Avanti West Coast Delay Repay

[Mal]

Has anyone ever tried to claim a refund on Avanti West Coast delay Repay scheme? If so, how long, if it all, did it take to go through the system?

Back in January, I went to Edinburgh from Liverpool and the Avanti journey started late at Wigan. Because of various hold-ups on the line, we eventually got into Waverley 1hr 30 mins late, so I got a Delay Repay form, completed it, attached the tickets|and sent it off on Jan. 25.Theses claims are supposed to be dealt with within 28 days. I still have the print out from Lime Street Station giving all the details of dates and times of departure, connections and arrivals and the total fares

I'd like to know if anyone has had a similar experience or is this just a clever ploy by Avanti to disguise poor customer relations.

 

[Buzby]

I’ve had Northern and AWC tied for being the fastest at 4 days from submission to payment in my account so they’re certainly not the slowest. However I did it all online with ticket PDF’s etc. Did you really post it to them?

 

[Essan]

Only done it online and always had money in my bank account within a week.

Sounds to me like your postal request may have got lost somewhere? If so, not sure what you can do.

 

[Tazi Hupefi]

You don't claim a refund, you claim compensation.

What 'form' have you actually completed? Presumably an actual Delay Repay form and not one for refunds.

Quite why anyone would do this by post rather than via the fairly easy webform is beyond me, but how do you know the form got there in the first place? Have you got proof of postage?

I'd just query with the customer relations contact and see if they've even received it, although if you've waited until April before even chasing it up, I think they might raise an eyebrow.

Other than for a couple of open access operators, all the money for compensation comes from the government anyway these days, so makes no difference to Avanti having to compensate you.

 

[Brooke]

My wife is unfortunately a very frequent user of the Avanti Delay Repay scheme but always online. For this, the payment is normally less than a week (as it should be, considering the misery they cause).

She has never used the postal scheme but I agree with other posters - a follow up with customer care is likely to get a pretty swift clarification, since her queries in the past have been quite well handled.

 

[Gwr12345]

I was delayed on a Saturday evening in March, claim submitted that night, approved on the Monday morning and rail travel vouchers arrived on the Wednesday! Much faster than other train companies I've dealt with.

 

[Mal]

Thank you all for your replies.

It was done using their own official form and not online. I did not take my laptop away with me as it was for a well-earned break. It was definitely posted, but didn't think it would need to be registered.

However, I'll give their customer Services a ring and see
what happens.

 

[Belperpete]

if you've waited until April before even chasing it up, I think they might raise an eyebrow.

The problem with waiting so long, is that if they deny ever receiving it, the OP has missed the window for resubmitting the claim.

Unless the OP was going to be away for 4 weeks, it would have been better waiting until got home and submitting the claim on-line.

 

[infobleep]

As this was a question on other people's delay repay experiences, here is my experience

I didn't have an Avanti West Coast account so I set up my delay repay account.

It then said my e-mail address was not accounted with an online ticket booking account.

The options were to go back and enter my online booking account, or to opt in to automatic Delay Repay, when I had set up an online account.

I have a third option which has been ignored, using the same account for delay repay and online booking.

Did some third party company sell them something and then sell them an add on?

It seems very complicated. One account for all seems so simple but then not all developers of software get user design. It doesn't mean they aren't good at programming, just they don't understand simplicity of design.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 23 May 2024 ==

I have now got to the stage where they want either an image of the PDF or booking reference but not images of the tickets on my phone.

They then ask for an upload of the ticket barcode or booking reference.

Why don't they allow screenshots of Google Wallet passes?

On top of this, I navigated away from the page as when I came back Google's Chrome has reloaded it. I can't blame Avanti for that though.

I'm not sure I have an app on my work home that converts PDFs to images. What apps we can install is restricted.

Avanti helpfully don't tell you how to create an image of a PDF. I have computer software that can do it, but I thought as I had the wallet details, I would just used those. Why not just allow PDF uploads, if PDFs are so massively critical?

I noted they don't specify the dots per inch they want the PDF image in. I'm tempted to make it very large.

It doesn't state what formate the booking details need to be in.

As a result I have given up for now and will try again later. I'm sure that is just what they want.

Below is a screenshot of the page stating what they require. Note I booked all this either via the forum or TrainSplit but Avanti delayed me so I'm claiming through them.

 

[yorkie]

As this was a question on other people's delay repay experiences, here is my experience

I didn't have an Avanti West Coast account so I set up my delay repay account.

It then said my e-mail address was not accounted with an online ticket booking account.

The options were to go back and enter my online booking account, or to opt in to automatic Delay Repay, when I had set up an online account.

I have a third option which has been ignored, using the same account for delay repay and online booking.

Did some third party company sell them something and then sell them an add on?

