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Virgin Trains Nightmare! Others Be Warned!
moonpixiewitch
Posts: 274 Forumite
in Motoring
Just thought I would tell you all a little story ........are you sitting comfortably?.......
Having used VIRGIN in the past with no problem.....
On the 27/7/07 I ordered and paid for a ticket to travel on Virgin trains for my daughter on their website , they took the money from the card immediately(£56.50).
She was needing to travel from Southampton to Preston on the 6/8/07 and return on the 9/8/07(university). Email confirmation was received to say your tickets will be with you in 5 working days , all was well. Then the postie's decided on the strikes , I started to get a bad feeling about the tickets not getting here on time, so I checked the email and (phew) there was a phone number to call if the tickets don't show up before you need to travel. Tickets didn't show up by the Saturday before travel (4/8/07) so phoned the number and spoke to a nice lady in India! She advised that they only issue the fax to the train stations for them to issue tickets up to 24hrs ahead of travel so we should phone back tomorrow, so we did, she then assured us it had been processed and our tickets would be ready to collect at 6.40am Monday morning (1/2hour before travelling).
We got up at 5am Monday morning to drive the 22miles to the station , we arrived to join a sizeable queue. When we got to the ticket desk , the ticket was not there , the lady informed us that the faxes are nearly always a day late from virgin and they could not issue a ticket without payment .She waved a handful of fax's from the previous day at me and said they were all the ones which had not turned up in time for the people to travel!!! So I informed her I had already paid and showed her the email confirmation and cc receipt , she said "Not acceptable" and we would need to buy new tickets at a cost of £80 each way :mad: as you can only buy single tickets for that route at the ticket desk. Also informing me we would not make the train originally intended and so would have to catch a later one with many changes (we had booked a direct route).
I politely removed myself from the station before I exploded! I could not afford that kind of money for one journey but my daughter needed to get there before 2pm. I tried to phone Virgin Customer services but they do not open until 8 or 8.30am depending which number you ring! No good to us at 7 in the morning!So I then had to make a decision on how to get her there before 2pm , so I drove her there myself.
After driving 1000miles in 1 day (there and back) that maybe I should have paid the train fare as we may have been able to claim it back from Virgin, PLEASE DO NOT DELUDE YOURSELVES you can NOT claim anything back if your tickets do not show up! I have phoned , emailed , written letters sent by special delivery and all we have been offered is a refund of £56.50 (which we are still waiting for) and a free return journey to be taken by 10th November07 (when they lose their franchise!!). I have driven 2000 miles in a week (£100+ in fuel), had to take two full days off work at very short notice, not to mention refreshment breaks on the 1st journey as I had no time to plan ahead. I am seriously out of pocket and am still recovering from that amount of driving (my hat goes off to people who do that for a living!).
If you are considering using this bunch of cowboys then please look at your other options 1st.
By the way yes I do hold the post office/royal mail partly responsible for this as this morning the tickets turned up!
- message to the royal mail(as many letters of complaint have got me nowhere!) if you dont like your pay and conditions...don't strike...find another job!!! thats what most people have to do!
Personally speaking if this is the way they run their train company then I for one am glad they have lost the franchise!
I used to be a huge supporter of Virgin products and services , I will now be changing supplier for my mobile and tv etc - Mr Branson!
Having used VIRGIN in the past with no problem.....
On the 27/7/07 I ordered and paid for a ticket to travel on Virgin trains for my daughter on their website , they took the money from the card immediately(£56.50).
She was needing to travel from Southampton to Preston on the 6/8/07 and return on the 9/8/07(university). Email confirmation was received to say your tickets will be with you in 5 working days , all was well. Then the postie's decided on the strikes , I started to get a bad feeling about the tickets not getting here on time, so I checked the email and (phew) there was a phone number to call if the tickets don't show up before you need to travel. Tickets didn't show up by the Saturday before travel (4/8/07) so phoned the number and spoke to a nice lady in India! She advised that they only issue the fax to the train stations for them to issue tickets up to 24hrs ahead of travel so we should phone back tomorrow, so we did, she then assured us it had been processed and our tickets would be ready to collect at 6.40am Monday morning (1/2hour before travelling).
We got up at 5am Monday morning to drive the 22miles to the station , we arrived to join a sizeable queue. When we got to the ticket desk , the ticket was not there , the lady informed us that the faxes are nearly always a day late from virgin and they could not issue a ticket without payment .She waved a handful of fax's from the previous day at me and said they were all the ones which had not turned up in time for the people to travel!!! So I informed her I had already paid and showed her the email confirmation and cc receipt , she said "Not acceptable" and we would need to buy new tickets at a cost of £80 each way :mad: as you can only buy single tickets for that route at the ticket desk. Also informing me we would not make the train originally intended and so would have to catch a later one with many changes (we had booked a direct route).
