Luas difficulties

visiting student

As you can probably tell from my username, I'm a visiting student from the States. I've been taking the luas every day from Milltown to St Stephen's Green, so I bought a monthly student pass. It said I needed valid ID with it, so I assumed that this was referring to my Trinity student ID. However, as you probably all know, it refers to a student transportation card. I honestly had no idea that this was true, so when the man checked for tickets and asked to see this card, I got all flustered and pulled out all the ID cards I had and showed them to him. They ALL showed I was a student, every single one of them--my Trinity College Dublin card, my immigration card, my ID card from UCSD and an additional card I have from my program that shows I am registered for student health insurance--but the guy said no, I needed this one particular card. He wrote me an SFN for 45 euro, told me to carry it with me, call the office in the morning and tell them I am in the process of getting the proper ID and hope they waive the fee, and if not, he said I can appeal.

Is it likely that they'll waive the fee, or that I can appeal successfully? I really don't think I should have to pay, given that I spent the money to buy the monthly pass, I'm going to spend the money to buy this new card, and it was an honest mistake. But will they actually care about any of those things? How can I make a convincing appeal? 45 euro is a lot of money to me right now, and I really don't think I should have to spend in on something so idiotic.

AlekSmart

visiting student wrote: »

Is it likely that they'll waive the fee, or that I can appeal successfully? I really don't think I should have to pay, given that I spent the money to buy the monthly pass, I'm going to spend the money to buy this new card, and it was an honest mistake. But will they actually care about any of those things? How can I make a convincing appeal? 45 euro is a lot of money to me right now, and I really don't think I should have to spend in on something so idiotic.

Oh dear...let the games begin !!

Alun

AlekSmart wrote: »

Oh dear...let the games begin !!

Indeed, it's not as if the necessary information is well hidden ...

http://www.luas.ie/student-tickets.html

LaFlammeRouge

How long are you in Dublin for? Another 5 months? Don't bother paying it.


Anysways they need a special travel card becuse some Universities issue cards the duration of the degree program, i.e the card could expire in 2014 or something. But you might drop out next year. Hence they need validation.

visiting student

I don't really care if you all think I'm wrong. But the facts are this:
1) I'm brand new to the country and I made an honest mistake, and I'm taking every action to right it by buying the correct card. I had already bought the more costly of the two.

2) I'm asking you you think an appeal will be successful or not.

Nothing else enters into it, but for what it's worth, I KNEW I needed ID, I was just under the wrong impression as to what that ID was. It says somewhere I guess (not on the actual ticket itself, certainly)...but to someone who's new to the country, between all the forms and cards you have to get, I think the confusion is rather understandable.

Also, I can PROVE that I'm a student NOW in about ten different ways. And it DOES say on the card when it expires (30/09/2012), but even if it didn't, my student ID card from the States says that I am a student in 2011-12. Plus, I carrying a stack of books from the TCD library which I could have only gotten with the appropriate and current ID. My address is correctly listed as one of the college's residence halls, which I could not live at unless I was a current student. There is no reason that I need another card to prove that I am a current student; someone is just trying to make money. That's one of the reasons it's BS. Another one? They're getting their ****ing money. I bought the month pass like I was supposed to, and tomorrow I'm going to the student union to buy the card. I'm being honest, here, and it was just an accident.

So for all of those reasons, I rather think I shouldn't have to pay. But as I said, I don't care if you agree with me or not because your opinions do not determine whether I "owe" 45 euros to the luas or not. I am asking you if an appeal has any chance of success. . Nothing else. If you do not wish to help, please leave me alone. I'm not in the mood. I'm REALLY not.

LaFlammeRouge

Tell your sob story to the judge then lol

visiting student

AlekSmart wrote: »

Oh dear...let the games begin !!

For what it's worth, this really upsets me, and I would appreciate it if you didn't make fun of me, although frankly I don't know what else I could expect from someone called "AlekSmart." Honestly, if you have nothing better to do than mock my experiences and offer no help at all, maybe you should take a long walk on a short pier as they say...or go play Tetrus. I don't care what you do. But don't bother me. I'm already upset enough for one day.

visiting student

LaFlammeRouge wrote: »

Tell your sob story to the judge then lol

Will do. But will it work? That's my question.

foggy_lad

visiting student wrote: »

2) I'm asking you you think an appeal will be successful or not.

Nothing else enters into it, but for what it's worth, I KNEW I needed ID, I was just under the wrong impression as to what that ID was. It says somewhere I guess (not on the actual ticket itself, certainly)...but to someone who's new to the country, between all the forms and cards you have to get, I think the confusion is rather understandable.

You can appeal the standard fare notice which you were given by the inspector, the address for such appeals should be on the back of the notice you received.

Nobody can say if any appeal will be successful but they sometimes waive fare notices where it involves monthly/weekly tickets without id as long as the appropriate id is presented afterwards or even when people genuinely forget their ticket but are able to show later that they had a monthly/weekly ticket purchased to cover them they often have penalty fares waived

The only student id accepted is the student travel card.

You knew you needed id but did not research which id you actually needed? How do you get by in the United States with such things as having the right id for bus and rail or other services? I bet you would have been fined at home for not having the right id and may not have had any right of appeal, why would you think it any different here?

Jehuty42

Drop into to SU in House 6 9am tomorrow and get a card printed. Takes less than 5 minutes, fill in the form and get a mugshot taken, it's printed then and there and you're good to go. Then take that card and your others and make your appeal then. They will in all likelihood probably waive the fine if you can quote the number on the card and they check it on their system as being registered. No guarantees though, but if you can be civil(more civil than on here at least) they might be nice to you. Otherwise, just pay the fine. It's really not that much, just one night in whatever trendy club is popular these days I'd imagine. Certainly when I was a student €45 wouldn't have been a huge problem for me, an annoyance, but I wouldn't go hungry. Course, when I was a student, I made sure to get the travelcard every year after registration.

i57dwun4yb1pt8

took a crack at the mick and lost eh ?

visiting student

foggy_lad wrote: »

The only student id accepted is the student travel card.

You knew you needed id but did not research which id you actually needed? How do you get by in the United States with such things as having the right id for bus and rail or other services? I bet you would have been fined at home for not having the right id and may not have had any right of appeal, why would you think it any different here?

In America, your student ID card from your college suffices for literally everything that requires proof of student-hood, so the question is rather irrelevant. I think I could make a good case for myself in America, however, if I found myself in these circumstances. Nonetheless, this is Ireland, and yes, things are done differently here. Regulations are a lot more stringent and they focus on different points of criteria. If you ever go to America for a substantial period, I guarantee you'll notice.

As for the situation at hand, I guess I rather foolishly assumed that four different cards that all show that I am a student would be sufficient ID, since they are sufficient ID for most other things. Anyway, my confusion was compounded by the fact that I previously showed my ticket on the luas and they never asked me for any form of ID at all.


Thank you, however, for giving me a real answer.

-Chris-

Thread closed due to group Trolling