Boo to Eurostar!

Equaliser123

Deleted_User wrote: »

No...YOU read my posts and you will see I was asking that instead of compensation I would rather be upgraded. And that's what happened in the end. Which bit of this don't you understand?

People can be so bitter on these forums sometimes. Please do continue sitting back and enjoying poor service - those of us who fight for more from the companies they deal with won't feel guilty.

The bit of it that I fully understand is that you expected something as compensation. Not entirely sure what you are being compensated for.

Oh, and I don't take poor service. I do something about it if the supplier is in the wrong. However, as stated, I am happy to pay for service. I don't think you are.

[Deleted User]

Equaliser123 wrote: »

The bit of it that I fully understand is that you expected something as compensation. Not entirely sure what you are being compensated for.

Oh, and I don't take poor service. I do something about it if the supplier is in the wrong. However, as stated, I am happy to pay for service. I don't think you are.

I have paid for service. It wasn't delivered. What's your gripe?

Equaliser123

Deleted_User wrote: »

I have paid for service. It wasn't delivered. What's your gripe?

Getting bored of this.

My "gripe" (not that I could give a jot either way) is that you expected something for nothing. When you didn't get it, you threw your toys out of the pram.

Who said romance was dead, eh?

UK2010

Deleted_User wrote: »

Please do continue sitting back and enjoying poor service

I actually wrote about that here http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=29670779&highlight=#post29670779

Why's there the assumption that people who don't expect things for free or people to bend the rules get poor service?

I don't get poor service anywhere, Equaliser123 has also pointed out he/she doesn't.

isplumm

Equaliser123 wrote: »

Getting bored of this.

My "gripe" (not that I could give a jot either way) is that you expected something for nothing. When you didn't get it, you threw your toys out of the pram.

Who said romance was dead, eh?

but he didn't .... he lost his hotel etc in paris, so Eurostar were paying for this ... he offered to change this payment for an upgrade on the train .... exactly what is wrong with this ....??

Mark

girl-in-a-hat

Deleted_User wrote: »

You seem to think I'm demanding compensation here - for the hundreth time - I AM NOT! I am asking them to see if they could take WHAT THEY HAVE ALREADY AGREED TO PAY ME (can I make this point any clearer?) and swap it FOR SOMETHING LESS BUT WHICH WILL MEAN MORE.

Still not sure I understand why you couldn't have taken what they had offered you and used that to pay for the upgrade and a bottle of fizz?!
If what they had offered you was of a higher value (as you seem to have indicated) then surely you're worse off now?

Equaliser123

isplumm wrote: »

but he didn't .... he lost his hotel etc in paris, so Eurostar were paying for this ... he offered to change this payment for an upgrade on the train .... exactly what is wrong with this ....??

Mark

If Eurostar were in breach of contract, he had a remedy. If they were not due to circumstances beyond their control, then hard cheese. That is why travel insurance exists.

He has gone begging to Eurostar. I find it tacky. If he wanted First Class service then he should pay the fare. End of.

[Deleted User]

Equaliser123 wrote: »

If Eurostar were in breach of contract, he had a remedy. If they were not due to circumstances beyond their control, then hard cheese. That is why travel insurance exists.

He has gone begging to Eurostar. I find it tacky. If he wanted First Class service then he should pay the fare. End of.

Fine - that's your prerogative. I won't feel the slightest bit guilty knowing you're paying over the odds for something. You are, after all, the mug that keeps prices lower for all the other moneysavers.

Eurostar WERE in breach of contract. All I did was offer them a different choice of remedy, which they accepted in a good example of customer service.

As I've posted elsewhere, you also fundamentally misunderstand how travel insurance seems to work. As you say, travel insurance seeks to avoid loss to the customer for circumstances totally beyond their control. It's a provision of last resort.

Companies like Eurostar (although I don't know why I'm singling them out) have started using the 'claim on your travel insurance' line as a replacement for fulfilling their existing obligations. Insurance is there when it all goes t*ts up - as a means of protecting the consumer - not the supplier.

You're right: it snowed. But across Europe and the UK, other trains ran, albeit with some delays. But these trains didn't break down. It was the specific configuration and design of the Eurostar trains that led them to fail. It was not 'beyond their control'. It might have been 'beyond their foresight', but it was their fault that their service did not run. If proof were needed, they admitted their trains could not cope and then provided a remedy in the form of new vents/ploughs to fix the problem.

My holiday was cancelled not because it snowed, but because Eurostar's trains couldn't' cope with the snow. There is a critical difference. Other trains COULD cope with the snow. It was Eurostar's fault that our holiday did not take place.

Asking customers to 'claim on their insurance', whilst a viable option, is actually missing the point: why SHOULD the customer claim on their insurance? The legal onus is on the supplier to fulfil their contractual obligation; many consumers claim on their insurance thus perpetuating this myth that insurance is a replacement for the delivery of a service. It's not - it's there as a last resort where the service would never be provided in possible means.

I'm really sorry if you feel I've offended you - I'm genuinely not sure why I've wound you up so much - but I don't understand why you're so angry that I've contacted Eurostar and asked for 'something for nothing' as you've put it. The fact they said yes would suggest it was a sensible tactic. Are you jealous? Bitter? Or concerned that somehow my action has caused you financial loss in some way? Really...how has my action affected you?

As far as I can see, all that's happened is we've been moved from one set of seats into another set of seats that would otherwise have been empty. We'll be given a nice meal, which will seem a lot to us but probably costs Eurostar a few quid. I didn't 'beg' Eurostar, as you put it. We're going to have a lovely trip and - to be quite frank - I don't really care what you think.

A final PS - it's just starting snowing here in Kent, so history might repeat itself!

[Deleted User]

Incidentally, I just read that Eurostar are due to publish their independent report into what happened in December:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8511857.stm

Where it's expected to confirm that inadequate grill and vent equipment was the main cause of their cancellations.

sarflee

Well done OP and fingers crossed she said yes.

It certainly wouldn't bother me if my boyfriend blagged a free upgrade! People ask for upgrades all the time, in fact there's a whole section on this site on the ways of getting this, even without the inconvenience of having a previous holiday cancelled.

By the way, my son took his girlfriend to Paris yesterday and was delayed by nearly 5 hrs on Eurostar!! I would certainly not think he was tacky if he requested something for the inconvenience.