CrossCountry Trains Concerns!

matthewdownloads

Hi all,

I booked a train last night by Visa Debit, advance ticket, Sheffield to York for £7 on the CrossCountry website. Unfortunately, I made a really stupid mistake and I booked a day early, which I realised as soon as the email came through.

I phoned the support hotline immediately and the man said that they would not charge me the "admin fee" of £10 to change my train to the one on the next day, but I needed to phone back once I'd been charged for the ticket (obviously, £7 ticket refund and £10 admin fee mean it wouldn't be worthwhile).

This morning, I phoned again. The lady said there was an admin fee, so I emphasised that I was told I didn't need to pay it, and it wouldn't be worthwhile. She told me to hold, and when she came back she took the details and changed my ticket to the correct one. She said I'd be refunded for my original ticket, and charged the £7 for my new one.

The email I got says "Dear M," rather than my name, and also says my card is a DELTA (my card is a HSBC Visa Debit card). Now I have to collect it from sheffield station, rather than york (I'm getting a lift down and coming back by train).

My concerns are that:
a) I might have problems with this "delta" business when I arrive at sheffield, in which case I'll have problems getting back.
b) I'll be charged an admin fee of £10 because it says so on the website, despite me being explicitly told I won't be (sorry, but I don't have much faith in the indian customer service).
c) I won't be refunded for the original ticket.

Am I protected in any way if anything happens?

This is incredibly stressful; I have no idea how "out of pocket" I wil end up. For a £7 ticket on an empty train, I've already had to pay 10p a minute for maybe 15 mins to get basic support, which is perhaps fair enough considering my stupid mistake. But all this other business... £10 admin fee to change a £7 ticket that was JUST booked... seems a bit of a rip-off?

Thanks

geordieracer

Ok first of all calm down and breathe. if they have said they will waive the admin fee then thats a start as you will only be charged £7 for the original ticket. Your card should work in the TVM at Sheffield as the only ones that wont are solo and electron cards. If it doesnt then just ask them to release it and you can use any card as long as you have the reference number - make sure you take this along with you as sometimes you wont need it but better to be safe then sorry.

Stop with the 'rip off' calling all the time. You have got a heavily discounted ticket and the T&Cs state that an admin fee of £10 can be administered should you wish to change the date and time of your travel.

matthewdownloads

geordieracer wrote: »

Stop with the 'rip off' calling all the time. You have got a heavily discounted ticket and the T&Cs state that an admin fee of £10 can be administered should you wish to change the date and time of your travel.

Thanks for your advice, it made me feel a lot better.

However I don't see how my ticket is heavily discounted. The anytime tickets one-way are £7 standard all day on Saturday/Sunday off peak Sheffield->York. The train that I booked onto is practically empty (the seat reservation shows this). I don't think it's heavily discounted, although if you're comparing it to the "anytime" tickets at £15 then I suppose so.

I'm just concerned what happens if I get overcharged (eg. charged for the £10 admin fee, which would be stupid considering I could get another ticket for £7)

Thankyou

geordieracer

matthewdownloads wrote: »

Thanks for your advice, it made me feel a lot better.

However I don't see how my ticket is heavily discounted. The anytime tickets one-way are £7 standard all day on Saturday/Sunday off peak Sheffield->York. The train that I booked onto is practically empty (the seat reservation shows this). I don't think it's heavily discounted, although if you're comparing it to the "anytime" tickets at £15 then I suppose so.

I'm just concerned what happens if I get overcharged (eg. charged for the £10 admin fee, which would be stupid considering I could get another ticket for £7)

Thankyou

Exactly that - the anytime ticket is more so your getting a one way for a heavily discounted price from the standard fare. Though again why have you pre booked if the ticket price is £7 anyway?

How does your seat reservation show that the train is empty? Never heard of this before.

korky69

i did exactly the same thing a few months ago with east midlands trains, but they would not budge on the £10 admin fee, i got an indian call centre

later i bought in sheffield train station return tickets from tamworth-sheffield to save me time once i got there in case i was pressed for time,
their card machine was acting up and took them ages to process my tickets, got on the train and noticed they had given me tickets to start in sheffield not tamworth!
i'd already been stung £10 extra (my fault i know) for the 1way ticket to tamworth!
they wouldn't budge and under no circumstances would they give me a new ticket even though they remembered having problems with their system,
naughty.....but on the next journey, i just went to the toilet when the ticket collector came and used the same 2nd leg ticket on a further trip! :shhh:

east midlands trains CS are shocking in my experience

matthewdownloads

geordieracer wrote: »

Though again why have you pre booked if the ticket price is £7 anyway?

How does your seat reservation show that the train is empty? Never heard of this before.

Because I know I AM traveling on that day at at that time, guaranteed. It's just me being a moronic fool, I booked the wrong day! Presumably, if I booked on the day I'd pay more...? And as I said, anytime tickets are £15. These one-train one-day one-time tickets are £7.

And I know about the seats, because it offers you what seat you want, and I click the link and it greys out the seats that have already been taken (on a diagram on the booking page). Maybe 1/10th of the carriage was taken. From past experience as well, these kind of journeys at these kind of times are usually half-empty.

korky69 wrote: »

but on the next journey, i just went to the toilet when the ticket collector came and used the same 2nd leg ticket on a further trip! :shhh:

Haha, I was thinking about that actually! Might be pretty scary though! I'd like to think I was totally honest though, I did buy my ticket, and I made a genuine human mistake. I did everything ASAP to correct my error, and I hope that they don't now take me for a ride to punish me for it!!!!

geordieracer

korky69 wrote: »

i did exactly the same thing a few months ago with east midlands trains, but they would not budge on the £10 admin fee, i got an indian call centre

later i bought in sheffield train station return tickets from tamworth-sheffield to save me time once i got there in case i was pressed for time,
their card machine was acting up and took them ages to process my tickets, got on the train and noticed they had given me tickets to start in sheffield not tamworth!
i'd already been stung £10 extra (my fault i know) for the 1way ticket to tamworth!
they wouldn't budge and under no circumstances would they give me a new ticket even though they remembered having problems with their system,
naughty.....but on the next journey, i just went to the toilet when the ticket collector came and used the same 2nd leg ticket on a further trip! :shhh:

east midlands trains CS are shocking in my experience

Im not going to advocate not paying your fare. The penalty's are quite steep so what is the point?

Also did you not check your tickets when you bought them? Do you not check your change before you leave a shop to make sure its right?

korky69

geordieracer wrote: »

Im not going to advocate not paying your fare. The penalty's are quite steep so what is the point?

Also did you not check your tickets when you bought them? Do you not check your change before you leave a shop to make sure its right?

i did travel with a valid ticket, i just didn't get it stamped, therefore i was left with the return leg ticket.
i looked upon it has just getting back what they diddled me out of through their incompetence.
i should have checked, but by the time they'd sorted my tickets out i literally had to run for my train.
i know 2 wrongs dont make a right, but they !!!!!! me off with their attitude, i was basically told tough, sod off!