Virgin Trains Partial Refund

micktuggy

I have received a partial refund from Virgin after the Liverpool to Euston service was cancelled following the tragic accident involving the light aircraft.
Although not directly their fault it caused the train services to initially be delayed and then ultimately cancelled.
I incurred more costs due to having to travel by car...petrol,parking, congestion charge, toll road charges etc.
Now they have refunded to parking fee of £52.00 as a "good will gesture" but the £81.00 for the train ticket has been refunded as travel vouchers with a 12 month expiry date on them. I do not travel more than twice a year by Virgin so this is unacceptable. The letter quotes the charter saying that Ticket vouchers are the refund policy.
My quiestion is if this is the only way I am likely to get my money back and if there is any further course of action I can take regarding the other costs incurred. Amounting to a further £43.00.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Mick

gner_ex

This is all they are obliged to give. As you say, because this is circumstances beyond their control, they are not legally obliged to do anything - but their customer charter provides refund by vouchers. You have been very lucky to get the £52 cheque back.

Now you're not supposed to - but you may find that your best plan here is to offer these vouchers for sale and ask people to PM you their offers.

Or you could treat yourself to a weekend away somewhere and travel by train?

micktuggy

Thanks for the reply gner_ex.
I forgot to say I was given the claim form by one of the
Virgin Travel Agents and was told that because the train had origionally been a delayed service rather than cancelled I should be entitled to any expenses incurred( within reason of course).
The trains were cancelled following a signal failure well away from the site of the crash but they were using it as the excuse for the delays. IT was a Sunday so I expected a longer journey.
Anyway I think I will pursue it by letter suggesting they should give me a full refund on the tickets and come to some arrangement about the other amount.
The problem I have is being given vouchers. If I want to travel by train I will do it when I want to and not because I have to.
They have taken that decision from me with a backhanded refund which is a bit unfair considering I paid straight away in cash.
I will see how I get on and post any response.
Thanks again.
Mick

omelette451

micktuggy wrote: »

Anyway I think I will pursue it by letter suggesting they should give me a full refund on the tickets and come to some arrangement about the other amount.
The problem I have is being given vouchers. If I want to travel by train I will do it when I want to and not because I have to.
They have taken that decision from me with a backhanded refund which is a bit unfair considering I paid straight away in cash.

That's absolutely the wrong attitude to take. As said above, they don't have to give you cash back, so by no means would it be fair for you to write saying they should do anything. However, I do suggest that you write explaining politely that you're not sure vouchers will be of any use to you and ask them if they could issue a cheque instead. It's not unheard of for them to agree to such requests, but put yourself in their shoes - if they have no obligation at all to do so, why would they give it out to people who shout and make demands?

Good luck, and yes do let us know what they say. If the worst happens, you've got a year to use the vouchers, and there are plenty of nice places you could visit between now and next March. You can use them on any train company's services, so you've effectively got the whole country to play with.

jkdd77

If your train was cancelled, you are entitled to a full refund under the National Rail Conditions of Carriage: http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/system/galleries/download/misc/NRCOC.pdf

26. Refunds on tickets which have not been used
If you decide not to use a ticket (other than a Season Ticket - see Condition 36) to
make all or part of your intended journey, then:
(a) if the train you intended to use is cancelled, delayed or your reservation will
not be honoured, you decide not to travel and at that time you return the
unused ticket to any ticket office, the Train Company responsible for that
ticket office will, if it is in a position to do so, give you an immediate full
refund as shown in Condition 27;
(b) if paragraph (a) does not apply and the ticket has been bought from a Train
Company’s ticket office (or a self-service machine) and you return your ticket
at any Train Company’s ticket office no later than 28 days after the expiry of
the ticket’s validity, you will receive a refund (subject to the notes below); or
(c) if paragraph (a) does not apply, the ticket has been bought from a Train
Company’s telesales office or a Train Company’s internet website and you
return the ticket to an address notified by that Train Company no later than
28 days after the expiry of the ticket’s validity, you will receive a refund
(subject to the notes below); or
(d) if paragraph (a) does not apply and the ticket has been bought from a travel
agent, if you return the ticket to that agent no later than 28 days after the
expiry of the ticket’s validity, you will receive a refund (subject to the notes
below).
Notes:
27. Method of refund
The method of refund will be as shown in the table below:
Method of payment Method of refund
Cash Cash or cheque at the discretion of the Train Company
or travel agent. Any immediate refund given under
Condition 26 (a) will be made in cash where the Train
Company is in a position to do this.
Cheque Cash or cheque (which could include the return of
your cheque) at the discretion of the Train Company
or travel agent.
Credit or Debit Card Issue of a credit voucher and credit to the
relevant account.

I received a full refund to my debit card (my method of payment) after a train was cancelled due to severe weather. The fact that the train was cancelled due to circumstances beyond Virgin's control is irrelevant; however if the train had merely been delayed then they would not have had to pay any compensation for this.

Write to Virgin quoting the NRCOC and demand a full refund.