Advice on who to claim a train refund off

fleeze69

Hi guys, I think I may be fighting a loosing battle here, so just after any advice and wondering if anyone has ran into the same problem and what they did.

Last Sunday me and my dad were due to travel home from London Euston - Tamworth at 18:45. I jumped on the tube at London Bridge an hour before to make sure I'd get to Euston with plenty of time (it's a 14 minute tube ride) so I thought I'd left enough time. Tragically someone jumped under a train at Camden Town so the Northern line was severely delayed. The tube driver suggested over the tannoy we get off at Bank and try an alternate route, so we looked at the map and noticed signs saying that the Circle line was shut, but there was no mention of the Hammersmith and City and the Metroplitan lines so we headed to Liverpool Street (on the Central) to swap there. On getting to Liverpool street we found that all 3 lines were shut, so we went back on ourselves and eventually go on the Victoria to get to Euston.

When we eventually got to Euston we had missed out train by 5 mins, on enquiring with London Midland we found there were no other London Midland trains to Tamworth that day, so the only thing we could do was use a Virgin Train which would cost us £40 each (as our tickets were only valid for London Midland trains).

We explained the sitution, but the Virgin guy said it's not Virgins fault so I couldn't travel for free, the London Midland guy said it wasn't London Midland's fault so they won't pay the £80 and both companies suggested I pay the £80 and then contact the underground when I got home.

I contacted the underground and they said as all the closures were planned, and as the Northern line was closed for reasons out of their control then they will not pay the £80.

In my opinion it is no ones fault that I missed the train (including my own), but I am the one who is £80 down, I feel it would be better if train companies worked together more in certain circumstances.

Any advice would be great! Or do I just knock it on the head, and put up with being £80 down.

Livingthedream

Unfortunately the reasons you stated are beyond the controls of the train companies and TfL, however, the TOC/TfL customer services dept might give more joy than an employee at the station, they may not give a full refund but might give you a 'goodwill gesture'. You have nothing to lose in trying and might be lucky.

Don't enclose any tickets until either write back to you.

Customer Service Centre,
London Underground,
55 Broadway,
London
SW1H 0BD

Customer Services Team,
London Midland,
PO Box 4323,
Birmingham,
B2 4JB

You could also try Virgin trains but IMHO the train manager was right to refuse the London Midland tickets and issue new ones, I would also word the letter different as you would be better trying for a 'goodwill gesture' but here's their address;

Customer Relations Manager,
Virgin Trains,
FREEPOST BM6613,
Birmingham
B5 4BR

If you want help writing the letters then give this member Yorkie2 a PM he's better than me at writing letters to train companies.

fleeze69

Thanks "Livingthedream" I'll give it a go!

TimothyEBaldwin

If you had a ticket from London Bridge to your destination then London Underground and London Midland have a joint responsibility to get you to destination, so they should refund your money if that is the case.

AirlieBird

Livingthedream wrote: »

Unfortunately the reasons you stated are beyond the controls of the train companies and TfL,

The reason doesn't matter for 'Delay Repay' on National Rail, although in this matter it is not relevant as the delay occurred before the National Rail commenced.

You didn't say what your ticket type was. If it is NOT an "Advance" then you can get a refund for your unused portion within 28 days of the expiry date of the ticket. You should contact the place where you bought your ticket.

yorkie2

fleeze69 wrote: »

...Last Sunday me and my dad were due to travel home from London Euston - Tamworth at 18:45. I jumped on the tube at London Bridge an hour before to make sure I'd get to Euston with plenty of time (it's a 14 minute tube ride) so I thought I'd left enough time. Tragically someone jumped under a train at Camden Town so the Northern line was severely delayed. The tube driver suggested over the tannoy we get off at Bank and try an alternate route, so we looked at the map and noticed signs saying that the Circle line was shut, but there was no mention of the Hammersmith and City and the Metroplitan lines so we headed to Liverpool Street (on the Central) to swap there. On getting to Liverpool street we found that all 3 lines were shut, so we went back on ourselves and eventually go on the Victoria to get to Euston...

Ouch, that's a long way round.

Anyway, it sounds rather like this Tube delays causing me to miss train where someone was using Oyster PAYG from Brixton to Euston, then a Virgin Advance from there. They were not covered for this journey as that is not a valid 'combination of tickets' to count as one journey. The OP bought a new ticket but Virgin refunded their original tickets as a gesture of goodwill, this is Virgin's policy (Source: VT customer relations), that goes beyond their obligations. Other operators policies may vary.

If your journey started at London Bridge, and you used Oyster PAYG then you are in the same situation unfortunately, and a new ticket needs to be purchased, in this case the Any Permitted single is just a few pence less than the return at about £40. You could probably have got to Birmingham on London Midland (from where the fare to Tamworth is cheap) but it's difficult for me to say without knowing more details.

If you were using LU to transfer between London Bridge and Euston as part of a valid combination of tickets, or if you had purchased a ticket from Zone U1* London to Tamworth (instead of from London Terminals) you would have been covered, and entitled to travel on a later train, and it would be up to Virgin/LM to decide between them how you would be conveyed.

Assuming your journey started at London Bridge itself, my advice for next time would be to buy a ticket from Zone U1* London instead (as detailed in the other topic) - hope that helps

Livingthedream

AirlieBird wrote: »

The reason doesn't matter for 'Delay Repay' on National Rail, although in this matter it is not relevant as the delay occurred before the National Rail commenced.

Unfortunately, unless like yorkie stated, they were travelling on a single ticket London Bridge (Zone U1*) to Tamworth it does matter. Hopefully the OP will post back and inform us of what tickets he had.