Journey failed by transport company, offered vouchers not cash refund

LarryLancaster

A few months ago my wife booked an open return (as she didn't know the exact time of return journey) on a fast national coach company to an airport getting on for 200 miles away to meet and collect a relative who was travelling as an unaccompanied minor. This cost over £100.

At the bus station the display screens were not working so passengers were advised to listen out for announcements to go to the appropriate gate when the bus arrived. The only announcement for the airport coach came a few minutes after scheduled time of departure. My wife and the other waiting passengers arrived at the gate only to see the bus disappearing off into the distance - the announcement wasn't made until AFTER the bus had actually left!

The next coach was three hours later and there were no trains either at that time of day so the only way of getting to the airport in time was for me to hastily rearrange all the things I had planned for the day and drive her to the airport, wait for the guest and drive back again. This all came at considerable cost and inconvenience not only to myself but to several other people that day.

She put in a claim to the coach company for a refund for the cost of the return ticket. After several months they replied to say that they had done an internal investigation, which found that they had failed with their displays and announcements. They accepted full responsibility for the failure to get her on the bus at the right time, and in an act of astonishing generosity offered a voucher for a return journey anywhere in the country up to the value of £100, valid for one year.

There is no way she will be able to use such a voucher in time and even if she did it's unlikely that a future coach journey would come to £100. So she requested a cash refund instead of a voucher, which we thought was a provision of the Consumer Act as the bus company had admitted they were at fault for not getting her on the bus she had booked and failing to get her to her destination in time. The bus company have refused. What are our next steps?

Grumpy_chap

How did she pay for the ticket?

born_again

Grumpy_chap said:

How did she pay for the ticket?

& How much?

LarryLancaster

Paid by credit card, around £115. But it was several months ago as the bus company took so long to investigate and conclude they were at fault - are we out of time to claim on the card?

Undervalued

If they have a legal liability, as opposed to just a moral one, then theoretically she could reject their offer and sue them for her actual quantifiable losses.

Whether they actually have a legal liability I couldn't say.

unforeseen

As it was an open ticket there was nothing stopping her taking the next coach. As such the company has no liability as the journey could still be taken.  The offer from the company is really just goodwill. 

outtatune

Were other passengers on the coach when it left?

Presumably the driver wouldn't have simply driven off with nobody on board.

If you do decide to go to court, just bear in mind that the district judge will want to know how they figured out how to get on but not your wife.

unforeseen

outtatune said:

If you do decide to go to court, just bear in mind that the district judge will want to know how they figured out how to get on but not your wife.

If the ticket was for that specific journey there is a chance of succeeding in court but it wasn't 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

unforeseen said:

outtatune said:

If you do decide to go to court, just bear in mind that the district judge will want to know how they figured out how to get on but not your wife.

If the ticket was for that specific journey there is a chance of succeeding in court but it wasn't 

I don’t think it matters that it’s open, the contract was to travel by coach at any point for one return journey.

OP wasn’t able to do that at the point they needed so the service doesn’t conform to the contract.