Delay Repay - write it off or claim

[Titfield]

Yesterday I was due to travel along the London Waterloo - Weymouth line on an advance ticket purchased 2 weeks ago,

I was keeping an eye on the severe delays and cancellations caused by an incident at Pokesdown. There was advice re using a local bus service instead or another operator. The time that the whole issue was meant to be resolved (ie trains running normally) kept on creeping later and later.

I decided to take a train 1 hour earlier than booked to give me leeway if things went or were still wrong. In the end that train ran about 40 minutes late and I was about 50 minutes late at my destination but 10 minutes earlier than I would have been if my booked train had run as normal. I tried to find the guard to say I was on an earlier train than my ticket allowed but he was busy dealing with other issues.

My booked train ran and as far as i can tell was about 20 minutes late.

I am signed up to auto delay repay and this morning I have had an email asking me to confirm the claim from the booked train's delay offering me a full refund as the delay was more than 60 minutes! This I dont understand as it isnt what real time trains said happened.

Any thoughts on what I should do? I dont wish to "confirm the claim" on auto delay repay as that would not be a true / honest declaration.

This has parallels to a post on this forum a short while ago when an OP had travelled on an earlier train to avoid a delay and the TOC refused to pay delay because he wasnt delayed because he had taken action to avoid this.

I must confess I am thinking of writing it off because it was a low value ticket and it was my decision to travel earlier to avoid consequences of late arrival.

 

[island]

If you chose to take an earlier train and as such were not delayed upon arrival the scheme does not provide an entitlement to claim.

Accordingly I would recommend not taking any action to make a claim here.

 

[Titfield]

If you chose to take an earlier train and as such were not delayed upon arrival the scheme does not provide an entitlement to claim.

Accordingly I would recommend not taking any action to make a claim here.

Yes but that train was 50 minutes late getting to its destination so if I had bought a ticket for that train or had a ticket valid to use on that train I would be entitled to compensation for a 50 minute delay.

The problem being that if I submitted a claim for that and uploaded the ticket as required I could be in jeopardy for not having a valid ticket for that train (the ticket being an advance ticket).

This gives rise to the question. Does what the webpage say about the incident and resolving it give me authority to use that advance ticket on another service?

It states you could use your ticket on another operators services or a local bus operators services (and it lists them).

Bizarely It does NOT say you could use your ticket on another one (a different service) that it - the original operator - was operating.

Would that be implied you could use it on an earlier train? It would seem to me to be perverse for it not to do so.

ADDED

I do not wish to have an argument with SWR for the sake of a few quid and "have my card marked" but it does raise an issue of what could be construed as authority to use an advance ticket on a service other than the one the ticket was booked for.

 

[robbeech]

Delay repay is based on the difference in time between your planned journey and your actual journey. You arrived earlier than your planned journey so in this instance you’ve done quite well. As such no compensation is due.

We can argue that if you have to set off early then compensation ought to be due but this is not in any regulations, nor is it ever likely to be so it makes little difference.

If the original train ran late enough to exceed a delay repay threshold then some people may decide to claim for it even if they didn’t travel. It’s unlikely the operator would check this and most people would get away with that fraudulent claim. However if they looked at scan logs on an e ticket, or cctv footage then you’d immediately face some rather strict questioning.

 

[Ducatist4]

If you had an advance ticket for a particular time but travelled on a earlier train were you not travelling without a valid ticket or did you buy a new ticket?

 

[Titfield]

I had an advance ticket and did not purchase a new ticket. Theoretically I was travelling with out a valid ticket. The question I was asking is whether or not the advice given in the postings on the SWR website was an authorisation to use the advance ticket on a service other than the one upon which I was booked. My view is that it was because it said that another TOC and a bus operator would accept the the ticket on their services. It would be perverse for them to say it was authorised to use on someone else's services but not there own.

I did seek out the Guard but he was busy dealing with other passengers issues and trying to ascertain what would happen further down the line indeed he was summoned by the driver because the plan changed and the service terminated short.

Many passengers were somewhat frustrated because the advice and information given kept on changing. The incident was originally announced as likely to be resolved by 1100 then 1300 then 1500 and then 1700 but the effects were still being felt as late as 1830 afaik. Some of the passengers at the station where I boarded were ringing for taxis given the uncertainty.

I do not think that any action could or indeed should be taken against passengers who in possession of a ticket take actions to minimise any inconvenience as a result of an ongoing failure to operate services by a TOC. A TOC may feel aggrieved and reject a request for a refund of a taxi fare incurred but to be concerned with an advance ticket being used an hour early is bizarre.

 

[sheff1]

The question I was asking is whether or not the advice given in the postings on the SWR website was an authorisation to use the advance ticket on a service other than the one upon which I was booked.

Can you provide the exact wording from SWR (and if possible the wording on the NationalRail site which sometimes differs from that on the TOC site(s)) ?

 

[Titfield]

Unfortunately the screen shot I took would enable me to be identified so I cant post it here. This was from the National Rail website. However the wording reads

Disruption is expected until 1900
South Western Railway Customer Advice
What We Are Doing About It

We received reports earlier that a person had been struck by a train at Pokesdown. The power to the track has now been restored and trains are now able to run through the area.

To assist you with your journey your ticket will be accepted, at no extra cost to yourself, on the following services:

Great Western Railway services between London Paddington and Exeter St Davids
Great Western Railway services between Weymouth and Westbury
Cross Country Services between Bournemouth and Basingstoke

Mores Bus
1a Bournemouth Pokesdown Christchurch
1b Bournemouth Pokesdown Christchurch

It then goes on to list some other Morebus services which go across the BCP conurbation.

 

[sheff1]

Well that wording does not mention any specific ticket type(s)s and so certainly authorises use of an Advance ticket on a service other than the one upon which it was booked.

I agree that it would be perverse for SWR to say it was authorised to use an Advance on someone else's services but not their own and they would surely have some difficulty in mounting a convincing argument against such use.