Train refund advice...really not sure what to do!

Feanor

Hi,

We booked tickets from thetrainline.com to go to Aberdeen to see friends for new year, they were flexible tickets to be used within a month. Obviously the weather was very bad and so we decided not to go. The tickets were £225 and we found out they were refundable.

We processed the refund as per instructions and was told it would take up to 10 working days to come back in my account. I applied for the refund on 26th Dec.

I called last week and was told it hadn't been issued yet and to call on 25th Jan as this was the last day it could be. I was then told yesterday that the refund was issued back to me on 30th Dec. I thoroughly checked my bank statements and it definitely hasn't.

Now they are requesting that I sent my bank statements to their refund department in Edinburgh! I replied and said I'm not sure I feel comfortable with it, they have such a lot of personal information on them but they said I have to send them and that they are confident they have given me the money back to the right account etc..

I really dont know what to do!
Pls help!

KeithP

I think you need to write a letter... a real letter.

Tell them the story so far and confirm that the refund has not been received.

Tell them they have 14 days to refund the money, or you will start a claim in the small claims court. (its easy... google MCOL)

CAB or Trading Standards may also be able to help.

FARE-COP

First, why not ask the trainline.com to produce an emailed confirmation of the transaction showing date and time that they claim to have paid into your account?

Demand that the confirmation should also include the account number and sort code that they claim to have paid the refund to.

Print up and take or send that to your bank and query the claimed credit with them

Feanor

I did ask them to provide details of the account number so I could check, but this is the reply I got.


Thank you for writing back to us.

The amount is refunded to the same account, with which payment was made to pay for the ticket.

The bank statement is needed by the Refunds Department to verify the refund as it has been refunded by us. Therefore, it is requested to send the bank statement to them to resolve this matter at the earliest.

If you have any further queries, please do not hesitate in contacting us.

Kind regards

I have written a letter this morning, asking them to return my bank statements after use and have provided a stamped addressed envelope. I have outlined the back story and been quite polite. If it doesn't get sorted after this I guess I will write again, mentionining Trading Standards and small claims court etc..

I still dont feel comfortable sending statements but not sure what other option I have.

Thanks alot.

dzug1

Well you could have at least sent copies, possibly with your name/address blacked out.

Feanor

dzug1 wrote: »

Well you could have at least sent copies, possibly with your name/address blacked out.

Well they have my name and address anyway from the booking, I was thinking more of the account number/sort code etc.

Mark_Hewitt

Feanor wrote: »

Well they have my name and address anyway from the booking, I was thinking more of the account number/sort code etc.

But you've said they have that anyway?

cityflier82

I've just had a similar bad refund experience with the Trainline.

I sent my unused rail tickets via First Class Recorded to their Refund Dept, PO BOX 222333 in Edinburgh. I am unable to track the item as apparently that address had a redirection in force. Registered a complaint with Royal Mail who seem painfully slow at investigating. I am unable to check the status of my refund online as I get an error message and the so-called Web Support team (based in India, naturally) are clueless.

Can I ask what postage method you used to send your tickets back to the Refund Dept in Edinburgh? If it was by recorded delivery, were you also unable to track the status of your item as I did?

I found no official direct number for the Refund Dept in Edinburgh, but I recommend you call The Trainline Head Office (search for the company on a rather well known anti-0870 website, which gives their 0207 number). Ask them for the direct no for their Refunds Dept in Edinburgh - don't be fobbed off with the 0870 Web Support number as that goes direct to the unhelpful bunch in India.

One other piece of advice. If buying rail tickets online in future, don't use the Trainline. They are the Ryanair of online rail ticketing, and charge for card and collection fees. If you book tickets directly through a rail operator, such as Virgin Trains or First Great Western, you don't get the additional charges even though the service is still provided by the Trainline!

Hope this helps.

glider3560

I bought tickets from the First Great Western website, which is operated by The Train Line. I received a refund of my ticket within 2 weeks and they didn't even ask for the tickets back. I sent an email via their website and attached a printout of the TOC's website which showed all services on my line were cancelled on that day.

In future, bear in mind that you can book tickets at any train company's website and they probably won't charge you the booking/credit card fee that is charged by The Train Line.

becky_rtw

East coast is also good and doesnt use the trainline as a back office - no postage either on tickets

They also have that 'cheap fare finder' tool which is good! Hope the OP gets some joy on their refund - I'm still waiting for some delay repay claims (you get train vouchers for these) from about 2 months ago so I think everything is a little busy on the refunds/claims side atm...