LNER- Refund confusion

[Train Maniac]

Hi
I bought an advance from London Kings Cross to Newcastle for Saturday 4th April. I later realised this was the easter bank holiday weekend so bought a new Off Peak Single ticket for Friday 3rd.(this was purchased on the Southeastern website) I then refunded the ticket that i no longer needed, selecting 'change of plan' on the LNER website.

Its now been 3 weeks and i havent had a response. Following the Contact Us link the email just takes you in a loop.

Advice would be appreciated

 

[AlterEgo]

You can't refund Advance tickets. Why didn't you amend it on the LNER site?

 

[ainsworth74]

I think you might have sunk yourself here. Advances are not usually refundable (some exceptions apply like if a train in cancelled and you decide not to travel). They can be exchanged prior to travel and indeed LNER allow you to do this via their website I can't recall off hand if they charge an admin fee and any difference in fare not.

So I suspect when LNER do contact you back it'll be to say that you ticket is non-refundable. I think you've paid twice for the same journey I'm afraid.

 

[Bletchleyite]

You can't refund Advance tickets. Why didn't you amend it on the LNER site?

Looks like confusion, because on many sites (including the Forum one) the method of amending Advances is to rebook and request a refund. I'd hope Customer Services look on this kindly provided it is compliant (e.g. same origin/destination).

 

[ainsworth74]

Looks like confusion, because on many sites (including the Forum one) the method of amending Advances is to rebook and request a refund. I'd hope Customer Services look on this kindly provided it is compliant (e.g. same origin/destination).

Though usually rebook from the same retailer, not a different one...

 

[Bletchleyite]

Though usually rebook from the same retailer, not a different one...

Ah yes, I missed that. The poster is in that case indeed unlikely to get a good result from this, though I do know some retailers will accommodate people doing that e.g. repurchasing on the day from a booking office.

 

[Train Maniac]

Ahh noted. I didnt amend as i was under the impression that you would only be able to choose another advance (LNER being the way it is Haha) and my preferred retailer is Southeastern.

I was just a little worried it might have looked a bit dodgy from their end and thats why i hadnt heard back yet.

Lesson learnt for next time

 

[Bletchleyite]

Ahh noted. I didnt amend as i was under the impression that you would only be able to choose another advance (LNER being the way it is Haha) and my preferred retailer is Southeastern.

You can purchase any ticket on the LNER site (just as you can from any retailer). When changing an Advance the requirement is that the origin and destination must be the same, so you couldn't (at any retailer) switch from a Newcastle-London Advance to a "workaround" fare to get a Super Off Peak though, if that's what you meant. Some retailers also require that the TOC is the same - technically that's a requirement but not all retailers enforce it.

Generally you should, if you want not to be out of pocket, follow the change process for that retailer. For some it is rebook and refund (and some will let you rebook with another retailer if you provide evidence as a discretionary thing) but for others it's a change process, which in some cases involves issuing an excess to go with your original ticket. It varies a bit.

 

[H F Stephens]

Hi
I bought an advance from London Kings Cross to Newcastle for Saturday 4th April. I later realised this was the easter bank holiday weekend so bought a new Off Peak Single ticket for Friday 3rd.(this was purchased on the Southeastern website) I then refunded the ticket that i no longer needed, selecting 'change of plan' on the LNER website.

Its now been 3 weeks and i havent had a response. Following the Contact Us link the email just takes you in a loop.

Advice would be appreciated

As others have noted, the process that should have been followed is to amend the original ticket from within your LNER account.

Amendments are only possible when the origin and destination are the same.

A £10 fee plus the fare difference would have applied.

Attempting to 'refund' an Advance ticket that has been 'replaced' by a ticket purchased from a completely different retailer is not an offered option under any circumstances, and therefore the 'change of plan' request will fail any system process.

However, when you submitted the 'change of plan' request, you should have received a case reference number.

Assuming that you did indeed purchase a new ticket for exactly the same origin and destination, and that it has been used and not refunded, and perhaps crucially that it was scanned on board an LNER service on 3rd April, then it would be worth emailing customers <at> lner. co. uk (replace <at> with @ and remove the spaces), noting your case reference number, attaching the original and replacement tickets, and asking for a goodwill refund of the original, less the £10 amendment fee.

It's not unknown for LNER's Customer Relations function to look carefully and favourably on specific situations, as long as they're able to confirm that a genuine misunderstanding or error has occurred.

