All Line Rover
Established Member
- Joined
- 17 Feb 2011
- Messages
- 5,261
According to section 26(b) of the National Rail Conditions of Carriage:
That seems simple enough. Or so you would think. According to Redspottedhanky, returning your unused ticket with an explanatory note isn't enough. Oh no! Instead, Redspottedhanky expect customers to contact the TOC who was responsible for the delay in order to obtain confirmation that the delay occurred, and then forward this to Redspottedhanky.
Why passengers should be expected to do this, given such a requirement is not mentioned in the NRCoC and Redspottedhanky does (I suspect) have access to this information already is a good question in itself but, more important, is the fact that certain TOCs (e.g. Virgin Trains (especially) and London Midland) take many months to respond - at any rate, longer than one month. Thus, in demanding that customers obtain this confirmation, Redspottedhanky are breaching their own obligation to give a refund "as soon as practicable and, in any case, within one month".
Suppose, three months after writing to them, and after calling a number of times to check the status of your correspondence, you finally receive that long awaited response from Virgin Trains. You forward that correspondence to Redspottedhanky. What happens now? Nothing less than receiving a reply saying that they are going to deduct a £10 administration fee from the refund (or else aren't going to provide a refund at all since the ticket cost less than £10).
But wait! What did the NRCoC say? Didn't it say "a full refund"? You reply to Redspottedhanky saying that you expect to receive a full refund as per what is mentioned in NRCoC. You wait three weeks. They don't reply. You send another email asking why they haven't replied yet. The following day they finally reply saying that they will issue a full refund. "At last!", you say.
Is it just me, or is this entire process unacceptable? It has happened to me, not once, but on a number of occasions. I get the impression that Redspottedhanky are trying to avoid their obligation to issue full refunds in these circumstances by making the process as difficult as possible for the customer. The process is so difficult that I believe they are in breach of their obligations but, despite complaining to ATOC, who replied saying that they would "look into it", nothing has happened and ATOC are not replying to any of my further emails asking what action has actually been taken.
Perhaps it is worth a complaint to Passenger Focus. But what are Passenger Focus going to do? Will they claim that they can't get involved as Redspottedhanky aren't a TOC? Will they claim that the matter falls entirely within ATOC's remit and is out of their hands?
Contrast Redspottedhanky to East Coast. You submit a message through their website notifying them that you did not travel because of delays and wish to submit your ticket for a refund. The next day they reply with an address to send your ticket to. You post the ticket. Within a week the refund is deposited in your bank account - no hassle, no fuss. They are so good that, even if your train actually turned out to be on time, but you decided earlier not the travel because the National Rail Enquiries website was warning of "potential delays", they will still issue a refund! Whether they are obliged to do this or not I am unsure, but it is excellent customer service.
I would strongly suggest that passengers avoid using Redspottedhanky to book their tickets unless absolutely necessary (e.g. when using Tesco Clubcard vouchers). Their customer service is atrocious.
On a final related note, I though I would ask, in relation to section 26(a) of the NRCoC, which says...
...does this apply to tickets purchased online (e.g. through Redspottedhanky)? It doesn't say 'no', yet ticket offices always tell me to return the ticket to the online ticket retailer.
"If the train you intend to use is cancelled, delayed or your reservation will not be honoured, your ticket or relevant portion of it is completely unused, you decide not to travel and you submit a claim for a refund within 28 days of the expiry of the ticket to the Ticket Seller you will be given a full refund as soon as practicable and in any case within one month of your claim being received."
That seems simple enough. Or so you would think. According to Redspottedhanky, returning your unused ticket with an explanatory note isn't enough. Oh no! Instead, Redspottedhanky expect customers to contact the TOC who was responsible for the delay in order to obtain confirmation that the delay occurred, and then forward this to Redspottedhanky.
Why passengers should be expected to do this, given such a requirement is not mentioned in the NRCoC and Redspottedhanky does (I suspect) have access to this information already is a good question in itself but, more important, is the fact that certain TOCs (e.g. Virgin Trains (especially) and London Midland) take many months to respond - at any rate, longer than one month. Thus, in demanding that customers obtain this confirmation, Redspottedhanky are breaching their own obligation to give a refund "as soon as practicable and, in any case, within one month".
Suppose, three months after writing to them, and after calling a number of times to check the status of your correspondence, you finally receive that long awaited response from Virgin Trains. You forward that correspondence to Redspottedhanky. What happens now? Nothing less than receiving a reply saying that they are going to deduct a £10 administration fee from the refund (or else aren't going to provide a refund at all since the ticket cost less than £10).
But wait! What did the NRCoC say? Didn't it say "a full refund"? You reply to Redspottedhanky saying that you expect to receive a full refund as per what is mentioned in NRCoC. You wait three weeks. They don't reply. You send another email asking why they haven't replied yet. The following day they finally reply saying that they will issue a full refund. "At last!", you say.
Is it just me, or is this entire process unacceptable? It has happened to me, not once, but on a number of occasions. I get the impression that Redspottedhanky are trying to avoid their obligation to issue full refunds in these circumstances by making the process as difficult as possible for the customer. The process is so difficult that I believe they are in breach of their obligations but, despite complaining to ATOC, who replied saying that they would "look into it", nothing has happened and ATOC are not replying to any of my further emails asking what action has actually been taken.
Perhaps it is worth a complaint to Passenger Focus. But what are Passenger Focus going to do? Will they claim that they can't get involved as Redspottedhanky aren't a TOC? Will they claim that the matter falls entirely within ATOC's remit and is out of their hands?
Contrast Redspottedhanky to East Coast. You submit a message through their website notifying them that you did not travel because of delays and wish to submit your ticket for a refund. The next day they reply with an address to send your ticket to. You post the ticket. Within a week the refund is deposited in your bank account - no hassle, no fuss. They are so good that, even if your train actually turned out to be on time, but you decided earlier not the travel because the National Rail Enquiries website was warning of "potential delays", they will still issue a refund! Whether they are obliged to do this or not I am unsure, but it is excellent customer service.
I would strongly suggest that passengers avoid using Redspottedhanky to book their tickets unless absolutely necessary (e.g. when using Tesco Clubcard vouchers). Their customer service is atrocious.
On a final related note, I though I would ask, in relation to section 26(a) of the NRCoC, which says...
"if the train you intended to use is cancelled, delayed or your reservation will not be honoured, you decide not to travel and at that time you return the unused ticket to any ticket office, the Train Company responsible for that ticket office will, wherever possible, give you an immediate full refund"
...does this apply to tickets purchased online (e.g. through Redspottedhanky)? It doesn't say 'no', yet ticket offices always tell me to return the ticket to the online ticket retailer.
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