Season ticket refund

[father_jack]

I guess one could also argue that as Dougal is working from home, he isn't actually 'out of pocket' regarding his season ticket anyway. I.e. any refund he receives is a saving compared to his typical working schedule. This is the situation I'm in - I'd already budgeted for and bought my season ticket, so if I get money back for it then that is a bonus, but I'm not really losing out by not using it. Of course it is different if someone is now unable to work or has lost their job because of the situation.

Despite much lobbying within the answer was normal season refund rules apply. Until today.....

"Sunil" said

@GWRHelp
UK Govt asked not to travel for 3 weeks. Situation reviewed in 3 weeks. Not clear whether to seek refund on
unused annual ticket now or wait until next UK Govt guidelines.

Can I wait until next guidelines & seek refund backdated to March 23 when first guidelines issued?

And GWR replied

Is it a paper ticket or smartcard

And Sunil said

Smartcard

And GWR said

Then you can wait because we can check

And "GWR" replied

 

[philjo]

I went to my local GTR (Great Northern) ticket office this morning.
I asked for a changeover. They did process it but said that they had to send the details to the accounts dept. Apparently the GTR fraud department have been contacting some people who have had changeovers in the last few weeks and are asking for written proof of change of address or work location. So I may get a letter.
The actual process was much easier than when I changed jobs a couple of years ago which required several forms completing by hand and About 3 visits to the ticket office to get the new ticket.

 

[Hadders]

There is no requirement to prove you have a new job or have moved house when getting a changeover.

 

[philjo]

Quite. She just said that ticket offices had been instructed to send a copy of the old/new tickets to the accounts dept and the fraud dept were checking some of these on the basis the money returned is higher than a normal refund.

 

[infobleep]

I've just noticed that Guildford ticket office is open, according to South Western Railway Web Site.

Closed the majority of our ticket offices. Waterloo, Clapham Junction, Richmond, Wimbledon, Surbiton, Woking, Guildford, Portsmouth, Basingstoke, Salisbury, Southampton Central and Bournemouth ticket office will remain open but will only accept card payments.

https://www.southwesternrailway.com/travelling-with-us/coronavirus-travel-information

I'm sure I looked on the 24th and later and didn't see that notice, yet it is dated 24th.

When I passed through the station on Tuesday I was told all ticket offices are now closed and at that time Guildford was closed. Perhaps the person to cover it hadn't come in.

I don't know it's opening hours but I will find out, even if only just for interest.

No idea which Portsmouth station is open. Maybe both. Based on station ticket offices open, it shows you what are the key places for SWR.

 

[coursemyhorse]

Quite. She just said that ticket offices had been instructed to send a copy of the old/new tickets to the accounts dept and the fraud dept were checking some of these on the basis the money returned is higher than a normal refund.

Checking for fraud of swapping via changeover to a perfectly valid ticket? Interesting. Let's see how they get on with that one.

 

[father_jack]

Despite much lobbying within the answer was normal season refund rules apply. Until today.....

"Sunil" said

And GWR replied

And Sunil said
And GWR said
View attachment 75837
And "GWR" replied
View attachment 75838

Anyway, all irrelevant now, they've gone back on what the twitterer said

 

[gtat]

Anyway, all irrelevant now, they've gone back on what the twitterer said

What have they said now then?

 

[DJH1971]

Anyone know what the situation is regarding 'multi modal' season tickets, such as Merseytravel as compared to Northern?

 

[island]

Well, I refunded an Oyster season recently with 2m16d used. TfL calculated the refund based on 3 months so I am about £70 short.

 

[AntoniC]

Anyone know what the situation is regarding 'multi modal' season tickets, such as Merseytravel as compared to Northern?

