Refunds on tickets that have been amended

[GB71]

I was hoping one of the learned people who has access to the relevant information can help me understand an issue that has happened to me twice now.

I usually use 1st advance tickets but sometimes have to amend them when circumstances change. So on 2 occasions in the last year I have obtained advance tickets (through our corporate booking agency) and then had a change in circumstances meaning I paid the £10 fee plus an excess as appropriate and changed the date and time of the journey the tickets remaining 1st advances but for a different date and time - once I made the change at the EMT ticket office at St Pancras and once at the LNER ticket office at Kings X as I had already printed the tickets out when I realised I had to make the change.

Now on these 2 occasions there were the all too frequent overhead wire problems on the ECML and service disintegrated and I chose to abandon the journeys. In such cases I am obviously entitled to a full refund due to the service disruption and that is never in dispute. However what is in dispute is who is supposed to process the refund. Our corporate travel agent says not them as they didn't amend the ticket or charge the excess and the ticket they issued was for a different date and time. EMT and LNER have also both said it's not them as they never issued the original tickets.

Can someone enlighten me in these circumstances should they arise again who I am supposed to go to for the full refund?

 

[WesternLancer]

Interesting question

Does page 21 of this apply
https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/National Rail Conditions of Travel.pdf

30. Your right to a refund if your train is disrupted and you choose not to travel 30.1. If the train you intended to use is cancelled, delayed, or your reservation will not be honoured, and you decide not to travel, you may return the unused Ticket to the original retailer or Train Company from whom it was purchased, where you will be given a full refund with no administration fee being charged.

Which would imply that it is the Corp Booking Agency's responsibility (use of the term 'Original') though I can see why they may think it is not....

 

[Haywain]

In this case I would say that the two 'parts' of the ticket should each be refunded by their original retailer, but I can see why difficulties occur. Obtaining a refund for the excess should not be a major problem, but obtaining a refund for the original is problematic because of it not relating to the date and time of disruption. I can only suggest that the original should be submitted for refund with a copy of the excess coupons showing the date and time of the (disrupted) journey. However, I can give no assurance that any retailer will act as they should particularly with this being something of an edge case.

 

[WesternLancer]

I was hoping one of the learned people who has access to the relevant information can help me understand an issue that has happened to me twice now.

I usually use 1st advance tickets but sometimes have to amend them when circumstances change. So on 2 occasions in the last year I have obtained advance tickets (through our corporate booking agency) and then had a change in circumstances meaning I paid the £10 fee plus an excess as appropriate and changed the date and time of the journey the tickets remaining 1st advances but for a different date and time - once I made the change at the EMT ticket office at St Pancras and once at the LNER ticket office at Kings X as I had already printed the tickets out when I realised I had to make the change.

Now on these 2 occasions there were the all too frequent overhead wire problems on the ECML and service disintegrated and I chose to abandon the journeys. In such cases I am obviously entitled to a full refund due to the service disruption and that is never in dispute. However what is in dispute is who is supposed to process the refund. Our corporate travel agent says not them as they didn't amend the ticket or charge the excess and the ticket they issued was for a different date and time. EMT and LNER have also both said it's not them as they never issued the original tickets.

Can someone enlighten me in these circumstances should they arise again who I am supposed to go to for the full refund?

Haywain makes good points and there is a logic to going back to the different parties seperatly although of course a time consuming nuisance to do so.

However, this can not be an unheard of situation and I would expect the industry to have a protocol - which ougth to be set out by RDG / ATOC and TOCs and 3rd party retailers be aware of it.

As quickly as possible I would
a) go back to the original retailer quoting the Conditions extract I cited
and / or (esp if they have already replied and refused refund so you may wish to not waste further time on that)
b) ask Rail Ombusdman to intervene

Problem here is that the 3rd party retailer may not be part of the ombudsman scheme - however, I would expect them (ombudsman) to seek a ruling from RDG on an issue like this, or get LNER / EMT to do so - I presume 3rd party ticket retailers sell train tickets under a licence or some such agreement from RDG which ought to cover refund scenarios such as this as they can not be unheard of.

Of course this is another reason not to buy from 3rd party retailer but for whatever reason businesses / employers etc do seem to like to use them for corporate purchasing of tickets, which I assume is what happened here.