Lost Myki Card on The Train and Got Fined - Melbourne

Ltickettomars on 11/01/2017 - 22:41
Last edited 12/01/2017 - 09:23 by 1 other user

Hi guys,

First time poster here, I have always been on Ozbargain reading posts with witty advices, never thought I would do this one day but here I am.

This is my story.

I got off the train to work at my station to find out that Myki card was lost. It was in my pocket and must have fell out on the train. I touched on at my station and also topped up right before touching on using my bank card. The inspector at the other end got my details and a fine finally gets to me today after 3 almost 2 months.
Now, I have no intention to pay the fine as much as I declined to pay the inspector on the spot as I did all in my ability to have a valid ticket and what happened was out of my control. I have always paid my fares and travel to work 4 days a week.
So I am gonna request a review before taking it to court (which I really don't want to)
Unfortunately, I do not register my Myki nor do I have a history of my travel. However, I can acquire a bank statement of my recharge on the date as well as previous top ups.

I really need advice on how to write a review letter (as English is not my first language with 0 experience). And if you have been in the case, any other advice would be much appreciated!

Regarding CCTV, do you think they would acquire it if I request? And my top up from the Myki machine, would they be able to track down which card it was on and hence access to my travel history? I really need persuasive evidence for my appeal and bank statement would not be sufficient (I think)

Thanks for reading such a long post, guys!

Travel

Comments

  • [Deactivated] on 11/01/2017 - 22:49
    +4

    Is it really worth the hassle to fight the fine? how much is the fine?

    I would just pay the fine and get on with it. Call it bad luck since you lost the card.

    • tickettomars on 11/01/2017 - 22:53

      221 now, on spot is 78 or something. I am not fighting, its my right I guess :).

      • Unorthodox on 11/01/2017 - 22:59
        +1

        Fight it.

        Read up on the articles, they never go to court.

        • tickettomars on 11/01/2017 - 23:05

          I did. Mostly unjust fines from machines not working while commuters try to touch on though.

      • [Deactivated] on 11/01/2017 - 23:27
        +1

        221 is nuts!. Fight it; get bank statements and CCTV if you can.

        I don't know if it helps to register the Myki. In WA, i have my smartrider registered with Transperth. Never had a fine, but not sure if I would get pinged if I lost it after tagging on even though it is registered.

        • tickettomars on 11/01/2017 - 23:49

          I know, thats why most people choose to pay on the spot! It helps with registered myki in cases like this as it will have a history of your tagging. If only I had one, the inspector would have waived it for me on the spot.

  • altomic on 11/01/2017 - 23:03
    +1

    if you travel to and from work 4 times a week then you probably make regular payments to myki.

    get bank statements that show how much money comes out each time you top-up your myki card.

    calculate how much it costs per day and how there is a similarity between the cost of transport and how much you top-up your card.

    back up with work timesheets if you clock on/clock off

    • tickettomars on 11/01/2017 - 23:08

      Yep, good point. I totally can get that. What about cctv though?

      • altomic on 11/01/2017 - 23:22

        ask at a large station about how long they keep the CCTV footage. if they keep CCTV for more than 2 months then ask how you can request the footage from the approx time you touched-on. they may have a procedure. they might require that you write a Right-To-Information request.

        talk to the the station people and ask if they might still have footage.

        also contact the metro train company (email/facebook/twitter/phone) and ask them as well.

        have you previously received a fine on the trains?
        how long (months,years) have you been catching the trains 4 times a week?

        • tickettomars on 11/01/2017 - 23:47

          No fine ever, first time I got one. I ve been on the train for 5 months. I think if the footage has someone else s face, i might not be able to just get it. But will definitely ask!

  • ms_caz on 12/01/2017 - 06:21
    +1

    I have successfully appealed a fine - in this instance on behalf of another person who did not have particularly good English skills.

    Simply write to the the address on the penalty notice. Explain to them what happened eg you topped up your Myki at the kiosk (and here is the bank statement to prove that you did transfer money to Myki that morning - attach a copy of the record) and that you tapped on but that somehow during the journey you lost your card. (How did that happen by the way? were you using it as a bookmark, did it slip out of your pocket? Give them a brief outline of how you think you might have misplaced your card.) Also explain that you regularly use the train from X -> Y station ( eg every weekday morning) and that you can show that you have a positive track record in topping up your Myki ie that you have good habits and have not shown any attempt to travel without a valid card previously, and also attach records of that if you have them.

