Advice with Ticket Refund with First Transpennine please.

[northernrail2009]

I was booked on a First Transpennine train from Middlesbrough to Manchester on Sat 19th Dec but it was cancelled so had to wait till the next train which was in a hours time but that train was running late and in the end got to Manchester 1 hour and 30 mins late so i sent off a Compensation claim form with the tickets.

I have just called First Transpennine who say they still have not got it!!!

I sent it off between Christmas and New Year so i would have though they would have got it by now?

I am worried that they may have got it and just chucked it in the bin or that it may have got lose in the post but the problem i have is that i didnt keep any copys of the Tickets.

Does anyone know if First Transpennine does have a backlog off claims and i am stressing over nothing?

Any Advice please.

 

[yorkie]

we always advise sending photocopies (or keep a photocopy / scan yourself ) as TOCs do lose them. it doesn't surprise me at all. someone who used to work for NXEC told me about their dodgy practices and their 'prioity list' of people whose tickets don't get lost and who get prompt responses. i'm no saying TPE operate like that, but you have to take precautionary measures with them all. if you have no photocopy then you cannot do much, and they know it.

 

[John @ home]

on Sat 19th Dec got to Manchester 1 hour and 30 mins late so i sent off a Compensation claim form with the tickets.

I have just called First Transpennine who say they still have not got it!!! ...

Any Advice please.

if you have no photocopy then you cannot do much, and they know it.

I would not be quite so pessimistic. My advice would be: from this point, communicate with TPE in writing only and keep a copy of everything you send them.

Allow TPE the full period to respond to your claim that they quote in their Passenger's Charter:

We will answer all written comments from customers within five working days of receiving them. If it takes longer to make the necessary enquiries we will send you an initial acknowledgement within five working days and a full reply within ten days. If we need to investigate a complaint we have 20 days to give a final response.
http://www.tpexpress.co.uk/MediaLibrary/Passengers_Charter/pass_chart_5.pdf

The day after that period expires, write a letter entitled 'COMPLAINT' to Vernon Barker, Managing Director, First TransPennine Express, Floor 7 Bridgewater House, 60 Whitworth Street, Manchester M1 6LT. Say that you are complaining because they have failed to meet the minimum standards for dealing with your claim which are set out in their Passenger's Charter. State that you enclosed the originals of your tickets with your claim.

If you have any other evidence of buying the tickets, such as an internet acknowledgement or a credit card or bank statement, send them a copy of the relevant part. If you don't, don't mention this.

End your letter by saying that if you don't receive a satisfactory resolution within 20 days - the period mentioned for dealing with complaints in their Passenger's Charter - you will escalate the complaint to Passenger Focus. Then wait 20 working days - that's 4 weeks - to allow for postal delays.

Passenger Focus is the statutory body which represents rail travellers. Note that the First TransPennine Express Passenger's Charter, which has not been revised since December 2005, uses a name for Passenger Focus which is no longer in daily use - the Rail Passengers Council - and quotes an out-of-date address. The current address for Passenger Focus is:

Passenger Focus
FREEPOST (RRRE-ETTC-LEET)
PO BOX 4257
Manchester
M60 3AR.
Email: info@passengerfocus.org.uk

If you do need to write to Passenger Focus, come back to this thread first for additional advice.