Virgin Trains Online Rip-off and Scam

jillie1974

i've booked these tickets before and for faxt ticket machines it does state you've got to have the card you purchased them with in order to collect from the machine.

bunking_off

To address a couple of the points.

During the booking process, when you chose to use the fast ticket machines and selected the location, the text immediately under the drop down menu reads;

Save yourself time and hassle by using FastTicket. Just insert your credit/debit card into a FastTicket machine at the station, key in your unique 8-digit FastTicket number and get your tickets. You get your reference when you complete your purchase. We will email you a copy and also save it in your My Account area until you make your journey.

So it was pretty clear that you needed your credit card.

As to the confusion on refundability or otherwise of value advance tickets, then in the ticket T&C's, it does indeed say they're non-refundable, but also says for changes;

Until departure GBP 5.00 (admin fee) per ticket plus any difference in cost between the ticket held and the new ticket bought - as an advance purchase ticket, availability of the same price cannot be guaranteed. It is not possible to change any Value Advance ticket after the booked departure time or, at any stage, to amend the initial journey origin and or destination.

..so they do allow partial changes, but you're correct that the "partially refundable" is incorrect.

As to traveling from Marylebone...well, as others have said, you'd hardly expect Tesco to put a sign underneath their washing powder highlighting that Asda's own brand is cheaper, so why do you expect Virgin to do the same for their rail fares?

dzug

Keith wrote: »

The virgin doesn't stop at Marylebone, or aylesbury, or High Wycombe, or any of the other stops your Chiltern train will make, it will be a lot quicker too as it doesn't use the same tracks.

Chiltern is a town to town service, Virgin is inter-city/express service.

If you did get the Chiltern service from Marylebone it will take 2 hours 22 minutes, however, with virgin the journey takes 1 hour 29 minutes

And Virgin have posher trains - though the Chiltern ones are very good.

dzug

Oh and Chiltern (in your terminology) ripped you off as well. The fare for your journey with them can be £18.

Well even £10 online.

Sue them too while you are at it.

chuckley

virgin and chiltern dont use the same route or trains so u cant compare the 2.

you are lying regarding the booking process as its exactly the same as trainlines... it gives u the option of where to pick up the ticket and also tells u you MUST use the said booking card to pick up your tickets. it tells u that after putting in said card details.

value advance for london to midlands tends to be £10... admin cancellation fee is/was £10... therefore no refund... that t&c makes 100% sense. if u buy one thats e.g, £20 u will get £10 back...

good luck with your refund claim, which you will probably get as Virgin are good at refunding, BUT you do not deserve it. you made mistakes the whole way through due to being blind or ignoring the details in the booking process.

in the time u took to post this thread you could have successfully booked a ticket having read each stage of the process properly rather than booking then complaining because you skipped a vital piece of the process.

chuckley

Keith wrote: »

The virgin doesn't stop at Marylebone, or aylesbury, or High Wycombe, or any of the other stops your Chiltern train will make, it will be a lot quicker too as it doesn't use the same tracks.

Chiltern is a town to town service, Virgin is inter-city/express service.

If you did get the Chiltern service from Marylebone it will take 2 hours 22 minutes, however, with virgin the journey takes 1 hour 29 minutes

PRECISELY!!!!!!! on virgin u can go from london to Man Piccadilly in the time it takes u to get from london to brum on chiltern...

ill stick to virgin

2robbo

@ chuckley, “value advance for london to midlands tends to be £10... admin cancellation fee is/was £10... therefore no refund... that t&c makes 100% sense. if u buy one thats e.g, £20 u will get £10 back...” Please refer to actual fact when you are commenting, Virgin Trains told me that I am not entitled to any refund on my Value Advanced ticket. And who are you to decided whether I “deserve” a refund or not???

@ Keith, “Chiltern is a town to town service, Virgin is inter-city/express service. If you did get the Chiltern service from Marylebone it will take 2 hours 22 minutes, however, with virgin the journey takes 1 hour 29 minutes” Again, please refer to actual facts. The Virgin Trains journey I was due to travel on was scheduled to leave Marylebone Station at 06:50 and arrive at Brimingham New Street at 08:59. That makes the journey time 2 hours and 9 minutes, hardly an “express service” (or maybe still an Express Service in your book?)

@ dzug, “Oh and Chiltern (in your terminology) ripped you off as well. The fare for your journey with them can be £18. Well even £10 online. Sue them too while you are at it.” I am not a miser and I am completely happy with my journey via Chiltern Trains. You obviously have too much time on your hands with your 2,000 posts just on this forum, keep it up!

@ ringo_24601, “I like virgin.. you're obviously not savvy enough to use online systems properly - stick to riding your bike if you can't work it out.” How do you know how “savvy” I am to “use online systems properly”?? You are obviously not “savvy” enough to realize that loyalty to a company gets you know where in terms of consumer shopping and services as Martin Lewis has said on TV many times! You also appear to be someone with too much time on your hands with your smary comments and your 3,000 posts in 2 years – good for you, eh!

poet123

None of the above comments really address the issue that you failed to read the small print,nor that you really can't be so computer/online savvy to have had the problem with collection. They merely illustrate that you feel the need to deflect attention from the fact that the problem is yours not Virgins.

Sorry to be blunt,but that is the truth of the matter.

There is a difference between blind loyalty to a company who are to blame for your predicament and trying to shift the blame for your own lack of attention to detail.

Thunderbird_2

Hi 2robbo

It is a rip-off and I feel for you. However, you should have been able to read that note requiring you to use the paying card to collect the ticket. When using online systems, as you know, you have to read every single letter on every single page because it is our responsibility to read it as much as it is theirs to display it.

If it was over the phone, it could have completely different story.

Thank you for sharing your experience on here.

evesham1988la

I have just searched National Rail and the train service the OP has said he was to travel on was run by Chiltern and not Virgin at all. I'm guessing he/she booked through the Virgin website but travelling on a Virgin train never came in to it.



Mon 28 Apr
London Marylebone (MYB) to Birmingham Moor Street (BMO)

Journey Summary Details - Option 1DepartsArrivesDuration06:5008:592:09
Calling Points: Travel By: Train (Retail Service ID: CH040400) Train Company: Chiltern Railways service from London Marylebone to Birmingham Snow Hill