Problems with ticket refund

lukekelly19

Hello,

I bought an advance ticket but when I got to the station, the train had been cancelled. The next train to that destination did not arrive in time for my appointment, so I didn't travel.

The operator, Northern Rail, has said they will refund the cost of my ticket. I need to return my unused ticket to them first. However, they are insisting I return the ticket by post, preferably recorded delivery. I have asked if I can return it to them at a train station, but they say it has to be posted.

I think this is unfair. The ticket cost £5.90. A first class stamp is £0.85, and the ticket may not reach them (or they might claim it didn't). Recorded delivery would be expensive and cost nearly as much as the ticket. They failed in their obligation to run the service and should refund me, without me incurring extra costs. I really don't see why they shouldn't accept the ticket at the train station, or pay the postage.

My question is: are they violating any consumer law? Is there anything I can say to persuade them to accept the tickets at the station or pay my postage costs?

Any advice appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Luke

MSE_James

This sounds a bit odd - if it was an actual Advance ticket, they shouldn't have concerns about the ticket being reused, as it would already have expired.

How did you purchase the ticket and from which company / website / app?

lukekelly19

Thanks James,

Yes, it's definitely an advance ticket. But when the train was cancelled, it became valid on later trains (unfortunately the next was 45 mins later and too late for my appointment), so perhaps they need proof that I didn't use it on a later train. I'm happy to give them the ticket, but think it's unreasonable to make me post it.

I bought it online and collected it at the station. The provider was Northern Rail.

Luke

MSE_James

Did you buy from the Northern website or the app?

lukekelly19

On the website (linked through from National Rail)

KittenChops

Try at the ticket office at the station.  The only reason I'm suggesting that is that my husband bought an advance single from the trainline website & then needed to change the date of travel.  He tried to do it on the trainline website, but said that the website wouldn't let him, so he took it to the local train station who refunded the original ticket & booked a new one - and they didn't charge him the £10 admin fee he'd expected...  (I know that's a different scenario from yours, but perhaps worth a try?)

jbuchanangb

Your claim is against the retailer from whom you bought the ticket, not against the operator who cancelled the train. 

You could ask them whether they will accept your e-mailing them an image of the ticket.

Otherwise, I think you should send the ticket to them 2nd class post, and not argue about the postage cost. Be sure to keep a copy of the ticket, in case it does go astray.

yorkie2

Next time, I recommend obtaining an e-ticket as that makes the process a lot easier

CKhalvashi

I have (with Greater Anglia), asked the ticket office to send the ticket and a brief explanatory letter via internal post to whatever department it needed to go to.

The people in the ticket office had no issue with doing that. There is now an e-mail where I was asked to confirm I'd torn the ticket via photo  This was 2 years ago, so I'd be surprised if this isn't the case with Northern Rail.

GA (to give them credit) have also had no issue with tearing a ticket I've needed to keep to prove expenses in the past at Stansted Airport instead of taking it.

Did you purchase directly from Northern Rail or via a third party app? If the latter, this may be part of the issue.