€50 fine for not checking in/out

Welcome to the NS Community!

A €50 surcharge because of no valid check-in or e-ticket is correct. Uitcheckgemist will not help you in this case.

Contact NS Customer Service a bit later, after you receive a letter with the M×××××× (6 digits) number (same as on the yellow receipt/slip you got from the train conductor).

The €50 extra cost for buying a ticket on a train will likely be waived, so pay that first and then get the €50 back somehwat later (usually within a few days).

And (if I may ask?) please let us know here how that worked out for you from/to Bodegraven (NS service)

Yesterday 18th of July, i boarded a train from Schipol airport to Deventer. I slept off in the train and was woken up by the train conductor to check my card. I gave him and he checked it twice, did not say anything and gave me back my card

I was surprised to get a mail from NS with title: Reis met correctietarief (Trip with correction rate) with (Relation number: 0224111684 | Our reference: 5224687280) charging me 50 euros for not checking in. 

I don’t understand what happened cos i expected the conductor to question me if he noticed anything but he just kept mute. i have never had any issues with NS and was surprised to be fined 50 euros.

Kindly look into this and help out with a solution for this.

Anthony

Hi, sorry to hear that this happened. When you are not checked in you will get a registration on your card. Thats why you received the email. We don't have to tell you that we make the registration. Its annoying and its nice when a train manager gives you the information but its not mandatory to notice the passengers.

He is not obliged to tell this. He is not the problem, it was you who did not pay for the journey. As people with this behavior often become aggressive, it is wise as well. He does not have to notice you. There may be a solution when it is the first fine. 

Remember that the train conductor notifies, but the decision is taken in the back office, not by the train  conductor. Just pay for your journey, the fine is caused by you.

Okay. i agree i was wrong.

But they need to be lenient with a 1st time offender. is there a way this fine can waived and i pay the normal rate for the journey?

You have to contact the customerservice by Phone, Twitter, Facebook or chat.

Can i get a tel no or link to use in contacting them?

Will appreciate any support with this

Yes, you can. That page contains the phone number, as well as the link to our chat and the links to our Twitter and Facebook pages.

https://www.ns.nl/en/customer-service/contact

You can ask for it but NS is not obliged to be lenient.

Well... not according to NS's instructions to its personsell apparently. Definitely according to the many customers who complain about this policy on here and elsewhere and I wouldn't be so sure about a court backing this policy either.

These people complain because they think that they can travel for free by starting agressieve discussions with the staff. 

Sure, that occurs, but I believe there are also people complaining who have made a genuine mistake, for who the 'fine' is excessive etc. who would like to appeal and I believe have the right to a fair trial, which starts by the opportunity to collect evidence by being notified immediatly when an offence is detected. You may not like it, but even actual criminals have rights and suspects even more so. I don't think you can ignore these just for the sake of an easier process or needing less personnel.

NS is not obliged to facilitate criminals, neither to provide extra staff to do so.

A staff that want to avoid aggressiveness is completely understandable. But the fact that people (e.g. policymakers) think they can combat aggressiveness with sneaky behavior shows naive short-sightedness.  

NS is not permitted to allow good willing customers to fall victim to policy failures.  

Fall victim to policy failures? You should have a valid ticket and if not you can get fined. That has nothing to do with "being a victim".

When you order a subscription, you agree with the terms and conditions. Corrections fees are part of terms and conditions 

Before portraying/treating customers as criminals you should arrange access control in a uniform and adequate manner so that such errors cann’t occur so easy.

Even with a valid ticket you can get a correction rate. 

Last year I was travelling on an international ticket with an NS discount. I first showed the international ticket with the discount. Then I hand over my chipcard to prove I have the NS discount. 

The control device probably told her "No valid check in" so she starts tapping on the device. A few minutes later I get an email about a correction rate.

I even asked her after she gave the card back what she did. She told me not to worry. 

Had the conductor told me what the problem was, I could have reminded her about the international ticket. Then she could have tried to find a way to tell the machine "has other valid ticket".

I contacted NS customer service. The correction rate was removed. It's a good thing conductors provide work for the NS costumer service. They have nothing else to do. 😉

Edit: ther are a lot of ways to have a valid ticket.

When checking tickets the traveller can give the wrong chipcard if they have more than one. 

You can travel on an e-ticket or OV Pay but give a chipcard because that is how you normally travel.

If the conductor mentions what the problem is, you can realise the mistake and give the right ticket. If the conductor doesn't say anything the only way to correct it is to contact NS costumer service.

And I do realise there are a lot of travellers without a valid ticket. Just don't asume everyone is a fare dodger. 

That is correct and relevant as long as these terms and conditions do not contradict to law as that makes them null and void.

Correct, nobody is a criminal until proven otherwise 'though and that won't happen unless proper procedure is followed when possibles crimes are observed.

What do you think would happen if the police would start sending people fines for things observed at the moment they occured without notifying these people about that then and there?

Correction fees are (sometimes) even issued when they shouldn’t be, e.g. when travelling with Weekend Vrij on a Saturday or Sunday and a missing check-in.

From another conductor (HC) here, I understood that consumers with NS Flex should be notified by them when any registration is made that could result in a correction fee. For Business Card travellers, the registration is allowed to be made silently.

Apparently, many conductors seem to be unaware of the fact that a correction will follow (see @boze Belg’s case with the international ticket).