Virgin Delay Repay query

[trevmonk]

I'm submitting a delay claim to Virgin for a Manchester Piccadilly to St Albans Abbey advance which involved changing at Milton Keynes and Watford Junction. The first leg from Manchester was delayed over 60 minutes anyway but the online form also wants details of the second and third legs and any further delays. Do I enter the original planned connections from my itinerary for those parts of the journey, or the actual trains I took following the initial delay from Manchester to Milton Keynes?

 

[gray1404]

The planned trains rather then the ones taken. I had the same question last month so tweeted VT and this is what they told me.

 

[Laurencew]

Myself and a friend were caught up in the disruption on Saturday 26th October.
https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...e-and-the-north-west-of-england.194181/page-3 (post#81)

One from Bache (one stop on Merseyrail from Chester) to Euston and one from Chester to Euston. Both open off-peak returns, booked through the Virgin website, with reserved seats on the 07.17 out and the 18.10 return. I submitted automated delay repay for each single journey, receiving reference numbers. Just minutes later I received two automated emails, one saying that the delay to the Bache journey was down to Merseyrail (it wasn't) and the other saying that the 07.17 ex Chester was only 29 minutes late so the claim was invalid. The 07.17 was cancelled from Chester (it may have started from Crewe), so I replied in each case in effect "rubbish", but I don't know of the mailbox is monitored.
Also there is no mention anywhere of how to claim for taxis we were forced to take from Crewe to Chester and Chester to Bache. I submitted a general question to find out, but have yet to receive a reply.

Anybody any comments as to the way forward? Would I be better submitting a written claim to the Registered Office?

 

[trevmonk]

According to recenttraintimes.co.uk Merseyrail services were running as normal between Bache and Chester in the morning, of 26th, confirming your point that it was Virgin at fault.

The 07.17 and 08.35 from Chester to Euston are shown as cancelled (although as you suspected the 07.17 DID start from Crewe and arrived 26 mins late into Euston). If you took the 09.35, which did run, it was 52 minutes late into Euston arriving at 12.28 meaning you would have arrived exactly 3 hours late.

Going back: the 18.10 from Euston was cancelled and the previous service arrived 3 hours late at Chester.

It looks like a pretty good case for a full refund!

 

[trevmonk]

The planned trains rather then the ones taken. I had the same question last month so tweeted VT and this is what they told me.

Thanks. The online form is not that clear. It also doesn't specify whether the delay in minutes for each leg should be entered for just that section, or the accumulated delay up to that point for the total journey. I went for the latter which then shows the total delay at the final destination, which is what counts.