Underground and train compalaint: any point?

bingle

Hi,
my daughter (aged 9) and I went to London for the day on Saturday using a very good train service called the Shropshire and Wrexham Line. However, we missed the return journey by 30 seconds due to the tube suddenly being shut at Piccadily Circus. We were told it was shut and to get a but from Regent STreet. With no knowledge of London buses and the increased volume of cummuters, we had no idea which bus to get. We started walking while looking out for a taxi and a bus to ask the driver.
THings didn't go our way and we ended up running to Marlybone (guided by me husband on the phone). I got very upset as we watched the last train on that line disappear - we'd missed it by 30 seconds and were shattered.
We asked what we should do at the information office. After lots of computer tapping we were told to hurry to the Solihull train and we could change for Shrewsbury there. He stamped the ticket so that we would not have to pay for the journey to Solihull. We ran again and ot on the train. I called my husband who checked the train times etc: the train took nearly 3 hours to Solihull and there were no trains to Shrewsbury after 10pm - we'd have to spend the night there!
We certainly did not want to do that and luckily it was stopping at Aylesbury where my sister lives, so we disembarked, went to bed and then had to pay another £51 one way from Milton Keynes to Shrewsbury the following day.

I admit some of it was bad luck however, the closing of the London Underground station with no prior warning (we tried at Bond street but the Jubilee line was shut too) and the bad advise of the station hand cost us the same again as we had paid for the total return fayre with Shropshire & Wrexham line. Is it worth complaining to someone or is it just a right off?

Thanks for your advice.

Stigy

The sudden line closure was probably due to a security alert, as such moves aren't taken likely, as it meand somebody has to foot the bill somewhere, depending on the issue. Did you ask the Underground station assistant what bus to catch? I think the situation regarding the closure was more than likely unavoidable, although it would have been nice to get some definitive advice from the tube staff.

Exactly what part of the journey do you wish to complain about?

geordieracer

The problem does lie with lul due to the picc line closing-i got caught up in it too. Drop them a letter or use online to make the complaint.

Also write to Wrexham & Shropshire and another to Chiltern Railways saying what happened. Chiltern are very good at this sort of thing and as they own both companies they should be able to help.

geordieracer

Stigy wrote: »

The sudden line closure was probably due to a security alert, as such moves aren't taken likely, as it meand somebody has to foot the bill somewhere, depending on the issue. Did you ask the Underground station assistant what bus to catch? I think the situation regarding the closure was more than likely unavoidable, although it would have been nice to get some definitive advice from the tube staff.

Exactly what part of the journey do you wish to complain about?

It was closed due to signal failure and a broken train to i tnink

geordie_taxi

complain to everybody send letters to wrexham and shropshire trains and london underground. i would put photocopies of all my train tickets with the letter. train companys always try their best to help whenever a problem occurs

i get loads of free travel for complaining when a train is late or if theres no seats available and i have to stand. works well with those bargain ebay tickets i get

wealdroam

geordie_taxi wrote: »

i get loads of free travel for complaining when a train is late or if theres no seats available and i have to stand. works well with those bargain ebay tickets i get

Impressive.

Which train company offers something if you have to stand?

geordie_taxi

wealdroam wrote: »

Impressive.

Which train company offers something if you have to stand?

East Coast their very kind to me

yorkie2

Sounds like a most unusual set of circumstances, especially going via Aylesbury!!!

As for having to go from MKC, if you were staying in Aylesbury I'd have asked at the ticket office there if there's anything they can do. As it's the same parent company as Wrexham & Shropshire they may have simply passed your tickets for onward travel so you'd probably not have paid anything. You could pick up a Wrexham & Shropshire train from Banbury (after a change at Princes Risborough). Even if they refused to pass your tickets, a single from Alyesbury to Banbury is only £7.40 and then on W&S you could show your tickets, complete with validating stamp to say you could get a later train so it probably would have been accepted.

Going to MKC is a bit like going to Tesco after having a problem at Sainsbury's, and they are more likely therefore to charge you for a new ticket.

If something like this happens again, get your husband to post on this forum on the day itself and, within 20 minutes you'll probably have a reply giving advice on what you're entitled to, and people there can also look up delays in real time etc.

LU will refund the ticket on the Underground.

W&S may refund you either half the return fare (if you had a return) or the full single fare to Shrewsbury under the exceptional circumstances. Also if trains were diverted via Aylesbury your train may have been badly delayed and you may therefore be eligible for compensation too (unfortunately this cannot easily be checked after approx 2am on the night after the event).

Virgin will not refund you and have no reason to.

Regarding the fare on Virgin, you got an Off Peak Single (£51.90 for 1 adult + 1 child), next time get a Railcard (£26 but often there are offers, reducing this sometimes as low as £13) and the price drops to only £29.45.

An Off Peak Return is only £1.50 more for the two of you, so next time get that (you can use the rtn portion any day within a month. With a Railcard that is valid on ANY TRAIN including PEAK trains on Virgin, without a Railcard it is only valid off peak) and at least you can have another trip in London and only have to pay for a single Advance ticket back.

MKC-Shrews is a bit of a rip-off, and a way to avoid it is to use London Midland, the price to Shifnal is £17.10 for a single (£17.25 for a return) for 1 adult + 1 child without a railcard, Shifnal isn't far from Shrews, and the fare from Shifnal to Shrews would be £7.95 for a single (1 adult + 1 child, again without a railcard). So, splitting at Shifnal gets the fare down from £51.90 to £25.20, this is less than HALF price. You just have to use London Midland rather than Virgin/Arriva Trains Wales.

yorkie2

bingle wrote: »

HWe ran again and ot on the train. I called my husband who checked the train times etc: the train took nearly 3 hours to Solihull and there were no trains to Shrewsbury after 10pm - we'd have to spend the night there!

I've managed to get hold of last Saturday's timetables.

The "normal" Chiltern route was closed.

Looks like you were due to get the 19:02 from Marylebone, this train was diverted and non-stop to Tame Bridge, due Shrewsbury 22:47.

You would have been on the 19:15 from Marylebone, unusually diverted via Aylesbury, calling there at 20:03, reversing there and at Princes Risborough and finishing unusually short of Birmingham itself in the suburb of Solihuil at 21:56. From there, a connecting bus service would have taken you to Birmingham Snow Hill at 22:30, which is a short walk to New St. (However according to this, XC were accepting tickets on their trains from Leamington Spa to Birmingham New St, although I can't find the times these would have run, but you may have been spared the 10 min walk in Birmingham if there was one at a suitable time)

From Birmingham, as far as I can tell, a normal ATW service was due to operate, so you should have made the 22:52 from Birmingham New St to Shrewsbury arriving 23:49. If you missed that, there is the 23:32 from Birmingham New St to Shrewsbury arriving 00:42.

So if you had stayed on the train to Solihull you should have got to Shrews at 23:49, making you 62 minutes late. As you chose to get off early, I don't see how you can claim for a refund - sorry

W&S timetable here
Chiltern info here & timetable here
ATW timetable here

dzug1

yorkie2 wrote: »

LU will refund the ticket on the Underground.

Provided you still have the ticket - they are very reluctant to do so without it

bingle

MAny thanks to you all for your detailed advice. I'll definitely check before I make a decision next time. We were distraught at the time and very tired ( I had really bad cold) so we probably weren't very rational!
Thanks again.