Virgin Trains. Pregnant. No seats.

[MindTheGap6]

Starting a whole new thread on this one!

Missed my train this morning due to delays. Got on the next train to London. Virgin train. No seats, 5 months pregnant, painful joints, very unsteady and uncomfortable. All seats booked apart from first class. Found conductor to see if he could find me a seat as I'm pregnant and unsteady. Was told no to sitting in a practically empty first class, and that I should get off the train and get a less busy one if I want a seat. Three members of staff currently on duty sat in first class (fine, but would've expected them to at least help me find a seat). Wasn't told about priority seats. Had to wait until a very kind woman spotted me and loudly said that she couldn't believe nobody allowed me to sit and that people should be ashamed (this is after I nearly fell over trying to pull my terribly uncomfortable maternity jeans up!). Originally had a seat booked but connection was delayed so missed it (whole other story!). Feeling frustrated and stupid.

AIBU to think that this is pretty poor form? Or do I need to suck it up and get on with it as 'being pregnant isn't an illness' as I've heard many times before on MN (prepared for that)

people pay a lot of money for those seats

Not necessarily. I've travelled in Virgin First Class more than once when I discovered that it was actually cheaper than second - admittedly by booking some time ahead. Don't ask me why, I wasn't going to question it.

'being pregnant isn't an illness'

Yes, that one always makes me smile - and fondly remember being hospitalized for three months on and off throughout my last trimester of not having an illness....

@MindTheGap6 virgin are good on twitter - tweet them now

Lndnmummy
Why not ask then?
You certainly don’t seem like the shy and retiring type.
Also I thought Mumsnet was a online support group for Mums and mums to be.
Some of the above comments are not only unsupportive they’re really mean and spiteful!

@obviousNC101 If you want a guaranteed seat, you need to book one or pay to upgrade. Simple. Sorry

Try RTFT

She did book her seat!!!!
And yes it is the conductors job to assist pregnant passengers to find a seat!! It's in their policy!!!!!

Yet again, another thread full of moronic butte vipers who choose to jump in feet first without reading and fully understanding the full context of the post 

@MindTheGap6 you were let down by the rail company. Tweet or email a complaint and get yourself a pregnancy pass card so this doesn't happen again.

Jobs on the railways are highly sought after so it's disappointing to hear they've got jobsworths like the three you had the misfortune of coming across during your journey. They need re-training!

YANBU OP

Dear god, I’m only 17 weeks, I certainly do not need to give up work, this week I’ve been on a field course and scrambling around rocky outcrops with work. However, I would be in a lot of pelvic pain after 2.5 hours standing still (or 2.5 hours sitting in one position actually) I need to be able to move occasionally. Needing a seat on a long train journey does not mean you need to give up work.
OPs problem stemmed from missing her earlier train, on which she had a booked seat due to the train company giving an inaccurate delayed arrival time. She them got stuck on a train where all the seats were booked so getting on first wouldn’t help. In the circumstances the humane thing to do would be to have found her a seat and if there wasn’t one in standard without moving someone who had booked their seat, then either put her in 1st or put someone from standard into 1st and let her have their seat.

You booked a seat on a train but due to 'operating difficulties' you were unable to catch your train.

I think in those circumstances it was reasonable to give you a seat in first class with the proviso that should it be needed for a passenger paying a first class fare you would need to be reseated.

I had an issue travelling at Xmas on my prebooked first class train. My train was cancelled and I was put on the next train to Exeter. As it was running late there was insufficient time - 3 mins - to get off and change platforms for the next train. I stayed on and changed at Reading onto the Waterloo service. Due to an accident on a bus I was suffering from severe ligament damage so had booked travel assist, which I did not get. The ticket collector argued with me about it saying I had booked the Exeter to Waterloo service. In the end he had to apologise. Train staff do need to be a bit more flexible.

I sat on the floor next to the toilet when I was on a busy train once, heavily pregnant, after giving up my seat for another pregnant woman who needed it more. Pregnancy isn't an illness (it wasn't for me), but some people do struggle. Kindness doesn't go amiss.

