GNER on-line

Swan_2

sorry, this is a bit of a saga :rolleyes:

during the first week in May I booked a return ticket from Dundee to London King's Cross via GNER's website, which was a fairly straightforward operation ... or so I thought

I was travelling on June 2nd, but because I was moving home at the end of May I chose not to have the tickets posted in case they didn't arrive at my old address in time & elected to collect my tickets from Dundee railway station
GNER ask that you take along the card you used to book on-line for ID purposes (this has relevance later)

went to the station on the appointed day & they couldn't find my order, it was suggested that I come back another day, I refused as I'd travelled in from out of town & wasn't prepared to go to any more expense. so after much confusion & faffing around the young lady finally phoned GNER & got the info she needed & after a total wait of around 45 minutes issued my tickets
I handed over my card for ID, signed for the tickets & went off fuming

the trip to London went well & I was quite happy till I checked my bank statement & found I'd been charged both at the point of sale on the website & at the station! :mad:

called GNER who said it was First Scotrail's problem as it was their name on the bank statements, First Scotrail said it was nothing to do with them & it was GNER's problem ... I was passed back & forward between various different people, till I finally found someone who gave me the address of GNER's refund department & told me to write to them enclosing copies of the bank statements

I did this on June 23rd, heard nothing, called them & was told it takes '21 working days from receipt of your letter' to get anything done. so I gave them a generous amount of time called back. was told again it was nothing to do with them & that I shouldn't have written to their refund department. finally lost it & told the unfortunate person on the other end of the phone that I'd be contacting Trading Standards, & was immediately given a number to talk to a 'troubleshooter'

he found out that GNER had had my letter for some time, but hadn't acted on it because I hadn't sent the bank statements! (read, they had lost them) ... nice of them to let me know wasn't it?

so I've sent off copies of my previous letter & statements again & now have to wait till early September before I can expect anything to be done about my refund

what a bunch of incompetents*!!! :mad: :mad: :mad:


* best I can do without swearing & getting myself barred

Mattjimf

If they are still dragging their feet in september get in contact with Raw Deal from the Sunday Post. I'm sure they would love to take this on, and it would also save you a lot of stress going from pillar to post.
If your not familar with it this is some info on it:

Raw Deal

Got a problem with a company or organisation you can’t resolve yourself?
The Sunday Post’s Raw Deal column attempts to help readers get what they want when they have failed to achieve this on their own.
For legal reasons you must put your enquiry to us in writing, either in the form of a letter, fax or e-mail. It must also be from the person concerned (unless they are unable to write to due to disability or similar impediment) and an original, not a photocopy of one sent to various organisations simultaneously.
Please explain, in no more than two sheets of A4 or similar length of text by e-mail if possible, what happened when and what you want Raw Deal to do for you — what your ideal solution is.
Please also ensure you include the full name and address of the firm involved and any contact numbers for it plus a daytime contact number for yourself. Copies of any relevant documents should be enclosed in letters.

Write to - Raw Deal, The Sunday Post, PO Box 6816, Dundee, DD1 1WB. If you include an SAE we’ll acknowledge your letter.
E-mail to - [email="rawdeal@sundaypost.com"]rawdeal@sundaypost.com[/email]
Fax to - 01382 201064

Swan_2

I came home today to find a letter waiting for me, which said ...

Thank you for your letter dated 27 July regarding your journey from Dundee to London

In order that I may respond in more detail and award any compensation that may be due, I do require the return of your journey tickets. On receipt of the above mentioned documents I shall endeavour to complete your claim without further delay. I have enclosed a FREEPOST address for your convenience.
Please quote the above reference number in any further correspondence and supply your postal address

Thank you once again for your letter

Yours sincerely

Ian Harvey
Customer Relations Advisor

I can't believe this! apart from the fact that he gave me no freepost address, got the dates of the letter/s wrong (they were dated June 23rd & August 2nd) & says I may be entitled to a refund, my trip was in the first week in June, who hangs on to their old train tickets for almost 2 months? surely my bank statements are proof of purchase?

a call to Trading Standards in the morning I think, then if I get no joy from GNER/First Scotrail, it'll be Raw Deal :mad:

Alfie_E

You should also talk to your bank. Tell them that First ScotRail have debited money using your card without your authority. I'm assuming whatever you signed at the station, it wasn't a debit slip for your card. Insist that your bank use the card network to reverse the transaction.

Swan_2

I called Trading Standards first thing, there was no-one there to talk to me so they took my number & said they'd call back within 48 hours :rolleyes:

decided to call GNER/Scotrail anyway but the person who wrote the letter wasn't there, so they took my number & promised to call back asap

and surprise surprise, they did!
not the letter-writer himself, seems he wasn't in this morning. but I was given profuse apologies, told that they couldn't understand why this man had asked me for my tickets, & that my treatment had been totally unacceptable

anyway, a cheque has been promised in the post today + a £10 goodwill gesture

given their track record I'm not too confident this will actually happen, but I live in hope!

Mattjimf

Glad you ordeal my soon be at an end, and that you got an apology.

Roxie

I was thinking about using GNER online in the very near future myself, had a change of mind after reading this. I'll just purchase my tickets the old fashioned way at the ticket office.

Swan_2

Roxie, it seems the problem was because I picked the tickets up from the station in Dundee, it was the people in the office there who screwed up. if I'd had them delivered, I'd have been fine

I'd happily book on-line again

Swan_2

finally (I hope)

I got a letter from Scotrail yesterday telling me I'd be sent a cheque for a full refund plus £10 goodwill, but that it could take up to 28 days to process!!! :mad:

however, the cheque arrived this morning so (as long as it doesn't bounce) I'm sorted out now

sawanderer

Link to HALF PRICE TRAIN TICKETS thread on the Grabbit board

Buy UK rail tickets with 50% off - book by 1st September.

Get back at ScotRail by booking all your tickets you possibly can now and save yourself 50%!

Swan_2

Lmfao ... :T