Delay compensation from GWR. Time taken to receive.

[whole diary]

[JayMac]

I'm wondering if folk out there would share their experiences of how long any claims for Passenger Charter compensation have taken or are taking.

My most recent claim has, frankly, astonished me with the time taken to process it.

I posted the form on Monday 15th February 2016 and received the Rail Travel Voucher today, Friday 19th February 2016.

Four days. That's four days.

The expected amount was correct as well. It was a journey using a Rover that was delayed.

Astounded. Flabbergasted. Amazed. 

Well done GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway). 

[patch38]

I made a claim on 2nd February and the payment was sent out on the 7th. It exceeded my expectation and I was impressed! Good response from GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway).

[Chris from Nailsea]

Of course, in the days of the original Great Western Railway, you'd have received the compensation before you'd even asked for it ... 

[JayMac]

One tiny detail I forgot to mention was that my most recent claim was actually outside the terms of GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)'s Passenger Charter compensation rules. I'd claimed on the basis that my journey was disrupted by over-running engineering works, when the reality was the specific journey I'd made was actually delayed by (what will most likely be determined as) a suicide. Two events on the same day that caused widespread disruption, and I wasn't 100% sure which event had delayed the trains I ended up using.

Re-reading the accompanying letter I see that the RTV is for goodwill although the wording was a little ambiguous. I called GWR to confirm. The amount would have been the same either way. Half the daily value of a Rover. In my case a Freedom of Severn & Solent 3 days in 7 at ^46.00, giving me ^7.70 in RTVs.

Whatever the reason for the payout, still an impressive turn round time.

Now that I know the voucher was a goodwill gesture as a result of a (most likely) suicide, I will donate an equivalent amount to The Samaritans.

[Brucey]

That seems like rather good service.

I'm still waiting for a RTV from Southern for a journey in September 2013, where not only was I delayed by >1 hour, but ended up paying a Zone 1-6 fare instead of Zone 2-6 on Oyster^▸ (Smartcard system used by passengers on Transport for London services).  They initially refused the claim as my departure time was not listed on the National Rail Timetable.  As I took a London Underground service from a station with both tube and mainline services, of course it would not show (this was verified by my Oyster statement showing a LUL^▸ (London Underground Ltd)-NR^» (Network Rail - home page) interchange at Shepherd's Bush).  They agreed to pay but nothing was received in the post.  They then offered to credit it to my online account.  Nothing turned up.  I moved house and forgot about it for a few months.  Southern then ignored me whenever I emailed about it, so referred to London Travelwatch.  They couldn't help as I didn't have any correspondence saved.  Southern phoned me following this and left a voicemail message, I phoned them back and they never got back to me.  Given up now and a really poor experience of how to treat your customers.

[Bob_Blakey]

My most recent claim - last December, and the first for ages - due to knackered signalling at Castle Cary was not dealt with at all well; FGW^▸ (First Great Western) / GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) had to be chased and whoever responded forgot to enclose the RTV's! Much form filling required - understandably, there are a lot of scam merchants in our midst - to officially declare non-receipt before a new set of vouchers would be despatched.

[devon_metro]

I made a claim against Virgin West Coast and received RTVs in the post 2 days later!

[Tim]

my last few took about a week each (at least 2 or 3 of which will have been the time the letters took in the post) .  Which I is much better than it used to be.

[JayMac]

I made a claim against Virgin West Coast and received RTVs in the post 2 days later!

Same response time for me. Made the claim to VT^▸ (Virgin Trains - former franchises) online on Sunday, received the repsonse today, Tuesday. Just a shame however that I wasn't compensated in the method requested. Ask for cheque, received RTV.

Now have to send the RTV back and wait for a cheque. So as far as this claim goes the clock is still ticking...

[ChrisB]

Chiltern do that too, except ask for RTV & got a cheque....

[JayMac]

I made a claim against Virgin West Coast and received RTVs in the post 2 days later!

Same response time for me. Made the claim to VT^▸ (Virgin Trains - former franchises) online on Sunday, received the repsonse today, Tuesday. Just a shame however that I wasn't compensated in the method requested. Ask for cheque, received RTV.

Now have to send the RTV back and wait for a cheque. So as far as this claim goes the clock is still ticking...

Virgin West Coast emailed me on Friday 15th April 2016 apologising for sending an RTV when I'd requested a cheque. Told me I can keep the RTV and a cheque for the same amount would be with me within 5-7 days. They'd confirmed, on the 13th April, via 'live chat', that I'd need to send the RTV back, wait for it to be received by them, and then they'd issue the cheque. I went and put the RTV in an envelope, with a covering letter, and addressed it ready to post. Luckily I forgot to post it before receiving the email.