This could be huge, I foresee many more claims of a similar nature.
I suspect that TOCs▸ may stop taking credit cards to avoid such refunds in future. Meanwhile if anyone is about to buy a season ticket it would seem sensible to use a credit card.
That would be a typical response from a TOC - play the man, not the ball.
They may be better off challenging the legality of the strike, and if successful hit the Union with a bill for every penny incurred.
But the strike doesn't appear to be illegal. I expect Southern has looked very hard at the process of the ballot etc and concluded that too. If the strike is legal the Union isn't liable for any losses.
The only solution is a negotiated settlement (which would require compromise which Southern might be willing to make but which the neither the Government nor the unions seem able to do at the moment) or an imposed settlement (with new staff if required).
Part of me thinks they (or rather the Government who are pulling the strings) need to make up their mind and either back down on
DOO▸ in the interests of getting the trains running again, or else decide that they are going to take the pain and force through a PATCO/Reagan-style resolution. Problem is the first option whilst probably acceptable to Southern is not to the Government who clearly want DOO on Southern not for its own sake but so that they can impose it elsewhere. The second option would probably bankrupt Southern. But the current strikes are not achieving anything except misery.
I am uncomfortable with the Government's role in this. Southern is a private company.
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