Abusive / unfair fines

JusticeForAll

Hi all,

The purpose of this message is to raise awareness about SBB’s fining methodology, and to expose such behaviour among this community.

A couple of months ago I was given a fine for activating the easy ride 20 seconds too late. Departure time: 15:02 hs, activation time: 15:02. So, within the same minute.
I understand the terms and conditions, but in the end, rules and laws must be interpreted and analysed consciously. A plain text cannot consider all possible scenarios.
As I got to the train platform I needed to make a decision and had two options:

1- Miss the train.

2- Get on the train and buy a ticket or activate easy ride.

i chose option 2, and easyride activation. As you may have realised, the app takes sometimes several seconds to complete the geolocation. But I was finally able to activate it on time (or that’s what I thought).
Half an hour later, the controller came and I confidently showed my ticket. She said I activated it too late and gave me a fine. I am not going to elaborate here on how much I tried to explain that she was making a wrong decision, that there is no way someone could conclude I was trying to cheat; nor will I comment on her rudeness and unprofessional attitude.
Long story short, I was given a fine for not having a valid ticket. Total amount: 125 CHF (35 CHF for the ticket, 90 CHF for the fine -“surcharge”-).
Not to my surprise, and contradictory enough, I received an invoice from SBB for my trip using easy ride, and was charged for it 35 CHF. Therefore, the ticket, as per SBB, was valid.
So, as funny and annoying as it sounds, SBB charged me for a valid ticket and -at the same time - gave me a fine that included the ticket fare and the surcharge for “not having a valid ticket”.
When I called customer service, they offered me a discount of the surcharge from 90 to 30 CHF, and of course removed the ticket value from it. So, the debt was immediately changed from 125 CHF to 30 CHF. What a nice gesture from SBB, isn’t it?
This, and many other cases I’ve known of, tell me that SBB considers fines a profit centre. And while 125, or 30 CHF, might not be too much for one customer. Imagine how much money they make taking money from millions of passengers just because they think they can do it.

The majority of the people will pay because they don’t want to spend time arguing, simply don’t want to argue, or because they are afraid of being involved in the bigger problem: “the debtors black list”. Ihave exchanged too many emails with the SBB team and we have not been able to solve the dispute. For me, It’s not about the 30 CHF, which would have actually been 125 CHF had I not called SBB to complain. It’s about fairness, customer abuse avoidance, and differentiating right from wrong.

I encourage us to stop this.
Because SBB knows that we can’t choose another service provider, they do whatever they want. Those of us who don’t own a car have to use the train. And SBB is the only option.

Note: lately, we’ve been experiencing a poor service on a regular basis, with cancellations, delays, missed connections, that make us arrive late to work or home. BUT, SBB gives me a fine because I activated easyride 20 seconds too late.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.
Kind regards.

StéphanieB1

Good evening JusticeForAll

We are sorry for the inconvenience.

Please contact Service Center Revenue directly on 0848 00 11 33 or email fahrausweiskontrolle@sbb.ch regarding the fine.

I understand your annoyance. Basically, we always recommend buying the ticket before boarding the train (purchase completed when you see the QR code). If you get on the train the minute of the actual departure, search for the trip, go through the purchase process and the train is already leaving, it is effectively too late.

Have a nice day,
StéphanieB

Llaiwhaungeess89

JusticeForAll

It also happen to us, while we are travelling, we are running to catch the train, then we board and activate, it was late but its already activated.
then the professional come and charge us a Fine , for activating too late,not to mention that we dont have good service and application might be delayed. Which we are unsure of why its was late
i think its very dissapointing, as we are travelling from italy, france and this never happen to us before ( we did late activation before, due to running to a short transfer train)

