Travel question of the day: Simon Calder on train ticket refunds abroad

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How easy is it for travellers to claim refunds from foreign train operators such as France's SNCF? Not very (AFP/Getty)

Q Can you tell me how to obtain compensation from SNCF (French Railways) for a delayed rail journey? Last September my wife and I took the TGV from Paris to Barcelona but it broke down in France. We got a relief train (after four hours) to Perpignan then a bus (after 45 minutes) to Barcelona, arriving at 2.30am, just six hours late! We were entitled to only 50 per cent compensation as it was a cross-border train (although we crossed the border in a bus!), but the website for claims would not accept UK bank account numbers. Eventually I received an email saying they would credit the card with which I paid, but nothing arrived. After two email reminders to them, a post on the SNCF Facebook page and then a letter by post to the supervisory board chairman, all without response, I have given up hope of any refund. Is this typical?

Mac Baldwin, Inverness

A In my experience, claiming anything from foreign railway enterprises is a hit-and-miss affair.

When I have been travelling in France on a traditional, buy-at-the-station ticket, and my journey has been significantly delayed (an hour or more), the “delay-repay” claim process has been rudimentary but easy: cheerful staff hand out pre-paid envelopes; you fill in your details, insert the ticket and some weeks later a voucher arrives for future travel on SNCF. Since I can always anticipate another train journey in France, this suits me just fine.

Other encounters with tickets bought online have been trickier. I was slumbering happily on the Seville to Barcelona night train when all the passengers were evicted from their sleeper compartments somewhere in eastern Andalucia because of a line blockage. The alternative offered was a bus through the night, or a taxi to Cordoba and a hotel (at my expense) followed by a day train via Madrid to the Catalan capital. I chose the latter, and still arrived in Barcelona before the poor souls who had opted for the bus. After a few plaintive requests for compensation (with nothing like the dedication you have shown), I gave up – which presumably suited Renfe, the Spanish rail company, just fine.

I also failed to get any joy from Amtrak when the Washington to Chicago train reached my stop, Indianapolis, seven hours late. But I imagine that two tickets from Paris to Barcelona cost more than I had paid for either of these trips; you missed dinner in the city, and half a night’s sleep, so in your position I would be miffed, too. All I can suggest is that you contact French Railways’ UK offshoot, Voyages-SNCF.com, via its office at West Malling in Kent, though if you did not book through this part of the organisation the response may not be positive.

Every day, our travel correspondent, Simon Calder, tackles a reader’s question. Just email yours to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder