CrossCountry, Delay Repay processing times

[Adam Williams]

Very much a rant, but: How on earth can it take nearly 48 days to assess a Delay Repay claim?

Why does the industry persist in preventing retailers (or a central service) from paying out claims efficiently, and making passengers jump through these stupid hoops after they've been inconvenienced?

I've already submitted a (related) complaint about this journey, but that's had no response either. I suspect it'll ultimately all need to go to the Furniture & Home Improvement Ombudsman who I'm sure will simply parrot what they're told by the train operator [all their staff appear to be capable of doing].

It's wild to me how low some of the standards are amongst train operators when it comes to customer service.

 

[speedy1]

How on earth can it take nearly 48 days to assess a Delay Repay claim?

They've realised there's no legal or financial downside to taking so long. See also: UK261

Businesses love optimising their cashflow, not paying out until absolutely necessary

edit: and Ombudsmen just exist to make the public think there is a fair process and oversight. It's all a lie. I certainly understand your frustration

 

[jamietw]

I had one with XC that was still pending over a month recently. Rang them up, and after about 20 minutes on hold found them very helpful and it was paid within a couple of days. Obviously an inconvenience to have to call compared to an online claim going through quickly, but it did get it sorted.

 

[robbeech]

If someone were to tell you you owed me £10 and went on to ask you if you wanted to give me £10 or not and expressed clearly that if you didn’t want to you just didn’t have to bother and it would almost certainly go away then I suspect most people would choose not to bother. If they knew the consequences of not bothering was that 1 in 250 times they’d be forced to pay the £10 then it’s really a no brainer for them.

There is absolutely zero real world regulation forcing the railway to follow any rules whatsoever (from a retailing and compensatory angle), so they can and essentially do do as they please here.

It’s a smack in the face with the spade of irony really, they’re (quite rightly and justifiably) clamping down on passengers that evade the fare and have got away with paying when challenged, yet the railway is the absolute master of paying when challenged.

 

[1D54]

I've had a few with XC this year and a decision has been made (all in my favour)within 14 days and money credited to my account the following day. I had a couple during one of the hot spells which seemed to be dragging on but the e-mailed me apologising for the delay so credit where it is due.

 

[WesternLancer]

More generally I find the claim processes frustratingly difficult and un intuitive in many cases (but not used every train company to compare)
eg 2 recent claims I have outstanding

GTR - stuck 'in process' after my original claim was put in where I entered the trains I got as a result of an en route delay without it being clear to me that I should have entered the connections originally intended (I assume) but which I could not have go due to the original late train. The form is not clear on what info they require you to enter - no clear online appeals process but an unintuitive indication that I should 'resubmit' the claim - now claim seems stuck in limbo - I assume I'll have to chase it up at some point

EMR - one of the better on line claim forms I have used I tend to think - but a recent claim for a simple A-B journey with no changes that was 29 mins late didn't seem to ask me clearly the info needed about the ticket when filling the form in, so it was pushed back to me 24 hours later requesting I complete those sections - how could the form be designed to be able to let me submit it without those details included and how could it be designed such that it was not obvious to me they were missing to start with - even tho I looked hard for them since I assume it might be needed but gave up looking as I assumed it was perhaps somehow identifiable to them from the QR code I entered (but now I assume it wasn't)

The claims seem to need various numbers printed on the tickets but it's often not as clear as it could be what number is wanted for which box on the claim.

My heart sinks every time I know I need to make a claim...

 

[Starmill]

Looks like your 40 working days is on 17 September. So if the money hasn't reached you by next Friday morning you could send the Ombudsman a complaint.

I would do this even though they are pretty useless. I do this now, if the claim goes unreponded to for the qualifying time.

Forty working days is eight weeks with an allowance in their favour for any bank holidays, so in my view there are never circumstances which justify exceeding this to pay a claim, as it's already double the time allowed by the ORR for normal processing.

The ORR's opinion is as follows:

4.1 Licence holders must process correctly completed claims within 20 working days, from receipt of Claim to communication of decision and payment, where relevant.

...

4.5 Where the processing of a Claim takes longer than 20 working days, licence holders must notify the passenger of the status of the Claim, the reasons for the delay, and anticipated timescales for resolution.

 

[1D54]

My heart sinks every time I know I need to make a claim...

Which is why i suspect half the people who have every right to put in claims don't bother and are just relieved to have got to their destination.

 

[Minnietheminx]

I know anecdote is not data, but my experience with Northern is that the longer the delay (and therefore the greater the value being claimed), the longer I've had to wait for the claim to be honoured.

Was it the sheer number of claims being made or the value of my claim that caused the delay in paying out? I couldn't possibly comment...

 

[WesternLancer]

Which is why i suspect half the people who have every right to put in claims don't bother and are just relieved to have got to their destination.

I tend to think so too.... tho published stats on claims made / claims paid do make interesting reading.
Even tho staff on delayed trains I've been on d tend to announce it - certainly on heavy delays - it's hard to imagine that a high proportion of the people on board any particular train typically submit a claim