Most passengers don’t know their train refund rights – find out yours

euronorris

wealdroam wrote: »

I understand that complaining publicly on social media websites may help, although I have no direct experience of this.

Consider reporting your issue to Passenger Focus.

Thank you.

A quick complaint, publicly, on Twitter saw me receive a swift resolution to this issue, as well as the full refund I was entitled to.

strawberry12

A National Rail Voucher is not a 'repayment' or 'reimbursement' - especially so when the conditions under which you can use it (only for bookings over the phone, and weeks in advance) differ so markedly from the terms under which the original tickets were purchased. This is the practice of East Coast trains, and it is a con.

tripled

strawberry12 wrote: »

A National Rail Voucher is not a 'repayment' or 'reimbursement' - especially so when the conditions under which you can use it (only for bookings over the phone, and weeks in advance) differ so markedly from the terms under which the original tickets were purchased. This is the practice of East Coast trains, and it is a con.

I disagree it's a con - if I get stuck in traffic or breakdown no-one gives me anything! But if the train is significantly delayed, I get my journey effectively for free. Seems like a good deal to me.

National Rail Vouchers can be used up to the day of travel at a ticket office, including for advance ticket sales and for railcards. I just pop into my local station on my way past if I want to buy advance tickets.

I agree it would be better if they modernised a bit so the vouchers could be used online as well (like Clubcard vouchers), or indeed offered a choice between physical and e-vouchers . However I guess that would have to be a co-ordinated effort between the various companies and the regulator, so I doubt we'll see that any time soon.

yorkie2

portlandboy wrote: »

My question is, as he travels on an "anytime" ticket can the return delays be claimed for or would the claim be invalid if a later/earlier train was still on time? Would the operator simply say that hr didn't have to get the delayed train. How could we prove that he was going to get the only delayed service?

Delay compensation is based on the delay to the journey. You can claim if your journey is sufficiently delayed. If a train that was scheduled to leave earlier turned up, that would reduce any delay to the journey.

stoneman wrote: »

We got compo from East Coast trains for a delay but it came in vouchers that you can only use by booking over the phone,

If you ask them, they will exchange them for online vouchers

stoneman wrote: »

and it has to be more than 6 weeks from when you want to travel.
Now I am going to use a word that I don't use often, this is a CON!

That is not true. Who told you that?!

yorkie2

strawberry12 wrote: »

A National Rail Voucher is not a 'repayment' or 'reimbursement' - especially so when the conditions under which you can use it (only for bookings over the phone, and weeks in advance) differ so markedly from the terms under which the original tickets were purchased. This is the practice of East Coast trains, and it is a con.

Not true. Who told you this?

The vouchers are valid for bookings by phone, at a ticket office, or on board a train. They are valid for a year and there is no "weeks in advance" requirement. I could hop on a Northern Rail train at Poppleton and ask the Guard for a ticket to London for immediate travel with part-payment in Vouchers.

If you prefer to book online, then contact East Coast and they will convert them for you.

jackbgi

am I lead to believe that super break tickets are excluded from this compensation claim. I've received a ten pound vocgher fo r1 hr,15 delay on my 3 tickets as a goodwill gesture. I've no idea of the price of tickets as theyre inclusive. Vouchers are no good to me either.

Renegade_JL

My experience of Delay Repay is that it is designed to be inconvenient, slow and voucher based to reduce the number of people claiming. My train operator is Southern, and the service has deteriorated to an absurdly bad level over the last 2 months due to industrial relations problems. For the last few weeks I've been affected by cancellations or long delays on about 50% of my journeys, so I've recently started trying to claim refunds (mostly because I'm so frustrated with the service and want Southern to feel the pain!).

But it's not a simple or customer friendly process. I try and do it on my phone from the station / train. Their website isn't really mobile friendly. You need to complete a long form, which involves typing multiple long numbers across from your ticket into different fields as well as personal id info. You need to upload a photo of the ticket (which needs to be under a certain small file size). Invariably the form triggers a validation error and needs to be resubmitted, and the details re-entered. And when you've finally managed to submit it after 3 attempts, it tells you someone will review your claim and get back to you 20 days later! Most people I know simply can't be bothered, particularly as the refunds for commuters with monthly or longer season passes are tiny fractions of the cost.

It could be so much simpler, particularly for season ticket holders. But a simpler straight through process would mean more claims and higher costs for the operator, so there is not much incentive.

wealdroam

jackbgi wrote: »

am I lead to believe that super break tickets are excluded from this compensation claim. I've received a ten pound vocgher fo r1 hr,15 delay on my 3 tickets as a goodwill gesture. I've no idea of the price of tickets as theyre inclusive. Vouchers are no good to me either.

If it's a goodwill gesture rather than an entitlement, throw the voucher away if it is no use to you.

capman55

I have 2 train travel vouchers issued by Abellio Scotrail, are these valid on other train companies as I am visiting England soon and as I will be travelling on trains down the it would save some money.

wealdroam

capman55 wrote: »

I have 2 train travel vouchers issued by Abellio Scotrail, are these valid on other train companies as I am visiting England soon and as I will be travelling on trains down the it would save some money.

Yes they are.