CrossCountry Web Support / £10 Admin Fee

[Starmill]

I just had a very interesting conversation with XC Web Support. I was inquiring about a refund on a trip that I can no longer make because of engineering work recently announced affecting SWT services, despite the normal timetable being advertised at the time I booked my XC tickets on the XC website. They said no, rather unhelpfully, but that in itself wasn't my main concern.

The man first told me that Advance tickets couldn't be refunded or changed. I questioned if that was really true and explained again why I thought I should be able to get a refund on mine. After going away for a while, he said it was definitely not going to be possible because I had not used the XC website to book the SWT portion of the journey, but then went on to say that he had told me I could not change my XC Advances because they were all under £10, and although they were amendable, there would be no point because of this fee. I asked if they had introduced free changes to Advance tickets. He went away again and then came back and said he hadn't realised they were XC tickets, which meant that I could change them for free. This seemed rather suspicious to me as I had been talking to him for a while by then and he had asked for my booking reference as the first thing. He tried to say it was pointless to change the tickets as if the new ones would cost more I would have to pay the difference, and if they were less I wouldn't get a refund. I'm not sure why that's a reason not to change them but still.

I went on to ask if they could be amended online and he said no they can't, only by phone, but it sounded like he might not be being entirely honest with me so I decided to say I'd call back later. Some investigation reveals that it looks as if you can change them online.

It seems from this link that the policy is that you can change any advance ticket booked through the XC website, not just an XC one:

We’re the first and only UK train company to remove the £10 fee for changing the date and time of your Advance ticket. So not only can you get great value Advance tickets for any train operator via our website, but you have a little extra flexibility if your plans change.

No more fees - Buy a new Advance ticket, and we’ll refund your original for FREE*
Enjoy flexibility - Update the date, time & ticket type (as long as the stations are the same)
Peace of mind - Amend your ticket from 2 hours after purchase, until 24 hours before your journey

https://www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/customer-service/no-admin-fee

What is a change of journey?

A change of journey is when you want to change the date/time of travel. CrossCountry is the first ever train operator to eliminate the administration fee on change of journey for advanced tickets. Please see the table below to see if your tickets are eligible.

https://www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/customer-service/faqs/change-my-journeyticket

Although it is not totally clear.

So, does anyone know what is supposed to happen here? It sounds like they will offer any Advance ticket (so long as it was booked through their website, there are still at least 24 hours to go and it's either a ToD or postal booking) this free change. Can you change the same ticket for free, an unlimited number of times? What happens if you select a new, cheaper ticket? It seems like every single thing they told me on the phone was incorrect?

 

[gray1404]

If the train you planned to travel on when you purchased your ticket, be that any of the trains produced as part of the itinerary for the Advance ticket when you booked it or others trains that you are using as part of a combination of tickets to make up the same journey (split tickets), are delayed or cancelled you are entitled to a full refund without any administration fee being charged should you decide not to travel.

 

[Starmill]

Hm well I am not going to fuss over that too much. I agree I'm entitled to a refund but it would be like trying to get blood out of a stone. The man on the phone convinced me of that. I will hopefully find some alternative trains that will still get me there on time for the XC portion. I'm more interested in what actually happens if you change a ticket. Do they refund the difference? Are they offering free online changes for any Advance ticket I'm quite concerned that their web support staff are potentially giving out entirely misleading information.

 

[gray1404]

I think you might it might be worth an email to customer service explaining to them what happened, using your first post here as an outline for your email (given you have written it up already). It will be interesting to see if Customer Service have a good understanding of the rules.

 

[yorkie]

I think you might it might be worth an email to customer service explaining to them what happened, using your first post here as an outline for your email (given you have written it up already). It will be interesting to see if Customer Service have a good understanding of the rules.

CrossCountry (XC) Customer Services do not have a good understanding of the rules and are not pro-customer.

But I think Starmill is wanting to know about XC's policy regarding changes that are simply of the customers choice.

There are two issues here: one is that XC purport to be providing additional rights when customers change their mind, and the other is the passengers rights when the terms of the contract change.

Using either of these arguments, it should be possible to make the necessary change, yet XC seem unwilling to do so.

XC's behaviour in this case is inconsistent with the rules and what they advertise, but is consistent with the ethos of the company. I am unimpressed, but totally unsurprised.

 

[Jonfun]

In my opinion, regardless of the rights and wrongs, going -at least initially - through Customer Relations rather than Web Support is probably more likely to yield positive results.

 

[Gnasher11]

If it helps, I have successfully refunded 2 advance tickets booked for GWR journeys on the Cross-country web site, there is an option to do so on the My bookings section. Processes rebook same journey for a different date, then post original tickets (which have to have already been collected) to their PO box address. Full refund processed quickly once received. Doesn't apply for Print at home tickets or booked via their app though. It's the reason why I stopped booking direct with GWR and now book all tickets via Cross Country Web site. I know this is not quite what the OP was asking, but thought my experience might help.

