Did I do the wrong thing?

[BurtTheDurt]

Last week I was on the train, it was a few stops until it terminated. A group of 3 girls got on, I’d guess they were barely into their teens. It was busy so I was stood near the door, about 8 feet away. A ticket inspector who had been making his way down asked for their tickets which they showed to him. It quickly became clear they’d been bought the tickets by an adult which means they’re cheaper but the adult wasn’t accompanying them. The inspector began really telling them off, saying they would need to get off at the next stop or give their details. I could see they were panicking and one became tearful. I decided in the moment to step forward and say I was with them and that I’d moved further up so they could chat without me overhearing. The inspector seemed a bit annoyed but moved on. The girls thanked me and I moved back to my original spot.

I mentioned this to a family member in passing when we met for lunch. They said I shouldn’t have interfered and why would I approach a group of teenage girls anyway (I’m 41F with my own teen DD if it makes any difference. I thought I was being helpful and I’d honestly hope someone else would do the same if it was my DD. Did I overstep here?

No you’re right, greater anglia do need more money don’t they. Glad to hear you’ve never tried to save a few quid though

Not by committing train ticket fraud, no.

This might have been a mistake or it might not - if they were refusing to give their details, that tends towards the latter interpretation.

My DS (21) often gets the train home from work with a colleague in her 40’s. Almost always she pays a for her ticket first then DS gets his and, without any prompt from DS, he’s just been charged £1 by the conductor. He’s started fessing up now though and paying for the adult ticket

He doesn’t need to tell them off so badly that it made them cry.

My sister was caught fare evading once as a teen (her one only and only misdemeanour) and the transport officer was as nice as pie to her. She told her she wasn’t going to be mean to her and she wasn’t. Sister still was in trouble but the officer calmed her down.

Greater Anglia are generally a shitshow though there's the odd.decent person in their uniforms.

Not OK to get aggressive or intimidating to teenage girls.

Exactly! I bet he wouldn’t have picked on a grown man or woman!

Train tickets can be confusing though

They weren't 40 year olds claiming to be children or travelling with no ticket. They just had the wrong ticket. He could have been much gentler.

A few years ago my Mum and I were travelling back from a show 20 minutes train ride away. I was using my travel pass, she'd brought an off peak ticket. We got on the next train home. Ticker inspector comes around and tells her she technically isn't supposed to travel on this service with that ticket, the line has 3 or 4 train companies use it, he's laughing and says it's fine because the next stop is our is anyway and it's not easy to find the tiny small print that isn't even ON the ticket but only online that says the ticket cannot be used on this particular train company out of all the ones on this line.

That's a fair way to handle an obvious mistake with a confusing ticket. Not making teenage girls who have a ticket cry

Yes my thoughts also

Grow up love.

It's the definition of jobsworth to not give leeway on what is a minor issue (and a couple of £ is minor).

You did a wonderful thing and I'm glad you are getting lots of confirmation on that from the other posters. As for Sorenlorrenson , they might be having a bad day / be a massive bellend / work for Greater Anglia.

Sounds like the ticket inspector was puffed up with power over a bunch of girls. I doubt he would have challenged a middle-aged man in a suit.

You did a very kind act.

The fact that the girls got so upset though is likely to guarantee that they'll look to be completely in the right the next time they travel, which is no bad thing.

Well done for doing this. If it my DD out with her friends and she told me someone had done this to help them I would have been really grateful. I think you did the right thing.

Fraud? These were CHILDREN travelling with tickets that a trusted adult had bought them, FFS

The clipper could have just pointed out that they should have had a adult with them, not been a frightening, officious twonk.

Not if everyone does it. A single ticket from my station to the next station is less than £4 - should I try to sneak onto the train and travel for nothing?

Lucky you round here it’s £10.50 to go one stop. For a half hour journey (4-5 stops depending on which line it’s on is about £33

🤣🤣 she’s still going it seems!

I don't think you really understand. And sorry, it's more than my job's worth to explain it.

There's a difference between not paying at all and buying the wrong ticket

And fwiw, someone not paying from 1 station to the next isn't going to bankrupt the train companies with what they charge for distance journeys

I don’t take trains so not sure how tickets work but why can’t the children be on the train with a child’s ticket and no adult?

They're young, and one was getting upset. I think yes the train inspector was doing his job, but would he have been the same with a group of men? I don't know, maybe he would have. I never forget an experience with a bus driver. It was dark, I was 5p short for my bus fare, he wasn't going to let me on! I pleaded with him, as it would have meant a long walk home in the dark, my phone had ran out of power, so I couldn't ring my df. I said I could give him my address, details to pay the 5p, and was visibly upset. A little old lady gave the money, glared at the bus driver, and said it was only pence, and she wouldn't want me to take the risk, it was dark. I thanked her perfusely. I still remember it to this day. The bus driver huffed and puffed, for some reason he would have preferred to put a 14 year old girl off the bus in the dark, and almost didn't allow the money from the kind lady! As a young girl I encountered a fair few dickhead older men!

You did the right thing op.

Did you read the OP? That’s not what was happening at all.

Ticket inspectors do challenge adults btw.

I used to commute to London from Cambridge and have often seen them challenging grown men and women.

Agree train tickets are confusing but it's doubtful he was picking on them.