East Coast Delay Repay query

[extendedpaul]

Back in mid March we travelled to Leeds on a service which departed Kings Cross on time but was almost 40 minutes late at Doncaster. We were using flat fare EC first class tickets (£20)

The train manager was excellent throughout with regular announcements, explanations and apologies. Before Doncaster he confirmed eligibility for delay repay and issued forms to passengers in first class. I don't know if the same thing happened in standard.

Arrival times at Doncaster and Wakefield were both about 35 minutes late but we actually reached Leeds between 28 and 29 minutes behind schedule. There were no further announcements about the delay after Doncaster.

I did wonder whether to discard the form but reasoned that few other Leeds passengers would have realised arrival was just within the 30 minute window, and we all had forms, so I submitted the claim within 48 hours.

Almost two months later I have received neither a rejection letter nor a voucher. Do East Coast simply ignore claims that don't qualify ? Are passengers given the benefit of the doubt in borderline cases ? Should the train manager have made a further announcement at Leeds ? Would other forum members pursue the matter ?

 

[IanD]

My experience is that they reply either way but some people have reported their response times are sometimes excessive. If you think you have a valid claim then you should contact them.

I have reported arriving 31 minutes late (by the station clock, rounding up to the next minute) in the past but they have responded by saying that their official clocks reported a 29 minute late arrival.

In my opinion the TM was a bit premature in handing out teh forms to everyone at Doncaster, he should only have handed them to those alighting there.

 

[yorkie]

Did you take a photo of your ticket and submit it online? If so, did you get an automatic email with a reference number? They usually respond very quickly too.

If you sent it by post, you're not the only one whose application has been lost!

What was the day & time of your train? What was your final destination by rail?

 

[bb21]

Yes, I too find it unusual that East Coast take this long to reply.

Since you are aware that you are not eligible, morally speaking you should just drop it. In reality, people do pursue these cases, but as others have already pointed out, it could have been lost in the post.

 

[Tetchytyke]

I've waited six weeks for a reply from East Coast before.

 

[extendedpaul]

Did you take a photo of your ticket and submit it online? If so, did you get an automatic email with a reference number? They usually respond very quickly too.

If you sent it by post, you're not the only one whose application has been lost!

What was the day & time of your train? What was your final destination by rail?

I did not include this detail in my post as it would identify the train manager but as you've asked it was the 12.35 from Kings Cross to Leeds on Wednesday 26 March and Leeds was our final destination. I posted the application and certainly won't pursue the matter but would have liked a reply even a rejection.