Partial Refund advice for newbie

[droogiefret]

Hello All,

Yesterday I attempted to travel from Ipswich to Rhyl using an off-peak return from Trainline. So Greater Anglia to Liverpool St. Tube to Euston and a reservation on the 13.02 Avanti, due in Rhyl about 16.00

I arrived at Euston just as they were cancelling all trains (overhead cables) and people heading for Chester (me) were advised to continue via St Pancras. I caught an EMR from St Pancras to Sheffield, intending to route Derby, Stoke, Crewe, Chester, Rhyl. At Derby no trains were running to Stoke because of trees on line so coach replacement, arriving at Stoke about 18.30. I think I could have continued to Crewe by 19.30 and perhaps caught 21.00 train from there to Rhyl arriving sometime between 22.00 and 22.30. But I abandoned at Stoke and my sister drove to pick me up.

Now, as I understand it, I can't claim from Avanti because I purchased from Trainline - and I can't claim from Trainline because I chose to travel rather than cancelling at Euston. Is that right? (I am obviously hoping to use my return portion after Christmas)

Thanks in anticipation of any clarification.

 

[bcarmicle]

You can claim Delay Repay from the first operator who delayed you, in this case Avanti.

You cannot claim a refund from your retailer as you travelled (and did not abandon your journey).

 

[Haywain]

Hello All,

Yesterday I attempted to travel from Ipswich to Rhyl using an off-peak return from Trainline. So Greater Anglia to Liverpool St. Tube to Euston and a reservation on the 13.02 Avanti, due in Rhyl about 16.00

I arrived at Euston just as they were cancelling all trains (overhead cables) and people heading for Chester (me) were advised to continue via St Pancras. I caught an EMR from St Pancras to Sheffield, intending to route Derby, Stoke, Crewe, Chester, Rhyl. At Derby no trains were running to Stoke because of trees on line so coach replacement, arriving at Stoke about 18.30. I think I could have continued to Crewe by 19.30 and perhaps caught 21.00 train from there to Rhyl arriving sometime between 22.00 and 22.30. But I abandoned at Stoke and my sister drove to pick me up.

Now, as I understand it, I can't claim from Avanti because I purchased from Trainline - and I can't claim from Trainline because I chose to travel rather than cancelling at Euston. Is that right? (I am obviously hoping to use my return portion after Christmas)

Thanks in anticipation of any clarification.

You can claim a full refund of the ticket from the retailer - Trainline - because the journey was abandoned. I believe you have to be careful about claiming the refund through the correct route on their website though, in order to avoid an administration fee being applied.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 22 Dec 2023 ==

You cannot claim a refund from your retailer as you travelled (and did not abandon your journey).

This is wrong - the journey was abandoned at Stoke.

 

[droogiefret]

Thank you both. I think, given the reports I've read about how bad Trainline are at refunding I shall take this as a lesson learnt. In future I shall make sure I buy tickets from the main operator on whatever journey I am making.

 

[Haywain]

Thank you both. I think, given the reports I've read about how bad Trainline are at refunding I shall take this as a lesson learnt. In future I shall make sure I buy tickets from the main operator on whatever journey I am making.

I wouldn't make any assumptions that booking in that way would lead to any improvement. I have only ever had such a refund once and that was a few weeks ago - that was from the forum site and handled admirably well.

 

[bcarmicle]

This is wrong - the journey was abandoned at Stoke.

While I accept this may succeed under a strict reading of the NRCOT, approximately 90% of the journey (by my estimate) was completed by rail and the passenger continued onto Rhyl by car. In those circumstances, I would suggest Delay Repay is the more appropriate mechnaism for compensation and I also do not think there is a question of entitlement to claim it. There is occasionally a question about how a delay is calculated where the passenger completes their final leg by a mode not arranged by a TOC, but in this case, given the extent of the delay incurred, that is neither here nor there.

There is also the point that Delay Repay will result in greater compensation (full value of the ticket, without impacting the ability to use the return portion) which a refund would not.

 

[droogiefret]

While I accept this may succeed under a strict reading of the NRCOT, approximately 90% of the journey (by my estimate) was completed by rail and the passenger continued onto Rhyl by car. In those circumstances, I would suggest Delay Repay is the more appropriate mechnaism for compensation and I also do not think there is a question of entitlement to claim it. There is occasionally a question about how a delay is calculated where the passenger completes their final leg by a mode not arranged by a TOC, but in this case, given the extent of the delay incurred, that is neither here nor there.