Hopefully they can read this feedback and fix this annoying issue

JusticeForAll

JusticeForAll
I thought I should give the community an update on how this situation turned out.
SBB put me into the debt collection register. Unfortunately, this is how the system works. I could have gone further with the dispute, but in the meantime I would have remained with a “debt” on my debts report.
As we all know, for many things in Switzerland, we need a clear debt ![report.](https://) Therefore, even when I know I am right and that this claim was abusive from SBB side, I had to give up and consider the fine a cost of using the public transport in Switzerland.
It is a shame that I had to pay, and that what was 30 CHF at the beginning, ended up being 300 CHF 1,5 years later.
I “lost” because the system is setup so that the weak part doesn’t get enough support or representation.
In this issue I even involved the Ombudsstelle, who didn’t / couldn’t do anything to protect me as a consumer.
As a last resource, because my legal adviser told me it’s not worth initiating legal actions for this amount, I ask SBB one last time. Are you guys committed to delivering a good service? Do you care about your reputation?
If so, I ask you to refund the 300 CHF to me, in front of this community. Have integrity. What you did in my case was a theft.
In the meantime I keep missing connections due to the poor service offered: trains delayed, connections (train and buses) not waiting enough to allow people to get in.
What will you (SBB) do to repair this issue, that I had to pay 300 CHF because I was put into debt collection. Show the community that you care.

JusticeForAll

StéphanieB1

Hi StéphanieB,

thank you for your reply. That’s why I chose to use Easy ride instead. It was faster than buying the ticket.
I have already called and exchanged several emails. Unfortunately, they don’t want to understand that the fine does not apply, and that the whole situation is abusive.
it should be simple.

1) the geolocation takes several seconds.

2) the controller only checked my ticket 30 mins later.

3) SBB charged me a valid ticket, despite the fine.

4) SBB service is anything but punctual, lately.
5) how much more would I have had to pay, had I purchased the ticket 20 seconds earlier? Zero!!!

Best regards.

alpenglow

StéphanieB1

I think this is effectively what should be called “abusive terms and conditions”. SBB is a monopolist so the typical narrative of contractual freedom does not apply, because there is none.

In my view, there is no reasonable justification for the terms and conditions to state that a ticket must be bought before entering the train or the schedule departure. This probably made sense many years ago when you could not buy a ticket after entering the train, but in particular with EasyRide this ruling is somewhere between anachronistic or purposefully constructed in bad faith.

In the end, the key question should be:
1. Did somebody activity EasyRide on time to pay the fully appropriate ticket price vs. a lower price by intentionally activating it late,
2. Did somebody activate EasyRide long enough before an inspection so that there is no obvious motive of avoiding a fine after an inspection was imminent?

The current terms and conditions do not follow a reasonable and fair standard.

In the particular case of the OP, I do not see any justifiable reason why OP should be fined at all since there was no substantial wrongdoing by OP.
Quite the opposite, in this specific case I think one can argue that SBB is exploiting OP’s clumsiness in an unfair way.

Finally, since SBB is a monopolist, it would only be fair that SBB’s customers should have a vote on the terms and conditions similar how it is done e.g. at Migros.
If such a standard is upheld in that case, at least one could argue that it is democratically legitimized whereas now it’s just one unelected monopolist elite ruling over the people.

RolandP

Hello alpenglow

Thank you for your comment. I would like to respond to your post, as there are some incorrect statements in it.

Please note that the EasyRide function isn’t exclusively used by SBB, it’s an industry standard based on Fairtiq, which is used by all Swiss public transport providers, not just SBB. Both EasyRide and Fairtiq technologies are based on the national ticket tariff, which is based on the national public transportation code. However, nobody is forced to use EasyRide if the person does not agree to its G&Ts.

It is essential to activate EasyRide at the station of departure. Activating it two minutes too late may result in the passenger paying less than he/she actually rode. Especially in suburban areas, activating it later will register the next station, for example, Zürich Hardbrücke instead of Zürich HB.

You mention fairness: it is true that it is imperative for all passengers to possess a valid train ticket at the trains’ departure, irrespective of the method of acquiring it - EasyRide is not an exception. This is equitable, as the rule is uniform for all and prevents unnecessary discussions during the ticket verification process.

