Delay Repay Voucher Renewel

[BluePenguin]

I have a couple of delay repay vouchers I was issued with for delays back in 2019 and 2019, so a little while ago now. Unfortunately, they have expired which is a shame as I was hoping to use these for travel in the new few months as restrictions list and the country opens up. I stumbled across a few threads on this topic which all were pretty inconclusive.

The vouchers were issued by Southeastern, Southern and Great Western Railway. I have emailed all 3 of them with photos of the vouchers to request they kindly "renew" them and now waiting for a reply.

Southeastern replied this morning to say they will not issue new vouchers. They claim that as mine expired before Covid hit, I could have used or exchanged them before the expiry date.
This is true, although I was very busy with my final year of university and did not make any journeys. Southampton Central refused to deal with them due to being operated by South Western Railway. I kept meaning to exchange them for cash when I got home but sadly forgot to.

It is completely my fault for allowing the vouchers to expire. However, ultimately it still stands that I suffered a delay was owed compensation I still believe I am entitled to. What are my official rights?

Now, I have heard that some staff if in a good mood, will accept expired vouchers as payment for tickets - is this true? Is it worth taking my chances with the conductor on board the train or trying my luck at the ticket office?

I am interested to hear whether anyone has had any success in using or exchanging their expired vouchers. I can provide more details if needed. Any staff who work for one of the TOCs mentioned who would like to make an exception for me, I could pay you a visit perhaps.

 

[Watershed]

Ticket office staff or conductors are unlikely to accept expired vouchers as they would be detected as expired during the 'cashing up' procedure (and it would probably be seen as the equivalent of accepting an incorrect amount of cash).

Unfortunately you have no legal rights here - BACS payment or equivalent has been available for delay compensation for several years now, and so it is down to you that you have decided to opt for RTVs (which expire) rather than a cash option.

You can of course appeal to the customer services of the relevant TOCs but I would not expect anything given your vouchers expired before Covid.

 

[221129]

It is completely my fault for allowing the vouchers to expire.

There we go. End of story.

 

[BluePenguin]

I don’t believe I was given the option to put my bank details in at the time.

Considering the vouchers well issued in 2018 and 2019, I struggle to see what relevance Covid has?

I suppose I could speak to customer services again to see if I can appeal to their better nature. Although, as they were responsible for causing a delay to my journey, they should still accept liability. It is morally unfair for them to drag their feet and keep compensation for delays they caused.

This is clearly their intention, else they would not put expiry dates on the vouchers in the first place.

 

[221129]

You got your compensation. You chose not to use it. There is no legal obligation to renew the vouchers.

 

[BluePenguin]

There we go. End of story.

You got your compensation. You chose not to use it. There is no legal obligation to renew the vouchers.

Anything helpful to add? Otherwise please kindly refrain from posting further on this thread.

Strictly speaking I have not “got” my compensation as I have not been able to buy tickets to the value of the delays experienced. As I said, I made an attempt to use it at the ticket office but was refused.

I am aware of other people having their vouchers accepted despite the expiry date. So clearly it cannot be as clear cut as you speak of.

It does not help that our local ticket offices are NEVER open. Many on-board staff do not accept the vouchers either.

We come to these forums for answers. Not to have our requests quashed in this unhelpful manor and inappropriate tone. What are your thoughts on the above I wonder? Hopefully we can agree on at least at the railway could be a lot more forthcoming when it comes to these vouchers

Let me put it another way: If your car was involved in an accident and the insurance company sent you a cheque which expired before it arrived or you were not able to cash it due to being in a coma, would you wish for an exception to be made? Would you believe you were still entitled to that compensation?

 

[221129]

Let me put it another way: If your car was involved in an accident and The insurance company sent you a cheque which expired before it got to you or you were not able to cash it due to being in a coma, would you wish for an exception to be made?

Neither of which apply here so are irrelevant.

Strictly speaking I have not “got” my compensation as I have not been able to use it.

Through choice.

I am aware of other people having their vouchers accepted despite the expiry date. So clearly it cannot be as clear cut as you speak of.

Either through staff error, or due to COVID restrictions.

There is no legal obligation to extend those vouchers. Which is me answering the question you asked. Just because its not the answer you want to hear doesn't mean its unhelpful or wrong.

