I received this confusing letter from Connex today.

The letter says I had already submitted a claim using the ticket. Monthly ticket I used to support a claim for compensation. How do I submit a ticket then if I am not allowed to submit the ticket?

Date: 2007-05-18 16:11:44

Connex replied and say they need more time to respond:

Case ref. number: jc/19828

18 May 2007

Mr Brian May

Dear Mr May

We refer to your telephone call to the Customer Feedback Line on 11 May 2007, regarding your claim for performance compensation.

As it is our practice to respond promptly to all customer enquiries, we apologise for the delay in responding to you.

The issue you have raised has required more time than originally anticipated.

At this stage, we anticipate that our investigations will be completed by 24 May, and a response will be issued at that time.

Thank you for taking the time to contact us, as your feedback plays a vital role in the monitoring and improvement of our service standards.

Yours sincerely

Jen Cummings

Customer Feedback

Eventually they sent me a letter via post which clarified the issue:

23 May 2007

We refer to your telephone call to the Customer Feedback Line on 11 May 2007, regarding your claim for compensation for network-wide performance in February 2007.

As stated in our letter dated 4 May 2007, your application for compensation under the Connex Service Commitment Code for February 2007, has not been approved as our records indicate a claim has already been submitted using the ticket you provided to support your claim for compensation.

A review of our records confirms that that the same ticket was used to claim compensation in January and February 2007. The ticket was a Monthly Zone 123 which expired on 2 February 2007

Where the customer holds a monthly ticket, this ticket can only be used to support a single compensation claim and cannot be used to support claims for compensation across two months, even where the ticket has been used in both months.

Compensation is currently available for January, February, and March 2007. Our records indicate that you have received compenstation for January and March.

If you held a periodical ticket that was valid from 3-28 February, you may submit a claim with the original or a photocopy of the expired ticket. Please quote the reference number at the top of thsi letter on your claim.

Should you require any further information, please contact Connex Customer Feedback on 1800 800 705. Thank you for taking the tike to contact us.

Yours sincerely

Angela Marotta
Manager
Customer Feedback

Apparently I had submitted my January Monthly ticket trice, once for compensation in January, and then again for compensation in February. I think it is very sneaky, because nowhere is it indicated that you can only claim compensation once for each monthly ticket. I could have claimed compensation for January with my February ticket, March with with March ticket, and not been able to claim compensation for February even though I purchased a monthly ticket for each month.

In this case I hadn’t done this (I almost did so but was paranoid enough not to), so simply resending the compensation claim with the correct ticket solved the issue.