£10 Admin fee for refunding tickets bought in advance

LongWindingRoad

Hi, I purchased some train tickets in advance - It now looks like i wont need these due to COVID restrictions -  The train company say they want £10 admin fee per train ticket to refund.  This is hardly fair - Has anyone found a way round this?

daveyjp

If the train is running at the time you booked and you are cancelling the ticket the charge is valid.

If the train has been cancelled or timings altered refunds are free of charge.

LongWindingRoad

Thanks Davey - I am talking about travel cards - Not specific trains.  Before these train tickets were refundable or changeable without charge.  I find the £10 change fee on a £16 ticket not ideal!

NBLondon

£10 to change or refund an Advance ticket is perfectly normal and has been for years.
If it's a different ticket; it's the terms and conditions that you agreed to when you bought it.
If you specify precisely what ticket and what train company - there will be a more knowledgeable person along soon.

daveyjp

And where the ticket was purchased from.

Hasbeen

LongWindingRoad said:

Hi, I purchased some train tickets in advance - It now looks like i wont need these due to COVID restrictions -  The train company say they want £10 admin fee per train ticket to refund.  This is hardly fair - Has anyone found a way round this?

If it is an advance ticket they sell it very cheaply with known conditions attached.

What type of actual ticket is it? You now say it is a travel card? Where did you buy it, hopefully not Trainline.

jbuchanangb

If you purchase a ticket in advance and then decide not to use it, there is a £10 admin fee. I certainly once went through that process for a ticket which had cost £16. That applies to refundable tickets. If the type of ticket is "Advance", then normally there is no refund possible. You have to suck it up. I once cancelled a trip for which I had paid £40 for tickets. The only good part about that was that I had booked a refundable hotel!
Back in the first lockdown, April 2020, there were special arrangements to refund even "Advance" tickets. I did follow that process and got my money back. I am not aware of any such process at the moment. After all the risks are now known to all.

LongWindingRoad

Thanks for the helpful "suck it up" comment.  

Hasbeen

LongWindingRoad said:

Thanks for the helpful "suck it up" comment.  

Just use the thanks button?  

yorkie2

LongWindingRoad said:

Hi, I purchased some train tickets in advance - It now looks like i wont need these due to COVID restrictions -  The train company say they want £10 admin fee per train ticket to refund.  This is hardly fair - Has anyone found a way round this?

What date is this for, what journey is it for, and what was the itinerary you selected when you bought the tickets?

Which retailer did you buy the tickets from? A good retailer will only charge 10 pounds per transaction, regardless of the number of tickets in that transaction. Charging 10 pounds per ticket is sharp practice.

prowla

LongWindingRoad said:

Thanks for the helpful "suck it up" comment.  

I don't think that comment was made in a confrontational manner, but rather in the context of their post, where they were saying that they've had a similar experience.