National express £5 cancellation fee

Welsh_and_proud

I'm supposed to be traveling to blackpool in august with national express but they have cancelled the bus from wales so I have an option to cancel the ticket with a £5 cancellation fee or I can have a free amendment to a different time or date. I would like to change the date of travel but they have no buses travelling from wales so my only option is to cancel the ticket so why have I still got to pay a £5 cancellation fee.

Searcher2

From their own T&Cs they should offer you an alternative or a full refund.  As they don't have appeared to offer you an alternative then you should be able to get a full refund.
https://www.nationalexpress.com/en/help/conditions-of-carriage
9.3 (b) states

9.3 If we alter, cancel or withdraw a service, other than for your breach

(b) Cancellation before Service has begun: If we cancel or withdraw a Service before it has commenced, and you do have a place reserved on it, our liability will be at our option to:-

(i) make suitable alternative arrangements to carry you to your destination on another Coach, or other mode of transport as we consider appropriate and if you have reserved a seat and the reserve a seat option is not available on the alternative transport refund your seat reservation fee; or

(ii) cancel the Ticket, and allow you to claim a refund of the full amount of the fare and any seat reservation fee if no portion of the Ticket has been used, or, if the outward part of a return Ticket has been used, 50% of the fare and any seat reservation fee for the return Journey. To obtain a refund you must comply with Condition 10 below.

Andy_L

If they have cancelled then you shouldn't be paying a cancellation fee, they should be refunding you. Either they're trying to pull a fast one or theres been a misunderstanding somewhere

Welsh_and_proud

Searcher2 said:

From their own T&Cs they should offer you an alternative or a full refund.  As they don't have appeared to offer you an alternative then you should be able to get a full refund.
https://www.nationalexpress.com/en/help/conditions-of-carriage
9.3 (b) states

9.3 If we alter, cancel or withdraw a service, other than for your breach

(b) Cancellation before Service has begun: If we cancel or withdraw a Service before it has commenced, and you do have a place reserved on it, our liability will be at our option to:-

(i) make suitable alternative arrangements to carry you to your destination on another Coach, or other mode of transport as we consider appropriate and if you have reserved a seat and the reserve a seat option is not available on the alternative transport refund your seat reservation fee; or

(ii) cancel the Ticket, and allow you to claim a refund of the full amount of the fare and any seat reservation fee if no portion of the Ticket has been used, or, if the outward part of a return Ticket has been used, 50% of the fare and any seat reservation fee for the return Journey. To obtain a refund you must comply with Condition 10 below.

There's not a bus travelling from wales to birmingham coach station but there's a bus travelling from birmingham coach station to blackpool.

eskbanker

Clause 10.2(f) of their Ts & Cs specifies a £5 refund charge except if Condition 9.2 applies:

(f) Refund charge: We will make an administrative charge of £5 per passenger (or such other charge as we may specify from time to time) for giving a refund and cancelling your Ticket except if the refund is made because of a cancellation or withdrawal of a Service as detailed in Condition 9.2 or if covered free of charge by the Special Conditions.

However, as above, Condition 9.2 isn't the one covering them cancelling a service!  I presume this is an inadvertent failure to update cross-references within their terms, and they'd be in hot water under the Consumer Rights Act if they tried to make a refund charge stick when they're cancelling, so if they stick to their guns, you have a few options, including chargeback via your card provider, or Trading Standards, or ultimately small claims, but it won't get that far for a fiver, so start with a formal complaint: https://www.nationalexpress.com/en/help/complaints

RobM99

It's only £5 but it's the principle. They cancel - you pay - ooh, no!    A coach hold 50 people roughly, so assuming a full one, they collect £250 per non-going journey.