Letters: French rail fines are so severe even for honest mistakes

To the Editor,

My uncle and aunt were travelling on a train from Roquebrune to Nice with their children and grandchildren last week. 

They had bought a family ticket from a machine but when checked in Nice were told it was not correct (they don't speak French). 

The difference in price between their ticket and the correct ticket was €3.50 but they were fined  €188 and shouted at by the member of staff. 

The SNCF thinks this fine is reasonable, despite it being a genuine mistake rather than an attempt to save a few euros. 

Is there no 'droit à l'erreur' in this kind of situation? I am not blaming 'the French', as many English people would. 

I am a big fan of the French people and most of my friends are French (I've enjoyed living here for 24 years). 

But it does seem a shame that my relatives have been put off coming to France again, something I'll be telling the local tourist office. 

The SNCF could do much better. 

We had the totally opposite experience with Zest, the company that runs our local bus service. 

One of their buses had a problem and was running very late so, whilst we were waiting at the bus stop, a staff member pulled up in his Zest car and offered to ferry all 12 of us to a stop on another route to our destination (several trips), before going off to help other passengers. 

They bent over backwards to help their customers

Richard McCreery, by email

Have you been fined by the SNCF over a ticketing mistake? Share your experience at letters@connexionfrance.com