    In my appeal, I also added some comments regarding the good character, honesty and reliability of the person fined, along with reiterating that it was not their intention to travel without a valid ticket but an accident. In my case I had seen them top up their card and touch on, so I was able to add my observations to substantiate their story.

    It took quite a while for the decision to come through but in the end we received a letter to waive the fine. Our fine, btw, was $78 which we needed to pay or appeal, and if the appeal was unsuccessful, then would be up for $221. The $78 was not asked for at the time of the "offence" as such, but became due once the letter was received in the mail. It would have only become $221 if we missed the payment deadline, which obviously would have occurred if the review was not upheld.

    good luck with it.

    • tickettomars on 12/01/2017 - 10:41

      Thanks for the details!
      In my case, it is whether you pay 78 on the spot (pay with efpos), which means admitting to the fine or wait for the 221 fine to get home then appeal later. If its about the moeny I would have paid 78 but I did not do wrong so I will definitely appeal.

      The card was just by itself in my bag s open pocket. I dont think it was stolen, might have slipped out. Or who knows

  • dasher86 on 12/01/2017 - 06:36
    -2

    On your account you should be able to see the last station to tapped on for your journey.

    • John Kimble on 12/01/2017 - 07:08
      +2

      If you read the post, the card is not registered, therefore he has no access to the history.

  • John Kimble on 12/01/2017 - 07:10

    Might be hard/a lot of effort to get the CCTV footage if you don't know the exact time you are using the top up machine.

    • JIMB0 on 12/01/2017 - 09:39

      The bank statement would have the time / date.

      • John Kimble on 12/01/2017 - 10:17
        +1

        Really? I guess it depends on the bank. In my experience, most credit card statements only show dates (which are sometimes wrong due to settlement delays). Not sure if mobile bank apps would have date and time stamps?

        • JIMB0 on 12/01/2017 - 18:43

          ME Bank gives the time. ING only seem to record it for cash out transactions. In any case I'm sure the bank could provide it.

    • tickettomars on 12/01/2017 - 10:43

      I can work out the time quite easily as my travel time is the same on my work days.

  • Baebs on 12/01/2017 - 10:46

    Always fight the fine. Melbourne ticket inspectors are devoid of logic and reason, commission is their main priority.

    If you have evidence that you topped up the Myki prior to receiving the fine + have a clean history, you should have no problems appealing.

    The review panel is actually quite lenient if you drill it into their heads that you weren't intentionally fare evading.

    https://www.reddit.com/r/melbourne/comments/28xlsn/got_a_myk…

  • vroomkroom on 12/01/2017 - 11:37

    Hmm,totally understand and you should review this fine !! Time for the PVT to think about linking DL with myki when purchased at PVT counters, so it can help public transport users in these situations. Losing your stuff on train is all too common. However, I guess in this case the inspectors did their job and now you got to fight it out. Good Luck

  • MilkDrinker on 12/01/2017 - 12:45

    Im just double checking but do you have a registered Myki now? Wouldn't want a repeat…

    • tickettomars on 13/01/2017 - 09:19
      +1

      Haha no, did that already. Im now backed up.

  • RockyRaccoon on 12/01/2017 - 14:52
    +5

    While sympathetic as any ozbargainer would be. We never like seeing money wasted, you really have no one else to blame here.

    1. You lost the card. Not the inspector.
    2. Inspectors hear that story all the time. Thanks to many who try to game the system. Hey look at the number of threads here on how to get extra Amex credits, free pens etc by registering different addresses etc.
    3. Talking of registering. Why you didn't do that? Its there to protect you in many ways. Just like proving you do pay for fares, plus any credit can be locked. (Well in NSW with Opal this can be done)

    Take some responsibility for your own actions. Stop blaming the inspector who is doing their job to stop fraud. There are systems in place, you just decided not to use them, while we all can make mistakes, blaming others for your mistake in losing the card isnt really fair on those who had nothing to do with it.

    Yes we give you the benefit of the doubt, that you really did lose your card, but how do we or anyone else know that you havent come here to get ideas on how to game the system.

    Really I doubt if you are, but to be brutal, we cant tell.

    Forget about CCTV, they really arent going to waste manpower and time looking thru footage, and providing that to you.

    The bank payments for your myki card are probably the best bet, but how are you really going to prove on which card these were made. Again the bureaucrats aren't going to spend time looking these up for you.

