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National Express Compensation

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Chew Chew

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What are they like for paying out compensation?

Long and short is that my coach from Glasgow to Aberdeen on Sunday night was cancelled due to it breaking down in Carlisle, staff at the station told us our tickets would be valid on the Megabus instead, the Megabus they directed us to only had spare seats for around 1/3 of the passengers waiting so I couldn't get on it, was then told by station staff we could wait for a later Megabus but that it couldn't be guaranteed we'd get a seat.

In the end I went to Central and got a train to Aberdeen at a cost of £39.60 and then paid £20 for a taxi to get home, both of which I have the receipts for.

What's the chances that they'll stump up the extra costs I incurred?
 
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BestWestern

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One for a complaint and a try for a 'goodwill gesture' via customer services, I should think. Do NatEx do any sort of equivalent to rail vouchers?
 

howittpie

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Nat Ex custumer service is appalling from my experience the only thing you will get back is your coach fare and you will probably have to work hard to get that.
 
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This story is admittedly from many years ago, largely because I wouldn't entertain natex these days. I was on a Newcastle to Swansea service which broke down at Middleborough, roadside. They sent a coach to pick up the stranded pax, but only as far as York. Most on board were travelling to or beyond Birmingham. It took several departures until there was capacity to clear the backlog, and got one as far as Digbeth. Same problem, no capacity for ethe extra passengers. A trip to New Street (and now 5 hours late) and I was on my way. I was astounded at the time how they washed their hands of us, despite the failure being their failure. I wonder how many travellers on that particular coach have ever trusted them again.
 

Chew Chew

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At the moment they've agreed to reimburse the £39.60 train fare but not the £20 taxi fare.

They've offered me a 'complimentary' journey as well.

I've asked them to reconsider their decision not to refund the taxi fare.
 
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Bletchleyite

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Did you arrive substantially later by train than you would have done by coach, and thus miss any chance of connecting public transport?

Of course that is consequential loss and they have no liability for it - but always worth asking :)
 

Chew Chew

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Did you arrive substantially later by train than you would have done by coach, and thus miss any chance of connecting public transport?

Of course that is consequential loss and they have no liability for it - but always worth asking :)

Yes.

The coach should have gotten into Aberdeen at 2125, the train arrived into Aberdeen at 0024 so I arrived in Aberdeen 3 hours later than I should have.

The last local bus service I could have gotten leaves Aberdeen at 2340.
 

Y961 XBU

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Once my Coach broke down and by the time i got to my destination i was stranded so i had to get a Taxi, Nat Ex refunded the Taxi Bill when i sent it in
 

trentside

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Had an elderly couple join a late night train I was working not so long ago with two rail warrants issued by National Express at Digbeth. It seems that their coach had got caught up in severe motorway disruption, so they were re-routed to Nottingham where they could connect with a train home.

Not compensation as such, but with warrant's becoming fairly rare from all but HM Prison Service, it's notable that NatEx retain books for emergency use!
 

pennine

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Try emailing the CEO. I did this when my coach was severely delayed and the compensation was satisfactory.
 

bb21

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Is the coach station far from the railway station in Aberdeen? If not, then they have delivered you to your destination and nothing further would be due in addition to the train fare.

Any talk of refunding the taxi fare would be down to "goodwill". Writing to the CEO will not necessarily get this looked on favourably, and indeed sometimes it will wipe out any "goodwill" one might otherwise be willing to offer, speaking from experience.

I'm not sure when this notion about contacting the CEO originated, but imo it doesn't always work.
 

cf111

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Is the coach station far from the railway station in Aberdeen? If not, then they have delivered you to your destination and nothing further would be due in addition to the train fare.

Any talk of refunding the taxi fare would be down to "goodwill". Writing to the CEO will not necessarily get this looked on favourably, and indeed sometimes it will wipe out any "goodwill" one might otherwise be willing to offer, speaking from experience.

I'm not sure when this notion about contacting the CEO originated, but imo it doesn't always work.

It's part of the same "Union Square" complex, a ~5 minute walk stance to platform.
 

Darandio

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It's part of the same "Union Square" complex, a ~5 minute walk stance to platform.

I'd suggest what has been offered as adequate then, the £39.60 refund covers the journey to the destination and the complimentary journey covers the hassle.

Other opinions will no doubt differ.
 

Chew Chew

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I'd suggest what has been offered as adequate then, the £39.60 refund covers the journey to the destination and the complimentary journey covers the hassle.

Other opinions will no doubt differ.

I'll disagree, I was left stranded due to their inability to get a working coach to take me from Glasgow to Aberdeen. Had a coach been arrived in the 2 hours after it was due I'd have managed to make the last local service home.

I've incurred costs because they didn't live up to their end of the agreement.

I'd much rather they reimbursed me for the taxi fare and forgot about the 'complimentary' journey.

As for emailing a CEO, I'd always follow their escalation process before I did anything like that.
 

the101

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I'll disagree, I was left stranded due to their inability to get a working coach to take me from Glasgow to Aberdeen. Had a coach been arrived in the 2 hours after it was due I'd have managed to make the last local service home.

I've incurred costs because they didn't live up to their end of the agreement.