It seems very complicated. One account for all seems so simple but then not all developers of software get user design. It doesn't mean they aren't good at programming, just they don't understand simplicity of design.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 23 May 2024 ==

I have now got to the stage where they want either an image of the PDF or booking reference but not images of the tickets on my phone.

They then ask for an upload of the ticket barcode or booking reference.

Why don't they allow screenshots of Google Wallet passes?

On top of this, I navigated away from the page as when I came back Google's Chrome has reloaded it. I can't blame Avanti for that though.

I'm not sure I have an app on my work home that converts PDFs to images. What apps we can install is restricted.

Avanti helpfully don't tell you how to create an image of a PDF. I have computer software that can do it, but I thought as I had the wallet details, I would just used those. Why not just allow PDF uploads, if PDFs are so massively critical?

I noted they don't specify the dots per inch they want the PDF image in. I'm tempted to make it very large.

It doesn't state what formate the booking details need to be in.

As a result I have given up for now and will try again later. I'm sure that is just what they want.

Below is a screenshot of the page stating what they require. Note I booked all this either via the forum or TrainSplit but Avanti delayed me so I'm claiming through them.

Which journey was this for? Were you affected by disruption on another journey in addition to the one you posted about (for which delay compensation wouldn't apply)?

You can just upload the original PDF.

 

[Belperpete]

It is all so simple with paper tickets and their website. You just enter details of your journey and a scan or photo of the ticket. I avoid etickets and apps if I can, and your experience only reinforces that.

 

[yorkie]

It is all so simple with paper tickets and their website. You just enter details of your journey and a scan or photo of the ticket. I avoid etickets and apps if I can, and your experience only reinforces that.

I find it easier to upload the PFD; no need to scan anything. On many DR systems, the Aztec barcode is read by the system, so no need to enter the details manually.

 

[Belperpete]

I find it easier to upload the PFD; no need to scan anything. On many DR systems, the Aztec barcode is read by the system, so no need to enter the details manually.

That assumes that you are travelling on the train that you booked your ticket for. I rarely do.

 

[yorkie]

That assumes that you are travelling on the train that you booked your ticket for. I rarely do.

The origin, start/expiry dates, ticket type would all be the read; you would generally need to enter these manually if using a paper ticket.

In any case, old style paper tickets without Aztec barcodes are being phased out.

 

[Belperpete]

The origin, start/expiry dates, ticket type would all be the read; you would generally need to enter these manually if using a paper ticket.

In any case, old style paper tickets without Aztec barcodes are being phased out.

Agreed that there is some information that can be obtained, but it only takes a few seconds to enter manually. The actual start and end of your journey and the date and time you actually made it and the delay you incurred all have to be entered manually as they can't be obtained from the ticket, so a few extras make little difference.

 

[yorkie]

Agreed that there is some information that can be obtained, but it only takes a few seconds to enter manually. The actual start and end of your journey and the date and time you actually made it and the delay you incurred all have to be entered manually as they can't be obtained from the ticket, so a few extras make little difference.

Unless you have a lot of tickets I don't see how any of this is a plus for old style paper tickets, though, but each to their own!

 

[Haywain]

It is all so simple with paper tickets and their website. You just enter details of your journey and a scan or photo of the ticket. I avoid etickets and apps if I can, and your experience only reinforces that.

It's eadier to upload a pdf than scan or photograph a ticket and then upload it

 

[Belperpete]

It's eadier to upload a pdf than scan or photograph a ticket and then upload it

Not the OP's experience!

 

[Haywain]

Not the OP's experience!

The OP used a manual form, so wouldn't have tried. From what they have said, I think it is unlikely that the OP was using an eTicket.

 

[Belperpete]

The OP used a manual form, so wouldn't have tried. From what they have said, I think it is unlikely that the OP was using an eTicket.

Sorry, I was referring to infobleep's post.

 

[infobleep]

Which journey was this for? Were you affected by disruption on another journey in addition to the one you posted about (for which delay compensation wouldn't apply)?

You can just upload the original PDF.

A different journey. They say they want an image or scan of your PDF. A PDF is not an image. If they said upload the actual PDF rather than an image, I would have supplied that but they didn't say that.

So I assume they only allowed raster images, aka JPG/JPEG or PNG.

 

[MrJeeves]

My longest Avanti delay repay claim was submitting on 15 December 2022, then approval on 19 June 2023 after 3 chaser emails, plus another week for a cheque to arrive in the post...

 

[infobleep]

I've finally submitted my delay repay claim and it does indeed like PDFs.

It allows jfif, pjpeg, jpeg, pjp, jpg, gif, png and pdf.

I am listing them in the order they display them. I've not heard of some of those. For example jfif, pjpeg and pjp.

No idea if any of those 3 are images. PDFs certainly are not but the rest are.

They don't support TIF images.

 

[MrJeeves]

For example jfif, pjpeg and pjp.

JFIF is a variant of the JPEG standard with some extra useful information for decoding images.

