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

[SmellsLikeTeenSpirits]

15 yo DD bought wrong train ticket today. She got off at stop after the one she'd bought ticket for because of a last minute change of plan with her friends. So a £2.70 journey rather than a £3 one.

At the final destination her and her friend were stopped by ticket inspector. They tried to explain what had happened and pay the excess. He wasn't having any of it. I can kind of sympathise with that.

What I would like your view on / experience of is this:

He detained them for 20 minutes. DD called me and was a bit shaken. I heard him say - you can't talk to your mum now - and then her phone went off. I tried calling and she messaged saying she'd call back in 5. He took her phone off her and went through her apps to try and prove she was over 15 (she looks 16 maybe - no older). In the end he accepted that she was in fact 15 and has written on the fine notice that he verified her age through her Vinted app. DD said she felt really uncomfortable as he went through her vinted page (where she is modelling some crop tops etc) and scrolled through the pictures. I got through to her again on the phone and asked her to put him on the phone but he refused.

Eventually he gave her a fine of £52 and let her go on her way.

Is this acceptable? Am I being unreasonable if I complain. I don't feel that an adult man should be detaining 15 year olds and confiscating their phones? She had the wrong ticket - just issue the fine if you need to?? Or am i being unreasonable - not having correct ticket is a crime - suck it up - the guy was just doing his job?

Challenge the fine and complain as well. She may have been in the wrong regarding her ticket, but he went on a power trip and threw his weight around. It's not like they had no ticket at all.

Definitely complain and ask about what training on safeguarding children the employer has provided. Denying a child access to their parent is appalling. Honestly, I wouldn’t let this one go. Go as high as you need to. Take it to the CEO and reference the abuse of power by a man and reference the awful cases where men have detained women to horrendous outcomes. Specifically ask about how up to date their training is on safeguarding women and children.

Pretty sure even a police officer wouldn't be able to demand a phone and go through it without some justification. Something about her personal data in there and what he's entitled to demand to see.

And yes, absolute creep. And no he wouldn't have done that to a man. Or most adults.

Would report to his senior boss, and to the police in strong terms.

This won't be the first or last time he bullies young girls.

Yes, definitely. All good points. I would report this man to the police and to the rail company. Your poor dd.

You can make a "CEO complaint" mark it as such when you contact the relevant company as they are obliged to respond to all complaints marked as this.

I witnessed a train inspector shouting at a teenager, demanding his ticket making sarcastic comments when the young man couldn't respond. The boy had learning difficulties and when his carer stepped in with the ticket, not a word of apology or contrition. It was scary to witness and I wish I'd made a complaint too.

This is probably a good prompt to rethink the photos on Vinted if she felt uncomfortable : anyone in the world can see them.

That’s terrifying, how did he get away with just a six-month suspended sentence and a 12-month community order?!

Sounds like he’s been inspired by Wayne Couzens as he had a blue LED light inside his car as well as police-style handcuffs and a baseball bat.

What saved this woman was having her young son in the back seat.

They were in the station not on the train. Many stations check tickets as you are leaving / have barriers.

🙄 One kid overstaying her stop and being 30p short of the ticket she should have had obviously isn’t going to cause a massive loss. But it isn’t just one kid making a mistake, is it?

Thousands of kids and adults over the year not buying the tickets they should be buying, plus the money spent on staff to find them and issue fines equals massive losses. Obviously this won’t affect their shareholders. But I wonder whether they’d have the money to improve services as well, if people stopped doing it?

OP, I think the power has gone to his head. Definitely complain.

Both my DDs had a photo of their passport on their phone.
Useful if their age was challenged.

Definitelu report

But also take the vinted photos down. Remind your DD that him and a thousand like him can have access to vinted and any other app she's sharing photos on.

I'd be furious and I agree with others here I would complain. I still remember coming home from school with my friend on the train, a journey we did every day. My friend had forgotten her season ticket and was very apologetic to the ticket inspector who was on a spot check at the station. He was unreasonably aggressive towards us, two 13 year old girls, who were (at the time!) mild mannered and referential to adults. It was horrible. My friend was in tears. An adult passenger had to intervene. Totally unreasonable.
I have worked in the criminal courts and with the police. I can honestly say ticket inspectors can be more aggressive than the police with far fewer controls over their behaviour.

Is that specific to train companies do you know or are all businesses obliged to do that? I've been having an issue with BT that I'm not getting anywhere with, is there a piece of legislation I can quote, Google is showing me results for individual places not a generic answer

OP, of course you should complain, what would be reason not to?