I'd much rather they reimbursed me for the taxi fare and forgot about the 'complimentary' journey.

As for emailing a CEO, I'd always follow their escalation process before I did anything like that.
This is not an ideal situation, and at times of breakdown or similar NatEx's control can sometimes be very quick at putting passengers in taxis if no alternative is available rapidly, and then informing the 'guilty' operator how much the charge passed on to it will be, along with the fine for failure to operate.

Make no mistake, NatEx plays hard ball with its operator partners when it suits it to do so, as seen in the Yourbus saga and many other much more minor incidents.

I believe that NX should have made alternative arrangements for you, whatever they may have been. The likelihood of finding a replacement coach and driver at relatively short notice on a Sunday night is minimal, not least for the fact that while there may be many coaches parked up doing nothing at that time, it will be very tricky indeed to find a driver who is (a) contactable, and (b) able to drive anyway through either being on a weekly rest or needed the next morning.
 

cf111

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I'll disagree, I was left stranded due to their inability to get a working coach to take me from Glasgow to Aberdeen. Had a coach been arrived in the 2 hours after it was due I'd have managed to make the last local service home.

I've incurred costs because they didn't live up to their end of the agreement.

I'd much rather they reimbursed me for the taxi fare and forgot about the 'complimentary' journey.

As for emailing a CEO, I'd always follow their escalation process before I did anything like that.

While I sympathise, I imagine your contract with NatEx is to get you from A to B, which they have done, and I would be surprised if there is a clause in there saying anything about what time they have to get you to B for.
 

pennine

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Is the coach station far from the railway station in Aberdeen? If not, then they have delivered you to your destination and nothing further would be due in addition to the train fare.

Any talk of refunding the taxi fare would be down to "goodwill". Writing to the CEO will not necessarily get this looked on favourably, and indeed sometimes it will wipe out any "goodwill" one might otherwise be willing to offer, speaking from experience.

I'm not sure when this notion about contacting the CEO originated, but imo it doesn't always work.

The notion about contacting CEO originated from my own experiences of a similar situation after not receiving a reply via the conventional measures.

After all, there is always more than one way to achieve a desired outcome!
 

bb21

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The notion about contacting CEO originated from my own experiences of a similar situation after not receiving a reply via the conventional measures.

After all, there is always more than one way to achieve a desired outcome!

The OP already has a reply refunding him the train fare.

Anything in addition is down to discretion, which is very rarely the CEO's decision.
 

Chew Chew

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Well things seem to be moving slightly.

After 10 days of emailing back and forth they've asked me to send a copy of my taxi receipt with the caveat that they can't guarantee a refund but that this will help them while they look into it.
 

WestCoast

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NatEx issued me with a complimentary return ticket to anywhere on the network after a two hour delay due to a break down, and fortunately I didn't miss my flight either.
 

Chew Chew

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All is well that ends well.

After getting back in contact with National Express after they didn't get back in contact with me by the time period that advised it should take they agreed to send me a cheque for the taxi fare which arrived today. :D
 

pitdiver

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Someone mentioned how much they trusted Natex. I worked for them for a few years. I wouldn't trust them as far as I could vomit them
 

bb21

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All is well that ends well.

After getting back in contact with National Express after they didn't get back in contact with me by the time period that advised it should take they agreed to send me a cheque for the taxi fare which arrived today. :D

Well done, it is always good to hear positive outcomes.
 

Bungle965

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Someone mentioned how much they trusted Natex. I worked for them for a few years. I wouldn't trust them as far as I could vomit them

To an everyday Joe Blogs National Express look pretty good what with the revamped website and a steady stream of new high spec buses, but once you look further into it you realize that all is not what meets the eye, the drivers and the vehicles are contracted out to many many different companies, which creates lots of different problems just take a look at the whole YourBus phase where they had to pull out because they found that they could not sustain a business in that market just one of the problems there are countless more. I personally will still travel with National Express as I am not in a rush to get from A-B and they tend to have a higher standard than most of the trains with having both power sockets and USB sockets in addition to the leather seats and A/C.
Sam
 

Robertj21a

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To an everyday Joe Blogs National Express look pretty good what with the revamped website and a steady stream of new high spec buses, but once you look further into it you realize that all is not what meets the eye, the drivers and the vehicles are contracted out to many many different companies, which creates lots of different problems just take a look at the whole YourBus phase where they had to pull out because they found that they could not sustain a business in that market just one of the problems there are countless more. I personally will still travel with National Express as I am not in a rush to get from A-B and they tend to have a higher standard than most of the trains with having both power sockets and USB sockets in addition to the leather seats and A/C.
Sam

I'm not sure that Yourbus had to pull out because they could not sustain the business. My understanding was that they were 'sacked', at short notice, by National Express as a contractor, largely for continued poor performance.
 

Bungle965

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I'm not sure that Yourbus had to pull out because they could not sustain the business. My understanding was that they were 'sacked', at short notice, by National Express as a contractor, largely for continued poor performance.

I always thought that it was that YourBus felt that the they could not carry on, their standards were also slipping which caused them to be `sacked`. I for one thought that this was the case because National Express would not voluntarily put themselves in a position where by they had services to run but there was not any buses to run them!
Happy to be corrected though.
Sam
 
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