Virgin delay repay web form confusing

[trainophile]

Today we were delayed 25 minutes on the 1200 ex-Glasgow, travelling between Preston (departed on time 1417) and Crewe (should have arrived 1457), due to overhead line problems and "track circuit failure" - both outside Virgin's control so it doesn't really seem fair to claim, but they do tell you to when relevant.

This delay, although not long enough in itself for any delay repay compensation, caused us to miss our 1508 connection to Hereford, for which we had Advance tickets, so we had to wait an hour for the next one, eventually arriving in Hereford 78 minutes later than our original schedule.

When attempting to complete the claim form online, there's a box you can tick for "This delay caused me to miss a connection", but nowhere to enter the details to explain the extra delay. I have ticked this box on a previous occasion, but the subsequent delay was ignored when the compensation payment was made.

I still have all the tickets. Is the answer to submit a claim by post, explaining the situation? Would we be entitled to the full value of the Crewe-Hereford tickets, but nothing for the Preston-Crewe as that wasn't over 30 minutes? Or should we just be grateful we got home eventually, and in time for the last bus home? Things were a bit chaotic at Crewe today with various cancellations and delays, so we were I suppose among the lucky ones!

 

[yorkie]

This crops up regularly, however Virgin Trains are a notoriously anti-customer company so I can't really see them changing their ways anytime soon.

Nevertheless, despite the confusion, some people have had success with this box:

I successfully claimed delay repay from VTWC a couple of months back. Had a London Terminals - East Kilbride Off Peak Return, the VTWC service into Glasgow Central was 19 minutes late causing me to miss the connection to East Kilbride which resulted in an overall delay of an hour.

Submittedbthe claim to VTWC, entered Euston to Glasgow as details of the service and ticked the missed connection box. Obviously uploaded an image of my ticket to East Kilbride as part of the claim.

They paid out without an issue.

However I am aware not everyone has.

An alternative is to send them an email, worded in a concise manner detailing the delay.

I recommend including a tabulated or bullet pointed list showing the trains caught as part of the itinerary. If you used two or more tickets, I'd do the same with the tickets.

Use clear language that asserts the fact you made a journey from Glasgow to Hereford and that you arrived 78 minutes late into your destination and clearly stating the value of all tickets held for the journey.

If you bought with an accredited ticket splitting website, the easiest thing to do is probably to forward the booking confirmation and most of the work is done for you; just add a covering note explaining the length of delay and stating that the details of the itinerary and tickets held are in the email below.

Include, in your email, an attachment containing a clear image of all ticket(s) used.

My advice is do not word your claim in the way that you did in your opening paragraphs; in my opinion your first two paragraphs in this thread should have been worded more like this...

On <date> we were delayed by 25 78 minutes on the 1200 ex-Glasgow, travelling between Preston (departed on time 1417) and Crewe (should have arrived 1457), due to overhead line problems and "track circuit failure" - both outside Virgin's control so it doesn't really seem fair to claim, but they do tell you to when relevant. on our journey between Glasgow and Hereford, for which we were booked to travel on the following trains....

12:00 Glasgow - Crewe (due xx:xx)
15:08 Crewe - Herefored (due xx:xx)​

This delay, although not long enough in itself for any delay repay compensation, The delay to our first train, 1200 Glasgow to Crewe, caused us to miss our 1508 connection to Hereford, for which we had Advance tickets, so we had to wait an hour for the next one, which resulted in us eventually arriving in Hereford 78 minutes later than our original schedule....

Be clear, concise, assertive. Do not include any doubt or hesitation or any cause for confusion.

 

[Hadders]

I had similar with VTWC recently. I travelled from Euston to East Kilbride. The train into Glasgow was 19 minutes late causing me to my connection which resulted in a delay of an hour.

Submitted the claim, put Euston to Glasgow on the form and ticked the missed connection box. Uploaded a copy of the ticket (to be fair it was a through ticket rather than a combination) and they paid up without fuss.

 

[najaB]

I may be lucky but I've never had a claim refused by VT. Where in involves a connection I just use the email form.

 

[Deafdoggie]

I have always ticked the box and been fine, as long as you attach an image of the tickets, they can work it out. But if they do come back saying otherwise, simply reply, I have found them always willing to look again at it and correct an error.

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

both outside Virgin's control so it doesn't really seem fair to claim

In all but the most unlikely scenarios (e.g. a full and standing 11-coach Pendolino that's delayed by 5 minutes, causing half the passengers to miss connections and be significantly delayed to their destination, and everyone onboard claims!), Network Rail will be compensating Virgin far more than Virgin will be paying out in delay compensation. If anything, Virgin are directly speaking profiting from these kinds of occurrences (obviously, that does not consider the substantial potential for lost goodwill resulting from delays!). In any case, this is a costed part of Virgin's franchise bid (well, direct award), so I see nothing morally wrong with making a claim, the likes of which Virgin have financially anticipated.

