Cancel Season Ticket

[ajhard]

Hi - I currently have a split season ticket which I am thinking about giving up. How can I find out what I would get back in terms of a refund?

The two tickets I have are:

STD Travelcard Sevenoaks - London Zones 4-6
Valid until 09 September 2013

Oyster Annual Travelvcard Std Zones 1,2,3 also valid until 09 September 2013

I remember reading that sometimes it was better to change the ticket to a cheap one rather than cancelling straight off - is that possible?

Thanks!

 

[wintonian]

From the NRCoC with regards to your rail season:

36. Season Ticket refunds
If you decide not to use or to stop using a Season Ticket, a refund will only be made if the
Season Ticket is returned to the Train Company from which it was bought. However, to
qualify for a refund (in the case of a Season Ticket valid for a month or more when issued)
there must be at least seven days’ validity remaining or, in the case of any other Season
Ticket, at least three days’ validity remaining.

Refunds are calculated from the date the Season Ticket is returned. If you were ill and,
consequently, unable to hand the ticket in earlier, a refund will be calculated from the date
your illness started, provided that a medical certificate or other evidence satisfactory to
the Train Company (for example, a letter from your employer on headed notepaper may be
sufficient) is produced, covering the period from the start of your illness until the ticket is
handed in. The refund will be the difference, if any, between:

• (a) the price paid for the Season Ticket; and
• (b) the total cost of the combination of tickets that you would have needed to make
  one return journey a day up to the date the Season Ticket was handed in, less a
  reasonable administrative charge (not exceeding £10).

This means the amount you receive will not usually be pro rata to the price of the ticket and,
in some cases, there may be no refund payable.

Refunds are not usually made on a duplicate ticket that has been issued to replace a lost or stolen
Season Ticket. However, applications for such refunds will be considered:

• (i) where the original Season Ticket is returned to the Train Company which issued the
  duplicate ticket within one month of it being notified of the relevant loss; or
• (ii) where the original and replacement tickets were Electronic Tickets and it was possible
  to cancel the original ticket; or
• (iii) in circumstances such as the redundancy, pregnancy or prolonged illness of the
  holder, provided supporting evidence is supplied which is satisfactory to the Train Company
  asked to make the refund.

37. Changing one Season Ticket for another
You may change one Season Ticket for another covering a different journey or class of
travel provided that the original ticket was valid for one month or more, and has at least
seven days’ validity remaining. In this case, you will only be required to pay the difference
in price between the original ticket and the new one, calculated pro rata to the number of
days of validity remaining on the ticket. If the new Season Ticket is for a cheaper journey
or class of travel, you will be entitled to a refund on the original ticket, calculated pro rata
to the number of days of validity remaining on the date the ticket is handed in. The validity
of the new ticket must start on the day after the original ticket is handed in and must
expire on the same date as that of the original ticket when it was issued. You will not have
to pay an administrative charge.
Although refunds are not usually made on duplicate tickets which have been issued to
replace lost Season Tickets, applications for refunds for duplicate tickets will be considered
under this Condition.
Different arrangements may apply for Season Tickets issued on Smartcards. The seller of
the Smartcard or Electronic Ticket will make these clear to you when you buy your ticket.

Seasons aren't my best area so I'll leave it for someone else to interpret.

 

[hairyhandedfool]

Refunds - Work out what fare you have used and subtract this, and a £10 admin fee (per ticket), from the fare paid.

To work out the fare used for yearly tickets, divide the cost by 40 to get the weekly value and add up the multipliers as appropriate from the list below and multiply:

For each whole calender month used - 3.84
For each additional whole five days used - 0.64
For each additional day used - 0.13

It's a bit more complex if using a ticket from before a fare's change that is not an annual ticket.

Changeovers - divide the cost of the season into a daily rate (365 for annual tickets, 30 days for each calender month plus odd days for other tickets) and multiply by the number of days left. Do the same for the ticket you want. The difference between them is the value owed by/due to the passenger.

Bear in mind that refunds and changeover values are worked out according to when the ticket held is surrendered, not when it was last used.

 

[island]

Also bear in mind that unless you purchased your Oyster season from a TOC it can't be changed over.

 

[bb21]

For season ticket refund calculations, please see our new RailUK Fares & Ticketing Guide Section 5.13.4.

 

[ajhard]

Also bear in mind that unless you purchased your Oyster season from a TOC it can't be changed over.

Thats useful - thanks, I bought the Oyster online from TFL - how is that dealt with then?

Cheers

 

[island]

You cannot get a changeover on a TfL-issued Oyster season, only a refund, as far as I know.

You can get the Sevenoaks to London Zones 4-6 season changed over to a Ryde Pier Head to Ryde Esplanade if you want to keep the Gold Card, or Lichfield City to Lichfield Trent Valley if not.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Getting the Sevenoaks to London Zones 4-6 refunded today would get you a refund calculated as follows:

Original ticket cost £1,980 for 1 year
Used from 10-SEP-12 to 05-JNR-13 = 3 months 27 days
3m27d season from Sevenoaks to London Zones 4-6 £741.60
Difference between these is £1,238.40, less £10 admin fee gives a refund of £1,228.40.

 

[ajhard]

Thanks for the help guys. I went today and tried to swap for a Lichfield City - Lichfield Trent Valley ticket. This was at Sevenoaks and they were very unhelpful to say the least...They told me that the Manager had said it wouldn't be possible as the new ticket is from a different rail company and I would have to go to Lichfield...

This is not my interpretation of the NRCoC (37) as listed above. They took the details and said the Manager would contact me to explain.

I was upfront about the fact that I am not moving to Lichfield and they seemed to think that this was cheating in some way, however as I see it I am simply asking them to abide by the terms set out by Rail Settlement Plan.

Opinions...? And how should I escalate if they continue to refuse?

 

[bb21]

If you are asking for an honest opinion, then it is "cheating" the system, although legitimate technically.

 

[ajhard]

If you are asking for an honest opinion, then it is "cheating" the system, although legitimate technically.

Thanks! I appreciate the honesty...does that mean they should be allowed to ignore the rules that govern the franchise though?

 

[maniacmartin]

What you are attempting is not within the spirit of the rules, but it is permitted and you have the right to have the ticket changed. Rail tickets are not tied to specific companies (except Route TOCNAME ONLY...) so that excuse was not true.