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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think virgin trains are cunts

41 replies

Fairyloo · 12/11/2011 23:33

Hi,

On way back from London tonight picked up prebooked ticket from machine booked through virgin app.

Went to get on my train, conducter said you are missing actual ticket, I said oh just got now from machine have email here giving details. You need actual ticket.

Ok fair enough went to virgin booth, kinda blaming me for loosing ticket, I genuinally didn't. You will have to buy new ticket even though again email and app clear I had booked and paid for ticket.

If you want to get home you will have to buy ticket, ok then what choice did I have. £70 on top of £35 I had bloody paid. I had my seat reservation everything.

Going to write to virgin tomorrow but probably won't get anywhere so irritated!!'

OP posts:
2kidsintow · 12/11/2011 23:43

Having my own complaint at Virgin myself at the mo and waiting to see what occurs.

Prebooked, reserved tickets to London. It went from
The train to Euston is arriving in 5 mins.
The delayed train to Euston is 5 mins late.
The train to Euston has been cancelled.
No mention of what to do for the non-frequent train users such as myself.

My 3 seats turned into my DDs sharing a seat and me standing to a connecting station that I had purposefully chosen to avoid by booking a direct train. We were then still short a seat for the next 2 hours to London.
All because one of their other trains was running late and they decided to reroute 'my' train to that route instead.

On the way back we were re-routed due to theft (not their fault) but the train went from
Your train will be arriving at 3.55 to
People wanting the train to Hollyhead can get the connecting train at 2.20.
No mention of the fact that we were now not going to be anywhere near as late as originally stated by the conductor.

Grrrrr at their communication, if nothing else.

foreverondiet · 13/11/2011 00:00

I don't think c*nts as I guess they are concerned as you could have given the ticket to someone else who could have got on the train and sat in an unreserved seat. The staff on the train are probably trained to require you to have the ticket.

Write a very strong letter to customer services and keep on at them until you get the refund.

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 13/11/2011 00:08

Fairyloo - I am a bit confused. You said you picked up the ticket from the machine, having booked using the app - that much I understand. But what happened then - did you show that ticket to the conductor, and he rejected it, and if so, why did he reject it? If you had got it from a ticket machine, surely it must have been a proper ticket, and I cannot understand why no-one accepted it as such.

Or had you mislaid the ticket - in which case I am afraid foreveronadiet is right, and they couldn't accept the email as a ticket substitute, because someone else could have been on the train with the actual ticket (and as she said, if the email was enough, some people would buy one ticket in the way you did, and one person would use that ticket and the other one would use the email.

If Virgin trains refused to accept a ticket you had printed out from one of their machines, and made you pay again, then they are out of order and you have a valid complaint.

If you lost your ticket, that is your responsibility, you paid for your carelessness, and have no valid complaint against Virgin trains.

VinegarTits · 13/11/2011 00:12

i didnt understand your post, is it in code?

TheFantasticFixit · 13/11/2011 00:17

SDTG - i think what happened is that when she booked the ticket they sent her a confirmation email, with, I assume, a code to collect the actual ticket at one of their machiines at Euston. When she did that, she didn't pick up all the parts of the ticket - there are usually about 3-4 different parts to the ticket - the reciept, seat confirmation and then the actual ticket. I assume that she didn't wait long enough for the machine to perhaps print it out (they are slow!) and then went off without the actual ticket part, thus leaving it in the machine.

OP - did you not think to check the machine you had used? People often leave the receipt part of their ticket print out behind and I bet it would have still been there...

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 13/11/2011 00:18

I think it is an abbreviated version of the conversations, sans quotation marks. But I can't make out whether the OP did or did not have an actual, genuine ticket to show the conductor.

uniCorny · 13/11/2011 00:20

I've never had a problem with them.

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 13/11/2011 00:20

Cross-post with TheFantasticFixit - that would make sense, TFF. If that's what happened, it is horrible for the OP, but not Virgin train's fault - someone else could have picked up the ticket from the machine and sold it on or used it, so unfortunately she would have to buy a new one.

DioneTheDiabolist · 13/11/2011 00:20

YADNBU. Virgin Railways are absolute cunts. No offence to anyone who works for them. I understand that your boss makes rules that force you to be a cunt.

