Depressing example of Delay Repay runaround

[talldave]

This Twitter thread makes for depressing reading, I wonder how many more people just give up ?

https://twitter.com/EilishGregory/status/1114426590006530049

(Edited to add a quote - a bit jumbled though as the conversation got a bit multi-threaded!)

@EilishGregory
@Se_Railway @SouthernRailUK @SWRRLY all three of you have rejected my delay repay forms for travelling on Sunday 10th March from Epsom to Tunbridge Wells which took 3 hours due to cancellations and delays from high winds. Each one of you have told me to contact one or the other to claim compensation. I am getting fed up now for having to fill in separate forms for claiming to each be rejected as none of you will take the buck. One of you needs to take responsibility now and I am more than happy to share each rejection email I have received.

@SouthernRailUK
Hi there, which service have you been delayed on please? ^Lola

@EilishGregory
On all three services from around 10:35am until 2pm Sunday 10th March. I was delayed half an hour at Epsom because of trees on the line and high winds. Grabbed whatever train I was on which I was informed was the southwestern. Then had to get a delayed connection at Clapham Junction for the same reasons which was a southern train. Then had to get a delayed train at Waterloo East from southeastern which took half an hour longer with a replacement coach service at Tonbridge. All three services I experienced delays and all three of you have given me unsuccessful because I have been told I need to claim from the start of the journey and now I have told to claim for the final part of the journey. I am not impressed at all.

@SouthernRailUK
hi there, really sorry to hear of your experience. We would only be able to pay delay repay for the journey you took with our services. Can I please ask you to submit the claim again but this time select that it is a re-submission ^Magnolia

@Se_Railway
If you contact our Customer services they will go through the reason for the outcome of your claim. Tel 0345 322 7021 ^g

@EilishGregory
@Southeastern there is no point me calling. Your original email said that you rejected it because I needed to claim from the train operator I used for the start of my journey. @Southwestern emailed me today to say that I needed to make the claim from you. So who is right??

@SouthernRailUK
It would be the company that were initially delayed on. ^Magnolia

@EilishGregory
This is the thing I was delayed on all three services start to finish.

@SouthernRailUK
Can you remember which service you were delayed on initially please? ^Magnolia

@EilishGregory
The service from Epsom. I was originally supposed to get a 10:30am

@SouthernRailUK
thanks for confirming, ok, I have checked our records and you will have to claim through us for the first leg of your journey as the 10:33 Epsom - London Victoria is run through the Southern service. Please put in your claim as a re-submission. ^Magnolia

@EilishGregory
Thank you.

@EilishGregory
Declined AGAIN. You have informed me for the second time now that I have to get a refund through @Se_Railway for a journey starting from Epsom. Neither of you will refund me. This is an absolute joke.

@EilishGregory
Would one of you now please tell me who is compensating me for my three hours journey from Epsom to Tunbridge Wells because neither of you will take the responsibility and keep passing the blame on the other.

@SouthernRailUK · 5h5 hours ago
Hi there, apologies for delayed response. Which service has been delayed please? ^Lola

@EilishGregory
The 10th March Epsom to Tunbridge Wells which experienced high winds. The tweets above will have details I have already described. I am not doing another form to be told by @SouthernRailUK that it is @Se_Railway fault. And then for me to do a form to them and be told it's you.

@SouthernRailUK
We do not run direct trains from Epsom to Tunbridge Wells. If this service was from Epsom to London Bridge, the delay repay should be claimed with us. If this was between London Bridge and Tunbridge Wells, it would be Southeastern. ^Lola

@Se_Railway
Hi Dr Gregory, really sorry for the travel disruption you faced on 10th March. I've just followed you so we can DM. I will take your details over DM and escalate this to our Customer Services team. You can claim through us for all journeys. ^RD

@EilishGregory
Thank you for your apology. The problem is I made a claim through you 2 weeks ago for the final part of this journey, and my claim was rejected by the company as they said I needed to claim from the service where my journey started. @SouthernRailUK says I should claim from you.

@Se_Railway
I've just DMd you, we will take the details for the full journey from Epsom to Tunbridge Wells for you and pass this on. ^RD[\QUOTE]

 

[Esker-pades]

I can't gain access to it. Would you be able to provide a summary?

 

[talldave]

I can't gain access to it. Would you be able to provide a summary?

Oh sorry, sure.

The poster took a journey from Epsom to Tunbridge Wells on 10 Mar which took 3 hours. SWR, Southern and Southeastern have all rejected delay repay claims. It then gets more embarrassing as Southern suggest a re-submission, which they then reject again. Southeastern are now saying they'll pick up the tab and asking the claimant to DM them on Twitter.

But Southern as still missing the point with a helpful tweet today of "We do not run direct trains from Epsom to Tunbridge Wells."!! Well I guess the poor passenger knows that from their journey experience, she was simply asking why nobody would take responsibility for a delay repay payout.

