virgin trains complaint!!

pink1310

:eek:hi everyone im wanting to complain to virgin trains and to richard branson regarding my horrible experence with virgin trains and if anyone has already managed to get there complaint letter to them my story below i am fuming.
I went to wales last friday there were 5 of us my nan is in her late 70s just geting back into the swing of walking from her hip relpacement early this year she can walk but not fast with a stick so i thought theres no need for assistance the train arrived the carrage was at the other end me and my sister were rushing with cases got told by a rude guard that we needed to get on right now so i explained about my nan a few feet away by this point there were not joking 5 guards stood with me and my sis shouting saying the whistle is blown get on i said about my nan please help her and non of them did just looked and basicly couldnt gave a dam then they said right last warning your choice you ither get on and stop messing around or you wait for your nana and miss the train simple as that so my sis was half on the train and he blew his whistle i was shaking and outraged i managed to get on i was on coach e my nana manged to get on and got told by a ticket man she had to walk down the carages to her seat with her stick .Then he couldnt help as the computers were down so it didnt make a difference that we had reserved tickets or not.
But my argument is there was no need for me to be spoke to like that and why instead of standing there like idiots did one of them not help her.
Anyone got any adresses ect as i want my complaint to get to them.
nicx

jd87

Well you can forget about Richard Branson for a start. He doesn't deal with the day to day running of Virgin Trains. Their trains are very long and they absolutely must leave on time or it can mess up the whole train timetable and affect other trains. Why didn't you just get on the very first door you came to and then walk down the train in your own time? Why didn't you get there early enough to allow enough time? The job of the train staff is to get the train away in time, they are the ones who have to take the rap when delays happen due to late departure. They don't have time to let little old ladies hold up the train and the hundreds of other people depending on its timely departure. Perhaps you were rudely spoken to but it sounds like your were indeed acting stupidly. Also there are normally dozens of signs on the platform saying "train doors will close 30 seconds before departure", so the staff probably held the train as long as they could. If you must complain I'm sure there is an address on the Virgin Trains website.

hstudent

Virgin Trains is also 49% owned by Stagecoach

KeithP

hstudent wrote: »

Virgin Trains is also 49% owned by Stagecoach

And your point is?

pink1310

Thank you jd87,
i actualy came on here for advise not a slanging match ,How is doing the all geting there on time ect acting stupidly you ither work for virgin or you never travel.Little old ladies hold up the train i like the attitude hopefuly when you get old i hope this never hapens to you.

Money_Grabber13579

The best thing to have done would have been to have got on at the nearest door, and walked down through the train. That's what the carriage doors are there for!

xpf

I can't really offer any help re how to complain (have you already tried their website for contacts?) but offer my sympathies at your situation.

I used to travel on Virgin trains on a regular basis and some of them are extremly long and don't always arrive in the order they are expected i.e. 1st class sometimes at front, other times at the back.

As far as I know, disabled passengers do not need to book in advance to use their trains and they are treated with respect so why should elderly passengers not be? I would complain if I were you. Even if you just get a sorry, you may get a better reception if you ever have to travel from that station again.

edit: For those who say to get on and walk down the inside of the train - this is not the easiest of tasks especially if the train is busy / you have any luggage. I'd hate to have to do it with any walking difficulties.

pink1310

thanks xpf,
i will drop them a email on there site.!

Bowling_4_Gold

But do you really think they are going to hold up 500+ people because your nan couldn't get on in time? I mean, you managed to get on and complete your journey, so why are you complaining? The guards aren't exactly going to stop the train, build a ramp and clean your nan's feet for the whole journey - what were you expecting?

Money_Grabber13579

Bowling_4_Gold wrote: »

But do you really think they are going to hold up 500+ people because your nan couldn't get on in time? I mean, you managed to get on and complete your journey, so why are you complaining? The guards aren't exactly going to stop the train, build a ramp and clean your nan's feet for the whole journey - what were you expecting?

And also, what's the most favourable option for Virgin? 2 or 3 complaining because they were rushed on the train or all the other passengers on a lot of other trains complaining because they were late. If one train is delayed, this is going to have a knock on effect on other trains leaving directly behind it as the first train has to clear the section before the next one can depart.

laird

If you decide to complain the general rule of being polite and unemotional in your writing will help.

Be accurate, give times, names if you know them - it is unlikely for example that you encountered a guard instead "platform staff" or "train dispatch staff".

Voyager trains used on the North Wales service do call at stations which are not manned by Virgin Trains so make sure you refer your complaint to the appropriate station operator.


Thinking to the future perhaps I can offer a few words of wisdom gained over many years of travelling by rail for such circumstances:

Be prepared Virgin Trains encourage those with limited mobility to advise them before travel so that arrangements can be made to smooth the way.

Station calls are often timetabled to a minute so passengers do need to be ready at the appropriate end of the train for their class of travel.

Look out for clues as the train approaches if an announcement is not made as to the position of first class. A yellow band on an approaching coupling or along the top edge of a carriage signifies first class passengers should head for that end. Conversely no yellow band can help to identify luggage and bicycle storage.

Another tip that can assist in these circumstances is that London bound trains typically have First Class nearest London and operators will generally comment if this rule of thumb is not being adhered to.

It may also be possible to find a seating map for the train you intend to board, if so then use this to plan your approach to the train so that you stand the best chance of finding either your booked seat or a seat in an area you like/is likely to have spare seats. Virgin Trains are one of the better operators publishing seat maps for both Voyager and Pendolino.


Ultimately it is the responsibility of the passenger to get to the right place at the right time or run the risk as we have seen so often with the low cost airlines, now the rail companies have learnt as the airlines did that ruthless timekeeping both keeps the majority of customers happy and ultimately is cheaper in that whilst occasionally you might have to refund a customer or two the savings through not paying for additional time at the airport/station far outweighs the payments to customers.