Virgin Trains Booking Problems

JRED_2

Is it just me or do other people have their credit cards rejected every time they try to book train tickets with Virgin on the phone, with virgintrains.com or thetrainline.com? I have tried numerous cards and added spaces into my address etc.. to see if it makes any difference with no joy. Virgin Customer Services (the UK lot) told me to travel with someone else! :mad: .

PS its not a credit card problem - my bank has no problem with my cards and also said Virgin had not even asked them to authorize the transaction before declining it!.

Thanks

Voyager2002

No, I've never had that problem. And since I collect my tickets rather than getting them posted to me, I don't think I have ever given them my address.

Were your cards issued in the UK?

sarahanddely

yes!!!!

I live in the NW and my boyfriend is in glasgow, so i always travel up to see him by train. However, since the 'verified by visa' came in, everytime i try to buy tickets my card is declined. I've checked with the bank who actually authorise the payments! virgin just never take the money. I tried again yeasterday, and it didnt work, so i emailed them with all details, they haven't got back to me yet but I'll let you know when I do. Normally, I buy my tickets from the station, but i wanted tickets at the special internet only rate. It's so annoying that you can't do anything about it. My boyfriend has had similar problems, and I'm going to try to book my tickets with another card if they dont get back to me tomorrow!

dzug

Can you register your card in the verified by visa scheme? It's supposed to happen automatically the first time you use it though.

Or try another train company's site. You don't HAVE to book through Virgin.

Not aware of any 'special internet only rate' either - your station should be able to sell you the tickets.

sa6raya

In my job I book train tickets online with Virgin Trains using my university credit card but from April 2008 my card wasn't accepted - I got the message "Card Number Invalid". The same thing has been happening with my colleagues' cards too (yet we have individual cards with different details etc). We've had to book tickets by phone - which takes too, too long.

So today I rang Virgin Trains Customer Service who told me that they've introduced new software called 'Decision Manager' and that at some stage I must have put in the incorrect details and now will not accept my card! Furthermore, once the software decision is made Virgin will not overturn it EVER. I pointed out that it was rather strange that it was happening to other people too. The girl said they must have put in wrong details too and she was suprised to learn that I could book the tickets by phone since they should have been blocked too. They told me that Barclaycard knows all about it.

Well Barclaycard didn't. They confirmed there is nothing wrong with my card, they haven't declined my card but they have asked for me to get more info from Virgin Trains for them to look into this.

sarahanddely

the card is registered on verified by visa, and there are internet only rates for certain fares, i wouldn't make them up off the top of my head! As for booking through other companies, they are third party's and charge you extra to book through them, then extra for using certain cards, and extra to pick up tickets or even more to have them delivered! I have never used the wrong card details, and it is only since the introduction of 'verified by visa' that they no longer take my card, they just say the card has been declined, but the money disappears from my 'available balance' for the bank account for that card, but the money is never actually taken. And I have the same problem using other people's cards, from different banks, using other computers etc. There just seems to be a flaw in the system that they refuse to recognise. I think when you ring them up, the staff haven't been told of an official problem, so just make things up, or pass on rumours that they've heard.
They still haven't replied to my email regarding earlier tickets, and now the prices have gone up!!!

Voyager2002

sarahanddely wrote: »

the card is registered on verified by visa, and there are internet only rates for certain fares, i wouldn't make them up off the top of my head! As for booking through other companies, they are third party's and charge you extra to book through them, then extra for using certain cards, and extra to pick up tickets or even more to have them delivered! I have never used the wrong card details, and it is only since the introduction of 'verified by visa' that they no longer take my card, they just say the card has been declined, but the money disappears from my 'available balance' for the bank account for that card, but the money is never actually taken. And I have the same problem using other people's cards, from different banks, using other computers etc. There just seems to be a flaw in the system that they refuse to recognise. I think when you ring them up, the staff haven't been told of an official problem, so just make things up, or pass on rumours that they've heard.
They still haven't replied to my email regarding earlier tickets, and now the prices have gone up!!!

There are no fees for booking through other train-operating companies: personally, I usually buy my train tickets from https://www.FirstGreatWestern.co.uk and have never had any trouble (apart from being able to afford the fares!).

The vast majority of fares MUST be offered through all train companies, and must be made available to people buying by telephone and at stations as well as through the internet. Unless the tickets you want meet the (quite restrictive) conditions to be exempt from this requirement, you would have valid grounds for a complaint to the rail regulator.

dzug

and there are internet only rates for certain fares,

Sorry what fares are these? I have never heard of them - other than megatrain and e-tickets, which Virgin do not sell directly.

If you are thinking of value advance tickets, these are not internet only and can be bought at the station. The only fare I'm not certain about is the half saver.

And as Voyager2002 says, buy them elsewhere. Great Western will happily sell you Virgin tickets and charge you zilch for the privilege.

It does sound as though Virgin have a hopefully temporary problem though. They probably can't work out what's happened.

Voyager2002

dzug wrote: »

and there are internet only rates for certain fares,

Sorry what fares are these? I have never heard of them - other than megatrain and e-tickets, which Virgin do not sell directly.

If you are thinking of value advance tickets, these are not internet only and can be bought at the station. The only fare I'm not certain about is the half saver.

Some companies do offer internet-only fares, although I have never heard of any on Virgin. FGW sometimes have special deals (eg London-Exeter for 8 pounds) that are only available on the 'net. And there are the famous tickets that you have to print at home for travel between London and Manchester, but I thought that these were on Midland rather than on Virgin.

The regulations state that all fares must be available to people booking through any means (telephone, internet, or purchase at a station). The only exception is promotions that will only be offered for a limited period: I think the maximum is nine weeks. So while there are some internet-only bargains, they are few and far between. And they should all be offered by the other TOCs.

sarahanddely

from virgin train website:
Saver Half Return (Standard)TICKET TYPE Saver Half Return (Standard)
DESCRIPTION Discounted Standard ticket only available for purchase via the Virgin Trains website. Only valid as part of a return journey.

why do i have to prove myself here?! if you buy tickets through other websites you cannot get this rate, which is a lot cheaper than single fares when the advanced fare tickets have run out.

sarahanddely

I've just tried to buy them on first great western, the same thing happened - my card was declined, but the money has gone off my available balance. The booking screen looks exactly the same, so they must use the same booking system, or use the virgin system because they're for virgin trains! thanks for trying to help anyway, voyager2002! The problem isn't temporary either, I've been having this problem for months!
I'm going to have to change my plans, and get different trains so i can get an advanced ticket at the train station! It's just annoying that I have to do this.
There's definitely a flaw in the booking system though, it won't take any of the cards I have tried!