I also think those saying she should have just asked other passengers to give up their seat are being unreasonable. Not everyone has the confidence to just call out in a busy carriage that they are pregnant and need a seat. I suffer with anxiety and would probably have a panic attack if I had to do something like that.
The fact is, she booked a seat on the previous train that was delayed through no fault of her own. The guard should have just let her sit in first class as a one off. If she had missed her train by being late herself, and then strolled onto first class demanding a seat then i’d think she was being unreasonable.

" You dont pay for train tickets to stand or sit on the floor"

ACtually you pay for a ticket to get you from A to B.

In the terms and condition of travel it specifically says that a ticket does not necessarily entitle you to a seat.

OP I think it is disgusting that you were unable to be given a seat, of course they should have let you sit in the almost empty first class area.

However just to revisit your work - is there anyway at all you could work from home somedays or reduce your hours temporarily? BP issues that require weekly monitoring are not common so early in pregnancy and really needs to be taken seriously. You really do need to look after yourself

So there were literally no seats available in standard class, and plenty in first class? Of course the conductor should have bloody well ushered you in to first class if he couldn't find you one in standard class rather than left a pregnant woman standing. Anything else completely goes against basic common sense and common compassion. A decent society and system quite rightly makes special concessions for the pregnant, the very young or very old, the disabled etc rather than adopting a "them's the roolz" approach.

She did book her seat!!!!

Yes. On an earlier train which she missed. (Partly another train company's fault, partly her own. Certainly not virgin's)

I think, morally they should have made an exception. There are some very hard and unfeeling people on here, what if that happened to you!

bit stunned at some of the replies

they could see you are pregnant and in spite of their own written policy, did nothing to help you find a seat.

they are utter gits. I hope you get some compensation

I think we have low expectations of private sector companies in general because of the generally poor and grabby services we are used to receiving. Virgin make enough profit to allow paying customers who to sit in first class when all the second class seats have gone, without going bust. You're not demanding tea with the queen ffs just a seat that you have already paid for.

YANBU unreasonable to have expected to be treated with kindness and a decent level of customer service. I agree with onlyfools, tweet about it and make a fuss and if you're in this situation again, sit in first class and tweet if staff make a fuss.

Yes, that one always makes me smile - and fondly remember being hospitalized for three months on and off throughout my last trimester of not having an illness....

I’m sorry you were so unwell as a bi-product of your pregnancy, but pregnancy in itself is a condition, not an illness.

Virgin train are always full so I would have waited for the next one. Were you not aware how crowded it would be?

That's not right! It clearly says on the signs on trains give up your seat for a women who's pregnant also for people with disability and something else, so the fact the conductor said no aswell which isn't your fault that the seats where all taken up he should of just let it go and said yea sure! I hate such ignorant people!

I would write to virgin, explain what happened and request a refund for a horrendous journey on their train
It is appalling that the conductor didn’t allow you to sit in first class if it was empty.
When I was pregnant I was early for a South Western train once and asked the conductor if I could jump on the train before which was more expensive than my ticket and designated train.
He was so helpful and let me on with no problems.
No pregnancy isn’t an ‘illness’ however because you are growing a tiny baby inside of your body and with that comes a lot of discomfort and sometimes pain and illness I think a little kindness and helpfulness is nice. Especially from huge multi million pound corporations!

@LilQueenie I missed the train I had a seat booked on due to a delay. I got the next train. If I waited for the one after I would've missed my meeting.

Can I clarify, again that I didn't ask for a seat or demand to be placed in first class. I asked if they could help me find a seat, the train was absolutely packed, I had no idea if they had priority seats or not, I was in pain and asked very politely to which point he told me to 'get another train' - I then said 'could I sit in one of these seats until another one becomes available' - he said 'unfortunately not' - I had no idea you could pay £15 to upgrade and if I did I would've paid for it and my company would most likely have reimbursed me. I'm really uncomfortable and in pain. I explained that I needed to sit down and they didn't offer me any sort of help whatsoever. If it was a 5 minute journey then fine but 2.5 hours is a long time with SPD. I'm very lucky someone was kind enough to give me their seat. I see according to many IABU so I will take away with me that we all have different opinions on this, to not ever leave a platform based on estimated arrival times, and to ask in future to pay for an upgrade if needs be. Thank you all for your input.

It doesn't say this on long distance trains where seats can be reserved actually.