Transport User Voice – December 2020 – Casework successes

30 November 2020

How we’ve helped passengers

Eurostar

Ms L had been issued with an e-voucher from Eurostar which she later could not use due to the pandemic. She had asked Eurostar to exchange the e-voucher for a direct refund but had heard nothing. On appeal, Eurostar apologised for not responding sooner and agreed to credit the account used to pay for the tickets for the same value as the e-voucher.

Thames Clipper

Ms M had written to Transport for London (TfL) regarding a refund for unused tickets on the Thames Clipper. She had not received a response so turned to London TravelWatch for help. During its investigation it was found that TfL had not received Ms M’s requests. However, following an appeal from London TravelWatch, Ms M was offered a full refund.

She said:

“The intervention has most certainly been useful, as Thames Clipper only started responding to me and co-operating once your involvement was known.”

Avanti

Ms B received an Excess Fares Notice when travelling on Avanti West Coast’s service last year (December 2019). Her replacement Senior Railcard could not be presented due to the problems Railcards was having around that time.

Despite the matter being appealed numerous times and sending a number of chasers to Railcard, the matter remained unresolved. As the passenger had only contacted Railcard with no success, we therefore contacted Avanti West Coast directly on her behalf to resolve the matter. An email from Railcard was requested to confirm their logistics problems during that time. This was received and sent to Avanti which promptly issued a refund for £132.50.

Ms B said:

“Thank you for everything you did on my behalf. Corresponding with Avanti was like a dream compared to the nightmare of corresponding with Railcard. I got my refund straightaway without any fuss at all.”

South Western Railway

Ms D was looking for a refund for a taxi she had taken in place of a cancelled train service. She had come to Transport Focus in March but the case had been closed with no further action taken. When Ms D contacted the casework team again, we appealed on her behalf and sent copies of taxi receipts and an explanation of why this request was made so late. As a result of this work, our caseworker was able to persuade South Western Railway to offer a refund.

Ms D said:

“I can’t thank you enough for helping me finalise this. It has taken months for an outcome but I was determined to pursue it. Thank you for taking up the case again on my behalf. SWR cannot cancel a late-night train and then refuse to acknowledge the resulting consequences for the passengers!

“I am extremely grateful for your support and intervention!”

 

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