Rail Travel: Tips on Cheap Tickets

malkie76

Ok, so had I not received compensation from East Coast for an unrelated event what do you think my position with ScotRail would be.

Do you appreciate they are separate events ?

edit

ie can you address the point I'm raising rather than resort to moral judgements.

wealdroam

malkie76 wrote: »

Ok, so had I not received compensation from East Coast for an unrelated event what do you think my position with ScotRail would be.

In that case, you should be due a refund from 'the railway'.

Who do you think paid for you to travel on East Coast?
Could it have been Scotrail?
So when East Coast let you down perhaps they should've refunded Scotrail, who in turn then should have refunded you.
Seems to me eminently sensible for East Coast to refund you directly, doesn't it?

Anyway, if you were to substitute both 'East Coast' and 'Scotrail' with 'the railway', I am sure all will be clear.

malkie76 wrote: »

Do you appreciate they are separate events ?

No.

malkie76 wrote: »

edit

ie can you address the point I'm raising rather than resort to moral judgements.

That is difficult.
We are, after all, striving for fairness.

malkie76

Unfortunately I have two issues.

1) Failure of ScotRail to deliver sleeper service.
2) Late running of East Coast Service.

I've been rightly compensated from East Coast for their late running service. I have not been compensated from ScotRail for their cancelled train.

Could you possibly focus on that ?

Livingthedream

Slightly confused, you posted this

malkie76 wrote: »

Unfortunately I have two issues.

1) Failure of ScotRail to deliver sleeper service.

But originally posted this;

malkie76 wrote: »

They replied saying the Sleeper Service actually ran as scheduled

So why should Scotrail compensate you if the service ran as scheduled?

But more importantly the only compensation your entitled to is a full refund of your tickets, which you have already got from East Coast. Unless of course you still have your tickets, then send them off to Scotrail and see if you can get another refund off them.

malkie76 wrote: »

Do you appreciate they are separate events ?

Yes, however, the maximum compensation for both the events you described is a full refund, to the value of the tickets you purchased.

malkie76

So why should Scotrail compensate you if the service ran as scheduled?

Largely because all of their released information stated the service was cancelled (phone and internet).

As a consequence of acting on their information I arrived back to work a day late, and had to stand on a packed day train service, rather than an overnight bed in a cabin service. Their own terms say they compensate if they fail to deliver the cabin service as promised - that's really my issue.

Also, the wording from East Coast is that they compensated me to the value of my purchased tickets due to the late running of their day service - something which was completely independent of the ScotRail situation.

I genuinely appreciate the input thanks

Livingthedream

malkie76 wrote: »

I genuinely appreciate the input thanks

Did you surrender the tickets to East Coast? I would guess you have as these would have been needed for a refund, but you could try this;

Write to Scotrail, explain the problems you had, how it effected your working day, how disappointed you were with their service and how after that event you don't think you'll use the train again for business. You might get a goodwill gesture* from Scotrail to entice you back on the railway, best I can think of, sorry.

Remember to include any Sleeper booking references in your letter.

ScotRail Customer Relations
PO BOX 7030, Fort William, PH33 6WX

*Not guaranteed

wealdroam

malkie76 wrote: »

I've been rightly compensated from East Coast for their late running service. I have not been compensated from ScotRail for their cancelled train.

Could you possibly focus on that ?

I don't know whether, in your view, I am focusing on the right thing or not, but to help me do that can you please explain to me why you expect 'the railway' to refund you more than you have actually paid?

I do not believe that there is anything either of the company's Customer Charters that can lead you to assume that you can get back more than you have paid out.

Maybe you will need to visit the small claims court to get a judge to confirm that you should also be compensated for your consequential loses.

Have you asked either railway company to compensate you for your consequential loses?

Do you have travel insurance that might help?

malkie76

You might get a goodwill gesture* from Scotrail to entice you back on the railway, best I can think of, sorry.

Basically that's all I'm looking for - a concession that they messed up and caused inconvenience to their customers.

please explain to me why you expect 'the railway' to refund you more than you have actually paid?

Lost work, significant inconvenience, and the fact that they messed up on two separate occasions.

Have you asked either railway company to compensate you for your consequential loses?

Not yet as I didn't think it was necessary - I thought simply pointing out their errors should have been enough to trigger action.

At present I'm left with the impression that ScotRail can leave passengers stranded, provide incorrect information, and fail to provide services paid for without any recourse.

Do you have travel insurance that might help?

Do you have travel insurance that might help?

Absolutely. I have extremely comprehensive travel insurance - however I'm unlikely to use it for the same reason I'd be unlikely to claim on car insurance if I knocked my own wing mirror off and replaced it for £50.

wealdroam

malkie76 wrote: »

wealdroam wrote: »

Have you asked either railway company to compensate you for your consequential loses?

Not yet as I didn't think it was necessary - I thought simply pointing out their errors should have been enough to trigger action.

How did you expect the railway company to work out what your consequential loses were?

I think it is a bit unrealistic to expect them to offer to pay for any consequential loses without any suggestion from you that there are any such loses.

You need to quantify your loses and claim them from whichever railway company you deem appropriate.

Be prepared for a battle on this.

House_owner

I am looking up prices of train tickets to travel to London on 19th May from the Thornaby, I see that there are tickets from about £52 single on 5th May, but as soon as I go to 19th May the prices are going up to over £100, what is so special about that week? - I am quite flexible about the times, but would prefer to arrive in the afternoon