SBB recommends activating EasyRide before entering the train, in order to ensure that the ticket is available upon departure. According to the tariff, the passenger must have activated EasyRide by the time the train leaves

Kind regards,
Roland

alpenglow

RolandP

Hi RolandP, unfortunately your argument is a bit besides the point. My main argument is: Independent of EasyRide / Fairtiq, the standard itself that tickets must always be purchased before the scheduled departure is in itself an abusive T&C / tariff condition in such cases where it makes no difference.
You mention urban areas such as Zurich as an example, but this again is not really an argument.
It is typically verifiable whether Fairtiq was started late in such a way that it makes a difference on the fare vs. in any way where it makes no difference on the fair.

The only standard, as I previously explained, should be whether somebody did pay the full fare and whether it was significantly before an inspection (i.e. there was no obvious motive to only pay the fare because an inspection was imminent).

Punishing anyone for buying a ticket 2 minutes late as long as it makes no difference in fare price and as long as an inspection only takes place significantly later (e.g. at least 10 minutes later), is not OK, irrespective of whether EasyRide or traditional manual app purchase or whatever alternative form of purchase you could theoretically use.

SBB’s mantra of: “Oh, but then we would have more discussions about whether a ticket was valid” is insufficient. They are a service company and catching a train just in time, which can result in buying a ticket within 2 minutes after departure not before, is a valid concern of the typical train user and should therefore be a regularly permitted practice. The current T&C is not democratically legitimized in spite of the monopolistic nature of SBB, not in the customers’ best interest and is abusive and unfair in certain edge cases as the one from OP.

It’s the same with errors in your tax declaration: In Germany, Austria and in Switzerland, you can not be punished nor fined for wrongful tax declarations as long as the wrongful declaration does not result in paying less taxes. SBB should follow such a standard, not the anachronistic N-minutes rule which makes no sense in the digital age. SBB’s current standard is illegitimate.

Plemax

We got into the same issue. I was visiting Zurich for a few days. I bought tickets 1 minute after boarding, which was considered a violation by the inspector. As tourists, we couldn’t figure out how this system works, but we had to take the train. In my mind, if your rules are so strict, don’t sell the tickets after departure. SBB collects the price of the ticket and fines people in addition for not purchasing their product correctly. This is just a pure punishment. I understand when people are caught without a ticket, but when you have a ticket but still get a fine, that’s outrageous.

Thajiosuz66

Me too i got fine of 117€ per person. Our flight was delayed to Zürich and we took the next train because we did not made it to the scheduled one. He said our ticket is only valid for one train. Yes it is because was the saver but to charged that amount for each although we actually have a ticket not even just partly fine but with additional and more. That was so unfair and for first time tourists here in Switzerland is also very traumatic. Who and where can we contact for assistance on this matter.

RolandP

Hello Thajiosuz66

Supersaver tickets are only valid for the connection chosen upon purchase. This is the string attached, and part of the deal as Supersaver tickets are very discounted, while you give up any flexibility. This is clearly stated when you purchase Supersaver tickets.

In the SBB Community, we never do suggest Supersaver tickets when arriving by air, exactly to prevent people from having an invalid ticket when the flight was late. The ticket is no longer valid on another train / connection. If you book a cheap saver air fare, and you arrive late at the airport, you must also purchase a new flight ticket, same with trains here.

There is no difference between residents and tourists made during the ticket control. It would not be fair to fine residents, while tourists can simply travel with an invalid ticket. Tourist bonus, yes, but not in cases which were crystal clear, such as the validity of the ticket.

Kind regards,
Roland

Pequuttee88

Had the very same unfair treatment from SBB on a Post-Auto. Bought the ticket 1.5 minute late due to simply forgetting it. The ticket price 3.20 CHF, the unfair fine 90 CHF.
Despite being a longstanding costumer with multiple years of GA and now participating in the PLUS-Program. Their rules are unbelievably unfair and I‘m seriously considering buying a car and boycotting this unfair monopoly as s whole! So disappointing!

