Sleeper refund

[whole diary]

[Kernow Otter]

My wife was due to travel on the up sleeper last night, which was cancelled, using an Advance Single.

Staff at BOD advised that as it was a FGW^▸ (First Great Western) online purchase, that was the place to apply for the refund, but damned if I can see how to do that from within our account.  Have gone to the specific ticket in the 'My Bookings' section, but the Refund tab is not live.

Any ideas would be much appreciated.

Cheers

[stationstop]

When was it purchased? At the bottom of the ticket the should be a 6 digit code, followed by a four digit code.

The format would be BX34T7G/1749 (for examples sake).


Would you mind posting the last four digit code after the forward slash?

[paul7575]

I don't think the refund tab can be live once you've picked up the tickets?  I think you need to talk to telesales rather than do it yourself online.

In any case, the website is probably not set up to allow refunds for an 'Advance' fare type at the passenger's say so, as a refund is outside the T&C...

Paul

[JayMac]

In any case, the website is probably not set up to allow refunds for an 'Advance' fare type at the passenger's say so, as a refund is outside the T&C...

But not in the case of cancellation of the service the passenger was booked on. A full refund is still applicable under the National Rail Conditions of Carriage.

E. YOUR REFUND RIGHTS
26. Refunds on tickets that have not been used.

If you decide not to use a ticket (other than a Season Ticket - see Condition 36) to make all or part of your intended journey, then:

(a) if the train you intended to use is cancelled, delayed or your reservation will not be honoured, you decide not to travel and at that time you return the unused ticket to any ticket office, the Train Company responsible for that ticket office will, wherever possible, give you an immediate full refund

I do think however that the staff at Bodmin could have completed the necessary paperwork and forwarded the ticket to the retailer for the issuance of a refund under the NRCoC^▸ (National Rail Conditions of Carriage). NRCoC says a refund should be issued, wherever possible, at any ticket office. That 'wherever possible'  though is a handy get out clause for ticket offices to refuse to issue refunds when another retailer is involved. But they should still take in the ticket and complete the necessary paperwork to forward to the original retailer if their own systems and/or local policies prevent them issuing an immediate refund.

You could try again at a staffed station but it may be more productive to contact the original retailer. FGW^▸ (First Great Western) support for online sales can be called on 0844 556 5605*. If you are reluctant to call this non-inclusive, revenue sharing number then you may be able to be put through to the web support team by dialling 01752 675640.

Alternatively you can email fgw@custhelp.com

*Which incidentally has no details of the cost of the call on the FGW website, which goes against Ofcom guidlines.

[paul7575]

In any case, the website is probably not set up to allow refunds for an 'Advance' fare type at the passenger's say so, as a refund is outside the T&C...

But not in the case of cancellation of the service the passenger intended to use. A full refund is still applicable under the National Rail Conditions of Carriage.

I'm not saying a full refund is not available following cancellation of the train.  What I'm suggesting is that as the T&C do not allow a refund for a customers own reasons, the tab would not be presented normally.

Then to make it available during times of disruption would require a live and updated link between the websales system and specific dated train running information.  I don't think that is likely is it, as the booking system is currently set up?

Agree that station staff usually seem to view websales as though it is something that happens on another planet, even for their own TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company)'s site. 

Paul

[stationstop]

Need to find out the retailer first. Depends whether it was purchased when FGW^▸ (First Great Western) used Trainline or since it was moved in house.

Phone numbers and refund addresses have changed.

[JayMac]

The 0844 number I quoted above has options when you call for support based on whether you purchased your ticket before or after 13th November. So it's the only number you need. You'll be forwarded to the correct retailer and they will then give the correct address for you to send your tickets to.

[Kernow Otter]

Cheers all.  No sign of a 6 digit code, but ticket was purchase through FGW^▸ (First Great Western)'s on line ticket sales on 21 October 2012.

[Tim]

Whatever you do, contact telesales rather than the station.

I tried to get a refund at Bath for a ticket purchased online for a train which was cancelled.  They took the tickets off me and gave me a form "RSP 25805/24" which seems to be a hang over from the last days of BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) ("revised January 1996"),  which was completed by me and the station clerk.  The tickets were sent off stapled to one copy of the form and I was given a copy of the form for my records.  Seemed like an efficient if slightly old-fashioned way of doing things.  2 weeks later a partial refund arrived back to my credit card.  Trying to get the full amount back has to date proved unsucessful.  But the telesales helpline (one of several FGW^▸ (First Great Western) numbers called) were very surprised that I used the RSP form and told me "if it happens again just call us".
 

The re

[thetrout]

I wondered why you asked that question on the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) Facebook Page bignosemac

That 0844 55 number is a g6 charge code number. The pricing for such numbers is listed in the minefield of call prices on the BT Website (Which is notoriously difficult to understand even for some of their Engineers!) and is 5.1 pence per minute from a BT Residential Line. Using the saynoto0870.com website reveals a Plymouth (??) Area Code number: 01752 675640 but does have the annoyance of waiting a long time to be put through to the relevant department. I guess you should weigh up the costs for the time you'll wait on a more than likely free call verses an 0844 number at 5.1 ppm

Here are the charges list for BT Lines from 01/10/2012:

http://www.productsandservices.bt.com/consumer/assets/downloads/BT_PhoneTariff_SpecialNos.pdf

and:

http://www.bt.com/pricing/current/Call_Charges_boo/2-1632_d0e5.htm

@Tim

Have you tried contacting your bank and opening a Debit Card Disputed Transaction? I'd say you have grounds for doing so. As you have paid FGW for a service for which you did not receive. You have the old Red Paper Form showing the refund that should've been made versus what ended up being refunded. You also played from reading your post along with the NRCoC^▸ (National Rail Conditions of Carriage) so worth a shot? I would in your situation. It can be a timely process but normally you can explain the issue over the phone and they'll put a temporary funding into your account whilst they investigate and redebit once the retailer refunds the amount as shown. They may ask for copies of the documents you received and then I can see why the Bank would have no reason for giving them a telling off!

[Tim]

thanks for the suggestion.  I'll give customer services a final go first.

[Tim]

just an update.  I decided to give FGW^▸ (First Great Western) a few more days and this afternoon a cheque (which I wasn't expecting) arrived by post along with an appologetic letter.

I am glad I didn't waste time with the bank.  In my experience they are useless.  The refund system operated by FGW's Customer Services Department is on the other hand a bit like the railway as a whole - more complicated than it needs to be, frustratingly so at times, but run by friendly and inteligent people who get it there eventually.