PJPEG/PJP are "progressive" JPEG images, which allow a browser to decode a low resolution version of an image, then a medium resolution version, then a full resolution version as the file downloads. This way, instead of seeing the image load from top to bottom, you get a progressively clearer image appear bit by bit. There's a demo of this by Google here: https://web.dev/learn/images/jpeg#progressive_jpeg

They don't support TIF images.

I don't know the last time I saw someone actually using a TIFF (or a BMP for that matter) in the last decade other than as a joke! I think TIFFs are only really used by professional photographers as they store colour space information, and I don't forsee many people taking a picture of their ticket with a DSLR to submit it on the Avanti portal

 

[infobleep]

JFIF is a variant of the JPEG standard with some extra useful information for decoding images.

PJPEG/PJP are "progressive" JPEG images, which allow a browser to decode a low resolution version of an image, then a medium resolution version, then a full resolution version as the file downloads. This way, instead of seeing the image load from top to bottom, you get a progressively clearer image appear bit by bit. There's a demo of this by Google here: https://web.dev/learn/images/jpeg#progressive_jpeg


I don't know the last time I saw someone actually using a TIFF (or a BMP for that matter) in the last decade other than as a joke! I think TIFFs are only really used by professional photographers as they store colour space information, and I don't forsee many people taking a picture of their ticket with a DSLR to submit it on the Avanti portal

But you aren't supposed to take pictures of your eticket and screenshots are not allowed. Only images or scans according to Avanti.

I guess you could use a scanning app on your mobile, which uses your phone camera. I've never tried one of them out but I'm sure the result would be like taking a photo. But it's a scan so it's allowed.

 

[Bletchleyite]

But you aren't supposed to takw pictures of your eticket and screenshots are not allowed. Only images or scans according to Avanti.

Why with an e-ticket would you do anything other than submit the PDF you were sent when you bought it? Some people like to make their lives deliberately difficult

 

[MrJeeves]

Why with an e-ticket would you do anything other than submit the PDF you were sent when you bought it? Some people like to make their lives deliberately difficult

Honestly, it's easier for me to take a screenshot of Google Wallet than dig through emails or an app/website to find the right journey and then download the PDF to then upload that.

 

[infobleep]

Why with an e-ticket would you do anything other than submit the PDF you were sent when you bought it? Some people like to make their lives deliberately difficult

Well indeed but Avanti said image or scan so I assume their upload system was rubbish and couldn't accept PDFs.

I was wrong but why should I assume they were being misleading and not trust what they stated on their Web site?

Honestly, it's easier for me to take a screenshot of Google Wallet than dig through emails or an app/website to find the right journey and then download the PDF to then upload that.

I agree it is much easier but I didn't do that, as I didn't want them to reject my delay repay claim and have the hassle of having to appeal etc.

After all they don't accept screenshots from your phone. No idea what the screenshot doesn't contain. If you go for the barcode, it surely has everything they need or are their systems not advanced enough to be able to extract and process barcodes automatically from supplied images.

A PDF contains all the details in a textual format, as well as an Aztec barcode.

There is the textual details in Google Wallet eTicket if you tap on the three dots but then you don't get a visible barcode.

I'm just trying to think of reasons why they wouldn't allow screenshots to be submitted.

 

[Mal]

Has anyone ever tried to claim a refund on Avanti West Coast delay Repay scheme? If so, how long, if it all, did it take to go through the system?

Back in January, I went to Edinburgh from Liverpool and the Avanti journey started late at Wigan. Because of various hold-ups on the line, we eventually got into Waverley 1hr 30 mins late, so I got a Delay Repay form, completed it, attached the tickets|and sent it off on Jan. 25.Theses claims are supposed to be dealt with within 28 days. I still have the print out from Lime Street Station giving all the details of dates and times of departure, connections and arrivals and the total fares

I'd like to know if anyone has had a similar experience or is this just a clever ploy by Avanti to disguise poor customer relations.

Thank you again for all your replies.
Included in today's post(!!) my claim has been returned to me unopened and a yellow sticker for £5 00 to pay in a sealed Post Office envelope! The claim form was addressed to Freepost Avanti West Coast Delay Repay! Does anyone think it would be worth re-submitting?

 

[Tazi Hupefi]

Thank you again for all your replies.
Included in today's post(!!) my claim has been returned to me unopened and a yellow sticker for £5 00 to pay in a sealed Post Office envelope! The claim form was addressed to Freepost Avanti West Coast Delay Repay! Does anyone think it would be worth re-submitting?

No point submitting it again, as it will be declined as you're way beyond the claim time limit.

You need to send an email to Avanti as soon as possible explaining all of this and enclosing a photograph of the sticker on the returned claim form. Don't wait around, you need to react quickly to this if you have any chance of getting them to apply goodwill.

Quite why anyone is claiming by post is still completely beyond me. I'd be minded that this is probably a Royal Mail issue more than anything else.