ForTheLoveOf has played the system and got the outcome he was looking for however this has absolutely no relevance to 99.9% of people.
No precedent / legal ruling about has been set about delay repay.
Any cost benefit analysis of this will show the time spent versus the financial outcome to be quite frank pointless. Those that would consider legal action would probably decide the effort wasn't worth the outcome and the vast vast bulk of us wouldn't even go down that route.
Beyond being able to post on RailForums in triumph?
Most of ForTheLoveOf 's legal advice postings are probably based around the assumption that for the company concerned it's cheaper and less time consuming/ easier to write off a small sum for the occasional threatened legal challenge. As long as it's just a few cases a sort of secret pass for a few in the know it will probably continue that way but if it becomes too widespread don't be surprised if their is a reaction to it.
An interesting take, but this is an entirely legitimate claim. Chiltern breached the contract they held with me, and I pursued the damages resulting from that breach.
The only reason I've posted about this here is so that others know what has happened in this particular situation, such as they might take it into account if they encounter a breach of contract by Chiltern or any other TOC.
I don't know what the fascination with the time spent on the case is - as previously said, I have spent
more time writing about the matter on this thread than I have spent dealing with the claim itself.
My posting are based on no assumption of settlement at all, and indeed I was (pleasantly) surprised that Chiltern agreed to settle the matter. I would pursue any matter of any non-negligible amount, provided I am in the right. I remain firmly of the view that I am in the right, and if this scenario, or a similar one, arises again then I will have no hesitation in taking it to Court again.
As to a legal precedent being set, that is truly extraordinarily unlikely with a Small Claims Track matter - if Chiltern had lost at a hearing, that is the point where it would unquestionably become uneconomic to escalate the matter further. I never promised to set any precedent - all I was after was to get the money I was owed!