Delay Repay for Southern strike (9/11)

[blobcow]

Hi all. Apologies for adding to the mass of threads about delay repay, but could do with some clarification if at all possible.

I travelled from Manchester Piccadilly to Tring yesterday (booked as an advance fare a few weeks ago - VTWC and connections). So was meant to be VT from Manchester to Milton Keynes Central, then a change before getting a Southern train from Milton Keynes to Tring.

The strike meant that there were no Southern trains seemingly running that route, so had a longer stopover than predicted and ended up getting a London Midland train to complete the second leg of the journey to Tring. Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but made me over half an hour later than planned based on the 'normal' timetables when I booked the tickets.

So: am I within my rights to pursue Southern for Delay Repay on the whole advance fare? I ask because it's only a (very short) connection as part of a longer journey, but obviously London Midland and Virgin haven't done anything wrong. At the same time, Southern did provide a revised timetable in advance (so the service from MK to Tring that I was meant to catch wasn't cancelled, it simply didn't exist!), so based on that then I didn't arrive late to my destination at all. I had a search for similar threads on this and it all seems very idiosyncratic -- often contested around the whole thing of whether delay repay applies to 'revised' strike timetables or not.

Any advice appreciated!

 

[John @ home]

Southern did provide a revised timetable in advance

The crucial question is whether their revised timetable was issued before or after you bought the Manchester to Tring Advance ticket.

If it was bought before the publication of the revised timetable, the previous timetable forms part of your contract with the train companies, and delay compensation is payable in accordance with that contract.

If it was bought after the publication of the revised timetable, it is likely that you may be deemed to have been aware of the change before buying the ticket. In that case, no compensation would be payable.

 

[blobcow]

Thanks, John, that's very helpful. I booked the ticket on 19th October which was before the timetable was revised to account for the strike, so the journey planner advised me to catch a train which whilst scheduled at the time no longer existed.

(As it turns out, I found the strike map on Southern and there was no service on 8/9th at all between MKC and Tring: http://www.southernrailway.com/download/49904.4/0-rmt-strike-map-8-9-november/ )

Will get the delay repay filled in at Southern in that case

 

[blobcow]

So, got a response to this by email...

Journey Details
9 November 2017
Manchester Piccadilly to Tring at 14:15
Decision: Declined
Our records indicate that this journey is operated by a different Train Operating Company.

Well, of course that's in a sense true, but it's not the whole story is it? It would've been (partly) served by Southern if their timetabled service that I was planning on catching actually ran.

It's not a big claim, but going to resubmit as the money isn't the point

 

[Hadders]

So, got a response to this by email...

Journey Details
9 November 2017
Manchester Piccadilly to Tring at 14:15
Decision: Declined
Our records indicate that this journey is operated by a different Train Operating Company.

Well, of course that's in a sense true, but it's not the whole story is it? It would've been (partly) served by Southern if their timetabled service that I was planning on catching actually ran.

It's not a big claim, but going to resubmit as the money isn't the point

I had a similar thing with GTR rejecting a claim I made last week. I resubmitted making it clear they do operate the service and they’ve now agreed to pay up.

 

[blobcow]

I had a similar thing with GTR rejecting a claim I made last week. I resubmitted making it clear they do operate the service and they’ve now agreed to pay up.

Glad to hear that. Hopefully Southern are equally agreeable.

 

[Hadders]

Glad to hear that. Hopefully Southern are equally agreeable.

They should be given that Southern is a brand name of GTR.

 

[roversfan2001]

With instances such as this is may be better to write an email; making it clear that you're claiming Delay Repay and that the train you were booked on was cancelled due to the strike. Using the Delay Repay form will just lead the customer relations staff to look up the times without taking into account what trains were meant to run before the strike timetable was put in.

 

[Chrisgr31]

If completing the Delay Repay form on the website there is an Other option. Select that and the put the details in there. These get pulled and dealt with by a human so you are more likely to get a response that either gives the Depay Repay pr provides a better excuse for not paying.

 

[gray1404]

In my experience of having claims rejected by GTR I have found it helpful to phone them. Worst case is they ask you to resubmit it. However, if you point out that it is their error they have often just arranged my compensation to be sent out there and then and I have received it in the post a few days later. However, this has always been done by rail travel voucher and it has been one that cannot be cashed at a station. It has to be used for buying a ticket (at any station). They have either done this for the full value you of ticket as a goodwill gesture for their error or indeed for the correct amount of compensation owed. This can be the quickest way to get a solution but only if you are happy with a RTV.

 

[blobcow]

Thanks all for helpful advice. All good fun:

- Rejected in post #4 above
- Rejected after I resubmitted it with the wrong date (though they evidently did check it properly as came back with times of respective departures etc.)
- Rejected after I resubmitted it again with the correct date and an apology on my part for wasting their time with the wrong date ('the delay was less than 15 minutes' or something similarly generic)
- Rejected for a fourth time ('our records show this service is operated by a different TOC' again!)

I called them just now (thanks for the suggestion @gray1404) and explained over the phone and the very helpful guy arranged to have 80% of the ticket value sent out in RTV.

Bit long winded but got there in the end!