I don’t think people are questioning the validity of the claim per se (that’s for you, ForTheLoveOf!). It’s more the case that his previous posts on other topics suggested that ForTheLoveOf was desperate to be wronged by a TOC so he could embark on a ‘David vs Goliath’ battle for justice.
I’m sure I’m not the only person who’s eyes rolled when he finally got his wish in such a trivial way. My eyes positively span round with all the stuff about the principle and it all being about helping others in the same position. I’m sure the information will be helpful to some in that respect but giving people guidance on keeping things in proportion and when it’s better just let things go is far more important in life. Sure, TOC’s bank on people not following claims through, or not even claiming in the first place. The main reason is that a lot of people just don’t care, not ignorance of their rights. If I’m an hour late, so be it. Bad stuff happens sometimes and tomorrow is another day.
I know everybody loves a story of the little man taking on the greedy corporate giants but this one was really pushing it.
Well, I hope it's entertained you
Or used the system designed to help David overcome Goliaths.
I am not sure I could be bothered for such a small amount and it would have been better if the case had been heard so we could be sure that he was not just paid to go away but....
Precisely. The TOCs do it for any amount,
even over nothing (i.e. where it's purely a question of administration or paperwork), so there's no reason anyone should be giving them any more leeway than they, in turn, give the passengers!
Why should it be a one way street when it comes to TOC/Customer disputes? TOCs will issue penalty fares at the drop of a hat for minor amounts so it makes a change when a customer "turns the tables" so to speak.
Exactly.
I must admit I’m in two minds about this one.
There is no denying that the claim was valid and the compensation was due. And I agree that it was worth someone with suitable knowledge like Fortheloveof trying to deal with this in this matter.
However, I’m not really sure (sorry) that anything has been achieved here. For one, I feel the TOC are the ones that have played the system here and perhaps you could argue they’ve actually had the last laugh, they’ve let you go to the trouble of sending all that (I know you said it hasn’t taken too long) and they’ve deliberately waited until the last possible minute and paid out. This has cost them next to nothing to deal with. They know full well they’re wrong. They know full well that moneyvwas due to you. However, they haven’t admitted you were due the money, they haven’t admitted they were wrong and they’ve deliberately stopped it going to court as they know that with a case against them they’d have to change. They’ve been denying these claims for years and they don’t want a court case to stop them continuing to do so.
Additionally you claim you don’t care how or why aslong as you’ve got your money. So this backs up the fact that nothing has really been achieved.
I know this isn’t likely what you want to hear, and I wouldn’t want you to think I’m against the idea of claiming, or against the idea of taking them to court, even over small amounts but I think on this occasion it hasn’t been a success for the passenger, just a financial success for yourself (if we ignore any additional costs which I accept it’s ok to do).
So really it comes back down to what you wanted to achieve. If you wanted to achieve getting a couple of quid then it’s been a roaring success, if you wanted to achieve an improvement to customer service and an improvement to the way that particular toc (incidentally not one we hear about causing these sorts of issues very often) handles these issues in order for ‘the railway’ to improve them I think it has failed to meet these targets.
I’ve always been one to try to ensure progress, training, improvements to customer service as a higher priority than compensation for myself, and I rather hope you do agree.
It’s why I’d sooner chuck the money in a lake than receive a ‘goodwill gesture’ when they’re in the wrong. And I’d sooner be prosecuted than ‘be let off this time’ when I’m travelling on a valid ticket
Thanks for the feedback. I agree perhaps that "I have my money and nothing else matters" is not, ultimately, a sustainable attitude. But unfortunately I feel it's unrealistic to expect one claim such as this to revolutionise everything - certainly, not unless one has an absolute fortune to shell out on taking the matter to the High Court, which is going to be the only guaranteed way of fixing things. I think the far easier way of resolving the current problems is the "death by a thousand paper cuts" approach. In other words, if
everyone who was entitled to this kind of compensation took it to Court, there would be no feasible alternative open to the TOCs
other than to train case handlers to pay out correctly. That's perhaps, more than anything else, why I'm sharing this - so that others don't keep on (incorrectly) thinking that Court is a ludicrous, unachievable suggestion.
I agree that, if anything, Chiltern have been the ones that have tried the "long game" by trying to avoid paying out for as long as possible. But that was something I was entirely predicting.