Hi there,
Apologies if this has been asked a million times before - I ran a few searches but couldn't really find what I was looking for.
I have an annual season ticket from London zones 2-6 to Brighton, which is paid for by a loan from my employer. A couple of months ago I lost the ticket (at least, thought I had) and applied for a replacement. I got the replacement and have since decided to move back to London. The season ticket runs out at the end of March next year, so that's around £1800 or so.
I took the ticket to the ticket office in Victoria and was told about the part of the terms of carriage that I was previously unaware of, meaning that I couldn't get a refund on the ticket.
Southern customer services were very helpful and said that this is a common problem they have, and advised me to gather evidence that I wasn't going to be living in Brighton anymore e.g. a letter from the letting agent confirming I had ended my tenancy. He also advised that I might be able to exchange my ticket for one I could use in London, like a travelcard, and get the difference refunded.
When I went back to the flat in Brighton to start packing my stuff up, I found my original season ticket. I felt utterly stupid but super happy as I thought this would mean that I could get the refund, as the guy I spoke to at customer services explained that the terms of carriage for the duplicate tickets was there to prevent fraud e.g. someone having found my ticket and using it, or me secretly keeping it to use.
So I went back to Victoria today, where the cashier told me that wasn't the case. He refused to advise me on what I could do to appeal or as an alternative, as did his 'Team leader'.
So I called customer services again to see if they could advise me what I could do. The woman I spoke to at first misunderstood what I meant entirely (I'm still not sure what she thought I meant), insinuated that I was lying about what the previous customer service guy had told me, told me I could exchange my ticket for another one (then retracted that when I said I get the tube) and when the penny finally dropped she went on to tell me that 'oh yes, no you CAN get a refund on a duplicate ticket. I don't know why they're saying you can't'. and proceeded to give me addresses and instructions to send my ticket off and get a full refund. I then read out the terms of carriage to her, she sounded surprised, put me on hold to speak to her supervisor and then told me that she was wrong. So I spent half an hour (on a premium rate line!) and got nowhere.
I still don't understand what my options are (if any) to claw some of my money back, or to get a ticket I can use. Surely now I've found the original then that proves I'm not just scamming them? I don't even have a use for the ticket any more but it seems no one is willing to tell me if there's anything I can do... help?
Apologies if this has been asked a million times before - I ran a few searches but couldn't really find what I was looking for.
I have an annual season ticket from London zones 2-6 to Brighton, which is paid for by a loan from my employer. A couple of months ago I lost the ticket (at least, thought I had) and applied for a replacement. I got the replacement and have since decided to move back to London. The season ticket runs out at the end of March next year, so that's around £1800 or so.
I took the ticket to the ticket office in Victoria and was told about the part of the terms of carriage that I was previously unaware of, meaning that I couldn't get a refund on the ticket.
Southern customer services were very helpful and said that this is a common problem they have, and advised me to gather evidence that I wasn't going to be living in Brighton anymore e.g. a letter from the letting agent confirming I had ended my tenancy. He also advised that I might be able to exchange my ticket for one I could use in London, like a travelcard, and get the difference refunded.
When I went back to the flat in Brighton to start packing my stuff up, I found my original season ticket. I felt utterly stupid but super happy as I thought this would mean that I could get the refund, as the guy I spoke to at customer services explained that the terms of carriage for the duplicate tickets was there to prevent fraud e.g. someone having found my ticket and using it, or me secretly keeping it to use.
So I went back to Victoria today, where the cashier told me that wasn't the case. He refused to advise me on what I could do to appeal or as an alternative, as did his 'Team leader'.
So I called customer services again to see if they could advise me what I could do. The woman I spoke to at first misunderstood what I meant entirely (I'm still not sure what she thought I meant), insinuated that I was lying about what the previous customer service guy had told me, told me I could exchange my ticket for another one (then retracted that when I said I get the tube) and when the penny finally dropped she went on to tell me that 'oh yes, no you CAN get a refund on a duplicate ticket. I don't know why they're saying you can't'. and proceeded to give me addresses and instructions to send my ticket off and get a full refund. I then read out the terms of carriage to her, she sounded surprised, put me on hold to speak to her supervisor and then told me that she was wrong. So I spent half an hour (on a premium rate line!) and got nowhere.
I still don't understand what my options are (if any) to claw some of my money back, or to get a ticket I can use. Surely now I've found the original then that proves I'm not just scamming them? I don't even have a use for the ticket any more but it seems no one is willing to tell me if there's anything I can do... help?