East Coast trains

gingerbread_man_2

Can anybody offer advice please? I bought 2 first class return tickets from East Coast for myself and 4 year old son from London to York; I know I didn't have to pay for him but wanted to guarantee a seat so he didn't have to sit on my lap. Our reason for first class was that you are offered lunch and refreshments at your table which meant I didn't have to take my child through the carriage to buy lunch etc whilst also trying to carry a bag. Our outward journey from Kings Cross was as expected but on the way back, it was a Grand Central service. I was none the wiser, never having heard of them before. Once on board, the carriage was dirty, we were sat opposite a table of noisy and drunken people (fine for me but not for my son) and apart from tea/coffee, there was no food offered. If you wanted this you had to buy it from the buffet carriage. Having raised a complaint with East Coast, they initially said it was Grand Central's responsibility but when speaking with them, they just said they don't offer the same service. I went back to East Coast and this time spoke with a duty manager who said I simply purchased a train ticket, not the extras. He told me the lunch etc is complimentary and I shouldn't expect anything over and above a seat. Surely they should have informed me at the time of booking, having paid for a first class ticket that Grand Central do not offer the same? I don't recall ever being told that it was Grand Central and anyway, had no idea it was a different operator. Sorry this is long winded - do I have any comeback?

wealdroam

gingerbread_man wrote: »

- do I have any comeback?

No, I don't think you do.

If you wanted a service offered by East Coast Trains, then you should've booked seats on an East Coast train.

It's the fragmented railways I'm afraid.

earthstorm

I agree with the above.

When you booked your journey and received your tickets, it would have displayed on the ticket who was operating the service, so you should of queried it then

Voyager2002

By law, all the train operating companies have to offer tickets on each others' services. So although you bought from the East Coast site, there was no guarantee that you were getting one of their trains. Had you looked closely, the site would have told you that it was operated by another company, but presumably you did not know to look.

The only consolation is that the price you paid probably reflected the fact that only half of your trip was in first class.

gingerbread_man_2

:-( Thankyou everybody. A lesson learnt...