SNCF strike: chatbot or form? The easiest way to get the 200% refund

The SNCF set up this Thursday, December 22, a “chatbot” allowing the shipwrecked of the strike to find their way in the cancellations and compensations. But a form allows direct and much simpler access to the 200% refund promised by the company…

Canceled train, ruined weekend. The SNCF strike disrupts the plans of the French for Christmas. In order to best compensate for the situation, the management of the railway company has therefore announced refunds and 200% compensation. How to obtain this compensation? A chatbot has been set up by the SNCF, but there seems to be an even simpler way: an online form. Promised on Wednesday evening, it was finally made available by the SNCF this Thursday, December 22 in the middle of the afternoon. Concretely, this page allows you to claim the exceptional reimbursement linked to the railway strike which takes place from Friday 23 to Monday 26 December 2022.

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To obtain reimbursement, an SNCF identifier will be required. For those who do not wish to create an account or who do not have the Internet to submit an online request, a letter can be sent to the following postal address, but the SNCF specifies that the processing time will be extended. The compensation cannot be delivered at the station, in the shop or by telephone.

SNCF Customer Relations Department

62973 ARRAS Cedex 9

FRANCE

What is the compensation procedure for Ouigo and TER?

The exceptional refund is in the form of a digital voucher, for any journey by TGV, Inouï, in France and in Europe, Intercités and Ouigo which were canceled from December 23 to 26 inclusive. Regarding the Ouigo journeys, the SNCF indicates that there is no action to be taken, the compensation being sent by email in the coming days. The company nevertheless refers to a Ouigo website page for more information.

For TER, the request can be made to the customer service of the region concerned. via the “Services & Contacts” section of the site. The exceptional compensation of 200% of the price of the canceled ticket cannot be issued in SNCF stations or shops. It does not apply to Eurostar and Thalys journeys.

SNCF users affected by the strike will normally be contacted by SMS or email, indicating whether their train is maintained or cancelled. In the event of a canceled train, exchanging a ticket for another is free of charge, at no additional cost, even if the ticket is displayed at a higher fare than that initially reserved.

The SNCF advises to carry out this exchange on the internet and not in the station, where the counters should be stormed in the coming hours. To be reimbursed, you must connect to SNCF Connect from the email received or directly from a browser and click on the “tickets” tab or your “customer account”. From there, it will be possible to postpone a trip and exchange a ticket for another date, free of charge, or to cancel the trip and obtain a full refund.

If the planned trip is not impacted but includes a connection with a TER train, be sure to check whether the latter is also maintained!

A 200% refund to appease the anger of users

While many French people, but also the government, have already expressed their anger, the SNCF has tried to calm tensions as best as possible with this exceptional compensation of 200%, which is therefore added to the reimbursement of train tickets affected by the strike. “I want to apologize for the company. It’s unacceptable. The French need to breathe”, reacted Wednesday morning, December 21, on the airwaves of France Info, Christophe Fanichet, CEO of SNCF Voyageurs, before announce compensation. “It’s Christmas, this strike is unacceptable. This gesture, we had to,” he justified.

On Wednesday evening, the SNCF explained that “all travelers who have a train canceled over the period from December 23 to 26 by TGV INOUI, Intercités or Ouigo for a destination in France or Europe will benefit from a free exchange or a full refund, as well as compensation in SNCF Voyageurs purchase vouchers of a value equivalent to twice that of the canceled journey”. While 200,000 travelers will be impacted by the SNCF strike, out of the 800,000 rail passengers expected this weekend, Christophe Fanichet announced that this strike will cost SNCF “several tens of millions of euros”.