Refunds on Deutsche Bahn train tickets

i bought a ticket from the machine this morning but 5 minutes later my appointment was cancelled so i did not have to take the train anymore. i went to the young guy behind the counter to ask for the money back, but he refused to give refund, and instead gave me a lecture on how i should not expect to get money back for everything i buy in germany (???). my german is not good but was good enough to understand this. uh, it really does not make sense to me, is it really true that an unused ticket (no reserved seat or anthing special, just a regular regional bahn, 2nd class) that i bought 5 minutes before from the machine is nonrefundable??? what if you fuck up and buy a wrong ticket then?

It should be refundable, but with a Euro 15 service charge. So if it was less than Euro 15, no refund.

You should have waited around the ticket machine and sold it to someone wanting to buy a ticket...

I think if it is a Dauer Special ticket then it is not refundable. This happened to me before.

What gets me is when they have all these problems like I experienced over the weekend and don't offer anything in return. I went from Munich to Frankfurt on Saturday and it took 10 hours! People were screaming at the DB people and there were a few that were trying to get to a flight, which they ended up missing. DB was offering no sympathy or sign of giving a $hit. I was feeling ill so I didn't have any fight in me, only managed to shake my head in disbelief how customers are treated in this country. So I lined up with the other sheeple and took my punishment, all 10 hours of it

*on a note, there was a funny moment when we finally got on a train that a guy got a phone call, evidently from someone waiting on him and must have asked when he thought he would arrive in Frankfurt; "Morgen oder über morgen" The whole train started laughing (the guy was loud).

Tickets bought from machines or over the counter are free to exchange or refund if done before the first day of validity, otherwise (as already said) there's a €15 service charge. A refund may also be claimed for tickets only partly used, on provision of adequate evidence, subject to the €15 charge. (§4 Beförderungsbedingungen der Deutschen Bahn AG)
If an ICE train is more than 30 minutes late you can reclaim the full ICE supplement. For all other trains more than 60 minutes late in arrival you can claim up to 20% of the ticket price for the journey, subject to a minimum of €5. (§9)

thanks guys for the reply... i really prefer to use public transport even if it takes longer than driving, but since i came to germany, i have been wondering why support these people...

is it like this in other EU countries as well?

Yes.

The airlines won't give you back a penny if you cancel your plans except on the most expensive tickets, so a €15 charge is quite reasonable in my opinion.

You still haven't told us the value of your ticket.

If I'm remembering correctly, if you buy a regional day pass in Munich (like a Bayern Karte) from some vending machines, the ticket will be stamped as valid by the vending machine. Then the ticket will not be refundable. If you buy the same day pass from the vendors at the station, the ticket will not yet be validated until you stamp it yourself. In this case, if you had already bought your ticket from a vendor, but not yet stamped it, they may or may not refund it, but you could at least use it on a different day.

I don't think you needed a gratuitous lecture on "you can't expect to get everything refunded in Germany." That is the kind of snide comment I just hate from people who are ostensibly customer service workers, Beamter or not.