Tickets lost in post

[bennorthyork]

I booked some sleeper tickets on the phone that never arrived in the post. FGW were quite unhelpful on the phone - I may have been unlucky with the person I spoke to - saying it's not their problem. Please can someone tell me what should I do to get replacements or whatever I need to travel?

 

[Ivo]

Do you have any reference numbers for these tickets, and were they sent recorded delivery?

 

[tony_mac]

the usual procedure seems to be that you ring the call centre on the day before travel and they fax an authorisation to the station you are departing from.
Then, on the day of travel, you go to the station (early!), they find the fax and write out your tickets for you.

You can only ring on the day before travel, not any earlier, and if the fax doesn't arrive for any reason it's a major pain to get sorted out!

 

[bennorthyork]

They were sent 1st class. I do have the reference for them. They have said there is nothing they can do.

 

[tony_mac]

I have never had a problem before (other than the arcane and time-consuming system for dealing with it).

The lack of delivery is their responsibility, by law*, and not yours. Unfortunately, you may need to be persistent. Do you know if it's a call centre manned by 'thetrainline'?

* Sale of Goods Act 1979 Section 20, 4) - the goods remain at the seller’s risk until they are delivered to the consumer

 

[yorkie]

I had the same thing with FGW and they said to phone them the day before departure and they will arrange for the ticket to be collectable at the station on the day of departure. This was last month. However due to the bad weather the people travelling didn't go anyway.

 

[DaveNewcastle]

The lack of delivery is their responsibility, by law*, and not yours.

* Sale of Goods Act 1979 Section 20, 4) - the goods remain at the seller’s risk until they are delivered to the consumer

I believe that is quite correct. If the sender didn't obtain a "proof of delivery" from the Post Office then they have no reason to dispute your claim.

However, this hasn't always been the case, and I'm posting this for the benefit of those who might remember a quite different legal framework :
Before "privitisation", the Post Office was a function of "The Crown" (hence the name Royal Mail of course). And because The Crown was above the Law, (by definition, laws were passed BY The Crown), then it was enought for a sender to show "that they had placed the letter into the hands of the postal authorities" and that would always lead to the assumption that The Crown, being above fault, would ensure that the letter was always delivered.
Purely an historical point, for your interest.

 

[tony_mac]

Yes, it's fairly recent - that was the result of an amendment that came into force in March 2003. (The Sale and Supply of Goods to Consumers Regulations 2002, implementing Directive 1999/44/EC of the European Parliament)

Prior to that, paragraph 1) applied
'when the property in them is transferred to the buyer the goods are at the buyer’s risk whether delivery has been made or not.'