RolandP

Hello Pequuttee88

Tickets on Postauto buses are not checked from SBB, neither are the invoices handled by them; Postauto is in charge. We therefore suggest contacting Postauto.

Kind regards,
Roland

ShitForBrains

A business woman next to me just had a fine too. The conductor came across like ‘I have power’. Her response was shocking; “AI was invented purely to replace bureacrats of the communist variety. Enjoy the last days of checking tickets”.

Goughivunn71

I never bought a car and i am using the train during 20 years, each year i bought an GA/Swisspass and i have to say i am a BIG fan of this railway network, it’s punctuality, safety, modern trains mostly very clean etcetera

During 20 years it have seen countless times how the SBB fine system is flawed.
I will never forget myself als a loyal customer for 15 years buying the GA, that i was checked between Geneva and Geneva airport and I did not have my GA on me. I explained to the controlleur that i was on my way to the Worldcup in South Africa where i would work the next 5 weeks, that given my 5 week absence i did take my plastic GA card in my portefeuille fearing i could loose it of being robbed, that i would give him my ID card, that he would see in his system that i am having a GA, that i have been buying each year a GA, that i would be in South Africa and that it would be impossible for me to show my GA in a Swiss railway station withing 2 weeks. He was perfectly able so see in his system with my ID card that i was a customer, a loyal customer the last 15 years, that i was who i pretended to be, that my residence was nearby, that i was on my way to the airport with two huge suitcases printed with big “PRESS” letters. He did not care a second. He just fined me 5 CHF for not having a plastic card on me during a traject of about 15 minutes between Geneva and Geneva airport and told me to go show my GA in a station within 2 weeks to avoid being fined even more money. When i came back home 5 weeks later i had a few letters from CFF. They wanted a fine of about 500 CHF despite every CFF employee meeting me in the train and seeing my ID details in the file that i am a GA client, that i have been buying GA the last 15 years, that i did not even had deposited my AG during these 5 weeks nor asked them to reimburse me for not having used my GA during my 5 weeks stay, that I already had paid 5 cHF on board for not having a plastic card on me, that everything was absolutely perfectly verifyable and yet, this company who already got 4000 CHF for my GA, thinks it is necessary to fine paying loyal clients another 500+5 CHF for not having a plastic card on them. I could not believe my eyes. Really nasty. After a series of letters they settled for about 200-300 CHF. I will never ever forget the “CFF customer experience” even if i tell everyone how much i enjoy travelling by train in Switzerland. It begs understanding which management designs and wants to enforce such unscrupulous tactics. It is a disgrace towards honest and loyal clients. Where on earth does a company charges loyal clients 500 CHF -customers who are already paying their services for not having a plastic card on them, despited being their ID checked on board and already having paid a fine on board for not having that piece of plastic with them. It is not rocket science. The CFF staff controlling on board can immediately see with an ID card that the person is a paying customer or a cheat. It is already weird that in 2024 a client is fined 5 CHF for not having a card as he/she is already paying. And there is definitely no need in 2024 to aks clients who have been identified on board to go show a plastic card in a nearby railway station ?

A few weeks ago, my 80 year old mother came to visit me in Switzerland and I bought several day passes at the commune to show her Luzern and Lugano. It is a flat fee that you can use the whole day. The train controlleur insisted of seeing the ID card of my elderly mother to check her daypass. Sometimes you cannot imagine how customer unfriendly and how exaggerated some controlleurs act and speak. I am not even sure he has the right to ask people’s ID cards. Really weird.

During my frequent travels i have seen people not having tickets but not being fined. Lately i was sitting in a terribly overcrowded train during rush hour between Lausanne and Geneva, an American lady in her thirties, blocking 3 places around her with a suitcase while people where standing on top of their toes 45 minutes in the corridors and seated on the stairs, the two controlleurs barely got through the crowd. It turned out she had not bought a ticket, “because my battery died” she chatted up the controlleur and he did not fine her. He did not even told her to free up the places around her. On other occasions I have seen traincontrolleurs talking rude to tourists, lecturing them, stern voices like they are God or Police. Others are nice, professionnal and helpful. It is a bit a hit or miss. And to be fair, their job is not always fun nowadays with increasing levels of violence, agressive passengers, lack of respect, drugs, alcohol, robbery….