I politely removed myself from the station before I exploded! I could not afford that kind of money for one journey but my daughter needed to get there before 2pm. I tried to phone Virgin Customer services but they do not open until 8 or 8.30am depending which number you ring! No good to us at 7 in the morning!So I then had to make a decision on how to get her there before 2pm , so I drove her there myself.
After driving 1000miles in 1 day (there and back) that maybe I should have paid the train fare as we may have been able to claim it back from Virgin, PLEASE DO NOT DELUDE YOURSELVES you can NOT claim anything back if your tickets do not show up! I have phoned , emailed , written letters sent by special delivery and all we have been offered is a refund of £56.50 (which we are still waiting for) and a free return journey to be taken by 10th November07 (when they lose their franchise!!). I have driven 2000 miles in a week (£100+ in fuel), had to take two full days off work at very short notice, not to mention refreshment breaks on the 1st journey as I had no time to plan ahead. I am seriously out of pocket and am still recovering from that amount of driving (my hat goes off to people who do that for a living!).
If you are considering using this bunch of cowboys then please look at your other options 1st.
By the way yes I do hold the post office/royal mail partly responsible for this as this morning the tickets turned up!
- message to the royal mail(as many letters of complaint have got me nowhere!) if you dont like your pay and conditions...don't strike...find another job!!! thats what most people have to do!Personally speaking if this is the way they run their train company then I for one am glad they have lost the franchise!
I used to be a huge supporter of Virgin products and services , I will now be changing supplier for my mobile and tv etc - Mr Branson!
Started my own business and loving being my own boss
march gc 144/230
march gc 144/230
0
Comments
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The fact that the tickets didn't turn up isn't an issue caused by Virgin. You ought to make a claim from Royal Fail.
If you wish to write a letter of complaint to Virgin then their address is
Customer Relations Manager
Virgin Trains
85 Smallbrook Queensway
Birmingham
B5 4HA
IF, as the lady suggested, the fax had been sent then the issue is with the train station and you would need to make a complaint to the company that manages the station. If she lied then she would be found out as the fax would be dated so they would know when it was sent and in which case you need to complain to Virgin.
On the one hand you're saying that you can't claim if your tickets show up but on the other you're saying they've offered you a full refund for the tickets. They didn't have to do that. They could well have charged an admin fee for issuing a refund.
As I've said, your complaint needs to be with Royal Fail and not with Virgin. Virgin sold you the tickets and told you they'd be there within 5 days. IT isn't their fault that the postal workers went on strike. If you had paid the full fare then Virgin would have refunded the difference. You took it upon yourself to travel by car. You can't really expect them to refund that for you.
As for cancelling your mobile and TV, just so you know, they're OWNED by Mr Branson but they're not run by him.This country is called Great Britain. It would be called Amazing Britain if it wasn't for people like you pulling the average down0 -
If you wish to write a letter of complaint to Virgin then their address is
Customer Relations Manager
Virgin Trains
85 Smallbrook Queensway
Birmingham
B5 4HA
not the address customer services gave me ! or the one they replied from!
and as I stated previously I have already done that!
you would need to make a complaint to the company that manages the station.
already in motion - south west trains
If she lied then she would be found out as the fax would be dated so they would know when it was sent and in which case you need to complain to Virgin.
apparently they are sending them and they are not being received for hours , sometimes days this end! presumably sent from abroad?
They could well have charged an admin fee for issuing a refund.
they are charging an admin fee- £10
As I've said, your complaint needs to be with Royal Fail and not with Virgin.
official complaint has been sent on their forms issued to me - last time i complained to them I got some 1st class stamps.
If you had paid the full fare then Virgin would have refunded the difference.
no they would not - i asked their customer services when i phoned
You took it upon yourself to travel by car. You can't really expect them to refund that for you.
I had no choice - I did not have a credit card (i paid on the web using my mums card) and do not carry £160 in cash on me and did not have that sort of funding available to me , I have no credit available to me (no overdraft , no debit cards) so how would I have paid??
I had to take my mum with me so I could put the fuel in to get there and back using her card!
As for cancelling your mobile and TV, just so you know, they're OWNED by Mr Branson but they're not run by him.
Is it really neccessary to be that patronising and condecending ?
Your signature does not really seem to suit you !
[/quote]
do you work for Virgin trains?Started my own business and loving being my own boss
march gc 144/2300 -
moonpixiewitch wrote: »If you wish to write a letter of complaint to Virgin then their address is
Customer Relations Manager
Virgin Trains
85 Smallbrook Queensway
Birmingham
B5 4HA
not the address customer services gave me ! or the one they replied from!
and as I stated previously I have already done that!
you would need to make a complaint to the company that manages the station.
already in motion - south west trains
If she lied then she would be found out as the fax would be dated so they would know when it was sent and in which case you need to complain to Virgin.
apparently they are sending them and they are not being received for hours , sometimes days this end! presumably sent from abroad?
