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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to be really angry at the train station

29 replies

addictedtomn · 08/01/2010 18:47

i'm really angry and need to vent so please bear with me.

my DH's office is in birmingham and we live in tewkesbury, most days dh will drive to worcester train station and get the train to the office. there are 2 trainstations in worcester, but only one with a car park.

this evening dh got on the train and 1 stop away from his destination they announced that the train will no longer be stopping at the next station (dh's stop) but be going stright on to the 2nd worcester station. my dh gets off at the 2nd worcester station (at 6.00) and asks when a train will be going to his station he is told due to train delays not untill 7.20, its too cold to stand around on the platform that long so dh askes if there is a waiting room, he is told it has been closed and he will have to wait on the platform.

he goes to customer services who inform him that it is not their problem and if he doesnt want to wait he could always walk. my dh has ended up taking a taxi from the train station to the next train station.

so AIBU to be fuming that their response was to wait around for over 1hour in freezing conditions or to walk an hour and a half to the next train station?

i want to hear your thoughts (and i know they will be honest) before i write a strongly worded letter

OP posts:
BigBadMummy · 08/01/2010 18:49

That stinks.

Please write that letter of complaint.

What if it was not your DH but you with a small child or an elderly person.

Truly dreadful.

Lulumama · 08/01/2010 18:49

i think if it was due to extreme weather that the route was changed without notice, you cannot really complain, as things are all a bit topsy turvy .

surely sitting in a probably unheated waiting room would have been a lot worse than getting a cab to teh other station? how long a drive is it?>

customer services do sound rude and unhelpful though , but i imagine there is not a lot they can do eitehr, but theu could have been more polite/empathetic

monkeysavingexpertdotcom · 08/01/2010 18:54

Aren't those two stations about a mile away from each other?I think YABU, but they could have opened the waiting room given the weather.

Original poster
addictedtomn · 08/01/2010 18:54

it was changed due to congestion at the station, i'm not overly sure how long the drive is, but it cost £10 in taxi fare, and when were quite strapped for cash as it is its a pita.

and it wasnt just because dh is young and able boddied, there was a elderly man who got off the train with him who has recently had a knee operation and wsa quite disabled and the same was said to him.

OP posts:
saggarmakersbottomknocker · 08/01/2010 18:54

They should have at least opened the waiting room, that's hardly difficult. Someone may not have the fare for a cab. Nor be able to walk.

Disgusting.

Original poster
addictedtomn · 08/01/2010 18:56

i dont actually know where they are monkey, dh told me thaat it would be an hour and a half walk, and it was £10 in taxi fare

OP posts:
PeedOffWithNits · 08/01/2010 18:58

i think they should have been telling your DH to forward the taxi bill to their customer service dept actually!

DH runs buses and has done similar when a bus has not run and an elderly lady was waiting with a trolley of frozen shopping on a baking summers day. the driver of another bus sorted a taxi for her and told her where to send the bill

gizzy1973 · 08/01/2010 18:59

The two stations are not that close - maybe 2 miles or so apart
Definately unreasonable to close waiting room but the station is in town centre so there are cafes not that far he could have waited in to stay warm - not ideal but better than nothing

PeedOffWithNits · 08/01/2010 19:01

thats a very cheap taxi then, or DH very very slow walker

1.5 hour walk = 6 to 8 miles.

Dh has walked to our local station, 5 miles away, 3 times this week. it took him an hour, a taxi is £22

Lulumama · 08/01/2010 19:03

£10... it costs me £6 to go 1.5 miles into town from my house.. so your DH is a sloooooooow walker, it would take me 15 minutes to walk it.

anyway, if it was a last minute thing, the only thing i would complain about is the lack of customer services

Morloth · 08/01/2010 19:03

Did your DH take the elderly man in the taxi with him to the correct station?

If he got a receipt for the cab he can possibly try and get the train company to pay for it.

PeedOffWithNits · 08/01/2010 19:05

cross posts lulumama !

Lulumama · 08/01/2010 19:06

oh yes , peedoff!

and good question morloth..!

Original poster
addictedtomn · 08/01/2010 19:09

he didnt morloth, and i told him off for that, he said 'but i dont know him from adam' grrr men

lulumama, the information i got was from dh, he does have a tendancy to exaggerate (not the facts just the small details) so maybe i am being slightly unreasonable to be so angry, but i still think the customer services was crap

OP posts:
NorbertDentressangle · 08/01/2010 19:17

The two stations are only about 20mins walk apart.

Unfortunately they do seem to do this sort of thing a lot. I've had to drive to Worcester before now to pick DP up because they've decided to terminate the train at one station meaning hes been unable to get to the other station to get the last connection to where we live.

IME I think that he should be able to claim back his taxi fare if he has a receipt

satc2bringiton · 08/01/2010 19:22

I would complain, but then im an old bat and complain about everything

TheDevilWearsPrimark · 08/01/2010 19:26

There is nothing they could do for him immediately is there.

It's not like they'd pull a tenner out of the till for him to get a cab.

Just complain to the train operator.

Worse could have happened really

Goblinchild · 08/01/2010 19:28

I've walked between the two stations, took me about 30 mins, but in my defence I was heading to Shrubhill and it is...on a hill. And I had luggage.
You DH sounds a bit of a drama queen , mine has to walk 2 miles to the station on a daily basis (and back) However, when the service is unsatisfactory, my DH also writes fantastic letters of complaint and has had many vouchers back as a result. So it's worth a try, but get the facts straight or they'll just laugh at you.
I'm more sorry for the other bloke, left in the lurch.

QOFEisinatizz · 08/01/2010 19:31

Its only a 20 minute walk though from one Worcester station to the other - I've done it loads of times and it is well signposted etc.

Its a PITA, granted, but its just what happens in bad weather.

sowhatitsonlysnow · 08/01/2010 19:32

Actually I think YABU, I've just looked on a map and they are only 1 mile apart. Hardly an arduous walk.

Goblinchild · 08/01/2010 19:33

So now I'm wondering why the hour and a half walk.
Were his shoelaces tied together?

Lulumama · 08/01/2010 19:34

YABU, but you know that !!

ok, you are allowed to be pissed off at the lack of customer services, but that is all

oh, and your DH for not helping an elderly infirm man

Morloth · 08/01/2010 19:37

DH would have helped him, safe in the knowledge that if he hadn't I would have sent him straight back in the car to make sure he wasn't still stranded there/checked the route between the stations to make sure he wasn't walking it.

They could have opened the waiting rooms.

Try the sending receipt thing to train company, it has worked a couple of times with trains. You just send it in with a letter with the date and time that you took the cab, why you needed the cab and a demand (not a request) for payment.

BitOfFun · 08/01/2010 19:38

Walking takes much much longer in snow and ice though. Tut tut from me too though about the old man!

Hando · 08/01/2010 19:42

I'm shocked your dh didn't offer the man a lift with him, he may have even wanted to go halves on the cab fare.

Peedoffwithnots - 6-8 miles is much faster than a normal wlaking speed, I don't know about anyone else but anywhere I walked today took at least twice as long as I was walking like a very slow robot trying not to slip and fall on my bum. So I can see why OP's DH didn't want to walk tbh.

However, trains often need to change route at the last minute, especially when it's been bad weather. If a waiting room is out of service then I can see why the station staff wouldn't open it.

I think really getting a cab was the most sensible option. Wasn't there another route he could have taken to get back to the correct station? To be fair it was only a short taxi ride and a tenner isn't too bad. Travel is going to take longer and sometimes cost more when it's heavy snow and freezing conditions, so it's not like it's unexpected anyway.