Crosscountry train delay results in money loss. Should I complain?

grinch49

Hi All,

Just wanted to figure out if I have any grounds to file a complaint and hopefully get a compensation.

Here goes my story:

This morning I was traveling from Bath Spa to Taunton, to complete a course which I've paid £60 for. My train (Crosscountry) was delayed by 20 min which made me late for my course by 10 min. Now you might think not big deal, but they have "no late comers" policy and that's regardless of your circumstances (evil of what?), so I wasn't allowed in. As the course is compulsory I now must pay an extra £30 to re-book it for another day. Not to mention the wasted 4 hours of return train journey which I've paid £22 for.
Had the train not been late - all of the above could have been avoided.

What do you think? Any chance I could get any compensation from Crosscountry train company?

I would imagine it may be a lengthy process, so I thought I'd you first before wasting days and days on this.

Thanks.

nearlyrich

On the subject of compensation it may be worth writing a letter but a 20 min delay at rush hour is not unheard of and they may be reluctant to compensate you.
Was it not possible to give yourself a little more time by catching the earlier train? Something to think about when you rebook perhaps?

miniemma

I doubt very much that you'll have any luck claiming anything.

IMHO You really should have given yourself a larger margin for error and got an earlier train. According to their website they leave approximately every half an hour.

Zinger549

I think the delay has to be more than 30-60 mins. http://www.traindelays.co.uk/Faqs.aspx#6

miniemma

From their website:

CrossCountry aims to provide the most punctual service possible,
but when serious delays occur we will apologise and provide
appropriate compensation. If your journey with us was delayed
by a long time, irrespective of what caused the delay, you may
be entitled to compensation under our Delay Repay scheme.
For our customers whose journeys are delayed by CrossCountry
trains we offer:
• 50% of the cost of your single ticket or 50% of the cost of
either portion of your return ticket for delays of between
30 and 59 minutes; or
• 100% of the cost of your single ticket or 100% of the cost
of either portion of your return ticket for delays of 60 minutes
or more
• If your journey is delayed by more than two hours and you
have a return ticket, you will be entitled to receive 100%
of the cost of the return ticket

grinch49

Thanks guys. It's not looking promising :-(

marleyboy

I totally sympathize with you, I used to take two trains to and from work, one into the City, and another one back out again. If the 1st train was just 5 minutes late, it had a knock on effect causing me to miss the outbound train, ensuring I would arrive in work of anything upto an hour late.

Once or twice in a blue Moon, the Boss might be sympathetic, but as this was a regular occurrence (at least 2-3 times a fortnight), understandably my boss was becoming irritated by the situation.

It got so bad, I ended up getting buses in and out extending the journey time from an hour a day, to 3 and a half hours a day. Up until I moved jobs.

pmduk

If a 20 minute delay made you 10 minutes late, it meant that you only left a 10 minute buffer, I'm afraid you've contributed to this problem yourself. Put it down to experience and next time get the earlier train and grab a coffee somewhere.