How to claim paper ticket delay repay for Elizabeth Line?

[mrbouffant]

I bought a paper ticket to go London Underground Zone 1 to Reading yesterday.
Due to track defects west of Paddington, we arrived 61 minutes late.
Checking the TFL website for Elizabeth Line delay repay, they say to call 0343 222 1234 for paper ticket refunds.
I called the number and the options offered in no way relate to achieving this goal. Indeed, the menus on offer are so labyrinthine it's almost as if they are designed to put off the casual caller from engaging with TFL.
Can members advise on any alternative ways of obtaining delay repay for Elizabeth Line services?
Thank you.

 

[AlterEgo]

It's far from ideal, but they have a postal claim system if you used a paper ticket, at the bottom of this page: https://tfl.gov.uk/fares/refunds-and-replacements/overground-and-elizabeth-line-delays

I'd choose option 5 on the phone number and just go from there. Did you speak to anyone?

 

[Wallsendmag]

Helpful that TfL call it a refund when it's really compensation.

 

[furlong]

After picking any random number in the phone system and speaking to someone they put you through to the right department, you get another 20 minutes on hold only to be told to email them all the details with a picture of the ticket etc. Not putting that information on their website you'd think they are trying to make it as awkward as possible for people to claim!

 

[island]

The rare times I've had to claim they put the claim through on the phone without asking for me to submit the ticket.

 

[furlong]

The instructions were to send details of the journey to customerservice @ tfl.gov.uk with an image of the ticket, then their reply further asked for bank account name/number/sort code. (Use a clear subject line - Elizabeth Line, Delay Repay, Date so it gets to the right place quickly.)

 

[Watershed]

TfL seem to try their best to be obstructive to these kinds of claims, despite them only even being possible because of TfL's decision to offer this (arguably generous, by metro standards) policy.

I was recently delayed on an NR ticket issued to Zone U1*. The Underground station was shut due to overcrowding, which in turn was due to an earlier signal failure (actually on a different line than the one I intended to use, not that it made any difference to my predicament). The advice, both from TfL's live status page and Citymapper, was to use a bus to complete my journey and that ticket acceptance was in place.

I duly made the journey by bus and arrived 15+ minutes late. Of course, I then discovered that the only usable channel TfL give for these kinds of claims is to send in your ticket by post.

The amount of compensation I would have been entitled to would have been only slightly more than the cost of a stamp and letter, so I first called TfL as the "service delay refund" (SDR) page suggests. After navigating their maze of options and getting through, I was told all claims had to be emailed in. I queried this contradiction with the website but was told it had to be done by email.

I sent in an email (ignoring the form'swarnings not to submit SDR claims!) and got a response offering me £1.75 for the bus fare they said I had incurred.

I just didn't have it in me to argue any further over such a small amount.