Moving it under the "return same day" heading would be clear enough to me.
For this specific problem, yes, but there's also the problem that "SplitSave" hides whether your ticket has peak restrictions (and whereas "Return same day" is shown directly in the info box, you only find out whether your tickets come with peak restrictions if you click the small info button to see more ticket details).
It’s another case of when a few people make a mistake it might be them, but when hundreds do it, regardless of the reason it would be in the retailer’s interest to improve the system. Well, it would be in their reputable interest, not their financial interest which likely answers every question we may ask.
In this case, Trainline is "mis-selling" a cheaper but invalid ticket, so presumably getting less of a comission than if they'd sold a more expensive but valid ticket (assuming comission is a percentage of ticket price). They might still end up ahead though if,
as seen in another current thread, the passenger ends up buying another ticket from them to be able to complete their journey.
I’ve been told my printed tickets were incorrectly issued to return home to Suffolk from Heathrow as the underground part was a day travel dated ticket not open return as booked and to take it up with Trainline for a refund
My concern is the tickets are to be returned but I was never given them. What proof do I use ? I know my receipt was the last coupon printed
I assume you were forced to buy a new ticket from an inspector or ticket office? What exact tickets were involved (original and new), how much did they cost, and how much should the journey have cost if you had been sold appropriate tickets from the start?
Which tickets were you never given - the original tickets or the new ones? Were the tickets not printed at all or printed by staff and confiscated before being given to you, or did you already have them in your possession but got them confiscated later after handing them over for inspection? Are you saying you did get to keep the coupon, but just not the actual tickets? Did this happen on your outward or return journey? Is it Trainline that are saying the tickets (the originals or the new ones?) are to be sent to them before a refund can be given?
Presumably what you would like to see happen is that Trainline returns to you an amount of money such that the total amount you're out of pocket is what it should have cost you if you had been sold the correct tickets from the start. You might find that, since the details ("Return same day") were made somewhat clear before you bought the wrong tickets, it is strictly speaking your own fault and you won't be entitled to that big of a refund, if any at all, according to the general refund rules for unused tickets, but if you contact Trainline and explain the situation they might give you more than the bare minimum, as a "goodwill gesture"
I'm not a ticketing expert, but here is my speculation on what refund you would strictly be entitled to, depending on what exactly happened:
If the error was detected before you started your outward journey, or possibly during it, and you were sold new return tickets that covered the entire journey out and back, then your original tickets ought to be deemed as unused, and you should be entitled to a full refund of their cost less a £10 admin fee.
If you had completed your outward journey and the error was only detected later, such as before or during your return journey, then you would not be entitled to a full refund as the tickets have been partly used. There exists an entitlement to refund the return portion of a return ticket for the difference in price between a return and the equivalent single (less a £10 admin fee, I presume), but this would normally have to be done while the ticket was still valid (i.e. the day of travel for a day return), so you would be out of luck here, and also I'm not sure how this would apply to a Travelcard (if that's what you got), if at all, as it doesn't have an equivalent single. (Also, the price difference between return and single is often less than the admin fee, which would mean no money would be returned at all.)
In either case, to refund the original tickets as (fully or partly) unused you would normally be expected to send them back, assuming they had already been printed either by you or by staff, but if you explain that they were confiscated (if that's the case) and provide evidence of the replacement tickets bought I would hope Trainline could make an exception. But as I said, you could try asking for more than your strict entitlement as a "goodwill gesture".
