Trainline Issue (edited by MNHQ at request of OP)

[Ilfurfante]

Booked train tickets in advance through Trainline for £150 for a journey today.

Got up at 05 30 this morning to get to the station for 07 00 to find that all trains to my destination have been cancelled for the day. Very annoying as we had plans which is obviously now a write off.

Got home to get the tickets refunded but Trainline have stated that because of the type of ticket, it is none refundable. It gives an option to change the booking but when I go to do this, it only gives an option to move the return journey.

I haven't got £150 that I can just chuck down the drain. I could actually cry. What should have been a nice day is a complete disaster. Is there anything I can do to get my money refunded.

I will never, ever book with them again.

I use Trainline a lot. If you hang on you will get a message telling you to claim your refund. I’ve been able to claim when my train got cancelled even though I used my ticket on a later train

Also double booking seats. I’m not sure if it’s Trainline’s issue or Avanti. I tend to book through the latter to go from London to the north west. I like to get on the train asap. A couple of times I have had someone with the same booked seat as me who has booked through Trainline. I have luckily got there first!

I once messed up a booking and panicked as my ticket wasn’t amendable. I phoned Trainline and they were actually really helpful and did it over the phone for me. I may have just been lucky with who I got through to, but if you get nowhere online then definitely call them.

What am I doing wrong? I go to the refund option in my booking and it says I'm not eligible for a refund but that I can exchange the tickets. I select that option and I can actually only exchange the return portion of my journey. I don't understand where I am going wrong.

Yes, my refund was via train line.

If you contact the train company you will get a full refund through the delay repay scheme. They are very good. What train company was it?

You've jumped the gun a little. You can claim Delay Repay from the train company. I suspect they are processing a lot at the moment due to all the storm cancellations and delays.

It looks like the rail network in Scotland has been severely disrupted due to Storm Amy, and lesser impacts in other parts of northern UK, so websites might have high volumes of people claiming refunds at the moment.

Go to the train operator

And it did originally say "no refunds" on the ticket...

I can't recall how I did it, I think I contacted them via the app -maybe a chat bot? - as I can't see that I sent an email.

Stop trying to get a refund.

Wait until your journey time is finished.

Don't use Trainline, Google "Delay Repay" and your train company name.

People keep telling you, but you're not reading because you're worried about losing the money.

I booked tickets through Trainline for my DD and the refund for the massively delayed part of her journey was done via the actual operator, not Trainline.

Jesus give them time!!

you need to wait for the journey to complete then sometimes on Avanti it’s the morning after you can claim, takes circa 2 weeks.

listen to people!

Contact them on Twitter - they’ll refund you eventually. They did me when I got charged twice because I got on the wrong train.

No refunds applies if you decide not to travel or want to change the time of your journey. Your train has been cancelled by the train operator so Delay Repay applies and the no refunds thing is not relevant.

that is why i never go through trainline
although hopefully there is a way around it

They can make all manner of excuses with this, but they still owe you £150. Get on the phone if you have to. Piss and moan until they get fed up and give you your money back. I'm sorry this happened to you.

That’s not where you refund from. You go to Delay Repay for your train operator NOT TRAINLINE.

The simple refund option is designed for people who change their plans and you will get rejected if you have an Advance ticket.

What you have is an abandoned journey due to your train being cancelled which should enable a refund even with an Advance ticket.

I actually think you might have to get this from Trainline because the Avanti website says in this situation, if you didn't buy direct from them, you need to go back to the retailer. BUT it recommends using a chat function or contact them directly another way to do that. Not using the bog standard online refund form because otherwise, as you've discovered, you'll get told you're not entitled.

I had a similar thing recently where it was not covered by Trainline but didn’t quite fit what I needed to claim through the online form. I just emailed the train company and they sorted it out. You will get refunded, don’t worry and don’t be put off.

@Ilfurfante you need to listen to people telling you that you'll get your money back and step away from this chat until later today when your train time has actually passed and you can claim on Delay Repay not Trainline

all trains got cancelled for me north of Preston. I still used my ticket to go the long way round AND still got a complete refund from the train operator for my cancelled train

You can go through train line as I have proved....

Yes, by talking to them, not by hitting the refund button on the app.

After following your advice, I have indeed managed to do this (although no app btw, this was on the website). I got through to a live chat and they are going to refund my ticket.

I am very grateful for the advice received, it was certainly not an intuitive process but once I've found the correct channel it has been straightforward and I have asked Mumsnet to edit my title as I think it is unfair on Trainline.

As an FYI - Reddit is v unreliable!

Lots of awful advice on this thread.

Delay repay and refunds are completely different things.

Delay repay is for when you travel, but arrive at your destination late. It should be claimed from the train operator who delayed you.

A refund is for when you don't travel at all. It should be claimed from the retailer who sold you the tickets.

In this case, the OP was unable to travel and needs to claim a refund from Trainline. If Trainline's system does not allow them to claim a refund automatically, then it will need to be done via other channels (e.g. email Trainline's customer services). State clearly that you were unable to travel due to all services being cancelled, and that you are claiming a refund. They may try and fob you off and point you towards the train operator - do not let them get away with this.

In future, I suggest going onto railforums.co.uk for rail advice. Lots of advice on Mumsnet is awful.