On another occasion i was lectured and fined around 5 AM because I had boarded with my mountainbike an otherwise totally empty train starting at Geneva airport going to ZH via Neuchatel. I had a GA plus a yearly abonnement for my bike but I was not aware that on top of that you need to buy “a reservation” on top of a bike reservation on this line. I found it ridiculous that she was getting so overly excited at 5 AM, we were all alone in the compartiment, I had a GA and an abonnement for my bike. Nevertheless she fined me 10 CH for not having that extra bike “reservation”. On top of things on that extra “reservation” was written in bold that this “reservation” is not a guarantee whatsoever that you are buying a guaranteed place for your bike. Honestly. So what was all the fuss and lecturing at 5 AM about to a client that is having a GA + having a GA for his bike in a totally empty train at 5 AM ? Go figure the logic and the customer attitude.

It is human behavior. Some CFF controlleurs are kind, empatetic and will go out of their way to explain or to help you. No doublt. Some however like to play God, like to lecture, like to fine people or like to raise their voices and tell someone loudly in a crowded compartement “listen good how lucky you are because i can fine you if i want and there is nothing you can do about it”. If they do not control tickets on board, a lot of people would not buy tickets. If you do not have a reduced fare or an abonnement, Swiss train tickets are way too expensive compared to taking a car alone, with 2-3 people but i think they need to treat clients friendlier and fairer and develop “fair” rules especially today where you can identify clients immediately on board. After all this is PUBLIC SERVICE

RolandP

Hello Goughivunn71

Thanks for your message. We are a customer support page run by volunteers.

Great to read you are an avid supporter of the Swiss transit system. As a (loyal) client you have rights yet also obligations to fullfil.

Let me clarify a few things:

taking the train, even for a short distance, requires a valid ticket; you are receiving a service for which you have to pay; leaving the ticket intentionally at home is indeed a bad idea.
while I understand that you did not want to carry unnecessary cards, instead of the red plastic card, you could have used SwissPass Mobile being part of the SBB Mobile app
-ticket examiners can indeed research your GA; however, this is not done free of charge; it requires additional effort for which you have to pay a CHF 5 compensation; by the way this fee remained unchanged for decades now; if every passenger would ask the ticket examiner to research their GA, the ticket examiner would not be able to check everybody’s ticket.
if you can’t pay the CHF 5 admin fee to issue a temporary GA right on the train, you can still use the online verification tool later, the QR is available on the paper form that you have got from the examiner. Here is the link to pay the surcharge:

https://www.sbb.ch/en/help-and-contact/my-travelcards/travel-without-valid-ticket/rogf.html

Nevertheless, while reading your lines, I simply wondered why you have not been able to pay the CHF 5 right away on the train? As you traveled to SA, you certainly did have a valid credit card with you, didn’t you? By doing so, all would have sorted on the train, though.

the ticket examiner cannot see if you are a loyal customer or not; for data protection reason, which is in your favour, such information is not available to the ticket examiners; the only thing the examiner is interested to know during ticket check: does everyone have a valid ticket.
if you were unable to see an agent at the ticket office within 10 days, you will pay a CHF 30 admin fee instead of CHF 5.
a CHF 500 invoice is simply impossible unless you have not shown any reaction on the invoice and reminders that were sent to your home address, or you have been registered multiple times in the past for not having been in the possession of a valid ticket; in this case, the costs do rise with every new incident.
e-tickets are personalised and therefore bear the passenger’s name; as a consequence, anyone using an e-ticket must show an official identity document together with the ticket. This is stated in the GTCs that you either accepted while purchasing the ticket or while downloading and installing the SBB Mobile app (see Profile > Legal)
yes, trains are public service, however it does not imply that everything is for free; you also pay taxes but still have to pay for any document or attestation issued by the authorities upon request; nobody works for free nowadays, you probably neither.
ticket examiners must treat all customers equally; if you think this was not the case with you, please fill in the complaint form made for this purpose:

https://www.sbb.ch/en/help-and-contact/customer-service/praise-comments/reklamation.html

Have a nice sunday,
Roland

Philippe89

Hello RolandP ,

You’re missing the point of Goughivunn71. What he is saying is SBB’s controllers should use a little bit of their brains so a lot of problems could be avoided.

