Should the £10 refund fee be substantially reduced/abolished?

[py_megapixel]

This is a thread which the moderators split from another.

My thoughts are essentially that £10 for a refund is a ridiculous amount, regardless of whether it's per ticket, per booking or per anything else. I would accept a small charge of a couple of pounds at most as reasonable, though I still don't think there's really any need for it, but £10 is way in excess of that.

I know this sort of analogy isn't always perfect - but what sort of car charges the owner £10 for deciding not to take a previously planned journey?

 

[miklcct]

£10 for a refund is a ridiculous amount, regardless of whether it's per ticket, per booking or per anything else.

I know this sort of analogy isn't always perfect - but what sort of car charges the owner £10 for deciding not to take a previously planned journey?

Why do you compare it with the car which is expensive to own and expensive to run?

You should compare it to the coach where some companies are only selling non-refundable tickets!

 

[py_megapixel]

Why do you compare it with the car which is expensive to own and expensive to run?

Because the car is the railway's main competitor for almost all journeys, especially outside London.

 

[JonathanH]

I know this sort of analogy isn't always perfect - but what sort of car charges the owner £10 for deciding not to take a previously planned journey?

I'd imagine hire car operators would charge exactly such a fee if you stated you wanted to cancel your booking.

 

[py_megapixel]

I'd imagine hire car operators would charge exactly such a fee if you stated you wanted to cancel your booking.

I'm not sure the railway should be aiming to match its standards of customer service to those of hire car operators...

 

[yorksrob]

Yes, the railway's done ok without it these couple of years, so get rid.

Essentially the idea of them is supposedly to stop people reserving seats that they don't need, but if someone has an AP ticket and changes their plans, the seat is effectively re-released anyway.

 

[The Planner]

I'd imagine hire car operators would charge exactly such a fee if you stated you wanted to cancel your booking.

Is there any utility or insurance now that doesnt penalise for changing a fixed contract?

 

[JonathanH]

Ultimately it comes down to whether all users should pay the cost of the changes in arrangements or those actually needing the change.

 

[yorkie]

If the customer changes the ticket, I don't think there should be a fee (or if so, something like a quid)

If the customer chooses not to travel entirely, then I can understand retailers need to cover their costs, but I would have thought a fee of about a couple of quid should suffice.

10 pounds is far too much, though its been this way since "simplification" around 2007/08 (before that I think it was either 5 quid or 10 quid depending on the ticket; simplification generally means increasing costs to consumers so it is no surprise they went with the higher amount!) and of course due to inflation occurring since then, it was even worse value at that time!

 

[py_megapixel]

Ultimately it comes down to whether all users should pay the cost of the changes in arrangements or those actually needing the change.

How does a customer purchasing a flexible walk-up ticket and then later deciding they want a refund cost the railway anything close to £10?

 

[Bletchleyite]

Yes, for e-tickets and uncollected ToD. There is no actual admin to do, it is all automated. Not just that, but it would remove admin, as at present people wanting a full refund due to cancellation need to deal with a person, and it is quite likely that that admin will cost more than £10.

Arguably it should remain for a collected paper ticket as there is a cost to process that.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 10 Jul 2022 ==

Yes, the railway's done ok without it these couple of years, so get rid.

Essentially the idea of them is supposedly to stop people reserving seats that they don't need, but if someone has an AP ticket and changes their plans, the seat is effectively re-released anyway.

Best way to do that is to charge £2 for a seat reservation with £1 back if you cancel it.

 

[whoosh]

Outdated; not reflective of what it costs to process; yet another reason people don't like the railway; people have enough hassle when their plans change without the railway making it hard and expensive as well on top.

Bought something from a shop? Don't need it now? Take it back for a refund.

But a railway ticket? Oh no! Of course it's not that simple!