Am I entitled to partial refind - VTEC

[thruud]

hello everyone, a quick and hopefully straightforward ticketing question for you.

I bought a 1st class advance single ticket (£81.50) for travel from Berwick to London this Tuesday at 1013. Due to an unplanned change of circumstances, i had to travel today on the 1013.

The ticket stated that it was 'Non refundable'. exchangeable for a fee before travel'. I rang virgin helpline on Sat evening and was told that i would need to pay a £10 admin fee, plus any difference in fare. BUT if there were still tickets available in same type, then no other charge was due. They said there was still availability of the fare type.

I got to Berwick this morning and the ticket office was closed all day (took photo as proof). Rang Virgin who said 'buy a new ticket and claim old ticket back minus £10 admin fee'.

I spoke to a helpful station assistant and he told me to board the train and the guard could sort it out. As soon as we were moving I found the guard, who was extremely.helpful - he said the only option he could do was charge me difference for standard ticket (approx £55) and a weekend first upgrade (£25) to travel. He also told me that I should apply for a refund as he thought I may be able to get something.

My questions to the board are firstly - is it possible to claim back any element of a refund for this journey?

Secondly can i do it at a ticket office or does it need to be done over the phone or by post?

Any advice you could offer would be really appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[najaB]

My questions to the board are firstly - is it possible to claim back any element of a refund for this journey?

As the ticket office was closed you should have been able to pay onboard or at your destination and pay no more than you would have if the ticket office had been open (based on the NRCoT). So yes, I would say you are entitled to a partial refund (though I can't say how much).

Secondly can i do it at a ticket office or does it need to be done over the phone or by post?

In my experience ticket offices are great at sorting things out before travel, but after the fact you generally are better off dealing with the Customer Services team by phone, email or live chat.

 

[Haywain]

It appears that the guard charged the difference between the fare paid and that due on the day of travel. The Weekend First upgrade was also the cheapest way of getting to the first class fare. However, he appears not to have charged the £10 change of journey fee. In the circumstances no refund is due as you were not charged any more than you would if the ticket office had been open.

 

[sheff1]

It appears that the guard charged the difference between the fare paid and that due on the day of travel. The Weekend First upgrade was also the cheapest way of getting to the first class fare. However, he appears not to have charged the £10 change of journey fee. In the circumstances no refund is due as you were not charged any more than you would if the ticket office had been open.

I agree.

However, when the OP phoned Virgin on Sat evening it sounds like they were told that Advance tickets were still available but seemingly not advised to book one before the window closed. Of course, there is now no way of knowing what the price of the available Advance was (and the dearest tier is £221 in First ) so the cost could have been more than they paid on Sunday anyway. The OP might, though, want to email them explaining what happened - you never know, a goodwill gesture may be forthcoming.

 

[island]

The guard charged less than the fare actually due for a change of journey plans on the day of travel, which would have either been £89.50 or £117 depending on how you calculate it, therefore no refund is due.

The OP would have needed to go to a staffed station on Saturday before bookings closed to have obtained a new advance ticket which may – there is now no way to know – have proven cheaper.

 

[thruud]

Thanks for the advice - I called Virgin from a fairly remote spot of Northumberland, whilst without a car on Saturday night, so getting to a station was impossible from my location.
Frustratingly Virgin didnt say that if I had swapped for the advance on Saturday (can this even be done over the phone) then it would be much cheaper than sunday - they gave no suggestion that this fare wouldn't be available the next day. I was told that the fee would be £10 for an admin charge, but no other charges would be levied as advance tickets were still available for my intended service, so I went to the station assuming this would be the case the next day (from a naive passenger perspective, why wouldnt it!).

Trying to decide whether its worth chasing up with Virgin on a 'if you'd told me that the Sunday fare wasn't available on sunday and had to be bought by Saturday over the phone then thats what I'd have done', but I doubt it will get anywhere.

 

[Haywain]

There are a couple of unknown factors here. First, there is where the ticket you held was purchased - this is relevant because you could only make the change online or by phone if the ticket was purchased online. The second factor is the time that the call was made, as it is quite possible that the train had been closed for reservations already. Without these factors being known (and we can't answer the second) there is no way of knowing if you might have been any better off. However, I would hope that when dispensing advice about changing the travel time on Advance tickets it is always made clear that the change is to the cheapest fare available at the time of making the change.