Transport User Voice – June 2020 – Rail season ticket refunds

27 May 2020

Many still waiting for money back

How long should it take to get your money back?

The unprecedented situation we are living in has led to unprecedented demand for refunds. Transport Focus has successfully pressed for clarity and reassurance on refunds, after we saw some initial hiccups with operator websites and processes.

In April we asked our Transport User Panel about their experiences of claiming refunds and found that many season ticket holders had not yet claimed – even though they were not using the ticket.

We got back in touch with these panellists to see if they had now claimed back the money they are owed. We found only a small number of people who had not submitted a claim previously have now done so. However, of those who had requested a refund almost 60 per cent of them have now got it.

Unfortunately, a third are still waiting on a decision over their claim with little indication of when they will hear with some saying they’ve been waiting six weeks or more.

While it is clear operators are under huge strain and the delays experienced are a result of unprecedented demand, Transport Focus would like to see improvements in communication. Even if it’s as little as giving a timescale on when a refund could be expected, train operators should be doing better.

You can check out our report here. Also watch the video of some of our panellists sharing their stories:

 

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