 

[BluePenguin]

If you believe me losing the vouchers for a while and forgetting to use them was me making a conscious effort to allow them to expire, we’ll have to agree to disagree. Example I gave is not irrelevant. Exceptions can and have been made previously. Just because a company is not legally obliged to do something does not mean that they shouldn’t.

I was not focusing on your reply to the point that they are no longer valid. I am aware of that. I was commenting on the attitude and tone in your responses. It is this non-customer focused attitude which railway staff must move on from to encourage and further its use. Do you work at Blackpool North by any chance?

 

[Jan Mayen]

Whilst having a clear out during a Lockdown, I came across an old RTV, issued by Southern.
I didn't bother with an email, I just wrote a short letter, enclosing the voucher, asking if it could be reissued, please? I took the view that if I got a positive reply, great, if I didn't such is life.
They did reissue it and I used it as soon as I could. That's good customer service from Southern.

So my suggestion is try sending the vouchers by post and ask if they could be reissued.

 

[Watershed]

I don’t believe I was given the option to put my bank details in at the time.

I have claimed compensation from each of the listed TOCs around the relevant periods. I was always given the option to receive a bank transfer.

Due to the advent of the Consumer Rights Act applying to the rail industry, the NRCoT and industry guidelines around compensation were changed some years back. All delay compensation schemes started offering a 'cash' option.

Considering the vouchers well issued in 2018 and 2019, I struggle to see what relevance Covid has?

Most TOCs have agreed to extend vouchers which expired after March 2020, due to the industry and government messaging advising against travel (or indeed making it mostly illegal).

Your vouchers expired before then, so they will not fall under the same general policy.

I suppose I could speak to customer services again to see if I can appeal to their better nature. Although, as they were responsible for causing a delay to my journey, they should still accept liability. It is morally unfair for them to drag their feet and keep compensation for delays they caused.

They haven't kept it, you have chosen to be compensated by way of an expiring voucher. That you have decided not to use the voucher before it expires isn't something the TOC is responsible for. It is no different to being issued a cheque and letting it expire before cashing it in.

This is clearly their intention, else they would not put expiry dates on the vouchers in the first place.

That is likely to be more of an accounting issue than anything else. If RTVs never expired, who would pay RSP for your ticket if you produced a British Rail RTV from 25 years ago? Now if you are saying 1 year is too short a period of validity, that is a separate issue.

Ultimately, RTVs expire, you chose one, it expired, so you're now out of luck unless you can get a gesture of goodwill out of the TOCs concerned.

 

[BluePenguin]

Thank you Jan, that is very helpful to know. I’m pleased to hear you got the outcome you wanted.

I think I will definitely go down the route of sending them a letter enclosing the vouchers. It is worth a try, you never know they may still be feeling generous!

 

[Mcr Warrior]

@BluePenguin. Good luck but think that you may end up being rebuffed and have to chalk this one up to experience. Either way, don't shoot the messenger!

Personally, I'm of the opinion that it's rather sharp practice for businesses to issue short dated vouchers and credit notes that can't ever be extended beyond their stated expiry dates.

But, we are where we are, and whilst you might possibly be able to prevail upon the RTV issuing TOCs to re-issue the now expired vouchers as a gesture of goodwill or somesuch, there should be no expectation or obligation that they will do do so if they had expired before the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As a matter of interest, what was the value of the expired RTVs and their respective expiry dates?

 

[BluePenguin]

Thank you @Mcr Warrior, I will try and see what happens I guess. I realise that it is down to their digression at this point. I am not expecting to get anything. But as they say, if you don't ask you don't get!

I take a very dim view of this practice myself although it is one that will continue so long as businesses can get away with it. Safe to stay, definitely lesson learnt. I will not request vouchers again in a hurry!

As you are interested the values and dates were:

Great Western
£15 10/05/18
£12.10 12/04/18

Southern
£4.70 02/08/18

Southeastern
£14.70 31/07/18
£9.70 01/02/19

 

[skyhigh]

Staff should never accept an expired voucher. It may have happened in the past, but if it did, staff made a mistake. The position of the industry is that the voucher has the expiry date printed on it, and it's your responsibility to use it before that date.

