advice on complaint virgin west coast

scones

Tumtitums wrote: »

What does really annoy me especially with Virgin and Arriva trains wales (and puts me off travelling with them) is when people have sat on my seat that i reserved specifically so i do not have to stand. I think its a disgrace that i have to have a discussion with these people and provide evidence its my seat
...
Its made quite clear that you can reserve seats on virgin (FOR FREE) when you book so why did you not do this ???

I agree that it is very irritating when people ignore reservation displays and labels and I politely ask people to move in such cases. This is never normally a problem.

The real issue is when the train company has not put the reservations in place (i.e. has not put out tickets or displayed the reservations on the screen). Nobody has the right to demand somebody else vacates a seat if the train company has failed to reserve it for them - but I've seen plenty of squabbles where people have innocently sat in an unmarked seat and then had somebody else turn up to try and claim it as "theirs".

While there would be benefits if everybody was booked a specific seat, I don't think we should assume that people who haven't reserved a seat are being lazy or obstructive. There are lots of valid reasons:
1. Several train companies, including Arriva Trains Wales, do NOT give out reservations when booking online. If you book an "Advance" ticket for an Arriva train on their website, it will tie you to a specific train but will not reserve you a specific seat.
2. In most cases, commuters travelling on season tickets are not offered the option of reserving a seat.
3. Most Virgin and Arriva routes also need to cater for local, turn-up-and-go traffic as well as long-distance travellers. You couldn't reasonably expect people doing a short hop from Wigan to Warrington or Cardiff to Newport to book ahead.
4. People may be unable to pre-book if they are travelling urgently, or if they can't predict when their return journey will be, such as when travelling to a work meeting that could overrun.

dggar

Tumtitums wrote: »

sometimes they dont switch them on and i actually suspect that they dont take into account the bookings made ie they say the same thing all day as ive been in services where half the reserved seats are unoccupied

An unoccupied reserved seat means the person who reserved that seat is not on that train or has chosen to sit in another seat on that train. Advance tickets which require a reserved seat only require you to travel on a particular train and not to have to sit in a particular seat if other seats are available.

Comms69

Having done Euston-Lancaster many times I'm used to perching in the alcoves.


It's common on the west coast, especially the faster service.

katejo

If the previous train was cancelled, Virgin may have cancelled all the reservations in the next train. That happened when I travelled back from Edinburgh on the East coast service and I had to get the next train. No reservation tickets were in the seats so I refused to move when someone claimed it was their seat. I would of course have moved if it had been someone less able to stand but it wasn't, You can claim compensation either for a delayed train or for a cancelled seat reservation.

Voyager2002

Tumtitums wrote: »

What does really annoy me especially with Virgin and Arriva trains wales (and puts me off travelling with them) is when people have sat on my seat that i reserved specifically so i do not have to stand. I think its a disgrace that i have to have a discussion with these people and provide evidence its my seat.

I think it is entirely reasonable to ask to see your reservation coupon before moving. Other than that, I don't see any scope for discussion: I often sit in unoccupied reserved seats, and always move if the person who reserved them turns up.

dggar

katejo wrote: »

......, You can claim compensation either for a delayed train or for a cancelled seat reservation.

Are you sure?


What is the cost involved for a seat reservation.


Do you a valid source for this claim?

Voyager2002

dggar wrote: »

Are you sure?


What is the cost involved for a seat reservation.


Do you a valid source for this claim?

I once made a complaint about a journey, and mentioned in passing that the crowding had meant that I could sit in my reserved seat. I received a cash payment for this, apart from the compensation for the delay/cancellation to other parts of the journey.

NBLondon

dggar wrote: »

Are you sure?
What is the cost involved for a seat reservation.
Do you a valid source for this claim?

Me too... Virgin WC from London to Liverpool - the seat displays were faulty. I got a seat but not the forward table one I reserved (to work on the train) and Virgin sent me a fiver (IIRC) in compensation.