They wont give you a refund but if you send it to their head office they will hold it and it until needed again and extend the vaildity - see below
Hi Antoni, you can send your ticket into our head office at Mann Island to be placed on hold. We will use today's date as the 1st date of surrender so you don't lose anytime on your ticket. You will need to put a cover letter with the ticket to explain what is required. Once you are due to go back to work you will need to advise us with as much notice as possible so that we can arrange for the ticket to be collected with the extended date. Please send the ticket to Customer Delivery, Merseytravel, PO Box 1976, LIVERPOOL, L69 3HN.

 

[MikeWM]

9 days and counting for my season ticket refund to arrive in my bank account. I see GA are currently advising it may take up to *56* days for refunds to be paid! I appreciate we are in very unusual circumstances at the moment, but even so that seems remarkably excessive.

(When I need a new season once I eventually have to go back to the office, will they allow me to not pay until 56 days after issuing the ticket? I don't expect so...)

 

[Skie]

Merseyrails policy is now live: https://www.merseyrail.org/tickets-passes/refunds.aspx

Funny how they avoid being part of national rail until it suits them...

 

[windswept]

Around 2 weeks ago I went to my local ticket office (Northern) to refund my annual season ticket. The ticket was unloaded from my smartcard and attached to the form, which was then placed on a pile at the back of the office, and I was told I would receive my refund to the card I bought the ticket with in 2-3 days. It is now two weeks and there is no sign of it.

It could just be that they are very busy, and I am happy to wait for them to process the form so long as I get the refund eventually, however I am concerned that I should have been asked to place my card into the reader at the ticket office and enter my PIN for the refund to be issued, and as I was not asked to do so I walked away from the ticket office having signed to say that I have received the refund when in fact I have not.

Does anyone know what the usual procedure is, and have I thrown away ~£550 because I wasn't on the ball when I went to apply for a refund?

The (customer copy) of the application form says:
The ticket was purchased by Credit/Debit/Charge Card
Card number ********************

Refund to be made by Credit/Debit/Charge Card

 

[janb]

Does anyone know what the usual procedure is, and have I thrown away ~£550 because I wasn't on the ball when I went to apply for a refund?

The system Northern use remembers the card used to purchase the ticket, and automatically refunds back to the same one. An amount of £550 would be above the ticket office approval, so would require passenger account approval, then station to press button to make the payment, and then your bank/card to process. Which would normally be a couple/few days.

 

[MikeWM]

...
Does anyone know what the usual procedure is, and have I thrown away ~£550 because I wasn't on the ball when I went to apply for a refund?

The (customer copy) of the application form says:
The ticket was purchased by Credit/Debit/Charge Card
Card number ********************

Refund to be made by Credit/Debit/Charge Card

I had the exact same experience with GA and am in the same situation now. I imagine it is fairly standard, though I've never done it before myself. It is a little discomforting that I was told to sign the section that says 'Received the sum of' when actually I haven't yet received it - should probably have queried that at the time - but I guess that is standard too.

At worst, it should be pretty obvious to prove (bank statements etc.) that you haven't actually been refunded, if it came to that.

 

[windswept]

The system Northern use remembers the card used to purchase the ticket, and automatically refunds back to the same one. An amount of £550 would be above the ticket office approval, so would require passenger account approval, then station to press button to make the payment, and then your bank/card to process. Which would normally be a couple/few days.

I had the exact same experience with GA and am in the same situation now. I imagine it is fairly standard, though I've never done it before myself. It is a little discomforting that I was told to sign the section that says 'Received the sum of' when actually I haven't yet received it - should probably have queried that at the time - but I guess that is standard too.

At worst, it should be pretty obvious to prove (bank statements etc.) that you haven't actually been refunded, if it came to that.

Thanks, that helps put my mind at rest! I'll give them another 6 weeks or so, then chase it up.

 

[SWT_USER]

Has anyone applied for a refund using SWR's online form?

I did this earlier today (uploading a photo of the ticket cut in half) and submitted the form but received no email acknowledgment of this. Just wondering if I should have done/ if others did? And how long did the refund take to process?

I don't want to be left with a destroyed season ticket and no refund!

 

[father_jack]

What have they said now then?

