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Do the French target us? The final straw


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My wife and I purchased one way TGV tickeks to Paris from our local French tourist office.

We told the office that we were over 60 ans, understanding that there could be a discount for this age.We received a small discount for this.

After being on the TGV for a couple of hours, two ticket inspecters checked our tickects but no one else in a fifthy plus plus occupied carriage ( I guess we look English).

They told us that to have these tickets, we needed a 'membership card'for 60 plus?. We told them that we did not have this membership and were not told or asked for proof of one at the time of buying our tickets.

Well, our explanation went down like a lead balloon and they promptly fined us 81 euros.

On our return to France I will cetainly dispute this but this is the final nail in the coffin for us in French/ British relations after previous experiences.
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I thought the standard procedure prior to boarding the train was to push the ticket into the 'Compost' machine on the platform.

What it actually does, I don't know, but I presumed it confirmed the fact that you are on the train and have a ticket.

Audio, I'm surprised you managed to buy a discounted ticket without showing your 'membership card', they usually ask for it.

Perhaps best to put it down as a learning experience, albeit, an expensive one.

.

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I don't think it will give you any comfort to know that similar things happen in the U.K.

My sister bought a rail ticket via the internet, which gives the time/date of travel. Changing platforms, and being a bit flustered she unknowingly boarded a slightly earlier train to the West Country, stopping at all the same stations etc. When her ticket was checked she was told to either pay for the full fare (another £80), or get off at the next available station and wait for the right train. As money was tight she had no choice but to wait for the next train.

What added insult to injury was the train was not busy.

She has also put it down to experience, but has impressed on her student daughter to always double check train times.

 

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http://www.voyages-sncf.com/guide/voyageurs/pdf/reductions_senior.pdf

Which basically says you get a 25% discount on most fares if you can show proof of being over 60. The senior card gives a 50% discount. Both are subject to certain conditions.

Just as limitations apply to where and when discounted tickets can be used in UK. Read the ticket, and/or the conditions when buying.

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Correct bugsy the composter machines are available for use before proceeding to the train.

Such procedures are used as well on public transport to prevent fraudulent use or reuse of the ticket.

Nantes is a good example; on boarding the No 37 bus at the Airport to proceed to the nearest tramway terminal, etc, etc a ticket for € 1,50 is purchased

when the ticket is composted on the machine in the bus, the time and date is printed on the ticket; I always compost at the last possible moment as the driver close the door.

The reason is that the ticket can be used for a period of ONE HOUR on any form of public local transport within the Nantes agglomeration; this by the way includes local train services.

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In front of me I have a used ticket from a couple weeks ago (Nimes-Sete) which I bought at Nimes station after asking for relevant discounts for seniors. The ticket had a 25% discount as the journey was within the Bleu period (shown on the ticket as Depart en Bleu) and has the additional information also printed on the ticket Decouverte Senior - age a justifier. No rail cards are required - edit: but you will something with proof of your age (driving licence, passport, etc)

If your ticket does not have this printed on it, it is more likely that you were sold the incorrect ticket in the first place by your local Tourist (?) office and perhaps you need to take it up with them. If it does have this information printed on it then complain to SNCF.

Composting a ticket will add the Station name plus the current date and time (preventing its use at a later date?) and is a compulsory requirement..

Brian (again)

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Our tickets were composted.

The tickets were correct for the train and seats we occupied.

We had our passports with us for proof of age.

The carriage was almost empty when we boarded and the passengers that subsequently boarded were not asked for their tickets.

I will be writing to SNCF but I will not be holding my breath for a favorable reply.
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As Will says, Audio, it looks like you unwittingly purchased tickets for which you were supposed to be a Senior Railcard holder (cost of such card, 56 euros for a year).

Seems like there might have been a misunderstanding at the guichet where you bought your tickets, since it is also true that on certain journeys (and periode bleue) if you are over 60 you might automatically get a 25% discount. The 25% discount is not the same as the automatic 25% (or 50% depending on trains/times etc.) that you would get with your Senior Railcard.

I do find it confusing too, and it has on occasion, led me to wondering why purchase a Senior Railcard at all, if I was entitled to 25% discount anyway....until I found out that the 25% is not always applicable.

I can see how a non-native French speaker would have got confused, and in the circumstances, it seems a little harsh that you should be fined by ticket controllers who really play it by the book. As for getting a refund, good luck, but don't hold your breath either!

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My experiences on the trains have been that the law is imposed one everyone with zero tolerance, that is of course when there are ticket inspectors on the train.

Perhaps they are now using offender profiling knowing what duckers and divers we all are [;-)]

I recall a similar system on the London buses before the oyster cad came in, most people had season tickets, day return travelcards etc and it was no longer necessary to show these to the driver when boarding, you would of course have to buy a ticket from him if you didnt have one. The idea was to speed up the buses.

Their were roving ticket inspectors who would occasionally join a bus and ask for your ticket, the fine for not having one was only ten or fifteen quid which didnt seem much to me considering the fine for smoking on the bus was £150 [:-))]

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It's only the second time I have used the TGV, I did not know the senior railcard existed. This should have been asked for and shown at the time of purchase.

As for the ticket inspector, he reminded me of someone in the 40s, short, small moustache, Austrian I think. I cannot remember his name.
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Bugsy & Pachapapa,

I've only ever used the TGV not TER etc. Your tickets have to composted on the platform machine before boarding as you say, but in my experience on the TGV they are also always checked by a conductor on board too.

This of course may be different for local trains.
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[quote user="Lisleoise"]Bugsy & Pachapapa,

I've only ever used the TGV not TER etc. Your tickets have to composted on the platform machine before boarding as you say, but in my experience on the TGV they are also always checked by a conductor on board too. [/quote]

I stand corrected [:$] and Mrs B has just said that her ticket was checked in both directions on a recent return trip to Paris.

.

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Audio.

To answer your question posed in the title "Do the French target us?" I would say no.

It is rather a generalisation to ask if the French target us following an experience with just one French citizen doing his job.

If he did in fact target you then he was extremely shrewd as you were subsequently fined for an offence and as you were unaware you cannot have looked guilty, if all ticket inspectors were as doué as you imagine he was there would be a lot less of them.

Would you be asking if you had been targetted if your tickets were in order?

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Audio

From what you say you should be complaining to the tourist office where you bought the tickets, rather than SNCF. You say you received a "small discount", but I think you will find that the discount you received was the same as the amount you were required to pay by the ticket inspector. In that case what was your loss? You might have been entitled to a 25% discount because of your age, but this only apples in certain cases. You don't say where you were travelling from, so it's impossible to work the figures out.

As for "targeting us", I don't think so, a ticket inspector's job is to ensure that travellers are carrying the correct tickets. But "it's because we're English" is the standard reaction of certain anglophones when they find themselves on the wrong side of French officialdom.

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The small discount the OP got strongly suggests that he was travelling in the "peak" period.  He would have got a 25% discount on the basis that he held the senior card (which he didn't), and no discount for just being over 60.

 

You can try complaining to SNCF at their London office, but your gripe is really with the Tourist Office who sold you the wrong ticket - through their misunderstanding or yours.

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