I so miss Ireland, even Gardi (police) are more understanding than that!
After a long hard day in a new job, I got on to a train for a short commute home .. A conductor got in, checked my monthly pass, asked for my halbtax card and... fined me 75CHF for being in q 1st first class area with a 2nd class abonement! I honestly didn't even notice it was 1st class until he said so, it was so similar to a regular 2nd class I guess (on an S train). No compassion for a genuine mistake or any flexibility, those are the rules - get your fine! After investing in a pass and the halb tax card. So frustrated with both myself for not noticing and with the conductor for being the big man and fining a tired absent minded me with a ticket.
Ayit. Sorry about the confusion. But isn't anyone boarding a train checking those giant numbers 1 and 2? If you use a service you didn't pay for, you will get charged. The willingness to understand one's brainfarts lowers with how much more packed the 2nd class is compared to the 1st one.
I feel for your pain... in your job. You obviously have hard days and I really wish you all the best. Take care of yourself.
Not for the one on the train. That's normal.
If you feel frustrated, what do you think how those people feel who paid a First Class fare butt have to sit in an area that cannot be told from ordinary Second Class?
I understand that you're frustrated. You didn't do anything to deserve such a punishment. It was just a mistake and it seems that you didn't get any benefits out of it, at least none that justifies the 75 CHF you had to pay for it.
But ...
... I don't think that people who intentionally sit in first class with a 2nd class ticket and claim it was accidental, can somehow be distinguished from the honest ones only by their looks. So you shouldn't be mad at the conductor, SBB or anyone
It is frustrating to be caught in that situation when you didn't intend it to happen for sure.
Having said that imagine it from the conductors perspective, how many hundreds of times do they here all sorts of stories and excuses. It's not surprising they take the positions they do when they find someone doing what they're not supposed to be doing.
Write to SBB a contrite letter explaining that being new to the place you had made a genuine mistake etc etc. You never know they might let you off part of the fine - no guarantee of course but worth a try.
FWIW as a 1st class GA holder many moons ago I used to get fed up with 2nd class ticket holders getting on the 1st class carriage with big suitcases etc then using it as a corridor. Sounds petty but I was making a daily 2hr door-to-door commute and had paid the extra for first class for a reason...
Cheers,
Nick
I am that guilty pleb - only with my skis and day pack though
Well actually I think the normal procedure would have been that either you had paid the conductor the extra for 1st class or you had to go to 2nd instead.
Once upon a time one could get his tickets on trains, so the extras for special services.
Now that SBB tried to cut costs also for staff they try to drop the responsibility on customers.
Btw Swiss transport service might be far better than any public service in UK and US, but not in comparison to other European countries.
Should have gone to Specsavers...
I think the big yellow stripes on the carriages and doors should be enough to help people realise where 1st class is.
It's also a sign of how many people have played the game with the ticket inspector before when there is zero tolerance.
Write to them very apologetically. It will cost 20 minutes of your time and a stamp.
Might be.
But being there more inspectors they paid for the extra and that was it.
And everybody knew there wasn't any problem in buying tickets on trains.
Thank you for pointing this out.
Because the silly thing is that public transportation service in CH was better before those strange ideology coming from the US.
operational cost cutting is to blame. trust me.
So did you take your fine and enjoy the rest of your commute in first class?
nope. i got caught out by this too. some trains, there's no real difference between first and second class and i only realised just as the inspector arrived...
You pay for the entertainment value of seeing your unsuspecting fellow passengers being busted for not knowing the difference
Is that not good enough?
As far as I know the numbers "1" and "2" are international or did I miss anything? Why can't people just admit that they are wrong without blaming anybody else?
As stated: strange ideology coming from the US.
If it's any comfort it probably wasn't much fun for them either. It's a lot faster and less complicated to walk down the platform than down a train aisle (especially with luggage) so the only reason you'd catch me doing it is if the train was just about to go and I was afraid I'd miss it otherwise.
Of all rants, this is the wrong forum for this rant. Sorry.