That’s nuts!

Yeah absolutely - ticket inspectors have no authority to access anyone’s phone - it actually sounds like a criminal offence has been committed - he seems to have implied that he had authority to do this, but only the police are able to ‘stop and search’ - all he has authority to do is issue a fine - I would absolutely report, imagine how he treats vulnerable teenagers!

I would put in an official complaint. This sounds very extreme and your poor daughter. It was 30p! I would want an official apology for his conduct, retraining given what he did, also tbh I wouldn't be paying the fine and would want that removed given the circumstances.

As far as I understand it's all companies. I have used it myself when complaining about mobile companies. If I mark as a "CEO Complaint" I get a call from the company offering to rectify it, when previously it would be radio silence.

Apparently something to do with having to companies having to report all complaints when directed to the CEO.

I see you are ipset, but would urge caution with any complaint, and what you include in it.

It does sound like he was bullying and scary in his manner. Unfortunately some officials can be - jobs like that (police, security, even teaching sadly!) CAN attract people who get a kick out of wielding their authority. (As well as attracting lots of nice people too!) This is not ok, but is it actually unprofessional? How does one define what manner it is and is not ok to have in this situation?

Your dd of course didn't find this experience pleasant. But, in a way, it shouldn't be a pleasant experience. She was travelling on the wrong ticket (admittedly only to a tiny extent) and got caught. It is in the train companies' interests (and all of our interests actually) to put people off doing that. Though it should be proportionate - we don't want a minor in this instance to feel abused and terrified.....

Can I ask exactly what happened with her phone? Did he really spend ages scrolling through her apps? Or just ask to see something that would prove her age, and she suggested the Vinted app, and he looked at that? That probably is reasonable in fairness. I can see that he did need to verify her age.

The crop tops issue has been discussed upthread - they are in the public domain, so no point worrying that he has seen them. She has put them somewhere they can be deliberately searched for by pervs the world over if those pervs so fancy - she may want to rethink that if she regrets the choice now.

As for phoning you - this is a 15 year old girl, old enough to travel alone and sell her own crop tops on Vinted, not a tiny tot. I can see that he can't really be pausing every time he stops a 15 year old to allow them a conversation with someone they say is their mom......

I am not saying your daughter's experience was pleasant, OR that this man isn't a jobsworth bully. Just that there may be reasons for some of what he did, so I would think through any complaint you make before you make it, and be careful to identify the things he did that you truly believe are unprofessional/against policy, rather than just things your daughter didn't like. It's not meant to be an experience she would like.

Of course I do hope she is ok. I understand your upset and would be just the same if this happened to my daughter. I am just saying we can sometimes get carried away by our instinct to protect our kids......

Ugh, these people are like little Hitler’s. I once ended up with a £40 fine for DS because I accidentally bought him the wrong ticket to go and see his dad. I thought I’d bought an open return but I’d actually bought one where you have to get on a specific train.

The irony is, the one I bought was about £1 more expensive so it was obvious I wasn’t trying to fare dodge and it was an innocent mistake. Hitler was having none of it, even when I explained over the phone. He still gave the fine and I’m still fuming six years later 😜😜

Don't suppose this was Warrington was it. Some of the most aggressive power hungry ticket inspectors I've ever come across. Sure they work on commission.

That's your takeaway from this? Ew.

Sorry if I have missed it but which train company? I’m relatively high up in a couple and can direct you.

As for phoning you - this is a 15 year old girl, old enough to travel alone and sell her own crop tops on Vinted, not a tiny tot. I can see that he can't really be pausing every time he stops a 15 year old to allow them a conversation with someone they say is their mom

She is a child.

She was in a situation that would make a lot of adults upset or frightened.

Of course he should've let her speak to her mum.

OP, this would be the hill I die on.

I think the only lesson from this is don’t post photos online that make you uncomfortable! Vinted is open for anyone to see, you can access it without logging in via website, so complaining that a ticket inspector went through photos that have been willing made public by your DD is not reasonable.

He shouldn’t have taken her phone though.

He was heavy handed and I would complain.

Get your child a pop card to prove their age.

It’s a life lesson that you don’t put any photos online you’re unhappy with people seeing - if you don’t want random men looking at you in crop tops, don’t post them online. Do you really think people aren’t scrolling through Vinted looking for pictures of teens in skimpy clothes? Of course they are! Get them taken down!