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Non refundable...

I just booked a one way ticket through the trainline and opted for a print your own ticket. As soon as I received the email I realised I booked it a week too early. I immediately called customer service where I was told that had I chosen any of the other print options (at the station or post) they would have been able to amend it but as I chose to print them myself, they cannot do anything. I kid you not, I called within 5 minutes of booking.

Are they entirely in their right or is there some law I dont know about that would allow me to get money back. It's £40 down the drain otherwise which is a lot of money for me. :(

Comments

  • Ouch.
    I think that railway tickets are not covered by distance selling regulations, so unfortunately it may be the case that you've lost your money. I'm more of a ticketing person than a consumer rights person though so hopefully someone will have more hopeful advice (even if just how to annoy them enough they relent!)

    Hope you can get your money back but the lesson is:

    1) NEVER use Thetrainline. It is always more expensive to book with them than at a booking office or on the website of a train operating company. Additionally if anything goes wrong it's another company to deal with.

    2) NEVER* use [EMAIL="print@home"]print@home[/EMAIL] or mobile tickets. They come with additional requirements (like bringing ID), and more importantly these "smart" tickets cannot be amended. Paper Advance tickets are the same price and can have the time and date changed (for a fee).

    It's laughable that these "modern" ticketing solutions are so flawed that amendments cannot be made because there's no fraud protection (you would think the guard would bleep your ticket and it'd be checked off on a central database, but no - they just check you've got the right ID). To me flexibility should be the whole point about "smart" tickets.

    * the only exception being that Crosscountry offer (or used to) a small discount on their Advance fares, but charge for collection.
  • wealdroam
    wealdroam Posts: 19,181 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    I can confirm that the cancellation of train tickets is not covered by Distance Selling Regulations.

    On page 9 of the OFT's guide to the DSRs we can see:
    The requirements to provide pre-contractual information, written and additional information, the right to cancel and the obligation on the supplier to carry out the contract within a maximum of 30 days do not apply to the following types of contract:
      Contracts to provide accommodation, transport, catering or leisure services (for example hotel accommodation; plane, train, or concert tickets; car hire or sporting events) where you agree to provide the service on a specific date or within a specific period. However, long-term residential hotel accommodation agreed under a distance contract may be considered to be rented accommodation and therefore subject to the DSRs.
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