Thetrainline no train ...can I get compensation?

Clemnise

Thanks WhiteHorse and ariarnia! Secretly your advice was the one I wanted to hear (although everyone else's calming advice was good too!) I am not a money grabbing soul by nature, but I do feel there is a principle here - when you buy something (and have it in writing) it should really do what it says on the tin! I will email back the trainline and let you know what happens. As for the small claims court - I am not that principled!! I will just avoid thetrainline again in the future, and tell everyone I know about their evil doings

Clemnise

Laz123 they took 5 weeks to reply to me ... they may get back back to you yet!

level200

Did you take out the insurance offered when you booked your tickets online?

KeithP

Clemnise wrote: »

No mention/ reimbursement for the inconvinence of my parents driving me half way, the worry of wondering whether I was going to be able to get back, the irritation, the time spent writing emails/ sending a letter with the details of my coach journey/ even the stamp I used!

Clemnise, did your first claim to the trainline detail all your out of pocket expenses in monetary terms?
Inconvenience is difficult to value though.
But 10 litres of petrol can easily be priced.

I imagine if you had sent them a list of all the unnecessary expenses incurred they may have responded better.

Clemnise

Hi KeithP
It's a fair point and no I didn't, at least not clearly -I just said that I had needed a lift to Milton Keynes in order to catch the coach. I have made it more clear in my last email to them - we shall see.

It's not the end of the world anyway - this forum is very therapeutic, I feel much better!

sweetstudent

I would have thought that you would have to claim to the train company - not to thetrailine.com

Plus train operators have a legal responsibility to get you from A to B. A while ago, i was getting the last train from B'ham to Telford and just past Wolverhampton there was a line fire. So Virgin had to pay for taxis for everyone to Telford and their final destiations - some s far as chester!

ariarnia

To my knowedge the train company (such as virgin or arriva) only have to ensure you get to your destination if a train doesn't run when scheduled. Which operator do you blame if no train was ever going to run? This is a case of the seller buying an open ticket thinking they were booking a ticket on a specific train - therefore either their fault for not realising, or trainline's for not making it clear that there were no trains on the day/time searched for.

Clemnise

End result: refund of the coach ticket and a £15 goodwill payment. I am quite happy with that.

They also gave me the contact details for London Midland who were running the service. However I am not sure that the actual train company was at fault in this case, it was thetrainline who sold me the ticket and who had my contact details. London Midland would have had no knowledge of me.

Thanks for your advice everyone.