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?

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'd be reporting this to the police and making a complaint to the trainline telling them I want the ticket cancelled and that the threatening behaviour of their officer is now a police matter.

A few people have mentioned Sarah Everard and this is exactly why your OP gave me the chills. He wouldn't have done this to a man. He wanted to frighten your child because it made him feel powerful.

Oddly you're quite happy for hundreds of complete strangers on the internet to see her modeling crop tops but not a fare evasion officer?

I would be livid. Yes, complain. Her age verification wouldn't be in her Vinted photos, he sounds like a creep.

Also, it is 30p! If you complain, explain your daughter's mistake over stop and most importantly how scared she felt being detained and having phone removed. Also mention you hearing him say she wasn't allowed to speak to you.

I assume it happened at the station, after getting off maybe? Many stations won't let you through without a valid ticket.

This!

The point people are making is that those photos are not private photos on her phone. They are public where anyone can see them. She shouldn't be uploading them onto the internet if she is uncomfortable with people seeing them.

It is a separate issue from what he did, but it is still important for the OP to address it with her daughter.

I like to use the test "Would my dad be treated like this?" - 60, tall white male. The answer is normally NO, because people don't piss take with authoritative looking men. He took advantage of your daughter and that is totally out of order. He should not have touched her phone let alone gone through it. He needs firing. Don't pay the fine.

I'd report him!
He greatly overstepped.
Your daughter and her friend admitted their mistake and offered to pay the excess. That should have been enough. He definitely should not have told her to stop talking to you let alone take her phone off her, who knows what he could remember from it!
Report him to his bosses AND the police!

Highly inappropriate- definitely report.

That is bollocks, if it's on the boundary zone 1+2 should have been fine! Angry on your behalf. Well done for questioning it.

Definitely report him.
100% he is not allowed to take her phone and go through it at all, and certainly not to 'verify age'.

Sounds like he's got some sort of power complex. How bizarre.

They will probably get rid of the fine as well. It's only 30p, how ridiculous.

Haven't read all the comments but can't believe someone actually agreed with what he did 🤣🤣🤣.

@Ilovelurchers Attitudes like this terrify me.

Op, I wouldn’t just complain. If it happened as described, report to the police.

Yep they are arseholes and have treated other people this way, including me when I was younger. They threatened to take me to the police station when I had a season ticket inadvertently expired by one day. I was 17 and detained for half an hour at the train station with no way to contact my work or parents. My dad eventually got an apology but they do seem to love intimidating young people.

You’d have your phone over to a ticket inspector and let him go through your apps? Come on. Inappropriate. Fine her or if you need ID let her phone her mum

Some of you will really take any opportunity to shift the blame on to this child.

She had the wrong ticket. She shouldn't have done that. She should be fined and treated appropriately.

Beyond that...

It doesn't matter a damn what apps or pics she has on her phone

He shouldn't have had it to scroll through.

Her pics on Vinted, of course can be viewed by a wide variety of scumbags and creeps, but they aren't sitting in front of her while they are doing it.

He intimidated and scared her.

To say that is part of "doing his job" makes excuses for anyone to behave inappropriately, as long as they can find any tenuous link back to their position/role.

Sounds like Mr Ticket man is on a power trip.

I'd report him.

Sounds like he was doing his job.

How is he supposed to tell the difference between your innocent' daughter and another teenager who was at it.

And is she was happy to post modelling pictures ins public internet site then not sure how that is an issue unless he was going through her private photos.

It wasn't a mistake, it was a choice to get off at a stop beyond the one she'd paid for. With consequences.
What would ringing you have achieved?
I grew that he overstepped and should have just issued a fine but was the age verification because there is a price difference for children and adults?

I am very sorry to have terrified you with my words.... I have no wish to induce terror in another human!

What would you expect the police to do, out of interest? Your experience of the police has perhaps been very different from my own - i would not expect them to intervene helpfully in this instance. Of course your experience may be different.

And what exact actions on the part of this inspector do you identify as illegal? And what would you be calling for, his arrest?

Anyway, hope you feel less terrified soon...... Honestly, please don't be terrified. It's just a person having a different experience and a different opinion from your own. It's not a threat.

Rather than report, I would give feedback. I would ask for clarification of the powers they have to confiscate and go through personal property. I would
also ask on their policy on detaining minors without parental supervision .

I hope your daughter can laugh about this soon.

This!!!!!⬆️ Completely unnecessary & over the top. Report!!

Your daughter should not be modelling crop tops on Vinted. Trust me there will be some creeps on that app leering at those. I have sold basques and corsets and I wasn't even modelling them, and still had creeps in my inbox asking me to send pics.

The ticket guy was out of order though.

People are hung up about her pics on Vinted. For all you know, her face could be hidden so not easily identified.
Plus, they're crop-tops, just shorter than average tops, she's not baring all on Facebook where everyone and their grandparents can see her!
This has nothing to do with the ticket issue plus she admitted she had gone a stop extra and offered to pay the excess - the bloke was out of order!!!

Definitely report. He's out of order.

I remember having hassle with bus drivers at her age because I looked older. One refused me child fare and shouted at me saying I'd just been to work. It was thirty odd years ago and I remember it.

I had to carry my birth certificate after that.

Some men treat young women very badly. What he did was intimidating and awful. I hope it hasn't dented her confidence.

Once the ticket inspector has established that the ticket is missing/incorrect, I would be very interested to see how many women vs men are:

Told off at length by the inspector

Made to pay

From what I can see, it seems to me that women are over-represented in both categories

I have told off ticket inspectors and supported women on trains when the inspectors get heavy-handed and overbearing, especially as it is patently obvious that male (thuggish looking) perpetrators can travel for free. (I have never travelled without paying myself).

Women: Do not accept this discrimination.