This delay, although not long enough in itself for any delay repay compensation, caused us to miss our 1508 connection to Hereford, for which we had Advance tickets, so we had to wait an hour for the next one, eventually arriving in Hereford 78 minutes later than our original schedule.

Provided the tickets you held covered your entire journey (i.e. there was no unticketed gap!), and you planned your journey with a sufficient connection time at each interchange station (see www.brtimes.com for the minimum connection time), all of the trains you took and tickets you used come together to be considered one journey, as per Condition 14.1 of the National Rail Conditions of Travel.

Is the answer to submit a claim by post, explaining the situation?

That is one option; the alternative is to send them an email (customer. relations @ virgintrains. co . uk - you'll need to remove the spaces, which I've added for anti-spam reasons!) or to use their contact form. What method you use is irrelevant really - the main thing is that you have a 'paper trail' of having submitted your claim within 28 days of your journey.

Would we be entitled to the full value of the Crewe-Hereford tickets, but nothing for the Preston-Crewe as that wasn't over 30 minutes?

As your travels are considered as one journey (subject to the provisos explained above), the value of all of your tickets is considered. If you used solely single tickets (e.g. Advances) then you would be entitled to compensation in the value of 100% of all your tickets. That you were delayed by less than 30 minutes to Crewe is irrelevant really (unless you, for whatever reason, wanted to define your journey as having ended there - quite clearly a disadvantageous definition this case!); Virgin caused you to be delayed by more than 60 minutes into your destination, and hence they are liable for compensation.

Or should we just be grateful we got home eventually, and in time for the last bus home?

I would feel grateful that they have not, as sometimes happens, refused to provide me with my contractual rights. That doesn't mean I don't also expect compensation when delays like this happen.

Just yesterday I had a lengthy delay to a journey; it was not the TOC's fault, but I will nevertheless be sure to claim the maximum amount of compensation I am entitled to, as it was very inconvenient!

 

[35B]

I have had success with other operators online claims by attaching a letter, worded in line with @yorkie’s suggestion, with the photographs as a single attachment. The little time it’s taken me to write in Word, embed the pictures, and save as a pdf that can be attached has been repaid by a quick, no fuss, response.

 

[Hadders]

My view is that rail fares are expensive enough therefore every opportunity to claim for a delay should be taken.

 

[Haywain]

In all but the most unlikely scenarios ... Network Rail will be compensating Virgin far more than Virgin will be paying out in delay compensation. If anything, Virgin are directly speaking profiting from these kinds of occurrences (obviously, that does not consider the substantial potential for lost goodwill resulting from delays!).

Please stop promulgating such nonsense. Schedule 8 payments across the rail industry are unrelated to Delay Repay, and TOCs do not seek to profit from delays - if they did there would be no incentive to avoid them which every TOC does. Day in, day out, the industry moves money between businesses because of delays but there is no evidence that any of them find this a part of their business case that they rely on or would wish to keep if delays could be avoided.

 

[trainophile]

Many thanks for all the replies and the useful suggestions. I will probably go with the email option.

Just to clarify, our journey was made up of three Advance tickets: Glasgow to Preston departed on the 1140, changed at Preston onto the 1417 which had left Glasgow at 1200. Saved about £30 by not booking the through train, wish I had now as we would have got full compensation!

So presumably I can claim for the journey from Preston onwards. There would have been 11 minutes connection time at Crewe and I believe the minimum is 10.

 

[Haywain]

So presumably I can claim for the journey from Preston onwards. There would have been 11 minutes connection time at Crewe and I believe the minimum is 10.

No, you claim for the whole journey from Glasgow to Hereford. You made one journey, albeit using a number of tickets. After, what you saved on the tickets is what Virgin save on the Delay Repay claim.

 

[najaB]

So presumably I can claim for the journey from Preston onwards. There would have been 11 minutes connection time at Crewe and I believe the minimum is 10.

No, you claim for the whole journey. As per BRTimes.com, yes the minimum connection time is 10 minutes:

CREWE is classified as a LARGE interchange station.
Minimum Connection Time is 10 minutes

 

[trainophile]

Oh! That’s a nice surprise. Just hope I can find the Glasgow to Preston tickets when I get home (travelling again today).

 

[35B]

Please stop promulgating such nonsense. Schedule 8 payments across the rail industry are unrelated to Delay Repay, and TOCs do not seek to profit from delays - if they did there would be no incentive to avoid them which every TOC does. Day in, day out, the industry moves money between businesses because of delays but there is no evidence that any of them find this a part of their business case that they rely on or would wish to keep if delays could be avoided.

Debatable; the loss of this income is believed to have been part of the failure of GNER a decade or so ago.