Normal refund rules apply, ie when you surrender it from is when it's refunded from, and any claims for back dating should be referred to customer services............

 

[_toommm_]

Has anyone applied for a refund using SWR's online form?

I did this earlier today (uploading a photo of the ticket cut in half) and submitted the form but received no email acknowledgment of this. Just wondering if I should have done/ if others did? And how long did the refund take to process?

I don't want to be left with a destroyed season ticket and no refund!

Assuming it's the same form that is used by other First TOCs, I didn't receive an auto-acknowledgement email until about 24 hours later.

 

[MadCommuter]

I have just submitted my Scotrail annual season for a refund. Start date was 29/12/19 and cost £1016 for travel between Hamilton West and Anderston. Could anyone tell me what my refund will be please?

I haven't seen a reply to this and there has been a delay with Scotrail contacting me. They have now asked me for bank details but I'm concerned they may not refund in accordance with when I first submitted the ticket for refund on 17/3/20. Could someone please tell me what I'm due?

 

[Woodhjuk]

Hi all,

Ive found this very useful. I would like a bit of advice.

My ticket renewal date for Bracknell to London including Travel Zone (via staines) is 13 December. I actually stopped commuting on the 17th March as instructed by my employer.

I work for a small firm and have always paid for the ticket on a credit card with a decent offer and 12 months interest free, divided the cost by 12 and set up a standing order. Last ticket was £4720 so I pay off £400 a month and a little less in November this year. Of the £4720 i have paid £1600 (4*400 (end of Dec, Jan, Feb and Mar) - so on my card, have £3120 left.

I *think* if I have calculated it right, they will say i had to buy 3 monthly tickets (one at 2019 prices and 2 at 2020 prices) - I cant remember what the 2019 prices were, but assuming it was about £15 less a month it works out as £450 (Dec 13th to Jan 12th) + £466.80*2 (Jan 13th to Mar 12th) plus 2 * day returns at £37.70 (Mar 13th and Mar 16th) totalling £1459. Meaning they will refund me £3261 less a tenner for the hard work so £3251 (ish)

I know normally they divide these things by 10 and say after 10 months and 13 days they are worthless. But from my maths it looks like Ill at least get enough back to now clear my card. I realise however that being strictly true by the 16th March I would only really have used ~£1200 worth if you divide the thing by 12, and so would have £3520 left to pay and as such would be £260 or so out of pocket. I suppose that works out at about 2.5 weeks travel and so its definitely worth getting a refund. But I wouldn't mind someone confirming Ive not got it majorly wrong before I take the scissors to the ticket.

Provider is South Western if that helps

Many Thanks
John

 

[MikeWh]

I *think* if I have calculated it right, they will say i had to buy 3 monthly tickets (one at 2019 prices and 2 at 2020 prices) - I cant remember what the 2019 prices were, but assuming it was about £15 less a month it works out as £450 (Dec 13th to Jan 12th) + £466.80*2 (Jan 13th to Mar 12th) plus 2 * day returns at £37.70 (Mar 13th and Mar 16th) totalling £1459. Meaning they will refund me £3261 less a tenner for the hard work so £3251 (ish)

They will say you used a 3 month and 4 days ticket at 2019 prices. Divide your annual by 40 to get the weekly price. Multiply the weekly price by 3.84 to get the monthly price and round this up to the next 10p above if it isn't 0p at the end. Divide this figure by 30 to get the daily price, multiply by the odd days and round up again.

So: 4720 / 40 = 118.00
118.00 x 3.84 = 453.20 (rounded up)
453.20 / 30 = 15.11 x 4 = 60.50 (rounded up)
453.20 x 3 + 60.50 = 1420.10

So you'll get a little more than you thought.

 

[Woodhjuk]

Thank you very much for confirming that Mike, glad i was close (ish).

Have to see how well the process works now!