You might get a positive response sending a letter to the company, but I'd take a guess that it's complicated by the fact that the franchises have changed with covid. A new contract was agreed with Great Western in March 2020, so it's entirely possible they'd take the view that the finances under the original contract have been finalised and reissuing the voucher would place the financial cost on the new contract. I suspect you'd have had more luck if you'd asked before they originally expired or soon after, rather than a year later. That said, you might well have luck asking.

 

[SteveM70]

Personally, I'm of the opinion that it's rather sharp practice for businesses to issue short dated vouchers and credit notes that can't ever be extended beyond their stated expiry dates.

A year is hardly short dated, is it?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

A year is hardly short dated, is it?

My rule of thumb is...

Short term = a year or less
(which an RTV probably will be by the time it arrives).

Medium term = more than a year but less than three/five years.

Long term = three/five years or longer (or undated).

 

[Wallsendmag]

Good luck, you’re going to need it.

 

[superalbs]

Have GWR got back to you yet? For me, they kindly replaced the vouchers, on the grounds that I photographed them cut in half.

Obviously wait for them to confirm, but that's what happend for me. Good luck!

 

[Haywain]

Have GWR got back to you yet? For me, they kindly replaced the vouchers, on the grounds that I photographed them cut in half.

Obviously wait for them to confirm, but that's what happend for me. Good luck!

Perhaps yours weren’t issued 3 years ago.

 

[superalbs]

Perhaps yours weren’t issued 3 years ago.

No, fair enough, they were a couple days out of date.

 

[skyhigh]

So, having investigated, the terms of Delay Repay for Southeastern from March 2018 onwards were:

How will compensation be paid?​

You can now choose one of six ways for your compensation to be paid:

• Electronic bank transfer (BACS) – Simply provide your sort code and account number
• PayPal – paid into your bank account via PayPal. Simply provide the email address linked to your PayPal account
• eVoucher – redeemable for ticket purchases online through the Southeastern website
• Cashable vouchers – these can be exchanged for cash at any Southeastern ticket office within 28 days, or they can be used to buy rail tickets with most train operating companies in Great Britain (including season tickets) for up to 12 months of being issued. We can pay out compensation up to £50 in National Rail vouchers. Any amount above this will be paid by cheque. Please note that you’ll need to bring photo ID with you to redeem vouchers for cash
• Cheque – you can opt to be paid by cheque. This is the default method for compensation if no preference is given
• Visa – Simply provide your long card number, expiry date

It seems quite clear that if you choose the voucher option you agreed that you'd use them within a year - and you chose not to get the value paid in cash money, as noted the default payment method was cheque. The paper claim form also makes these terms clear.

For Southern (again the wording that was used at the time of your claim):

Your statutory rights are to receive your compensation in the same way you paid for your ticket. The full range of repayment options are available through the online form. These are:

• Amazon account balance (you must have an Amazon account)
• Electronic bank transfer (BACS)
• E-voucher (you must have an online account with us)
• PayPal (you must have a PayPal account)
• Cashable voucher (these may be exchanged for cash at any Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Southern or Thameslink ticket office)

Repayment options on the postal form are more limited. If you do not select a preferred method of repayment on the postal form, we will issue cashable vouchers.

In this case Southern don't specifically say that the voucher is only valid for 12 months, but again there is a range of payment options to choose from.

For GWR, again at the time you claimed, their terms stated:

You can choose to receive your compensation in the following ways:

eVoucher​

We’ll credit your compensation to your online GWR account; where you can use it as full or part payment for travel anywhere in Great Britain.

Rail Travel Vouchers​

These are valid for 12 months and can be used as full or part payment at any station ticket office, for travel anywhere in Great Britain.

Credit or debit card​

When we’ve validated your claim, we’ll get back in touch for your card details. Payment then takes between one and three days.

Cheque​

We’ll send you a cheque in the post.

Again, clearly states 12 months and you could have chosen cash.

So, in summary, I think you've got little chance with Southeastern, you have a slightly better chance with Southern, and very little chance with GWR.

If you believe me losing the vouchers for a while and forgetting to use them was me making a conscious effort to allow them to expire

Ultimately you didn't use the vouchers because you didn't take reasonable effort in making use of them (which is different to making a conscious effort to let them expire). It's hardly the fault of the train company that you lost them for a while. Should the validity be completely open ended, in your opinion?