’ve summed this up perfectly - especially comparing it to bikini photos on the beach.

I’m surprised that other posters don’t see the situation in this way.

I think the way this ticket inspector behaved was appalling and he abused his authority. I hope OP complains and he faces disciplinary action.

I can understand train companies giving large fines if people travel without tickets or knowingly buy a much cheaper ticket and travel further but the fine should be in proportion and £52 for 30p is ridiculous when OP’s daughter had bought a ticket. Younger people travelling can easily make mistakes and buy the wrong tickets or miss stops as well so it’s wrong to automatically treat them like criminals and try to scare them.

I’d say that she wouldn’t have had the same treatment as an adult but I once fell asleep on the last train home and missed my stop and ended up 20 miles in the wrong direction. I had been visiting my mum in hospital when she had cancer and was emotional and not getting much sleep. I was in tears and panicking about getting home and the ticket inspector was so nasty and shouted at me and told me to “stop the crocodile tears” and gave me a fine.

Interestingly my partner made a few mistakes travelling by train when he moved to the country and didn’t speak much English and he was never treated this way, bullies seem to stick to targeting women and children.

Report it. He was entitled to fine her because she had the wrong ticket. The rest is unacceptable.

He was being a dick. There’s no way he would taken a phone off an adult. Just so odd.

Come on op. If you drive over yesterday morning you must have an update

Possibly an apology and fine waived, if events unfolded as your dd described

It's great that you do the right thing because it's the right thing but many don't.

For many, they do the right thing because there are consequences for not doing so

I think a lot of people would short fare if they thought they'd only have to pay the difference if caught. In fact, you've only got to look at the sites set up to discuss how to dodge fares, fines and prosecution to know that's true.

People outraged at the fine - it's meant to be a deterrent. If being caught short faring or fare dodging meant you just had to pay the fare then everyone would risk it.

This is a strange type of piety. It is basically taking the moral high ground by saying the only reason you don’t fare dodge is because you might be fined. Really???? My main reason is because actually paying is the right thing to do. Bit like I don’t murder people who I dislike, or burgle houses it isn’t the actual punishment that puts me off.

Those who want to fare dodge can - they can just jump barriers and leg it. This is all picking on the people who usually play by the rules.

An inability to see shades of grey isn’t something to take moral high ground over.