thetrainline.com rip off

glasgowseller

I had to travel to Edinburgh on Friday night.After hearing that you may be cheaper booking via the trainline.com I foolishly thought i'd try it.

My ticket cost me £11.40(including £1 booking fee) and, not knowing what it would have cost in the station,I paid online thinking that was acceptible.What I didn't realise at the time was that if you booked within 2 hours of your journey you wouldn't get your tickets!
So I got to the station and had to purchase another set of tickets which actuall cost me £10.40.

I went on the trainline live chat and the transcript is below(the names have been changed for security and I was 50p out in my calculation but the rest of it is as is:

Chat Transcript
Mike James: Hi, my name is Mike James. How may I help you?
Customer: Hope you can. I purchased tickets last night for a journey not realising that I couldn't collect within 2 hours. When I got to the station the chap couldn't give me my tickets. He's stamped my receipt but just wanted it logged that I didn't get my tickets
Mike James: I am sorry to learn the inconvenience caused to you.
Customer:: The Collection Reference Number is : ********
Mike James: Thank you for this information.
Mike James: Please give me two to three minutes while I check the details for you.
Customer:: ok
Mike James: Thank you.
Mike James: Thank you for your patience.
Mike James: Before I proceed further, please confirm are you the cardholder?
Customer:: yes
Mike James: That is great.
Mike James: Please provide your full name and first line of the billing address with Post Code.
Customer:: ****************
Customer:: ******************
Customer:: *** ***
Mike James: Thank you for this information.
Mike James: Please give me a minute while I verify the details.
Mike James: Thank you for your patience.
Mike James: I can see that you have booked an Off-peak Day Return ticket which is refundable.
Customer:: that's correct
Mike James: However, our refunds department needs an unused ticket to process a refund.
Customer:: The problem with that is that I didn't get a ticket off the chap because he couldn't process it
Mike James: In this case, please write a covering letter to the refunds department with all the details.
Customer:: can this be emailed?
Mike James: I am sorry for the incorrect information given to you.
Mike James: Please give me two to three minutes while I contact the back office team in this regard.
Mike James: Thank you for your continuous patience.
Mike James: Since the ticket was not collected, I can process a refund as per the terms and conditions of the ticket.
Mike James: The administration fee to cancel the ticket is £10.00.
Customer:: So if the administration fee is £10 ,the booking fee was £1.50 then all I get back is 0.40
Mike James: Please let me check the ticket price before giving any information to you.
Mike James: Yes, you are correct.
Mike James: If you authorise me, I can apply for a refund on this booking.
Customer:: I think I'll just leave it today then and possibly call your head office on Monday I'm afraid. I'm not prepared to lose £11.50 on a journey I didn't take I'm afraid.
Mike James: I am sorry for the inconvenience caused to you.
Mike James: However, I am bound to assist you as per the terms and conditions of the ticket.
Customer:: Thanks anyway but I can't afford to lose £11.50 without at least calling head office
Mike James: Is there anything else I may help you with?
Customer:: No that will be all thanks
Mike James: Thank you for contacting thetrainline.com.

Now my point is that surely in this day and technological age if you try to book online at 16.15 for a train leaving at 16.59 a warning should flag up to say you have booked a journey within 2 hours no can do.

Also,to charge a £10 refund fee for a journey that costs,say £80 MAY be acceptible but surely not for an £11.40 journey(inc £1 booking fee) that I didn't physically get the tickets for.

I have tried calling the trainline but just got a foreign call centre.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

terryya

I know it isn't much help or relevant to this complaint but if you book direct on the train companies own websites you don't pay booking (or postage fees).

omen666

fvcking hilarious

becky_rtw

Yeah try national express east coast in future - no delivery charges or CC charges either and it wont let you book within two hours (just tried it!!)

Hope you get your money back!

glasgowseller

Just about to email thetrainline cust services so will let you know

thescouselander

Yet another victim of thetrainline. I'm sorry to hear about your situation but I dont think you will get any joy from the trainline. You might be better getting onto your credit card company (assuming you used a credit card) and get a refund from them by raising a dispute.

glasgowseller

Sadly I used a maestro card.I take it this is a common occurence then?
Will post their email reply tomorrow

benjus

Hmmm, I've just tried using thetrainline's website and it won't let me select any trains leaving in less than 2 hours from now - which is exactly how I remembered it behaving. Where were you travelling from? Unless you selected a train leaving later than the one you actualy intended to take, it sounds like there might have been a glitch with their website.

Generally speaking thetrainline is only cheaper than the walk-up fare if you buy well in advance. It's also worth knowing that most of the train operators' booking websites are operated by thetrainline, but do not charge a booking fee.

glasgowseller

Interesting.I booked my train at round about 16.40 and the departure was 17.59 so you could be right in that I may have a case then

becky_rtw

Yes they definitely 'know' about the two hour thing because they say you must wait two hours before collection from a ticket collection machine in their FAQs...must be a glitch I think - if you get no joy try one of the national papers

thescouselander

glasgowseller wrote: »

Sadly I used a maestro card.I take it this is a common occurence then?
Will post their email reply tomorrow

Yeah, unfortunately the internet (and this forum) is littered with tales of woe from thetrainline's victims.