Was I unreasonable to dob someone in?

[VulvicMineralWater]

NC as this might be quite outing.

I commute to work on the train. I get on at stop A and off at stop D, both of which have ticket barriers. I always buy a ticket when I travel.

Stops B and C don't have ticket barriers.

A man got on at Stop B. The inspector came around asking for anyone who got on at Stop B. The inspector was very visible and called out "Stop B passengers" loudly enough for everyone to hear. The man didn't have headphones in. Yet, the man didn't show his ticket.

So, as the inspector passed I pointed out the man and said he'd got on at Stop B. Inspector then went to check his ticket and what a surprise the man didn't have one.

The man called me an interfering bitch. Meh, yeah, that's pretty accurate but it fucks me off that people feel as though buying a ticket is optional. It's not. You're using a service, you need to pay for it.

So was I unreasonable to dob this guy in?

[Headofthehive55]

So increasingly are you advocating fare dodging because it has no impact?
If its ok for one is it ok for no one to pay?
what percentage number if fare Dodgers is ok in your view?
If one is ok and 100% not so where us the dividing line?

[Blimey01]

Can't believe you pointed him out 😂😂

[Dumbo412]

Hmm, I don't know.
I don't think he was right, I'd have silently judged him for not paying his way,in fact I would have seethed throughout the day, but no. I wouldn't have interfered.
I don't tend to, but I hate confrontation!maybe if I were a little more ballsy!

[FairytalesAreBullshit]

Word of advice if you see anything else out of the ordinary, unless your laugh gives you super human powers, don't put yourself at risk.

[heron98]

when I lived in London I couldn't actually afford to get to work. I had to hide in the loo on the train every day until I managed to get a job closer to home that I could cycle to.

[MyBeloved]

Cor what a grass!

Ywbu!

[AwaywiththePixies27]

Was it the first time you'd seen Stop B man OP? Because I used to commute to uni every day by train and despite me having a ticket every bloody time there was several occasions where not one person checked I had a ticket.
They've since reinforced their barriers now and you can't get through anywhere without swiping your ticket. That much so I didn't swipe my ticket at one station properly and as I went to walk through the thing shut on me and didnt half wind me!

Did he have to pay any more than the standard fare when you dobbed him in, probably why he called you an interfering bitch if so. I can see where you're coming from though. I have family that live just outside of London and it costs them a fortune to commute to work everyday.

[user1489179512]

Devorak

Do you have any friends OP?

My money is on 'no'.

Oh wow. This is a contender for most stupid post of the thread!

[Onthecouchagain]

People like OP would of fit right in 1930's Germany.

That fella could of been in a real tight spot. In the middle of an emergency. A million reasons why he may of needed not to follow the rules that one time.

Well at least you helped keep up shareholder value.

[Lweji]

That fella could of been in a real tight spot. In the middle of an emergency.

Funny that he didn't try it on the inspector, though.

[MaroonPencil]

People like OP would of fit right in 1930's Germany.

That is such nonsense. People who betrayed their neighbours to the authorities in Nazi Germany were supporting laws which I think we could all agree (hopefully) were morally wrong. The OP was supporting a rule which most on this thread are agreeing is morally right (you have to have a ticket to ride) - if it isn't then how would the system work? They are just saying it isn't the general public's role to police the community, that should be the role of those in authority only. Which is a bit weird on Mumsnet where in fact the opposite is true, a community which is encouraged to police itself.

[Greyponcho]

Some of these comments make me wonder about the society we live in... comparisons to Nazi's and murder? And "it's okay to steal as long as it's from a big company".
Geez..!

[WankingMonkey]

I once caught a colleague dodging the bus fare

How does someone do that? I have always wondered this. You have to walk right by the driver to even get on a bus. I can understand how one person in a large group might be able to dodge if a few are paying for more than 1 ticket and the rest have gone to sit as driver could lose count...but a person on their own I just can't understand?

[amusedbush]

WankingMonkey

Some buses have different doors for passengers to get off, further up the bus. I've seen people try to sneak in those doors but the driver has a mirror and can usually spot them.

