Northern won't let me link account to delay repay - why?

[LOL The Irony]

Today I made a delay repay claim with Northern and they had the option to connect an account, yet when I tried, it said they didn't recognise my email or password. I went and checked, and sure enough, both my email and password were correct. What I can gather from this is 1 of 2 things; something is broken on Northern's end or they want my to create a separate account for delay repay. If the latter is the case, then why so? Surely it would be easier to connect to my current Northern account?

 

[NorthWestRover]

There are two separate accounts for some reason.

 

[CheapAndNerdy]

Same with Avanti West Coast. I think Delay Repay must be outsourced to a separate company. The emails I get are from firstcustomercontact.com

 

[py_megapixel]

There are two separate accounts for some reason.

I believe the reason boils down to outsourcing of the booking engine and the delay claim system to two different organisations whose systems don't integrate with each other.

 

[LOL The Irony]

There are two separate accounts for some reason.

Same with Avanti West Coast. I think Delay Repay must be outsourced to a separate company. The emails I get are from firstcustomercontact.com

I believe the reason boils down to outsourcing of the booking engine and the delay claim system to two different organisations whose systems don't integrate with each other.

Why? It just makes things needlessly complicated for both them and the user. If it was connected to my Northern account, the refund could just be added to my account, but they decide to make the process convoluted. I think I'm using the Northern website when in reality, I'm not.

 

[py_megapixel]

The best solution really if they can't get them to integrate - in my opinion, anyway - would be to do away with the concept of "accounts" for Delay Repay altogether. If your services cause delays of that length frequently enough that customers are saving a significant amount of time by not having to type out their name and address then there are some issues beyond IT ones that need sorting...

Alternatively, if they integrated properly then they could let you make claims for journeys previously booked through them in a matter of just a minute or two and credit the payment to your already-registered card details, but I assume it won't do that at the moment.

I agree with @LOL The Irony that the current halfway house is a needless complication to no benefit.

 

[LOL The Irony]

Alternatively, if they integrated properly then they could let you make claims for journeys previously booked through them in a matter of just a minute or two and credit the payment to your already-registered card details, but I assume it won't do that at the moment.

Or have a credit of the amount added to your account. The free ticket option can also be added to your account and pop up when you're booking tickets, saying you have a free single/return*.

*of course, if your journey is within Northern land