Goughivunn71 is just explaining how a normal person should process their thoughts through a situation. SBB controllers just copy and paste SBB’s rules without taking account of the situation, this is not how a good society should function. If every profession followed SBB’s rule system, we will be doomed. For instance, a surgeon’s job is to cut and sew, voilà. So no matter if the anesthesia is working or not, the surgeon will still cut and still sew, the patient screaming pains in the table is not his problem because his job is to cut and sew! Fortunately this rarely happens because the surgeon takes each situation into account.

Following the rules is not wrong but copy and paste the rules into the reality will just make you like those religious fanatics who are stuck with a book written in stone age where flexibility and innovation have no place.

SBB’s rule is greatly unfair to its customers. Someone activated their easyride 20s too late you fine them 90CHF. But to get 90 CHF from SBB, your train should be late for 60 min and my ticket should cost at least 360 CHF (https://www.sbb.ch/en/help-and-contact/refunds-compensation/refunds-compensation/compensation-for-delays.html). Do you think your time is worth more than ours?

The design of SBB’s website + machine are confusing people. It’s not crystal clear as you thought. If so, why so many tourists are making mistakes ? While customers shows tolerances towards your late and canceled trains each day on top of their dirtiness, you show them none. Plus you are rude with them, your public’s opinion is already bad (Trustpilot 1.⅘ stars - 2014 reviews - Tripadvisor ⅖ stars - 136 reviews [data from 07.12.2024], + a lot of foreign forums reviewing you negatively). But hey, why should we care about public’s opinion when we have the power right ?

And Goughivunn71 is right, SBB controllers are often on a power trip. I take the train every day and I see that’s very common. I know SBB can’t properly educate their staff even with all the money in Switzerland but it costs nothing to tell them to be polite.

Wish you had a pleasant reading and a good weekend.

Goughivunn71

Hi Roland, You go at great length explaining in all kind of possible details how a client is in the wrong but you miss the essence. Clients are clients, not lying cheating human beings that need to be fined at every twist and turn. The point here : I am a client, a loyal client on top of it, I have paid the GA, I can identify myself, the train controller checked it, saw that i was holder of a valid AG, the whole thing lasts a few minutes. Why do I need to be fined ? Since when do clients have to pay companies extra for the sake of being controlled or being fined ? How many companies demand clients who have been vetted on board, who have already been fined on board to go to a representation of the company within 2 weeks otherwise they are fined once again ???? Clients are clients. Not to be treated with suspicion nor criminals.

And yes the controlleur checked my ID on board, and yes i paid him CHF 5 in cash for not having the plastic card on my. Logically that would do for any other normal company. And yes as i wrote i have been bying each year a GA so there is no chance i was cheating or blacklisted. I wrote i was 5 weeks working in South Africa so unable to check my post box in Geneva and without being able to go to a Swiss railway station showing a plastic card. All this I told the controlleur. Most people would get it. He did not or did not care a damn. And the person who send me all these letters during my 5 week absence could easily check whether i had a GA or not before sending me these letters. Maybe it is automated but still. This whole “we will fine you as much as we possibly can” for someone who is holder of a valid GA is so extreme. You give the impression that a holder of a valid GA who during the year forgets a few times a plastic card, it is perfectly okay for you that this person pays 500 CHF for not being able to show that plastic card in a railway station after having paid already 5 cHF fine on board of a train. Schocking if you ask me. Upon my return i found a few letters of CFF and yes the fine was 500 CHF. I could not believe it, really extreme. They finally settled for about half of it after a few angry letters from my side. At that time the CFF App did not exist. And yes I was 5 weeks abroad so what could i do ? All this because i paid the service but did not have a plastic card on me. Most people would understand the situation immediately. Most people would show empathy. Even a bus ticket from Geneva to Geneva aiport cost less than 5 CHF. There was not a single argument not to see that i was on my way to the airport with 2 heavy suitcases with press on it and everyone knows the world cup is about to happen. The whole was just a disgrace and totally exagerrated. Most people would understand. You do not. Your colleague controlleur did not. Just blindly fine clients and move on not caring. It once again underlines how some CFF staff have a very special concept of “clients” and “customer service”. Some are empathic, helpful and friendly. others do not care much.