[Increasinglymiddleaged]

So increasingly are you advocating fare dodging because it has no impact?
If its ok for one is it ok for no one to pay?
what percentage number if fare Dodgers is ok in your view?
If one is ok and 100% not so where us the dividing line?

My point throughout that the 'theft' is more serious the other way by abuse of monopoly power, therefore it isn't something that would bother me that much either if someone else did it. All this stuff about 'making the fares more expensive' etc isn't really true because they raise them each year regardless.

But I don't fare dodge, well not intentionally anyway. I sometimes do a journey that it is actually impossible to buy a ticket for involving unmanned stations with no ticket machines. And I lug a bike on and off at the back straight in front of the guard who knows I can't possibly have bought one. If there was a machine I would buy one.

[HorridHenryrule]

It is a stupid unnecessary thing to do he could have went for her. It could have got nasty not worth putting yourself at risk for.

[Headofthehive55]

If you feel revenue raised has no impact on fares and or the business itself then I feel you have little understanding of the economics of business.

[Headofthehive55]

If you feel revenue raised has no impact on fares and or the business itself then I feel you have little understanding of the economics of business.

[Nettletheelf]

The utter spite levelled at the OP! I am surprised, and not in a good way. I think she did the right thing.

I commute to work by train every day. I hate Northern Rail with a passion. They are incompetent, money grabbing bastards. But do I think that it's OK to dodge train fares because of it? No, I bloody don't.

The nice revenue protection guy at my local station, who is there daily, said that he was drafted in because of the huge number of fare dodgers on our rail line into a major city. It's not hard for the rail company to work out that fare dodging is rife, is it? Number of people on making a certain journey on a particular day, less number of tickets (of various kinds) sold for that day. He also says that the people trying to swerve paying their fares are overwhelmingly the wealthier, middle class types. The rest are schoolkids.

As for the people claiming that it's OK to fare dodge because the conductor should be checking everybody's ticket between each stop: don't you think that the poor sods have enough to deal with? On some of the rail lines into Manchester the stations are only a few minutes' journey from each other. At peak times the trains are jammed. How is the conductor supposed to walk the length of the train, checking every ticket, fighting his way through bodies, in three minutes?

Fare dodging is quite simply theft. It doesn't matter that there's no marginal cost to the rail operator. I'm sick of subsidising selfish freeloading bastards, and I bet I'm not the only one.

A few years ago I was coming back up north by train and a couple got on in London (at a station which, then, wasn't barriered: it is now). They spent the journey moving up and down the relatively quiet train, hiding in the loo and sniggering about how clever they had been for not paying. I suspect the guard was on to them because ten minutes before the station at which the train terminated he found them in the carriage I was in and asked them where they had boarded. They claimed to have got on at the station we'd just left. The guard was asking how they'd got through the barriers there, and they were coming up with a cock and bull story when one of my fellow passengers said, "no they didn't. They got on in London and I saw them". Everybody else in the carriage, including me, gave him a round of applause. Why should we condone stealing?

[Increasinglymiddleaged]

Lol @ hives whatever you say m'dear

[Increasinglymiddleaged]

Why should we condone stealing?

As has been pointed out before it is fraud not stealing.

As always on MN it never ceases to amaze me how people are unable to deal with shades of grey. Yes you should pay fares, I agree. If lots of people did it all the time it would cause issues, I agree.

But I just cannot get that wound up about the odd person not paying.

[AnneElliott]

Monkey on some London buses there are 2 sets of doors and you just get on. The driver doesn't check tickets so you only get caught if an inspector gets on. Most people have travel cards anyway so I guess they think the few who don't will be picked up at some point.

[WankingMonkey]

Ahh right. I live in the north east and we don't seem to have buses like that. Makes more sense in that case

[Headofthehive55]

We lost one of our routes. Not economic. Private operator. Not enough fares. Went bankrupt.

Income from fares do matter. If enough people on the train are not paying, and it's very busy / can't get a seat etc fare paying passengers might start to use other means of transport/ find an alternative job etc. Thus the train company get even less fares.