Delay Repay: Cancelled, so took an earlier train?

mike_302

My intended train was cancelled because of infrastructure problems. An alternate valid train was about to leave when I realised this at the station, so I hopped on it. But had I not been so lucky, I would've been delayed nearly 50 minutes.

I will have scanned my tickets at both the departure and arrival station. Is my delay repay claim valid, or do they check your actual arrival time by scanned ticket?

The_Unready

Sorry, but can you please just clarify what delay you suffered on your journey? Reading the above post there doesn't appear to have been one.

MSE_James

What is the difference between the time you would have arrived at your destination had your planned train run, and your actual arrival time? This is the question that determines your eligibility for Delay Repay.

Andy_L

mike_302 said:

My intended train was cancelled because of infrastructure problems. An alternate valid train was about to leave when I realised this at the station, so I hopped on it. But had I not been so lucky, I would've been delayed nearly 50 minutes.

I will have scanned my tickets at both the departure and arrival station. Is my delay repay claim valid, or do they check your actual arrival time by scanned ticket?

You will have to say how late you were on the claim as that calculates the amount of refund. Putting down anything other than the "actual arrival time" would be fraud

"https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/offences/magistrates-court/item/fraud/"

Grumpy_chap

I think the OP must really be querying how much to pay the train company as they got an earlier train and arrived early...

mike_302

I sense a good deal of judgement, but the train company cancelled my train, and their next offering arrived nearly 50 minutes later... Forget when I may have arrived and what I did instead... The train company doesn't get to take advantage of customers like that...

What if I was only walking by the station an hour before my train (to depart an hour later), noticed that the train was cancelled, but HAD to be at my destination no later than a certain time? And if I'm not able to get there on time, I have no need to take the trip, suffer consequential losses, but still only have the right to a full ticket refund...  So I drop everything and get the first available train, even though I had other plans first. In that case, by taking a delay repay for the original train, at least I'm only asking for part of my fare back, instead of cancelling entirely, getting a full refund, and suffering consequential losses that I can't refund. Least damage done...

onashoestring

Train is cancelled , passengers have a choice 
use ticket for an earlier train and get to destination on time or take later train and claim for the delay .

Passengers choosing to take earlier train - arrive on time and therefore are not entitled to compensation for a delayed arrival. 

Passengers taking the later train are able to claim for their delayed arrival. 

Grumpy_chap

mike_302 said:

I sense a good deal of judgement, but the train company cancelled my train, and their next offering arrived nearly 50 minutes later... Forget when I may have arrived and what I did instead... The train company doesn't get to take advantage of customers like that...

But it is all about what actually happened.  Delay repay is a compensation scheme and you didn't suffer any loss to be compensated for.  No compensation for all the "what ifs".  Customers don't get to take advantage of the train companies like that.

Bogof_OAP

Did you have to buy a new ticket for the earlier train that you took?  If it was a different operator, and your ticket was an Advance, then you would probably have had to, as your ticket wouldn't be valid on the earlier train.  In this case it's arguable that you should be able to claim some sort of recompense for the original ticket as you didn't use it due to circumstances that were not your fault.

hwbp

deonashoestring said:

Train is cancelled , passengers have a choice 
use ticket for an earlier train and get to destination on time or take later train and claim for the delay .

Passengers choosing to take earlier train - arrive on time and therefore are not entitled to compensation for a delayed arrival. 

Passengers arriving via an earlier train are, by definition, not arriving "on time". They are arriving early.

8:27am train from Edinburgh to London cancelled? Don't worry, you can catch the 5:45. If it's an important enough deadline, you'll get a taxi, wait around in connecting stations, and do what it takes to make that work.

Grumpy_chap said:

But it is all about what actually happened.  Delay repay is a compensation scheme and you didn't suffer any loss to be compensated for.  No compensation for all the "what ifs".  Customers don't get to take advantage of the train companies like that.

Early trains disrupt plans, as do late ones, and that disruption is inconvenient and sometimes expensive. Clearly a case for refunds to be given in such cases. Why most people seem blind to this obvious truth is honestly quite surprising. 

TractorFactor

hwbp said:

deonashoestring said:

Train is cancelled , passengers have a choice 
use ticket for an earlier train and get to destination on time or take later train and claim for the delay .

Passengers choosing to take earlier train - arrive on time and therefore are not entitled to compensation for a delayed arrival. 

Passengers arriving via an earlier train are, by definition, not arriving "on time". They are arriving early.

8:27am train from Edinburgh to London cancelled? Don't worry, you can catch the 5:45. If it's an important enough deadline, you'll get a taxi, wait around in connecting stations, and do what it takes to make that work.

Grumpy_chap said:

But it is all about what actually happened.  Delay repay is a compensation scheme and you didn't suffer any loss to be compensated for.  No compensation for all the "what ifs".  Customers don't get to take advantage of the train companies like that.

Early trains disrupt plans, as do late ones, and that disruption is inconvenient and sometimes expensive. Clearly a case for refunds to be given in such cases. Why most people seem blind to this obvious truth is honestly quite surprising. 

That's not how delay repay works.
You can't get money for catching an earlier train and arriving earlier.

How can arriving early be disruptive?
Wait at the station until your booked arrival time and then carry on your day.  No inconvenience.