It's completely at their discretion, however, and if they cannot verify any part of a claim (or the origins and destinations are not the same) then it's highly unlikely that they'll approve the claim.

 

[gray1404]

Who you did purchase the original advance ticket from?

 

[coastalview]

You can cancel an Advance ticket and get a refund with LNER if you do it within 2 hours of booking. Did you cancel it within 2 hours of booking?
if you did cancel within 2 hours check you bank card statement because when I have done this the original booking cost has just dropped off rather than an actual refund.

 

[James H]

You can cancel an Advance ticket and get a refund with LNER if you do it within 2 hours of booking. Did you cancel it within 2 hours of booking?

I had to do this recently when I accidentally booked a journey the wrong way round (from London instead of to London) - took a few days to process but was all sorted efficiently by LNER

 

[Train Maniac]

The original advance tickets were bought way back on 16th February as soon as Bedlington was confirmed to open via the LNER website

Outbound LNER £25.40
(This is the one i was trying to refund)
Return Lumo £31.20

I then bought the Super Off Peak Single and attempted the refund on the 23rd March (a week before travel)

I understood the £10 admin fee so was aware i was only going to get back £15 quid best case scenario but i thought whats the harm?

As i say, there was just a niggling sensation thst it might be misinterpretrd as me trying to fare dodge- which im definitely not!

Hope this makes more sense

 

[Bletchleyite]

Did you request the refund before the booked train? If not there is zero chance of a refund rather than almost none. Advance changes must be completed before scheduled departure of the first train on the itinerary.

 

[Train Maniac]

Yeah requested on 23rd March, train was early morning 4th April. I wouldnt be giving it a second thought if it had just been declined within 2 week.

 

[Haywain]

You can cancel an Advance ticket and get a refund with LNER if you do it within 2 hours of booking.

That's changed now, I believe, due to the new refund rules. You get a whole 15 minutes instead, as with some other retailers.

 

[coastalview]

That's changed now, I believe, due to the new refund rules. You get a whole 15 minutes instead, as with some other retailers.

It still says 2 hours on the website so hope it hasn't changed but the couple of times I have needed to do it I realised straight away so was under 15 minutes and quickly cancelled and rebooked the correct journey.

 

[Haywain]

It still says 2 hours on the website so hope it hasn't changed but the couple of times I have needed to do it I realised straight away so was under 15 minutes and quickly cancelled and rebooked the correct journey.

Could be that changing that has been overlooked . Maybe @Wallsendmag can confirm?

 

[Adam Williams]

It shouldn't be two hours across the board anymore, if they've implemented the new rules.

That's changed now, I believe, due to the new refund rules. You get a whole 15 minutes instead, as with some other retailers.

Maximum of 15 minutes for Advance/walk-up valid for same-day travel but retailer-stipulated timeframe for tix purchased in advance of the day of travel (so e.g. 1 or 2 hours depending on the retailer).

(If you're thinking that that's different to/slightly more generous than what was originally communicated, you'd be quite right. The comms to retailers around this particular rule change were poor - some of the involved staff at RDG seemed more interested in going on a rant about internet retail rather than actually communicating the detail of changes properly. Luckily it got clarified later on, closer to the date of implementation.)

 

[Wallsendmag]

Could be that changing that has been overlooked . Maybe @Wallsendmag can confirm?

Sorry up to my neck in new TVM work so wasn't involved in the later stages of the refund changes

 

[gray1404]

Which specific trains were you booked to travel on that you purchased the advance tickets for?

 

[Wallsendmag]

Could be that changing that has been overlooked . Maybe @Wallsendmag can confirm?

I've been informed that the 2 hr leeway for booking errors is still in place

 

[OscarH]

I've been informed that the 2 hr leeway for booking errors is still in place

Unless booked on the day I hope!

 

[Bletchleyite]

Unless booked on the day I hope!

I believe it's stated above that it's 15 minutes on the day regardless of ticket type, though with Advances there's no harm in it being longer provided it isn't after validity starts.

 

[Adam Williams]

there's no harm in it being longer provided it isn't after validity starts

The rule is 15 minutes - common sense (i.e. the fact that the ticket potentially couldn't be used) doesn't come into it.

 

[Wallsendmag]

Unless booked on the day I hope!

Yes sorry that's always been the case