Virgin Trains - Ripoff

ben317

A few weeks ago I had to travel to London to Birmingham at short notice. I was charged around £80 for this as obviously it was not an advance purchase. The train into Euston was delayed by an hour, which meant I missed my job interview and had to go to a later one, so ended up leaving London much later than planned, and so at the barrier I was told that my off peak ticket would have to be upgraded.

I'm less than happy to be honest - they made me late, and then effectively charged me for it! I wrote and complained and they say that I have accepted the terms of carriage, and will only give me £11 rail vouchers. Reckon I have any chance going through Rail Passengers Council?

robt_2

I'm sorry, but I suspect there is more to this story than meets the eye, especially as there are two trains an hour from Birmingham - London and yours was 'an hour late'. You don't say it broke down, you say 'delayed' which in my mind means it departed late.

dzug1

You've zero chance of getting more than the standard compensation, I'm afraid. Don't waste your time pursuing it.

£80 must have been be an advance purchase fare BTW - the flexible fares are £39.50 off peak and £123 peak.

Travel Chiltern next time - though I'm sure they have delays on occasion too. Sfacta life.

Voyager2002

dzug1 wrote: »

You've zero chance of getting more than the standard compensation, I'm afraid. Don't waste your time pursuing it.

I disagree.

Some months ago I had a similar experience: severe disruption on the way to a job interview made me late, and so I could not catch my pre-booked train.

So when I arrived at the station to begin my journey home, I went to the booking office to seek assistance. They understood that my problem was a result of the disruption earlier in the day, and re-validated my ticket for a later departure. This is what should have happened in the OP's case, although it would have helped if s/he had gone to a customer assistance point rather than a barrier. I think it probable that they will still refund the additional amount charged as a ticket upgrade.

And since it was a job interview, surely it is the employer's problem.

ben317

robt wrote: »

I'm sorry, but I suspect there is more to this story than meets the eye, especially as there are two trains an hour from Birmingham - London and yours was 'an hour late'. You don't say it broke down, you say 'delayed' which in my mind means it departed late.

Actually, there was a break down mid journey, between Coventry and Rugby. It was the 9am service from New Street.

My original post was a little rushed, I do apologise :rolleyes:

ben317

I don't dispute that delays are a fact of life - its just in this case, the delay made me late for an interview and consequently late getting my train home, which I then had to pay for. Effectively they are charging me for their delay, and have completely ignored that in their reply to my letter. Apparently, paraphrasing a little here "customers are not forced to purchase an onpeak ticket...they can wait until off peak time". This is all very well unless you actually have to be somewhere!

It just !!!!es me off to be honest - I'd count myself as a bit of an environmentalist and I'm keen to be a greener and use public transport where I can, but it's overpriced (how far will my car get me for £110? A hell of a lot further...) and the service is poor. When you try and do something about it, the company hides behind some regulations that seem to do very little to protect the consumer. Next time, I'll take the car!

ben317

Sorry - forgot to add, yes, thinking about it it was an advance ticket, but 40 quid each way still doesn't ring in that cheap I'm afraid, especially with a £25 peak return upgrade!

ben317

disruption earlier in the day, and re-validated my ticket for a later departure. This is what should have happened in the OP's case, although it would have helped if s/he had gone to a customer assistance point rather than a barrier...

And since it was a job interview, surely it is the employer's problem.[/QUOTE]

I wish I had, I might have had more chance with them, unfortunately I was rushing to the train and didn't have time to argue as it would have delayed my on going journey at the other end. As for the employer, I doubt they will have much interest!

Thanks for your post by the way - it doesn't take long to fire off a few letters, you never know!