Original poster
Fairyloo · 13/11/2011 06:23

I definetly picked up all parts!!

5 parts came out the machine and I had 5 parts.

I didn't mislay it. I waited ages for all parts.

I guess you are right I could have sold my ticket on but I didn't aarrghhhh

OP posts:
MrsMuddyPuddles · 13/11/2011 07:23

Your original post left room for "maybe she mislaid it" but if you presented all 5 to the inspector AND the travel office... that's pretty messed up of virgin! Include a copy of what you collected from the machine (while it's possible you got someone else's recipt, the actual ticket prints first. Likewise sometimes seat reservations are printed on a separate page (making it 7 parts) but again, im pretty sure that the actual ticket's are first...

HowToLookGoodGlaikit · 13/11/2011 07:41

So what were your 5 parts?

nojustificationneeded · 13/11/2011 07:50

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Clossaintjacques · 13/11/2011 10:30

OP so did you lose the ticket or not I am honestly confused.
You say in your initial post blaming me for loosing ticket, I genuinally didn't.
and now saying you had all 5 parts when you walked from the machine.

NatashaBee · 13/11/2011 10:36

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

EndoplasmicReticulum · 13/11/2011 10:38

I understand. This has happened to me. I now no longer trust the automatic ticket machines and get them sent in the post. After the fiasco where they told me on the phone they'd send it to my local station, only to discover that my local station doesn't even have an automatic ticket machine.

RoseC · 13/11/2011 10:53

OP if you take your pre-booked ticket and your on-the-day ticket to the station office they should refund the on-the-day ticket. If they won't do it at the office (I know East Coast can refund at the office, can't remember if Virgin run any stations to allow them to do this) then writing to them with both tickets will suffice.

I can't remember where I've read it but I know I have: they promise to refund the extra ticket if you can prove you had a valid ticket for travel.

Nagoo · 13/11/2011 10:53

the ticket prints out before the reservation.

You will have a receipt, which is the last bit to be printed. The receipt tells you how many bits you should have.

Five bits would be ticket, reservation, ticket, reservation, receipt?

What type of ticket did you buy?

noir · 13/11/2011 11:03

I am a BIG train user, I've used pretty much all the services in the South East, regularly use the East Coast Mainline, used to live in the North West so have used all the services up there including the Virgin trains connecting the North West to London. Virgin hands down are the worst company, jobsworth useless customer service. Or to be more specific, the Virgin staff at Euston station are the worst. The last time I had some hassle there they basically called me a liar even though there were 2 other passengers with the same complaint (they are liars too apparently!).

Clossaintjacques · 13/11/2011 11:09

Where's OP to clarify whether she lost the ticket or not

BookFairy · 13/11/2011 11:14

I travel with Virgin a lot between London and NW England. It is rare that you will get any sympathy from staff on the ground. I work on the basis that they're probably not paid enough to give a fig. Photocopy your tickets then send the originals with a customer complaints form. I was given a full refund (in the form of travel vouchers) after I complained that the train guard gave me incorrect information.

It doesn't help you now but I strongly recommend that in future you request either an e-ticket that you print out yourself at home, or pay £1 to have your tickets posted to you.

I must lucky as aside from last December I never usually have any problems with Virgin, but that is perhaps because I avoid weekend travel as much as possible!

Original poster
Fairyloo · 13/11/2011 11:43

Hey

Thanks all as far as I know I haven't lost ticket and have receipt which appears to be last thing to come out machine

Hoping it's a machine thing and I get my cash back.

OP posts:
Original poster
Fairyloo · 13/11/2011 11:44

Oh it was an advance ticket on specific train I bought

OP posts:
MULLYPEEP · 13/11/2011 11:56

YANBU. Yip, seen some pretty poor behaviour from staff at virgin euston. I also think its crap you request a table seat (so the kids could draw etc) and their booking service lets you think you have a table. You then rock up and no blinking table. I would get a different train than go four hours with 2 under 5's with no table.

squeakytoy · 13/11/2011 12:01

I dont understand though. If you had all five bits.. what were those five bits?