Cheers

 

[CyrusWuff]

They will say you used a 3 month and 4 days ticket at 2019 prices. Divide your annual by 40 to get the weekly price. Multiply the weekly price by 3.84 to get the monthly price and round this up to the next 10p above if it isn't 0p at the end. Divide this figure by 30 to get the daily price, multiply by the odd days and round up again.

So: 4720 / 40 = 118.00
118.00 x 3.84 = 453.20 (rounded up)
453.20 / 30 = 15.11 x 4 = 60.50 (rounded up)
453.20 x 3 + 60.50 = 1420.10

So you'll get a little more than you thought.

If only it were that simple! Whilst the 3.84 for each whole month is correct, the "odd" days are included in the overall calculation as follows:

Divide the number of odd days by five and multiply the quotient by 0.64, then take the remainder and multiply it by 0.13. Add those to the multiple of 3.84 and then you multiply by the relevant weekly or base rate and round up to the next 10p (if applicable) to get your answer. (NB: Once you hit 10 months 13 days, the multiplier is fixed at 40, which is the price of an Annual).

So in this case we get 3.84 x 3 = 11.52 and 0.13 x 4 = 0.52 for a total of 12.04.

Multiplying that by our weekly rate of £118.00 gives us £1420.72, which rounds up to £1420.80.

This gives a refund of £4720 - £1420.80 - £10 (Admin Fee) = £3289.20.

 

[MikeWh]

Thanks @CyrusWuff. I remember an old sheet with that all on now. 70p in a £4720 total isn't too far out.

 

[alexvalue]

Many thanks all for this thread, I have found it extremely useful. Grateful for any advice on the below?

I have had my annual season ticket (whitchurch hampshire to London Waterloo) for 146 days (2019 cost £4752, 2020 cost £4884). South Western Railways now offers season tickets for any period of time from one month to one year: 2020 cost for a ticket that lasts 146 days is £2251.6. So i'd be due a refund of £2500 (I think...)

My question is: Is there a certain time period that needs to pass of no travel before refunding a season ticket becomes good value, given the favourable rates for an annual season ticket and that when I can return to work, I will need to buy a replacement season ticket?

cost per day of season ticket = £13.38
£2251.6/£13.38 = 168 days

So I would I be right in thinking I would need to be unable to use my season ticket for 24 days before it becomes good value to claim a refund?

Thanks

 

[S_Singh]

Has anyone applied for a refund using SWR's online form?

I did this earlier today (uploading a photo of the ticket cut in half) and submitted the form but received no email acknowledgment of this. Just wondering if I should have done/ if others did? And how long did the refund take to process?

I don't want to be left with a destroyed season ticket and no refund!

I suspect the reason you didn’t get an email is because there is an issue with their website, I tried to get a refund of my season ticket this afternoon, filled in the form and clicked on the submit button and nothing happened. Then after a few attempts realised there was a ‘reCapatch’ error or something like that which usually relates to that thing they use to prove your a real person and not a robot. Not sure what to do next as you can’t call them to get a refund and not sure I want to go to a station (plus most of them are shut obviously!)

 

[SWT_USER]

I suspect the reason you didn’t get an email is because there is an issue with their website, I tried to get a refund of my season ticket this afternoon, filled in the form and clicked on the submit button and nothing happened. Then after a few attempts realised there was a ‘reCapatch’ error or something like that which usually relates to that thing they use to prove your a real person and not a robot. Not sure what to do next as you can’t call them to get a refund and not sure I want to go to a station (plus most of them are shut obviously!)

I eventually got an acknowledgement email on Monday (well, two acknowledgments as I resubmitted it on the assumption the first time didn't work).

It doesn't give any indication of how long I'll have to wait for my refund or how it will be paid.

 

[S_Singh]

I eventually got an acknowledgement email on Monday (well, two acknowledgments as I resubmitted it on the assumption the first time didn't work).

It doesn't give any indication of how long I'll have to wait for my refund or how it will be paid.

If it’s the same issue, I won’t be getting 2 emails from them, I’ll be getting about 10!