Silly question - laundered ticket!

[fairysdad]

Stupid incident.

I was delayed on a journey yesterday, enough to claim Delay Repay. However, on taking my laundry out of the drier this afternoon, I noticed the mangled remains of a railway ticket that had been in a pocket... I thought the ticket was in my coat pocket - turns out only the 'Out' section of the return ticket was in my coat, meaning the 'Rtn' section (on which I was delayed) was the one that was laundered...

So, my silly question (that I possibly know the answer to) is whether I can claim a Delay Repay (with Southern if that makes any difference) without the Return portion of the ticket which is the part I was delayed on...

 

[30907]

You can only try, uploading both parts, BUT if the return half is indecipherable AND still valid Southern could reasonably say no.

 

[andrewkeith5]

You can try, the worst that’ll happen is they say no! I’d expect them to, to be honest.

However GTR (of whom Southern are a part) do I believe have a form which allows you to add detail; and in the worst case you’re invited to re-submit with added detail if they reject.

Logically, the holder of an out portion is going to have a return, but the railway is rarely logical!

The alternative option is that you submit your claim via the customer services route, where you of course have all the space you need for explaining.

How illegible is the laundered ticket?

It would probably help your cause if you booked online and happen to have an itinerary from your order that puts you on the train you were delayed on!

 

[robbeech]

Logically, the holder of an out portion is going to have a return, but the railway is rarely logical!

It’s less logical than you might think.
Buying an SVS at £90 or an SVR at £91 gives good resale value to the return portion if you’re only going one way.
Of course this is not allowed but it does happen and with a Month to use it you will find any number of people willing to pay £40 or £50 for the return portion.

Back to the ticket in question though.
It depends how badly damaged it is I suppose. I agree you should upload both tickets and explain what happened. If you have proof of purchase too that wouldn’t hurt. Hope it goes well for you.

 

[andrewkeith5]

It’s less logical than you might think.
Buying an SVS at £90 or an SVR at £91 gives good resale value to the return portion if you’re only going one way.
Of course this is not allowed but it does happen and with a Month to use it you will find any number of people willing to pay £40 or £50 for the return portion.

Back to the ticket in question though.
It depends how badly damaged it is I suppose. I agree you should upload both tickets and explain what happened. If you have proof of purchase too that wouldn’t hurt. Hope it goes well for you.

It’s a potential, obviously, but even for the railway that would be a hideously unfair conclusion to default to.

Especially considering that they could easily eliminate the problem by charging fair prices for single tickets which respect the fact that the passenger is using only half of the resources!