It just appears to be a shambles.

 

[Esker-pades]

Thanks for that.

Sadly, this is not an unusual demonstration of TOCs' compensation regimes. I can't say I'm surprised.

 

[Clip]

Thanks for that.

Sadly, this is not an unusual demonstration of TOCs' compensation regimes. I can't say I'm surprised.

Whilst Im not defending their poor behaviour here - it seems from her first tweet(which hadnt been described properly by talldave) to them that she tried to claim from all three operators at first which is probably the reason for the merry go round to start off with.

Dr Eilish Gregory‏ @EilishGregory Apr 4
@Se_Railway @SouthernRailUK @SWRRLY all three of you have rejected my delay repay forms for travelling on Sunday 10th March from Epsom to Tunbridge Wells which took 3 hours due to cancellations and delays from high winds. Each one of you have told me to contact one or the other

Lets not forget poor customer service isnt just tied to the railway

 

[Haywain]

The poster took a journey from Epsom to Tunbridge Wells on 10 Mar which took 3 hours. SWR, Southern and Southeastern have all rejected delay repay claims.

Although it seems fairly clear that SWR bear no responsibility for this, as their trains were not used - the tweeter refers to starting the journey on the 10:30 from Epsom which Southern recognised as being their 10:33 departure. That doesn't absolve Southern, in particular, for their apparently abysmal handling of the matter.

 

[yorkie]

It's unclear what happened exactly, but what should have happened is for the passenger to put in one claim for their entire journey (irrespective of tickets used) to the operator that caused the delay.

If a Southern branded service caused the initial delay then GTR, as the operator of that service, would be liable for paying delay compensation for the entire journey, regardless of whether or not another operator (ie. Southeastern in this case) causes further delay. If it's unclear which company caused the delay, this can cause issues.

If a claim is sent to the wrong company, that company should forward it to the correct one; they shouldn't ask the customer to make another submission to another company.

(If multiple claims are made all for the whole journey all at once in an attempt to ask each company to pay for the whole journey, that could be considered fraudulent. If a claim for each leg of the journey is sent separately to the TOC that caused the delay to that leg, that is incorrect and may simply be a result of a misunderstanding)

 

[najaB]

If a claim is sent to the wrong company, that company should forward it to the correct one; they shouldn't ask the customer to make another submission to another company.

I don't know if I necessarily agree with that. Unless the passenger has agreed to allow their PII to be forwarded then the first company could be in breach of data protection law.

The response should be "This claim shouldn't be with us, it should be with Company B - would you like us to forward your details?"

 

[jon0844]

Does GDPR not allow for some level of data sharing where necessary?

 

[najaB]

Does GDPR not allow for some level of data sharing where necessary?

Naturally, it does. The question (as always) is what does "necessary" mean? The best way to keep yourself right is to ask the customer.

Where this could cause a problem is if the customer uses different email addresses with the two TOCs and doesn't want them shared.

 

[island]

We had a big long debate about this on a previous similar thread. In summary, the GDPR does not prevent this, consent is only one of six bases for sharing data, and “data protection” is used more often to fob people off than for a good reason.

 

[najaB]

In summary, the GDPR does not prevent this, consent is only one of six bases for sharing data, and “data protection” is used more often to fob people off than for a good reason.

Well (pedantically) GDPR doesn't prevent anything - however passing PII between companies without consent should only be done where it can't reasonably be avoided. In this case there is a very simple and easy way to get consent so that would be the prudent course of action.

As I stated in that discussion, contacting Company A about an issue and receiving a reply from Company B may or may not involve a breach of the relevant data protection laws, but it definitely feels like a breach.

 

[island]

Well (pedantically) GDPR doesn't prevent anything - however passing PII between companies without consent should only be done where it can't reasonably be avoided.

That, as an opinion on good practice, and customer service, is fine. It is not, however, anywhere near what the law says.

 

[najaB]

That, as an opinion on good practice, and customer service, is fine. It is not, however, anywhere near what the law says.

Actually, it is. A company has to be able to justify a transfer rather than the data subject needing to show it was unnecessary.

 

[island]

Actually, it is. A company has to be able to justify a transfer rather than the data subject needing to show it was unnecessary.

That’s completely different to what you first said which was that “passing PII between companies without consent should only be done when it can’t reasonably be avoided”.

I agree that a company has to be able to justify a transfer. It has five possible justifications other than consent.

(I fear however we are getting off topic.)

 

[rs101]

Whilst Im not defending their poor behaviour here - it seems from her first tweet(which hadnt been described properly by talldave) to them that she tried to claim from all three operators at first which is probably the reason for the merry go round to start off with.

I don't think she's saying that she tried to claim from all three at once, rather that she'd claimed from one and been told to contact another, which the other TOCs then repeated, leading to her annoyed tweet.