There is also the point that Delay Repay will result in greater compensation (full value of the ticket, without impacting the ability to use the return portion) which a refund would not.

I shall certainly attempt a claim - thank you so much.

 

[gray1404]

Were you using the outward or return portion of the ticket? Under the circumstances I would submit a delay repay claim to Avanti for a 120+ minute delay and expect to receive 100% of the cost of the ticket.

 

[droogiefret]

Were you using the outward or return portion of the ticket? Under the circumstances I would submit a delay repay claim to Avanti for a 120+ minute delay and expect to receive 100% of the cost of the ticket.

Outward - thank you for the advice.

 

[yorkie]

While I accept this may succeed under a strict reading of the NRCOT, approximately 90% of the journey (by my estimate) was completed by rail and the passenger continued onto Rhyl by car. In those circumstances, I would suggest Delay Repay is the more appropriate mechnaism for compensation and I also do not think there is a question of entitlement to claim it. There is occasionally a question about how a delay is calculated where the passenger completes their final leg by a mode not arranged by a TOC, but in this case, given the extent of the delay incurred, that is neither here nor there.

There is also the point that Delay Repay will result in greater compensation (full value of the ticket, without impacting the ability to use the return portion) which a refund would not.

I agree.

Claim Delay Repay.

I would not say the journey was "abandoned" but was "delayed".

An abandoned journey is generally accepted to mean immediately returning to your origin and not doing whatever it was you wanted to do at the destination; this is poorly defined in the NRCoT but that is the principle, as I understand it.

 

[furlong]

I'd agree with Haywain that a ticket in these circumstances can be refunded in full as an abandoned journey. So, basically, the OP has a choice. It sounds like Delay Repay is the better fit if the return portion is still going to be used.

 

[gray1404]

If you get the ticket refunded then it could either prevent you from using the return portion or the retailer might only give you a 50% refund value or worse if they calculate it wrong. Where as a delay repay claim you are entitled to the full ticket value as you did travel and were delayed.

 

[droogiefret]

Just an addendum to the above. I applied for delay repay to Avanti using their paper form (as the online system is stated as used only for advance tickets).

I never even got an acknowledgment, let alone any reimbursement.

 

[MrJeeves]

I applied for delay repay to Avanti using their paper form (as the online system is stated as used only for advance tickets).

This is most definitely not the case. Any tickets can be used for an online claim. Where did you see this?

 

[droogiefret]

This is most definitely not the case. Any tickets can be used for an online claim. Where did you see this?

It says on their site. here

If you had an Advance ticket and your journey with Avanti West Coast was delayed by more than 15 minutes then you can claim Delay Repay compensation via our portal. If you're an Avanti West Coast customer (you book your tickets via the Avanti West Coast website or app), you can sign up for Automated Delay Repay below. This means whenever your train is delayed, we will email you directly about your Delay Repay compensation (Automated Delay Repay is for Advance tickets only).

 

[MrJeeves]

It says on their site. here

If you had an Advance ticket and your journey with Avanti West Coast was delayed by more than 15 minutes then you can claim Delay Repay compensation via our portal. If you're an Avanti West Coast customer (you book your tickets via the Avanti West Coast website or app), you can sign up for Automated Delay Repay below. This means whenever your train is delayed, we will email you directly about your Delay Repay compensation (Automated Delay Repay is for Advance tickets only).

That is one of the three blocks of text about delay repay.

The block on the right talks about if you didn't book through them (you booked through Trainline).

The automatic scheme is only for advance ticket holders who book through them but the standard form is still available:

If you booked your Avanti West Coast train ticket via another company (e.g trainline) then you can still claim Delay Repay if your journey was delayed by more than 15 minutes (You can only do this via our portal if your ticket was for a delayed Avanti West Coast journey). You can do this by registering for our Delay Repay portal. Sign up using the link below and make a claim:

Click here to sign up and claim Delay Repay compensation

You're outside the 28 day window since your journey now. I would recommend contacting them for an update on your postal claim and provide a copy of you planned journey and ticket details.

customer.resolutions@avantiwestcoast.co.uk

 

[droogiefret]

Thanks