Belgium - General Strike 15th December 2014

ghjones1

Good Evening, please bear with me as a new member but I was hoping one of you would be able to help!

Unbeknown to me a General Strike was announced in Belgium for December 15th - this was announced back in mid-October.

On 3rd November 2014 I purchased National Rail tickets from Bristol to London, Eurostar tickets from London to Brussels (with onward travel to Bruges) and a hotel in Bruges for 3 nights. All of which was non-refundable.

Following the unrest in Brussels yesterday (6 November) I found out about the general strike on 15th December. The general strike includes all of Belgian Rail and as a result no trains will operate in Belgium on this date - the Eurostar will travel as far as Lille.

Today I contacted voyages-sncf who the Eurostar booking was made through. They were not even aware of the strike. However after putting me on hold for a few minutes confirmed the strike and suggested I called back next week once they received more information from Eurostar as to the options they can pass on to me.

Eurostar's website confirms that they are offering customers a complete refund or travel on an alternative date - I imagine the same will be offered to me via voyages-sncf.

As my UK rail tickets and Bruges hotel are all non-refundable and booked for 15 December I cannot alter my date of travel. When booking through voyages-sncf there was no mention of a General Strike (neither at the time was there any mention on the Eurostar site, although there is now) obviously if there was a notice I wouldn't of chose to travel on these dates and wouldn't of booked a subsequent hotel or UK Rail tickets.

Does anyone know whether voyages-sncf have a responsibility to provide assistance to get me to my destination? My main problem here is that they should have been aware of the strike and either shouldn't have let me book on that date as no trains are running or provided information on this matter before letting me pay. In addition I had to contact them regarding this matter they haven't emailed / text or called to update me.

I don't feel that I should have to repurchase new UK Rail tickets for either the previous or following day and pay for an extra hotel night (or lose a night) all at my own expense when voyages-sncf should have not let me make the booking in the first place. Does anyone know whether they are legally bound to assist me?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

ghjones1

SW17

I would suspect they are not legally bound to assist you in the event of such industrial action, it would effectively be considered force-majeure.

Do you have any travel insurance?

It's also hard for transport companies to stop selling tickets in the face of strikes, which are frequently called off at the last minute, though I understand your frustration.

You say you can't change your dates, but then mention travelling the day before. If you have to travel on that date, perhaps you could go to Lille and travel on to Bruges by another means, such as hire car or private coach company (if there is one). Bruges is only about an hour from Lille by road, assuming no road blockades...

Others may have further advice.

ghjones1

SW17 - thank you for replying.

I do have travel insurance but as I booked the trip and my subsequent insurance after the strike was announced it doesn't cover this element.

I can travel the day before that isn't a problem, but I can't use my UK Rail train ticket for travelling on this day and I can't alter my hotel booking. If I was to travel a day earlier I would need to pay a further £80 for UK Rail and pay for an additional night in a hotel. A rather large additional expense.

Hire car is also upwards of £100 even for the day (pick up in Lille and drop of in Bruges). Coaches don't travel from Lille to Bruges either as far as I am aware.

Regards.

peachyprice

These are the Terms & Conditions you ticked a box to say you understood when you booked.
http://en.voyages-sncf.com/media/pdf/en/cgv_site_WWEN_BEEN.pdf


The relevant part is this:

Article 10. FINAL PROVISIONS

Any case of force majeure making it impossible to provide the service, including interruption to the means of
telecommunications or transport strikes, extinguishes Voyages-sncf.com’s obligations affected by the case of
force majeure. Services not provided due to a case of force majeure shall be refunded. However, no damages
shall be paid pursuant to this non-performance..

So no, they are not liable to provide anything more than a refund.

SW17

ghjones1 wrote: »

I do have travel insurance but as I booked the trip and my subsequent insurance after the strike was announced it doesn't cover this element.

I can travel the day before that isn't a problem, but I can't use my UK Rail train ticket for travelling on this day and I can't alter my hotel booking. If I was to travel a day earlier I would need to pay a further £80 for UK Rail and pay for an additional night in a hotel. A rather large additional expense.

Hire car is also upwards of £100 even for the day (pick up in Lille and drop of in Bruges). Coaches don't travel from Lille to Bruges either as far as I am aware.

Hmm. I guess you could try and argue with the insurance company that you weren't reasonably aware of the strike as Eurostar and Belgian rail sold you the tickets for this date without advising you, but not sure of your chances.

Obviously don't know your exact fare conditions on the UK rail, but some FirstGreatWestern non-refundable tickets are changeable for a fee prior to the booked travel time. Would that cost the £80 you mention?

How did you book the hotel? Sometimes they will waive cancellation charges in such events, but you are basically at their mercy.

Of course, the strike could be cancelled, but these things normally happen at the 11th hour, not much good for you.

Running out of other ideas...

worried_jim

On a lighter note OP- when you get to Bruges, well, it's simply amazing.

I went in June and had the best time, the food, the beer, the architecture and history- did I mention the beer? Oh, the beer!

Good luck with your trip- it will be worth it!

ghjones1

Thank you all for the advice, I appreciate that voyages-sncf are probably covered.

I think I will approach them with the viewpoint that I should have been made aware of the action when booking but I won't hold out much hope.

Thanks again.