Eurostar Vouchers and refunds

Credz4

In Jan 2020 I booked myself and a friend on Eurostar to travel to Paris in May 2020, it was on one of their £29 each way deals.  Then due to a pandemic, that didn't happen and Eurostar offered a voucher to rebook at leisure to travel before end of 2020. Then as we were still under the covid travel restrictions they extended the voucher for travel up to November 2022 but this had to be booked by end of December 2021.  In December 2021 we were unable to book anything as we didn't know when the French Govt would allow UK citizens back into France.  I've since contacted Eurostar via their online contact form twice now, the 2nd time being today but only as I haven't received a response, I've also called them and listened to all of their recorded travel advice before pressing 1 to speak to someone only to get cut off twice before even hearing a human voice.  Has anyone out there actually been successful in getting through to Eurostar or been extremely lucky and managed a refund?  If so how?  I am now looking into details with my Credit card provider as the total travel came to £116.

Caz3121

Credz4 said:

 I am now looking into details with my Credit card provider as the total travel came to £116.

If you are referring to S75 then it would fail as your ticket was less than £100 (you purchased 4 x £29 tickets)
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1974/39/section/75
Even if was £100+ if you purchased non-refundable tickets and the train operated then no refund would be due and the voucher was probably the best result
Did Eurostar run on your dates? have you spoken to your travel insurance to see whether you were covered for the restrictions? (although excess may not make it worth claiming)

eskbanker

Credz4 said:

Then as we were still under the covid travel restrictions they extended the voucher for travel up to November 2022 but this had to be booked by end of December 2021.  In December 2021 we were unable to book anything as we didn't know when the French Govt would allow UK citizens back into France.

Do you mean that the Eurostar site prevented you from making a booking or that you simply didn't feel comfortable with picking 2022 dates when there was still some uncertainty in late 2021?  If you'd gone ahead and made a booking but had been unable to travel due to entry restrictions then I'd imagine that Eurostar would have been amenable to deferring the booking again, but if your situation is that you now have an expired voucher then I'm not sure you have a leg to stand on, either with Eurostar or your credit card?

Credz4

I had 4 vouchers in all 2 outward and 2 return for two different people. I am only allowed to use the vouchers as they stand. So I have to re-book for the same two people and I can book two outward trips but only have £29 towards an outward trip now costing £174.  The same with a return trip. It doesn't matter the cost either way as I can no longer go as the event we were going to was back when the original tickets were purchased plus the other person is no longer available.  I can't get through to Eurostar via phone so I have emailed several times, eventually 2 months later I got a reply saying that they have extended the vouchers again until the end of June 2022.  I simply want a refund not vouchers, the same as was offered for cancelled flights.

onashoestring

Was your original train ( May2020 ) cancelled or was it that you didn’t travel on it because of travel restrictions? 

jon81uk

Credz4 said:

  I simply want a refund not vouchers, the same as was offered for cancelled flights.

If the train was cancelled you should have been able to get a refund within two months.But if the train went ahead then it depends on the ticket type at the time, so you may have only been entitled to a voucher
Exchanges and refunds | Eurostar
However I think by accepting the voucher you can no longer get a refund.

You need to use it today!
"Do you have an e-voucher or gift voucher expiring on 30 December 2021?

We’ve extended the expiry date of e-vouchers and gift vouchers due to expire on 30 December 2021 to give you extra peace of mind.

You’ll now have until 30 June 2022 to spend them at eurostar.com. 

Just so you know, we won’t be extending the validity of your e-vouchers or gift vouchers beyond June 2022. But with our flexible tickets, you can book safe in the knowledge that you can rearrange your trip if you need to. Find out more about our flexible ticket conditions."
from Exchanges and refunds | Eurostar


Oh and if you do make a booking you can change the dates for free up to seven days before.

Credz4

UPDATE! You will be pleased to know, that eventually Eurostar agreed that I should get a refund and that they would call me on a set date and time to process this with me. I didn't get said call but did get another email stating that I needed to go through Trainline for the refund as that's the agency I had booked it through.

I'd already been to Trainline as I booked the UK travel each way to get us to London also with Trainline. Trainline had happily refunded the UK travel at the time of request but had refused the Eurostar refund stating it was up to Eurostar to refund me as it was Eurostar who had given out the vouchers and I was essentially wanting a refund for the vouchers and not for the travel on the dates that I had originally purchased with Trainline!

Basically Trainline said they had fulfilled their side of the contract as when Eurostar issued the vouchers they were my refund from them (like a store credit note) and the contract then transferred to Eurostar. I argued that I was the customer, I booked with them, they'd had their money along with Eurostar and I had not had my travel as such customer out of pocket having not received the service requested and that I was prepared to use social media. Finally a sane person called me from Trainline and agreed that I needed a refund. 2 days later it was in my bank.

Note of caution I had booked my original travel based on MSE sending an email to tell me that Eurostar could be booked for £29 one way. I clicked on the link on the email and it sent me to Trainline as the offer was from Trainline and not Eurostar directly. The whole sorry process took over two years of stress and head banging!