I was gettin on the bus yesterday with my 5 year old daughter and my dog and also the dogbag that I use to put her on. The bus was very packed and I couldnt get a seat but still immediatly placed m dog in her bag on boarding the bus. Straight away I was asked for my ticket ( which I got out as I have all zones after 9am ) The man then asked me for the ticket for my dog who was sat in her bag. I politely explained that the woman in the train station told me that small dogs in bags are fine but he beckoned his 2 colleagues over and the 3 of them got of the bus with me demanding ID and 100chf.They also asked how old my daughter was and I said 5, he said she was not then turned to her and asked how old she was quiet aggressively and she began to cry I told them to send me a bill and I gave them my address and bank card for ID however the didnt believe me and called the police. So along came a police car with 3 officers inside followed by a unmarked police car with another 2 officers in. It took them 30minuites to realise I had gave them the correct address did they appologize NO!. Meanwhile they went through all my handbag purse everything I was so embarressed the whole train station was staring at me and m daughter was crying hysterical she wwas terrified! I am so annoyed as I am new to Switzerland and was stopped by the same inspector a few months ago at the same place as I did genuinely forget my ticket and I paid in cash the 80chf to him, so I ent out and got an all zone ticket so i didnt accidently go out of a zone and a recommened transport dog bag which was very expensive and now this happens a huge kick in the teeth.
Anyway when I finally got away from the police and inspectors I went straight inside the ticket office to complain. The woman there completely agreed with me. She said why on a boiling hot da would you carry that huge dogbag around and not intend on using it! She wrote me a supporting letter explaining what happened and told me to complain!
I intend to, but unsure wether it will get me anywhere I feel so angry.
I wonder if this has happened to anyone else, its not just the 100chf I am worried about its the ay the treat a young woman with a small girl, now my daughter is terrified of the inspectors and the police Im totally discusted!
Word of advice if you have a dog in a bag be so careful, I have now bought a half price ticket for her as Im so worried I use the same bus daily
That's terrible. I'm glad you got the support of the ticket office lady. You should take this further, it sounds like the inspector has got some kind of God complex and takes pleasure on pulling his rank on the vulnerable.
As for the earlier CHF 80 fine - did he take this off you at the time or just issue with a paying in slip? In any case, if you had forgotten your valid pass, the fine should have been only CHF 5 admin charge.
I once tried to pay my fine (genuine mistake on my part but still out of the zone nonetheless) directly to the inspector and he refused saying he couldn't accept it and gave me a paying in slip with all the details on it.
Sorry for the bad experience, just take the letter, issue the complain and when / if it gets approved, head back to the police station and make a report against the treatment you had for no reason supported by the letter / approval.
I just cannot stand this a****les, they are just vampires for money with 0 human reaction (Very rarely they do have some understanding)
hiya Thankyou Ive calmed down a little now, but yesterday I was a nervous wreck. When I forgot my ticket I just had a monthly pass but not the one with the photo and yes I just paid him in cash!
I put it down to experience and thats why now I have been so careful but so upset over this Im put off using public transport here.
The kept me for ages at the station while they phoned arounded and nosed through all my belongings, m daughter missed her afternoon school and I had a cranky child all day. Shes terrified now : (
Seriously, complain, ask to get your money back, charge them for the half an hour they kept you and take your daughter to psycholog and charge them for it too, people like this deserve lose their job and live their entire life in misery
There is absolutely no excuse for this sort of behaviour.
However, it would appear that your lack of ID made them think you were illegally here. The bank card could be anyone's and they assumed this was stolen. I would carry your permit at all times.
I do hope you will still be able to settle down in this otherwise beautiful country...
Also another note, under any circumstance they're not allowed to search your bag unless you're suspected in a crime ie. theft, killing or fights.....you should fight back with no mercy, you have all the right supported by a letter from the reponsible, don't let the f***ers get away with it
Did you get a receipt for the fine you paid? Sounds really really fishy to me because the inspectors should never collect the fine there and then - apart from the trust issue, it would make them a walking target for a robbery which is why I think it is incredibly suss that he didn't just give you a paying in slip. He probably just pocketed it. (Sorry, just mad speculation on my part )
I'm glad you are feeling a bit better - I would still be spitting fire. I hope you take it further but it would be understandable if you just didn't want the hassle.
Thankyou to all of you , Im so pleased that people care. I have just got a paper and pen ready with the fine and the headed SBB letter I have to send it to Taxcenter Inkasso Postfach 8050 Zurich, but I wonder if I can go in person to the office with the letter and explain so they can see that I really am not Myra Hindley lol I dont need 5 policemen and 3 Inspectors. One of the officitors even shouted at me for wasting his time and he had other things than people like me that disrespect the law by not having a ticket!!!!
I'm so sorry. You're getting different sets of rules from these guys and then they treated you like a criminal. Wow. Also, making your kid cry like that. What is wrong with them? (initial diagnosis: God complex). And they definitely had NO RIGHT to search your bag. Are you kidding me?
I wish I were surprised. Here is my story. I posted it last week:
glad you feel better, hayleyjay, and sorry to hear about your ordeal. this sort of stuff (overzealous unfair obnoxious ticket collectors) happens way way too often in switzerland
What a horrible thing to happen. I'm so sorry for you.
You obviously couldn't be trying harder to do the right thing and, to have your little daughter upset to that extent is really unforgiveable.
I was upset enough recently when I couldn't find my half-price pass when the inspectors got on. I did eventually find it but not before they'd made me feel like a criminal and I was thoroughly upset.
I'm a grown woman, not a five-year-old little girl, and I almost cried.
It is absolutely not acceptable for them to have treated you in that way.