 

[AlterEgo]

In my opinion, regardless of the rights and wrongs, going -at least initially - through Customer Relations rather than Web Support is probably more likely to yield positive results.

This.

Best to remember that the call centre is operated by Trainline and the agents handle calls from a number of different TOCs who all have different policies.

Call Customer Relations.

 

[Mag_seven]

CrossCountry (XC) Customer Services do not have a good understanding of the rules and are not pro-customer.

That says it all really.

 

[yorkie]

In 2012 their Communications Director Richard Gibson gave out misleading information, in an apparent attempt to deny customer rights.

Guardian article: XC's Head of Communications gives out incorrect information

Starmill - please do let us know what they say; maybe their culture has changed, although I think it's unlikely, but you never know...

 

[Greenback]

From what I hear from people inside the company, things aren't getting better, if anything they're getting worse!

 

[Haywain]

I just had a very interesting conversation with XC Web Support. I was inquiring about a refund on a trip that I can no longer make because of engineering work recently announced affecting SWT services, despite the normal timetable being advertised at the time I booked my XC tickets on the XC website. They said no, rather unhelpfully, but that in itself wasn't my main concern.

The man first told me that Advance tickets couldn't be refunded or changed. I questioned if that was really true and explained again why I thought I should be able to get a refund on mine. After going away for a while, he said it was definitely not going to be possible because I had not used the XC website to book the SWT portion of the journey,

So, you booked the tickets in separate transactions on separate websites. Is that correct?

If the train you planned to travel on when you purchased your ticket, be that any of the trains produced as part of the itinerary for the Advance ticket when you booked it or others trains that you are using as part of a combination of tickets to make up the same journey (split tickets), are delayed or cancelled you are entitled to a full refund without any administration fee being charged should you decide not to travel.

I don't think that a claim would be on strong ground if my interpretation above is correct, as the tickets were purchased in separate transactions.

 

[yorkie]

But they can still be for one journey.

In general I would certainly agree it is best to use one source for all tickets, and - where practicable - buy them in the same transaction. However this is not essential and not doing so shouldn't affect any contractual or consumer rights .

Where it perhaps gets messy is where one train company has a policy of being more generous than they are required to be; they may be reluctant to do so under certain circumstances.

 

[bb21]

Already bought a ticket? Check if it's eligible.

If you've already bought a ticket from us and have had a change of plan, check to see if you can amend it by going through the below steps:

• For your Advance ticket to be eligible for an amendment, you will need to make sure that you were signed in to your CrossCountry account at the time of buying the ticket
• Your booking was made on our mobile or desktop website - sorry, tickets bought at the station or via our app aren’t eligible*
• Your chosen ticket delivery method was either 'Post’ or ‘Self-service ticket machine’

Seems pretty definitive to me.

If you want a refund because the timetable has changed, you need to refund it with the retailer.

 

[AnkleBoots]

It sounds like they will offer any Advance ticket (so long as it was booked through their website, there are still at least 24 hours to go and it's either a ToD or postal booking) this free change. Can you change the same ticket for free, an unlimited number of times?

I have successfully changed the same ticket more than once

What happens if you select a new, cheaper ticket?

I seem to remember doing this and effectively getting the difference back. However it looks different now - it seems to set a floor of the price you have already paid.

- eg. you hold a £50 ticket for the train at 1800
- if you are not logged in, the price is £40 for the 1900
- when you log in and try to change your ticket, the price for the 1900 becomes £50

Can anyone confirm this?

 

[Joe Paxton]

What happens if you select a new, cheaper ticket?

I seem to remember doing this and effectively getting the difference back. However it looks different now - it seems to set a floor of the price you have already paid.

- eg. you hold a £50 ticket for the train at 1800
- if you are not logged in, the price is £40 for the 1900
- when you log in and try to change your ticket, the price for the 1900 becomes £50

Can anyone confirm this?

Yes, the latter matches my experience. In terms of the advertised non-refundability of Advance tickets it makes sense.

I have also amended the date/time of an Advance ticket multiple times free-free with XC.

 

[bb21]

I have successfully changed the same ticket more than once


I seem to remember doing this and effectively getting the difference back. However it looks different now - it seems to set a floor of the price you have already paid.

- eg. you hold a £50 ticket for the train at 1800
- if you are not logged in, the price is £40 for the 1900
- when you log in and try to change your ticket, the price for the 1900 becomes £50

Can anyone confirm this?

That is the correct implementation.

When amending an Advance fare, staff are instructed to change to the same tier on the desired service, should any lower tier fares be available.

As no refund is due for the difference in price, this makes no financial difference to the customer on this transaction, however should the ticket need amending again, the customer may otherwise have to unnecessarily pay for the difference as the base fare would then be different.

How this is implemented in practice may vary by local instructions.