Call for discounts for railcard users

[whole diary]

[grahame]

From Express and Star

Railcard users deserve to get lockdown refund on the journeys they have been unable to take, a public transport champion has demanded.

Councillor Richard Worrall said a number of residents, including the elderly, young people and disabled, were not allowed to use the travelcards for weeks – despite having forked out for an annual pass.

At a meeting of the Transport Delivery Committee, he called on Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) to lobby National Railcard into at least extending the validity of passes for the time lost during lock down.

TfWM confirmed it had written to the Department of Transport asking what action can be taken to compensate customers and were awaiting a response.

[Clan Line]

My daughter has just had her Longleat annual ticket extended by 5 months.

[grahame]

Twitter ... with Campaign for Better Transport, Transport Focus and the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) on the case.

Can we call up the big shot ... get Marcus Rashford onto the case?

https://twitter.com/CBTransport/status/1273206784015114240

Campaign for Better Transport
@CBTransport
·
37m
We agree with
@TransportFocus
 on this. There’s no valid reason why railcard expiry dates can’t be extended. If the rail industry won’t consider this then
@transportgovuk
 should require it.
Quote Tweet

Transport Focus
@TransportFocus
 · 1h
🌅 This morning we've been chatting to @Mattallwright and @msm4rsh about @_Railcards holders who've seen their chances of claiming those great savings evaporate.

👉 We want @RailDeliveryGrp to do the right thing and extend railcard expiry dates or offer a renewal discount.

[TaplowGreen]

One for Meet the Manager I'd say!

[CyclingSid]

Something from The i newspaper on railcards https://inews.co.uk/news/uk/railcard-refunds-extensions-operators-options-uk-train-travel-plummets-coronavirus-lockdown-448512

[grahame]

One for Meet the Manager I'd say!

Yep 

http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=23666.msg290251#msg290251
In summary "Not sometime we can do"

Something from The i newspaper on railcards https://inews.co.uk/news/uk/railcard-refunds-extensions-operators-options-uk-train-travel-plummets-coronavirus-lockdown-448512

These cards are so much of an encouragement to people to use the train and once that encouragement is needed again, a generous additional period would be a huge marketing boost.    Something as simple as "all railcards expiring after 1st March 2020 are valid until 6 months after the date shown on them" perhaps?

[grahame]

Here's another way to encourage traffic back

From the Independent

The Belgian government is to hand out free railway tickets in a bid to boost the country's economy as it emerges from its coronavirus lockdown.

All residents in the EU^» (European Union - about) member state will get a pass entitling them to ten free journeys of any length on the country's railways.

The free ticket, agreed by government ministers at the weekend, is part of a raft of measures like higher welfare payments and a VAT^▸ (Value Added Tax) cut, meant to stimulate economic activity.

[grahame]

It would seem they've still not worked out whether or not to offer anything.  From this morning ..

My Senior Railcard expires on 15th July.  I have not been able to use it due to government restrictions for 100 days.  Will it automatically extend?

Hi,

Railcards cannot be extended and are non-refundable. We, however understand these are exceptional times. We are currently working with the train companies and the Department for Transport on a number of ways to assist Railcard holders.
 
Could you please share with me the Railcard type & number along with the registered name, email address & postcode. I'll ask the team leave a note on your account so we can contact you with an update as soon as we receive further information.

Thanks,

Good way to build up a database of active users ... or perhaps a good way to divert the writer away from the fact this has been on their plate for a while and they've not really moved forward - at least in what they're telling the people who have paid them money ...

[CyclingSid]

They have all your details from when you renew!

[grahame]

They have all your details from when you renew!

Exactly - "let's look as if we're taking an interest in our customer by asking him to provide lots of data about his case ..."

[Robin Summerhill]

They have all your details from when you renew!

Exactly - "let's look as if we're taking an interest in our customer by asking him to provide lots of data about his case ..."

I took a rather jaundiced view of the original quote, as I always do when I see the word "working" immediately preceding words like "with" or "towards."

It can usually be translated as: "we're doing sod all or next to nothing but this phrase both sounds good and stops you whingeing about it"

It could be worse - they could have said they're "having a review." That confirms thay they've done sod all and are kicking it into the long grass

[grahame]

Well ... I renewed soon after the posts above.  "Allow 5 working days for delivery" and it took a couple longer. 

Terms and conditions on new card clearly state "Train Companies will not issue refunds on unused/unwanted railcards or extend their validity period".   Nothing at all about the train companies actually providing a service that (not being a key worker) I can actually use. In fact it's all about conditions on the senior and very little on the rail industry!

Also interesting to note "these railcard conditions are valid up to and including 05 September 2020" which presumably means that they can change the terms and conditions thereafter.   Should the Ts and Cs be through the lifetime of the product - i.e. apply until the card expires because it was purchased prior to 5th September?   Is in usual for a company such as ATOC^» (Association of Train Operating Companies See - here) Ltd to sell a product / service on which it can change the conditions later?

Please excuse "pedant mode".  Ts and Cs seem biased to wards ATOC though the product is a good one.

[grahame]

We have had a £25 refund (I think it was) on car insurance
We have a 25% reduction in next year's National Trust subscription
We have an extra 25% added to money being held over from a cancelled cruise
We have saved ourselves £25 many times over by not eating out
We have not had anything offered for our railcards even though we have not been able to use trains

We note, appreciate, and will speak kindly of those organisations who have been considerate of their customers and have gone beyond their terms and conditions in these exceptional circumstances.

[Ralph Ayres]

Insurers, cruise operators and the National Trust don't have the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) sitting on their shoulder directing their every move. Ultimately Railcards are a marketing tool so I wouldn't be surprised to see some incentives being offered once we reach the stage where travel is actively being encouraged. Despite some cautious moves that's not yet the case. It would certainly make sense not to throw away an expired Railcard quite yet.

[rogerw]

Had an email from Railcards today stating that the government has decided that no extensions or refunds will be given as the cost would be too great