Anything refundable here?

[JamieL]

Hi all,

I was due to go south on the Caledonian Sleeper today but both the WCML and ECML are blocked so the train has been cancelled. Full refund coming for that portion which is fine but I had planned various onward moves via train and had a hire car booked. CS have offered transferrable tickets to Avanti but that won't get to London before midday and I need to be there for 0800 - ergo I need to drive and abandon my onward train movements. I have the following planned:

- Monday - Waterloo to Southampton - Anytime Day Return (XC app)
- Monday - Hire Car (12 hour booking)
- Tuesday - Blackfriars to St Albans City - Anytime Day Single (XC app)
- Wednesday - St Albans City to Blackfriars - Anytime Day Single (XC app)
- Thursday - Euston to Glasgow - Advanced Single (Avanti app)

I will try to cancel the hire car but don't think that is an option. For the trains, can I claim for refunds and from who? CS or the ticket vendor? Can I claim for the hire car? I don't need any of these things now as I am taking my own car there and back.

 

[OscarH]

As you have abandoned your journey due to disruption you should be able to claim a full refund for each ticket from the retailer you bought it from. Given they were booked as separate journeys you will likely need to contact them by email and explain the situation as the automated forms won't be able to handle it. I could see XC potentially arguing about the Tuesday and Wednesday ones in particular, but hopefully they'll see sense

I think your likely out of luck for the hire car unfortunately

 

[alistairlees]

The Anytime tockets are all refundable, but the retailer (XC) may try to charge you between £10 and £30 for this. You should challenge this, and state that these tickets formed part of an overall itinerary which it is now impossible to deliver, so you should not be charged any fees.

The Advance ticket is not normally refundable - but it is in these circumstances. You should use the same argument as for the Anytime tickets purchased from XC.

 

[Haywain]

I'm afraid this is likely to be a case that demonstrates the benefits of booking all of the tickets for a trip from the same retailer.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Anything claimable - maybe the car hire cost - under a travel insurance policy (assuming there's one in place)?

 

[Watershed]

You shouldn't accept a refund from CS. You should ask them to re-route you, i.e. rebook you on alternative modes of transport, as is your entitlement under Article 16 of the PRO.

Where are you starting your journey - Glasgow? Is it feasible for you to leave Glasgow any earlier than the booked departure time of the Sleeper? This will help us to identify possible alternative options for you.

Edit: there are seats remaining on BA flights from Aberdeen/Edinburgh to London at 20:30/20:20 tonight. Alternatively you could take the train as far as Newcastle, York or Leeds today, and then an early morning service down tomorrow morning.

 

[JamieL]

Thanks for the pointers - will see how far I get with the Customer Service teams. Its the principal more than the actual cost - my big takeaway here is you just can't rely on the railway - for any important journey, go by car!

 

[Starmill]

If Cal Sleeper won't arrange for you to fly to London to be there in time they really should have arranged for a taxi from Doncaster (or York as it may be tonight) to London and accommodation.

 

[Kilopylae]

Watershed and Starmill are right—you shouldn't have to cancel anything. Caledonian Sleeper has an obligation to get you from A to B and all logic of customer service and good practice suggests they should be straining to get you to London for eight o'clock. Not just shoddy but potentially unlawful from them.

 

[yorkie]

Watershed and Starmill are right—you shouldn't have to cancel anything. Caledonian Sleeper has an obligation to get you from A to B and all logic of customer service and good practice suggests they should be straining to get you to London for eight o'clock. Not just shoddy but potentially unlawful from them.

Agreed; if you still want to do the trip, you should insist to CS that they arrange a suitable alternative.

I'm afraid this is likely to be a case that demonstrates the benefits of booking all of the tickets for a trip from the same retailer.

I agree.

And preferably in the same booking.

 

[PG]

I'm afraid this is likely to be a case that demonstrates the benefits of booking all of the tickets for a trip from the same retailer.

I agree.

And preferably in the same booking.

While not disagreeing with this, is it possible to book an itinerary which includes the Caledonian Sleeper entirely from a single retailer?

 

[Adam Williams]

While not disagreeing with this, is it possible to book an itinerary which includes the Caledonian Sleeper entirely from a single retailer?

Yes, but I suspect you'd end up with a reservation in the seated sleeper car. You'd then need to pay for a berth supplement separately, which may not be particularly cost effective.

 

[zero]

My friend has a similar issue, he had a sleeper ticket to have a quick but important meeting in Scotland, then an advance to return to London. The latter was booked with trainsplit.

Because the sleeper was cancelled there was no point in travelling. Taking the first LNER or an early flight would not have worked.

However trainsplit has refused to refund the advance ticket.

 

[Adam Williams]

However trainsplit has refused to refund the advance ticket.

I don't think this refund should have been rejected. I believe it's accurate for me to suggest that this matter has now been resolved satisfactorily.

What I would say is that, although you shouldn't have to in an ideal world, it's worth writing back and querying the decision if a refund is rejected and you don't think the decision made was correct. The customer support guys are only human and they usually have a backlog of about 200 queries to get through on a Monday morning, so things can regrettably be missed accidentally in a small number of cases. From what I can see, I don't think in this case that the decision had been queried anywhere other than here on the forums.

 

[zero]

I don't think this refund should have been rejected. I believe it's accurate for me to suggest that this matter has now been resolved satisfactorily.

What I would say is that, although you shouldn't have to in an ideal world, it's worth writing back and querying the decision if a refund is rejected and you don't think the decision made was correct. The customer support guys are only human and they usually have a backlog of about 200 queries to get through on a Monday morning, so things can regrettably be missed accidentally in a small number of cases. From what I can see, I don't think in this case that the decision had been queried anywhere other than here on the forums.

Thanks for the quick response Adam, yes he has just got an email from you confirming the refund.

He had asked me how to reply to the initial rejection, but I wasn't sure what exactly to say so I posted on here.