Companies sell services, clients pay for it. Holders of a valid abo may get controlled but after being ID checked, that is should be it. I don’t know any other company that wants clients to pay an extra fee “for being controlled” if their ID check reveals they are holders of a valid ticket. When a company sees that you are the holder of a valid abonnement, they will wish you a good day and that is it. No company fines its clients then ask them that they go somewhere show once again the invoice otherwise they are being fined a few hundreds of CHF for a service they paid for anyway. The whole thing shocks me, Clients are not there to be lectured about all the company little reglements and to be fined on every possible occasion, on every turn and twist.

And yes, in the 20 years i am using my AG i have seen countless times some controlleurs fine people for little and others will show “Kulanz” or ignore it. C’est comme ça

Baris91

The same situation mentioned here before happened to me and my wife on 06/12/2024. It was also strange that the person checking our tickets did not answer our questions properly.

Namely, on 06/12/2024 we tried to catch the 21:43 train from Basel Bahnof to Zurich HB and we could board the train the last minute. Since we were running to catch the train, we were not able to buy our tickets in advance and could buy them only after getting on the train, as soon as we sat in our seats (my wife bought a ticket for Basel, Bahnhof SBB-Zurich HB and I activated my EasyRide as I thought it would be quicker). Moreover, it was past 21:44 when the train started its departure. In other words, it departed almost two minutes later than the mentioned time. A few minutes after the train`s departure, the controller came and we proudly showed our tickets as we thought we did nothing wrong and that we already have valid tickets whose price would cover the complete journey. However, the controller said that our tickets were invalid and he fined me and my wife, and when we asked for the reason for the fine, we did not get a reasonable answer. He just said that it was the rule and that we bought our tickets too late and we could not buy a ticket after getting on the train, but I think the rule is not reasonable. Yes, I activated my EasyRide after getting on the train but we were still at the Basel Bahnhof SBB station when I activated it because the train did not leave at its actual departure time and the SBB Mobile App let my wife buy a ticket for the 21:43 train after getting on the train.If it is forbidden to buy tickets after getting on the train, why does the official paying tool allow you to buy tickets? It should not let you do anything regarding a ride that seems to have passed its departure time. And at this point, I would like repeat the fact that my wife paid the full fare for Basel Bahnhoff SBB-Zurich HB ride. It was not a lessened amount that she paid. It was the full price. After all, after having paid for the tickets for the place we are travelling to, I do not really understand why we are fined again. Please make new arrangements to have some flexibility here. The controlling staff should be able to tell the difference between ill intentions and other cases. The way you apply the rules are not reasonable in any ways. Punishing people who try to do the right in this way does not benefit an institution like SBB.

Krist

What I don’t understand is why people wait till the very last moment with buying a ticket …

Philippe89

Hello Krist,
Baris91 and his wife were just trying to catch the train late in the night, they are not being dishonest here, they paid for their tickets way before the controller showed up. People are often late and disorganised so this thing happen.
Do you always buy your tickets in advance, ALWAYS? If yes, then great for you. I hope in the future when you are late or made a mistake, people will show you the same amount of tolerance that you are showing toward Baris91 and his wife.
Wish you a pleasant night.

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