Help canceling my train tickets I ordered from the French SNCF website
 

I thought I was so smart navigating through the French SNCF website. I now have tickets I can't use since my flight has been canceled and I don't understand enough French to know how or where to cancel them. Can anyone help me out?

I'm sure somebody else will jump in here, but can your credit card company offer any help?

I have thought about that, but since the tickets are refundable, there must be an easy way to do it.

I do have some on TGV that are not refundable. Anyone know if they are waiving this due to the circumstances?

We needed help a few years ago when tickets we bought weren't delivered to the address we nominated. I can't exactly remember where, but on the SNCF site there is a 'contact us' section. We emailed the problem and were contacted by reply email in English and after a few emails the problem was sorted out. This might be an option for you.

Thanks, Cathies. I found a Contactez-nous and stumbled my way through the process. Gotta love Babelfish!

Great, we didn't have to wait too long for a reply. From memory, 24 hours but we are in Sydney so that's to be expected.

Your credit card company isn't going to be a travel agent and cancel your train tickets. Also, they are not going to hold up your payment for no reason, which it would be in this case. Buying tickets and not canceling them according to the proper terms does not constitute something a CC company is going to have anything to do with.

YOu can cancel or change your tickets by going to the website into your account (espace client). It's the same place you'd go to do anything to manage your account. If you haven't set up your account, you should, you just need your dossier number.

Maybe you'll get lucky and they'll answer such a general question, but suspect they might just tell you what I just did (go into your account to do it).

Did you actually buy a ticket that was reimbursable? Because if you didn't, you can't do anything. If you bought a Tarif Loisir, it is reimbursable up to the day of departure. If it's a special weekend tarif loisir, I think you lose half. If it's a PREM or many other discounts, it's not reimbursable anyway. If it is reimbursable, it's up until departure, so you could just do it in France at a train station anyway, when you get there. You would have had to go there anyway to pick them up.

Thanks Christina. My problem is that I don't understand French and can not figure out how to cancel the tickets on line. They are refundable if I read the Babelfish translation correctly.

I am not going to be in France since my flight was canceled so I cannot do this at the train station.

You can call them at 01 45 82 50 50. They also have what they call an "emergency number" in English: 01 47 23 80 80. I'd try that.

Thanks StCirq. I will try out my new Skype account.

I did it! Using my Skype "phone" was so easy, I was able to get help and have a confirmation emailed.

Of course, now the flights are taking off again. :(