They could well have charged an admin fee for issuing a refund.
they are charging an admin fee- £10
As I've said, your complaint needs to be with Royal Fail and not with Virgin.
official complaint has been sent on their forms issued to me - last time i complained to them I got some 1st class stamps.
If you had paid the full fare then Virgin would have refunded the difference.
no they would not - i asked their customer services when i phoned
You took it upon yourself to travel by car. You can't really expect them to refund that for you.
I had no choice - I did not have a credit card (i paid on the web using my mums card) and do not carry £160 in cash on me and did not have that sort of funding available to me , I have no credit available to me (no overdraft , no debit cards) so how would I have paid??
I had to take my mum with me so I could put the fuel in to get there and back using her card!
As for cancelling your mobile and TV, just so you know, they're OWNED by Mr Branson but they're not run by him.
Is it really neccessary to be that patronising and condecending ?
Your signature does not really seem to suit you !
do you work for Virgin trains?[/quote]
I'm trying to actually help you. It would be a first for me on here but if that's the sort of response I'm going to get then I won't bother. No I don't work for Virgin. I work for National Rail.
How do you know you spoke to a 'nice lady in India'? Do you not think that Indians work in British call centres?
You've got a gripe with Virgin because of something they had no control over. They kept their end of the bargain. Next time you might want to book your tickets a bit further in advance.
Oh and if you can take your mother with you to put petrol in the car then why not to buy the tickets? At least then you would have a half decent claim to get back a refund.This country is called Great Britain. It would be called Amazing Britain if it wasn't for people like you pulling the average down0 -
Now wait a minute:
Virgin trains were at fault, because they undertook to send a FAX to the station to allow duplicate tickets to be issued, but failed to send it in time. On that basis (and that basis only), the OP has a valid complaint against them.0 -
Voyager2002 wrote: »Now wait a minute:
Virgin trains were at fault, because they undertook to send a FAX to the station to allow duplicate tickets to be issued, but failed to send it in time. On that basis (and that basis only), the OP has a valid complaint against them.
How do you know it wasn't sent on time? How do you know it wasn't stuck on the fax machine along with all the others? How do you know it's not just a case of the staff at the ticket office being lazy? As I said, the fax will have a time on it. IF it was sent late then as I said above, the fault is with Virgin. If it was sent as they had promised then there's nothing more Virgin could have done.This country is called Great Britain. It would be called Amazing Britain if it wasn't for people like you pulling the average down0 -
moonpixiewitch wrote: »After driving 1000miles in 1 day (there and back)
Southampton to Preston 1000 miles!?!?!0 -
If you think getting a patronising nasty tone with people is "helping" then I can live without your help thanks!
All i was trying to do was alert people to the fact that due to postal strikes , you may need to use the number quoted on the confirmation email you receive to get alternative arrangements set up to collect tickets at stations. This method is clearly not foolproof and if the stack of fax's waved at me by the staff at the station is anything to go by - it happens a lot!!
The station staff checked in 3 offices and on both fax machines in front of me so I know they are not lying! I don't understand why you keep throwing that comment in to the debate, is it because you are trying to provoke an argument? That is certainly the way it comes across!
Also just to set the record straight my mother lives over 20miles from the station , by the time i had gone and got her out of bed and got back to the station again my daughter would not have made it to the university in time (2pm) by train. We ordered the ticket 11 days ahead of when we needed to travel on the same day we received confirmation my daughter was required to attend the university .
To be perfectly honest this used to be a nice friendly forum , but just lately it seems to be full of trolls, spammers and rude unpleasant people. I shall think twice before posting here again - I am off to paid to shop where people are nice and friendly !Started my own business and loving being my own boss
march gc 144/2300 -
Southampton to Preston 1000 miles!?!?!
OOPS! - Sorry , 1000miles in a week , 250miles from southampton to preston and then back same day = 500miles on the monday and again on the thursday.
thanks for pointing this out - said it was still affecting me all that driving
Started my own business and loving being my own boss
march gc 144/2300 -
Is your daughter coming to uni at Preston?Just to cheer you up after all this hassle, the uni is great(I went there) and the social life is too.Hope she settles in well:p
"You can't stop the waves, but you can learn to surf"
(Kabat-Zinn 2004):D:D:D0 -
:beer: thanks candygirl - at last I have found someone with a positive attitude!
Yes it is the uni in preston - seems great from what I saw and she loved it!!
Started my own business and loving being my own boss
march gc 144/2300
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