Processing fee for Delay Repay

dave296565880

West Midlands Trains seem to charge a processing fee for any Delay Repay. Is this actually legal? I would not get my 25% back if it is.

Jaybee_16

Looked at `West Midlands Trains website and cannot see anything relating to a processing fee. Can you post a link to where you saw it?

MilesT6060842

Certain types of ticket change/refund (for unused travel) do attract a processing fee.  Not delay repay.

There is an oddity around "abandonment" before or part way through journey because delays/cancellations make the journey as booked/planned unviable on outbound day (which can also affect a return of a later date because you didn't go; or can be an issue on it's own i.e. needing to rebook the return for another date). 

Abandonment is not technically a delay repay I believe (doesn't fall into that set of online/phone processes), but is usually reclaimable via the normal complaint process, full refund/proportional refund without a fee. 

I wonder if there is where the issue of a potential processing fee arises because abandonment is a change/refund request, although not "at will" because of disruption

Some kinds of ticket (e.g. offpeak) allow refund/amendment before use for a fee, and the refund/change process would also be used to resolve abandonment claims.

dave296565880

@Jaybee_16  here is the link - contact-us/refunds-and-changing-your-ticket  in the section called "Daily Tickets"

The forum says "You have to be around for a little while longer before you can post links"

dave296565880

I have claimed for a refund via the normal complaints procedure, we will see how I get on.

daveyjp

Delay repay is not a refund or change of ticket.

MSE_James

It's important to appreciate the distinction between a refund (paid by the vendor of the tickets to the buyer) and Delay Repay compensation (payable by the operator of the train that caused the delay to the overall journey to the traveller [who was not necessarily the buyer]) 

Sadly train operators don't necessarily make it easy to understand which regime is applicable to a given passenger's situation

Broadly, refunds are applicable if your train was cancelled or severely delayed and you decide not to travel as a result.

Compensation is for when you do travel (so did receive the service you paid for), but incur a delay above the threshold.