Taking a case to Rail Ombudsman as no response from West Midlands Trains

I complained to WMT on 20/02/19 about a journey on 28/01/19. I received a reply on 13/03/19 from WMT Customer Relations Manager. I was not happy with the reply I received as it contained factually incorrect information so I replied on 14/03/19 stating my reasons why and asking for this to be looked at again. Having still not received a full reply, I sent an email again on 02/05/19 following this up. It is also worth noting that after one month had passed since responding I also contacted WMT via social media and was advised my case was being looked at by Management and I would receive a response shortly. In reply to my follow up email, I received a reply from their Customer Relations Supervisor dated 02/05/19 saying this was still being looked at by a Senior Manager and a reply would follow as soon as possible. The email also confirmed that they would now send me the complementary tickets I had been promised in their email of 13/03/19 which had still not been sent to me. I received these in the post the following day in a letter dated 02/05/19. As well as enclosing the above ticket this letter, signed by their Customer Relations Supervisor, confirmed that a final response from a Senior Manager would follow shortly. I have still received nothing further.

My complaint to them of 20/02/19 was a Letter Before Action on the basis of Disability Discrimination by failing to make reasonable adjustments, so I have until 27/07/19 to issue legal proceedings in the County Court. Of course I would hope, as would any reasonable party, to resolve things before that stage.

I understand I am now able to take my case to the Rail Ombudsman. However I have two questions: -
1. What is the latest cut of point/date I would be able to take my case to them by?
2. Am I best taking the case to them now, given WMT severe delay in responding or would I be best waiting for their Manager's reply first?

I just worry if I go to the Rail Ombudsman now I am simply asking them to get the TOC to respond. Whereas I might not be happy with the Manager's reply still so may still wish to use their service then. However, I don't want to have used that card already. That said, if WMT are simply refusing to respond in full then I feel there is very little I can do.

There is also a side to me that wonders is WMT are waiting for the 6 month cut off point to pass before they give a further reply in the hope I will not issue legal proceedings by then. It is a shame though not to have been able to resolve it with the TOC and to have had use of the Ombudsman service before having to go to Court as per my correspondence to WMT.

I can only say that you may be able to find everything in the FAQ on their site but its sketchy from a cursory glance

https://www.railombudsman.org/resource-area/faq-3/

But what is this 6 month cut off point that you mention they would be waiting for? Do they have a set time to complete complaints with?

I think, may be wrong, that they want you to exhaust all avenues with the TOC first and as you are astill waiting to hear from them then I guess that would fail that but there is no harm in just getting a bit of advice about the process directly from the Rail Ombudsman to set you right

gray1404 said:

There is also a side to me that wonders is WMT are waiting for the 6 month cut off point to pass before they give a further reply in the hope I will not issue legal proceedings by then.

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What six month limit?

najaB said:

What six month limit?

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Action under the equality act has a 6-month limit.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/l...mination-time-limits-for-taking-legal-action/
"You need to make your claim in court within 6 months less one day from when the discrimination happened. "

For readers to provide advice I think it would be helpful to understand what you're trying to achieve.

While the Rail Ombudsman has powers to rectify issues on behalf of an individual I'm not clear they have the power to change the way that a business operates. Their own website states "We can also make recommendations to Service Providers to improve their service and we publish case studies and data which can help them to understand what they could do to raise standards."

With regards to time limits, the same website also says that this can be waived if it's just and equitable to do so. I'd argue that using the industry dispute resolution process would be just and equitable to both parties.