Refund on uncollected Advance tickets

[Sprinter]

I would like some advice.

On Saturday 11th May I was due to travel on the 0821 Paddington [PAD]-Hereford [HFD] (as far as Oxford [OXF]) but due to a mega ATO failure on the Victoria Line (left Walthamstow at 0732, arrived King's Cross 0826), I missed this train by a consirable margin.

It wasn't worth me getting the next train to OXF as the bus plan I was planning to do relied on that 0821 train to make the plan work with some very low frequency routes. Me and my friend eventaully settled on a different plan from Marylebone [MYB] instead.

So my original tickets for the 0821 from PAD were never collected, they are still in system. Question is, can I claim my money back as I would have made the train with ease if it wasn't for the Tube going belly up.

Since I am a London resident I travelled to PAD on my All Zones Oyster card. I booked through the FGW website and was going to print the tickets at Padd when I arrived.

Advice welcome.

 

[yorkie]

No refund is applicable for Advance tickets, unless you were "delayed while travelling" (on a recognised journey, that is).

If you held a through ticket from Waltamstow Central, or from a London Ux zonal origin, to Hereford then I would say you'd be entitled either to a refund if you chose to abandon your journey and/or compensation, as appropriate.

You are also treated as a through passenger if you start your journey on National Rail, on Oyster, as with any other ticket combination. But that doesn't appear to be the case here.

But if you started your journey on LU on a separate ticket, this is not considered to be a through journey.

This has cropped up numerous times and was clarified a couple of years ago in the Advance Fare FAQs in The Manual.

My advice from previous threads:

Advance tickets to/from "ZONE U1* LONDN" [0785] (or other zones as appropriate) are easy to obtain on WebTIS-powered sites, are not necessary for a journey to merely cross London, but highly recommended for a journey that starts with DLR/LU.

If your journey had started on London Underground then it might not, officially, have been covered (though in reality would probably be honoured) but you can get around that by purchasing an Advance from Zone U1* London, which typically costs £3 more than from London Terminals.

(Zone U123 London in the case of Walthamstow Central, or a ticket from Walthamstow Central as a named origin)

.... if you had bought a ticket from "Zone U12 London" then you would have been covered, regardless of "fault". The cost is not much more than a ticket from London Terminals. Worth bearing in mind for next time.

 

[Sprinter]

I actaully started my journey at my local station of Walthamstow Queens Road [WMW] (on the GOBLIN route) to transfer onto the Victoria Line at Blackhorse Road, which is faster and easier for me than walking to Walthamstow Central [WHC] and starting there (since I live very close to WMW).

 

[yorkie]

I actaully started my journey at my local station of WMW (on the GOBLIN route) to transfer onto the Victoria Line at Blackhorse Road, which is faster and easier for me than walking to WHC and starting there (since I live very close to WMW).

Ah, that's okay then I read it that the journey was likely to be on the Victoria Line from Walthamstow Central.

In this case, I'd say you are covered as a passenger making a through journey. Providing, of course, you allowed at least the minimum interchange times. Your Oyster journey history will be able to prove if that was indeed the case.

As you chose not to travel due to delays, and the Advance ticket is unused, I think the appropriate course would be to contact the vendor, sending them evidence of the through journey, and detailing the delays that occurred.

I'd make a separate claim to LU for the delay experienced on the Victoria Line.

It is best to concisely post the complete details here, so that the advice we give is correct to your specific circumstances.

 

[bb21]

What time did you leave WMW?

 

[Sprinter]

What time did you leave WMW?

On the 0732 to GPO (I personally allow 45 minutes from WMW- PAD)

 

[bb21]

On the 0732 to GPO (I personally allow 45 minutes from WMW- PAD)

I have been trying to recreate your itinerary for the following Saturdays. Although I cannot exactly match the itinerary using only LU between Blackhorse Road and Paddington, I have failed to produce one that allows you to leave on the 0732 from WMW and still make the 0821 from PAD. The latest departure from WMW that would allow you to get the 0821 is the 0648 from WMW.

Of course that doesn't mean your itinerary is necessarily invalid, however I would think that you might be pushing it a bit with only 50 minutes. Someone like soil will be able to look into data files to find out exactly how long you need for a transfer solely on LU between those two points.

Even if not, all is not lost, as FGW might still be happy to refund you considering the circumstances as a goodwill gesture.

 

[ffm]

Please use station names not daft codes, the forum rules state this too. As it is all I could think was WTF

 

[bb21]

Please use station names not daft codes, the forum rules state this too. As it is all I could think was WTF

Good point. I was under the impression that the stations were listed in the opening post but now realise that it was a figment of my imagination. I have corrected the opening post.