Today, a train conductor destroyed my bank card: Rant!

[explicitlyrics]

Hearing stories of ticket inspetors remind me of a few years ago. I was charged £95 for a train ticket after being told I could use my return on an earlier train (by somebody in the ticket office). This was apparently not the case! Due to it being a quick trip I had no ID or cards so he threatened to escort me to a police station, I persuaded him otherwise and he just took my details. I complained to the train manager who agreed that it was ridiculous, he said he had sorted it but he actually hadn't. I get the fine and refuse to pay, end up paying half of it after being threatened with legal action. Moral of the story is, all train conductors are absolute piles of something nasty!

On the other side of things, what he did was very harsh but it was actually within his rights. It doesn't help you out, but in this case he followed correct rules that allow sellers to legally destroy cards under good suspicion of fraud. I think you got hard done by, but if the card did say void then you should probably have got it replaced.

[badass]

mental note: If train conductor says funny things about any bank card I hand him, snatch card off quickly

[matty-hodgson]

That's not true. At the end of the day funke_munke didn't have to pay anyway. So they are out of pocket for his fare.

If they accepted his card even if there was a possibility that it was fraudulent, from the train company's pov, there would still be positive expectation of revenue from this transaction... The train company was irrational to not accept payment in this situation... but its wasn't the company's choice, it was this individual employee's... thinking about it from the conductors pov his payoff are different, he was probably running under the assumption that he would lose his job if was fradulent, and no one would find out if it isn't, so it is perfectly rational for him to refuse funke_munke's card, I suppose, as accepting it would have expected negative utility.

that's the first serious post i've ever seen you post..
WOW!

[GoNz0]

i would put in a complaint saying the guy laughed in your face as he snapped the card up and came out with a smart arsed comment to belittle you when it was obvious the wear to the name strip was only around the edge and no were near the part you signed meaning he did wrong and ment you couldnt get to work for 3 days while a new card comes.. etc etc..

freebies from the rail service and a bolloking for that prick who snapped it up.

[SiM]

that's the first serious post i've ever seen you post..
WOW!

I post loads of serious posts, you just are never involved in the serious topics...

[icanhazburger]

I'd have snapped him.

Some train conductors are right jobs worths, I had to catch 2 trains, at my local station the ticket machine was not working and there was no one at ticket office.

I thought I'd buy a ticket on 1st train, but the conductor did not come around.

I changed trains at New Street, but literally only had a minute so no time to get a ticket.

On that train a conductor said I had to pay a fine for not having a ticket, I pointed out that I could not buy one before my journey, and no conductor was on 1st train. He then said I should of got one at new street, so I pointed out I'm not missing my train because there other conductors cant do there job etc etc.

I even showed him my wallet was full of money so I hardly need to try and not pay a 14 pounds ticket and I could pay him there and then, he handed me a 20 pound fine and said I could appeal against it.

I appealed against the fine and they accepted I was right, and I never had to pay for it, and as I'd never paid for the ticket as the conductor insisted on a fine, they lost out.

He also let me finish the journey rather than kick me off as I had a 2 year old with me, and anyone kicking me out in the middle of nowhere with a toddler would of left the train with me as I'd have had him by his tie

[matty-hodgson]

I post loads of serious posts, you just are never involved in the serious topics...

a few examples of SiM's serious posts

Threaten to release that amateur porn video you made with her... I know you didn't make one, but tell her that you secretly put a camera in the room

The only way to undo lies is by telling more lies...

I'll pull it back on topic

Tell her that you are gay... She might dig that, some girls do... Then make out with your man-whore friend and try to get her into a threesome

I not sure that sleeping with her dad will help with the not being gay thing...

*SiM goes out to find some 15 year olds*


Being serious, it must be still illegal to screw a under 16 year old though... why is this any different?

hope you enjoy these

[Whiternoise]

Thank you for your recent email.

I can confirm that any retailer does have authorisation from the banking industry that they have the authority to destroy cards that they deem to be stolen or used in any suspicious circumstances.

In order to obtain documentation on this matter you will need to contact your bank directly, they can provide further advise and information on this policy for you.

Yours sincerely

Stephanie Mendez

Customer Relations Team Leader

Arriva Trains Wales

Tel: 08456 061 660

Oh dear

@ tom18230

Get a young persons railcard mate! Cheaper fares and it's valid ID to show you're underage too

[Kumagoro]

I thought he would have had to contact the bank before destroying it and also the
bank would talk with you too. I have seen something similar on one of those clamping
tv programmes.

You should always take their names and ask for contact details of their superior etc

[SiM]

a few examples of SiM's serious posts

hope you enjoy these

Those are my joke posts... only you would take them seriously... look at some of the debates I have had with Saracen...

[matty-hodgson]

Those are my joke posts... only you would take them seriously... look at some of the debates I have had with Saracen...

i'm only having a laugh, i had a look at some of your posts before..

doing my research on you

[mediaboy]

Meh... Train Conductors are irritating at the best of times.

I'm under 16, and the last time I caught a train I had this conductor - must have been around 60-odd - breathing down my neck in case I was about to go beserk and smash the train to pieces... or was about to pull out a knife and stab the passenger next to me.

Needless to say, it put me off trains, so I stick to buses now (takes longer... but you don't get irritating people on buses because not many people use them in my area ) where I still get asked for proof of age. Not my fault I look 17 or 18... but most of the time you can reason with bus drivers and you get the half fare that you deserve.

Trains=unnecesssary trouble+effort.
Buses= unnceessary trouble+effort
Parent Taxi co. = free travel.

I generally use the last of three options, or if I can't get my parents to taxi me around I use the buses.

This story only proves the point really... and then to get a letter saying that they have every right? It's bs tbh...

[bigblue]

Sorry to join the party pooper brigade, but I think the conductor may be in the right, to some extent.

I've worked in places selling very expensive goods, so we had frequent fraud attempts, and frequent visits from the bank. I was been told that if someone comes in, and I'm a little suspicious of them, the "void" showing should be enough for me to be extremely suspicious of them.

The banks reasoning is that if "void" is showing, then a sensible person would immediately arrange to get a replacement. There's no real reason to go about with a card that is clearly marked void in their eyes. The only reason to do it would be if you don't have the ability to get a new one, such as it being stolen. So, if the conductor actually does have the right to snap the card, the "void" strip could be seen as good enough reason.

Chip and pin doesn't make any difference, as the signature is an alternative method of security. There's many instances where the chip and pin system goes down, or is unusable, so the signature strip becomes the proof. If the signature strip is "void", it's void. That's it. It's not up to the person taking the card to use his discretion, it's not his decision to make.

I'm quite dismayed by the way people are suggesting you should lie to land the conductor in it, or that they'd have hit him. Even though they haven't got a clue about whether he was justified or not

[SiM]

The only flaw in that argument is, that if I was a criminal using a stolen card, I would hesitate to snap the guy's neck if he snapped my stolen card....

[bigblue]

The only flaw in that argument is, that if I was a criminal using a stolen card, I would hesitate to snap the guy's neck if he snapped my stolen card....

I don't follow ? How does hesitating snapping a conductors neck if you had a stolen card show a flaw in the banks logic ?

[matty-hodgson]

I don't follow ? How does hesitating snapping a conductors neck if you had a stolen card show a flaw in the banks logic ?

well the guy using the stolen card is most likely not bothered about other people.. so he won't hesitate to damage the conductor if he's just snapped the credit card in front of him..