I've had a DSB railcard for many years (hearing loss), and whenever I've previously renewed, the date on the "new" railcard has always been 1 or, as the case may be, 3 years after the expiry of the existing railcard.
Earlier this month, a month prior to the expiry of my still-valid railcard, I received an e-mail inviting me to apply for a renewed railcard, expressly stating in the text of the e-mail that the new railcard would be valid from the day after my existing railcard expires. The exact quote is "You don't need to wait for your Railcard to expire to renew. Your new Railcard will be valid from the day after your current one expires."
Not wanting to forget, and hence risk inadvertently travelling without a valid railcard, I immediately went online using the link provided for renewals and renewed my railcard (1 year), and it seemed to go well.
However, when I received the new railcard, it was dated a few days after issue, meaning I've lost three weeks of validity.
I complained on the Railcard website, politely requesting that I be issued a correctly dated railcard, and was refused, on the grounds that "their systems do not allow this" and "I purchased rather than renewed my railcard". This, to the best of my recollection, is not true, and, even if it were true, I would argue that, since I based my railcard purchase timing decision specifically on the advertising guaranteeing the retention of the expiry date, and would not have purchased at this time but for this false advertising (but instead would have waited until closer to the renewal date), I am protected by the Consumer Rights Act such that the promise made in the advertising is effectively incorporated into the contract so formed such that the railcard must be issued with the promised expiry date.
I would greatly welcome advice on how best to pursue this complaint further, such that I be issued a correctly dated railcard without the loss of three weeks validity. I imagine that I am not the only one affected by this.
Earlier this month, a month prior to the expiry of my still-valid railcard, I received an e-mail inviting me to apply for a renewed railcard, expressly stating in the text of the e-mail that the new railcard would be valid from the day after my existing railcard expires. The exact quote is "You don't need to wait for your Railcard to expire to renew. Your new Railcard will be valid from the day after your current one expires."
Not wanting to forget, and hence risk inadvertently travelling without a valid railcard, I immediately went online using the link provided for renewals and renewed my railcard (1 year), and it seemed to go well.
However, when I received the new railcard, it was dated a few days after issue, meaning I've lost three weeks of validity.
I complained on the Railcard website, politely requesting that I be issued a correctly dated railcard, and was refused, on the grounds that "their systems do not allow this" and "I purchased rather than renewed my railcard". This, to the best of my recollection, is not true, and, even if it were true, I would argue that, since I based my railcard purchase timing decision specifically on the advertising guaranteeing the retention of the expiry date, and would not have purchased at this time but for this false advertising (but instead would have waited until closer to the renewal date), I am protected by the Consumer Rights Act such that the promise made in the advertising is effectively incorporated into the contract so formed such that the railcard must be issued with the promised expiry date.
I would greatly welcome advice on how best to pursue this complaint further, such that I be issued a correctly dated railcard without the loss of three weeks validity. I imagine that I am not the only one affected by this.