SWR refuse taxi refund

[lawried123]

I got caught up in the signal failure last Friday the 18th at Waterloo. I arrived about 22.00 for a train to Bracknell and found all trains cancelled and it said it would be until the end of service.
I decided there was no point in staying around Waterloo so I decided to go to Maidenhead which was probably the nearest station to Bracknell with plentiful taxis. I found an SWR senior staff member who was answering people's queries and I suggested this route to him. He said that would be my best option and I could then claim back the taxi fare on the website under their refund scheme.

I put all this on my refund application and it has been refused. They say it was made clear on Twitter and the website (which I had no reason to look at) that taxi acceptance was only valid for the specific route I intended to make, whatever that means. They say they can't reimburse when the pickup point is beyond the SWR network.

Does anyone know where it says in the terms and conditions that any taxi journey has to commence from another SWR station even if that is further away and therefore a higher taxi fare. So many trains were shown that night as being cancelled that I didn't bother to look for other trains to somewhere like Woking or Farnborough, I just thought the sensible thing was to go straight to Paddington for the best most sensible alternative.

It's really annoying as I had specifically asked a member of staff at Waterloo (and he did seem to be a senior member of staff) if that would be ok to get a taxi from Maidenhead and he clearly stated that I could get a refund under their scheme.

Does anyone know what I could do next as I can ill afford to lose £42. And also does anyone know where it says a taxi has to start from another SWR station.

I would point out it wasn't just me doing this, there were three other people I spoke to on the train going to Twyford to get a taxi down to Wokingham, which demonstrates that it was the obvious thing for people to do.

Lawrie

 

[150219]

The best advice that can be given is that if you are unhappy with the response from the railway customer relations department, to escalate this to the rail ombudsman. Details are available on the SWR website on the complaints page.

Whilst not excusing the situation that you are in, this can occur when there is a disconnect between arrangements made for replacement transport and advice given by station staff, albeit in the best interests of the customer.

After the event, there can be a flurry of receipts for journeys that can sometimes be difficult to relate to the disruption in hand, so it can be easy then to decline the refund even though it was a genuine case.

 

[AlterEgo]

The best advice that can be given is that if you are unhappy with the response from the railway customer relations department, to escalate this to the rail ombudsman. Details are available on the SWR website on the complaints page.

Whilst not excusing the situation that you are in, this can occur when there is a disconnect between arrangements made for replacement transport and advice given by station staff, albeit in the best interests of the customer.

After the event, there can be a flurry of receipts for journeys that can sometimes be difficult to relate to the disruption in hand, so it can be easy then to decline the refund even though it was a genuine case.

Note that one can only escalate to the ombudsman upon receipt of a deadlock letter or otherwise if the complaint has been open for 40 working days.

 

[Haywain]

I got caught up in the signal failure last Friday the 18th at Waterloo. I arrived about 22.00 for a train to Bracknell and found all trains cancelled and it said it would be until the end of service.
I decided there was no point in staying around Waterloo so I decided to go to Maidenhead which was probably the nearest station to Bracknell with plentiful taxis. I found an SWR senior staff member who was answering people's queries and I suggested this route to him. He said that would be my best option and I could then claim back the taxi fare on the website under their refund scheme.

I put all this on my refund application and it has been refused. They say it was made clear on Twitter and the website (which I had no reason to look at) that taxi acceptance was only valid for the specific route I intended to make, whatever that means. They say they can't reimburse when the pickup point is beyond the SWR network.

Does anyone know where it says in the terms and conditions that any taxi journey has to commence from another SWR station even if that is further away and therefore a higher taxi fare. So many trains were shown that night as being cancelled that I didn't bother to look for other trains to somewhere like Woking or Farnborough, I just thought the sensible thing was to go straight to Paddington for the best most sensible alternative.

It's really annoying as I had specifically asked a member of staff at Waterloo (and he did seem to be a senior member of staff) if that would be ok to get a taxi from Maidenhead and he clearly stated that I could get a refund under their scheme.

Does anyone know what I could do next as I can ill afford to lose £42. And also does anyone know where it says a taxi has to start from another SWR station.

I would point out it wasn't just me doing this, there were three other people I spoke to on the train going to Twyford to get a taxi down to Wokingham, which demonstrates that it was the obvious thing for people to do.

Lawrie

At this stage, contact SWR Customer Relations and ask them to look again at your claim.

 

[Titfield]

Did you have a valid ticket for the journey you originally intended to take ie London Waterloo to Bracknell?

 

[Watershed]

Provided you had bought a ticket before the disruption was known, SWR's refusal to reimburse you is quite untenable from a legal position, so it just a question of how far you need to push them to get the reimbursement you are owed.

The next step would be to ask them to reconsider, particularly in view of the fact that you followed the advice of staff at Waterloo and that you significantly reduced SWR's liability compared to taking a taxi from somewhere like Farnborough.

If SWR still refuse to reimburse you, you should ask them for a letter of deadlock. This will allow you to take the matter up with the Rail Ombudsman. We haven't heard many positive experiences from people using the Ombudsman, but it's worth a try as it doesn't cost you anything.

The alternative option - either after an Ombudsman decision against you, or before then - would be to bring a legal claim against SWR in the County Court. This does involve more effort, but nowadays it is quite easy to bring the initial claim online. It gets more complicated if they decide to defend the claim, but in my experience train companies rarely do so.

Remember to claim Delay Repay as well, based on your arrival time at Bracknell in the taxi vs the arrival time had you taken the next scheduled service 22:20 (i.e. 23:20).

 

[lawried123]

Provided you had bought a ticket before the disruption was known, SWR's refusal to reimburse you is quite untenable from a legal position, so it just a question of how far you need to push them to get the reimbursement you are owed.

The next step would be to ask them to reconsider, particularly in view of the fact that you followed the advice of staff at Waterloo and that you significantly reduced SWR's liability compared to taking a taxi from somewhere like Farnborough.

If SWR still refuse to reimburse you, you should ask them for a letter of deadlock. This will allow you to take the matter up with the Rail Ombudsman. We haven't heard many positive experiences from people using the Ombudsman, but it's worth a try as it doesn't cost you anything.

The alternative option - either after an Ombudsman decision against you, or before then - would be to bring a legal claim against SWR in the County Court. This does involve more effort, but nowadays it is quite easy to bring the initial claim online. It gets more complicated if they decide to defend the claim, but in my experience train companies rarely do so.

Remember to claim Delay Repay as well, based on your arrival time at Bracknell in the taxi vs the arrival time had you taken the next scheduled service 22:20 (i.e. 23:20).

Ok. Thanks for all your replies. Yes I did have a return ticket I bought earlier in the day at Bracknell. And I have already got delay repay with no problem for that.
I have written back to customer services so I'll see how I get on.

Lawrie

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 25 Jul 2025 ==

Ok. Thanks for all your replies. Yes I did have a return ticket I bought earlier in the day at Bracknell. And I have already got delay repay with no problem for that.
I have written back to customer services so I'll see how I get on.

Lawrie

Just thought I'd let you know that, after appealing, they have now issued me the refund. I am now a happy bunny. Thanks for the advice.

Lawrie