    • tickettomars on 13/01/2017 - 09:19

      Thanks for your comment, you really took time for it but I am sorry, have you read my post? Lol there was no word that i blame the inspector. And why would I? In fact I totally understood how the situation looked for me thats why I chose to wait for the fine and appeal. Sometimes its bad luck eventhough I did all I could to travel with a paid ticket.

      I guess my point is, not everyone travels with a registered myki and thus this happens quite often, how are you gonna tell it from fraud? Are you just gonna close your eyes and fine it all to make sure you dont miss the fraud? Thats why I need to speak up and they need to listen. No balls are not in my court but I ll do my best.

      Btw, it sounds like you work in public transport sector and have doubt in humanity? :)

      • RockyRaccoon on 13/01/2017 - 09:36
        +2

        No I am not a public service lacky.

        I just have lived longer than you OR had similar issues with other organisations. Call it life experience

        While all you say on a one off makes sense, the reality is that you are one of many that has to be dealt with.

        Each time someone goes through as much detail, think how much time is spent dealing with this.

        Unfortunately people unlike here, get paid to "investigate" your issue, who is going to pay for your "mistake" - are you saying its ok that the taxpayer pays thru higher wage costs?

        Just like our friend who posted here recently made a mistake, not insuring his car. Sure it sucks and he like you is upset at wasting money, and unlike what you say, I do have humanity. I feel for them like I do surprisingly for you. However what humanity do I have in telling you, that yes get your video's, yes get a few Public servants to review this video, who then spend a few hours writing up why the agree you shouldn't get fined (you know if they dont then someone could claim they gave you favourable treatment because you are purple, have 3.75 years of education or whatever) - when btw they wont be bothered to do this.

        So all I was telling you was to be realistic. Life has more important things to be involved it.

        No more from me, can lead a horse to water, but… 😀

        • tickettomars on 13/01/2017 - 09:59

          I am sorry but I just dont get it. According to you then if they dont want to investigate or review, just dont give people option and dont have a team just for review! Doesnt it sound dictatorial?

          Yes, they have a team for that. Here is their address:
          Case Review Team
          Public Transport Regulatory Operations
          Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources
          GPO Box 2392
          Melbourne VIC 3001

        • John Kimble on 13/01/2017 - 10:20
          +1

          @tmdao: I agree that the time and effort (i.e. $$$) that may be required to fight this seems to outweigh the fine amount. RockyRaccoon is basically saying don't waste your time, other people's time for your two mistakes (1: losing your Myki card 2: that was not registered); own up to your mistake and cop the fine, and learn from it.

          But fighting it is your call…and I would probably fight it or think about fighting it if I were in your shoes.

          As per a previous comment of mine, I would primarily be concerned with the time and effort of having to get CCTV footage (if that is something you need to do). Getting, downloading, copying CCTV footage is notoriously tedious to do. Probably needs a staff member with specific access and time to find it and then something to transfer it to, etc. Who pays for all this time and stuff?

  • LyndonBBear on 13/01/2017 - 14:20

    Have you contacted the stations to see if it had been handed in? Stranger things have happened. I have a registered Go-Card (Qld) and I check at least monthly in case the tagging hasn't worked and I've been slugged extra. I just don't wear it and always write in stating my case. Never not had a refund. It is silly not to have registered when you have topped up and now possibly someone else can be using your funds.

    • tickettomars on 09/03/2017 - 16:31

      My fine has been withdrawn :)

  • tickettomars on 09/03/2017 - 16:37
    +2

    UPDATE: My fine was withdrawn with my letter and a copy of bank statement. No CCTV. Thanks everyone for the advices. It took more than a month to reply my letter though, still worth it.

    • TakaHas on 09/03/2017 - 16:46

      Congrats! Did your bank statement have your Myki card reference number? If it doesn't , the Case Review Team being very nice to withdraw it as it only showed you have topped up at that time and not used it at your departing station.

      • zappy32 on 10/03/2017 - 20:55

        On your online banking you should be able to get the transaction ID/record/number of any purchase you've made, any merchant should be able to link this to a specific transaction that they have a record of. In this case, PTV will be able to see which particular Myki was recharged on that transaction. Not that OP did it for this but if anyone is reading in the future I would include this in any review.

      • tickettomars on 11/03/2017 - 00:52
        +1

        Its true what @zappy32 said, they can trace it back to my card hence check my history. I am just not sure if the review team went that extra mile (or is it easy to do so?).
        I knew they could but did not request it in my letter. Only bank statement of how frequently I recharge my myki and a fact that cctv should have captured me successfully touch on my card (we have barrier at my station).

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