TGV Refund process vs CC dispute for TGV canceled train
 

Hello folks,
I had a ticket for Oulx, Italy to Geneva, Switzerland on the TGV connecting to the TER. The TGV leg was canceled by TGV without notice due to storm damage. There was no way to fix things in Oulx because it's an unmanned Trenitalia station, and the only other train running that route showed full, so I took the flixbus.

Now I'm trying to get a refund for the train ticket. I called, but they told me to email with proof that I took the flixbus. I paid cash and discarded the receipt, so I don't have that. I emailed them a refund request anyway and they replied asking for unspecified documents. I replied asking what they wanted, and got no response.

I'm thinking this is going to be a months long bureaucratic teeth pulling session, and maybe I'm better off filing a credit card dispute for services not provided. I saved screenshots showing that the train was not operated, and I saved a screenshot from SNCF saying the same thing. On the other hand, it has only been three days since the incident, so maybe I should give it more time.

Any advice? I'm in Switzerland now so going to a SNCF office to fix things is impossible. Thanks!

SNCF has their "G30" guarantee for delayed trains -you could try that? They may reject it and force you to go through the trenitalia system, though
https://www.sncf.com/en/customer-ser...tgv-intercites.
For claims involving journeys with at least 1 leg on French trains I've found it pretty easy and quick - within 2 weeks.

Mal

Thanks for the reply! I'll give it some time then. I bought the ticket with the Oui app and both legs were to be operated by SNCF, so hopefully it'll be easy.

Just FYI - the fact that you took flixbus should be irrelevant. The train did not operate - services not rendered. Throwing flixbus into the mix - they may try to say that you used your ticket on flixbus instead, and do not deserve a refund, or some such nonsense.

Thanks for the reply! Good point... They haven't replied to my email asking them what documents they wanted, so I'm just going to give it to the credit card company. I'll keep it simple: train was canceled by operator, services not rendered, and I made a good faith effort to get a refund without success.