advice on complaint virgin west coast

Hi guys happy new year! We had the train journey to hell Christmas eve from Euston to Lancaster standing until Preston then we got seats only to be shifted when some new people got on insisting they were their seats! No proof of course! The train must have been at much more than legal and safe capacity as 10 first class carriages had 2nd class passengers and people were standing in every doorway and cases were everywhere. There was no access through the carriages to the loo or buffet car. (when the northern guard took over he was very angry!!! bit different to the virgin chappie).

Reminded us of a cattle truck!! But the rspca would have been more use than the virgin ticket chap.

Emailed Dicky Branson but just got a standard fobbing off email! so much for his biography the customer is always right!! ha!

Have written to his ivory towers battleship place but any idea how to contact him???
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  • robpw2
    robpw2 Posts: 14,044
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    surfsister wrote: »
    Hi guys happy new year! We had the train journey to hell Christmas eve from Euston to Lancaster standing until Preston then we got seats only to be shifted when some new people got on insisting they were their seats! No proof of course! The train must have been at much more than legal and safe capacity as 10 first class carriages had 2nd class passengers and people were standing in every doorway and cases were everywhere. There was no access through the carriages to the loo or buffet car. (when the northern guard took over he was very angry!!! bit different to the virgin chappie).

    Reminded us of a cattle truck!! But the rspca would have been more use than the virgin ticket chap.

    Emailed Dicky Branson but just got a standard fobbing off email! so much for his biography the customer is always right!! ha!

    Have written to his ivory towers battleship place but any idea how to contact him???

    why not try emailing virgin east coast customer service as richard branson doest deal with the day to day running of virgin anymore

    So you sat in someone elses seats and got annoyed when asked to move -- cause if they had no proof they were there seats why did you move ?

    It was christmas eve you and everyone else was trying to get home

    y


    Slimming world start 28/01/2012 starting weight 21st 2.5lb current weight 17st 9-total loss 3st 7.5lb
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  • cookie365
    cookie365 Posts: 1,809 Forumite
    I didn't think there were any trains running from Euston to Lancaster on Christmas eve.

    And if it had 10 first class carriages it must have been two 9-car and one 11-car train joined together. Probably the longest train that's ever run on the UK railway ;)
  • why not try emailing virgin east coast customer service as richard branson doest deal with the day to day running of virgin anymore

    They were on the West Coast ;)

    Sorry OP, Branson is too busy suing and buying up the NHS to bother about you. Write it off as a bad experience and stop giving money to Branson's nasty empire.
  • stclair
    stclair Posts: 6,844
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    cookie365 wrote: »
    I didn't think there were any trains running from Euston to Lancaster on Christmas eve.

    And if it had 10 first class carriages it must have been two 9-car and one 11-car train joined together. Probably the longest train that's ever run on the UK railway ;)

    Virgin trains have 11 carriages at most. If they was any longer they would be able to stop at certain stations. (One being motherwell for example)
    Im an ex employee RBS Group
    However Any Opinion Given On MSE Is Strictly My Own
  • robpw2
    robpw2 Posts: 14,044
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    They were on the West Coast ;)

    Sorry OP, Branson is too busy suing and buying up the NHS to bother about you. Write it off as a bad experience and stop giving money to Branson's nasty empire.

    sorry my mistke but to be fair they would have a better chance at pursuing this talking to any railway company than emailing Richard branson


    Slimming world start 28/01/2012 starting weight 21st 2.5lb current weight 17st 9-total loss 3st 7.5lb
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  • stclair
    stclair Posts: 6,844
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    edited 31 December 2017 at 1:07PM
    surfsister wrote: »
    Hi guys happy new year! We had the train journey to hell Christmas eve from Euston to Lancaster standing until Preston then we got seats only to be shifted when some new people got on insisting they were their seats! No proof of course! The train must have been at much more than legal and safe capacity as 10 first class carriages had 2nd class passengers and people were standing in every doorway and cases were everywhere. There was no access through the carriages to the loo or buffet car. (when the northern guard took over he was very angry!!! bit different to the virgin chappie).

    Reminded us of a cattle truck!! But the rspca would have been more use than the virgin ticket chap.

    Emailed Dicky Branson but just got a standard fobbing off email! so much for his biography the customer is always right!! ha!

    Have written to his ivory towers battleship place but any idea how to contact him???

    A train would have possibly 11 carriages at the most. 6/7 carriages are standard class and 3/4 are first class. Northern Guard?

    There is no legal limit on the number of passengers that can travel in any given train coach as trains differ from other modes of transport – most notably buses and aeroplanes - because of the heavy engineering design involved. This permits trains to operate effectively and safely even when fully loaded to maximum capacity.

    Also on xmas eve there was no trains between preston and lancaster it was a replacement bus service I did the journey myself from wigan to glasgow.
    Im an ex employee RBS Group
    However Any Opinion Given On MSE Is Strictly My Own
  • surfsister
    surfsister Posts: 7,527
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    well have had a reply from the managing director of west coast virgin who are looking into it. so there is hope.

    discovered the previous train was cancelled so two lots of passengers on one extended train plus Xmas cases of gifts! a recipe for disaster.

    virgin unlike greater Anglia we are used to don't put reserved tickets on seats so you can't tell if they are reserved or not. so as a whole previous train load of people now with no reserved seats were still claiming their seats it was a bun-fight!

    Will let you know if anything develops. suffice to say it was a very unpleasant 253 miles!
  • cookie365
    cookie365 Posts: 1,809 Forumite
    You've never been on a Virgin WC train have you? There are displays above the seats showing reservation status.

    At least there are on actual real trains. Not sure about ones that don't actually exist ;)
  • Tumtitums
    Tumtitums Posts: 310
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    surfsister wrote: »
    Hi guys happy new year! We had the train journey to hell Christmas eve from Euston to Lancaster standing until Preston then we got seats only to be shifted when some new people got on insisting they were their seats! No proof of course! The train must have been at much more than legal and safe capacity as 10 first class carriages had 2nd class passengers and people were standing in every doorway and cases were everywhere. There was no access through the carriages to the loo or buffet car. (when the northern guard took over he was very angry!!! bit different to the virgin chappie).

    Reminded us of a cattle truck!! But the rspca would have been more use than the virgin ticket chap.

    Emailed Dicky Branson but just got a standard fobbing off email! so much for his biography the customer is always right!! ha!

    Have written to his ivory towers battleship place but any idea how to contact him???

    Overcrowding happens all the time up and down the country but i imagine all you will get is a thank you and a reminder that you can claim compensation if the train is 30mins late
    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 also very disrespectful as well and there is never a customer service person around to assist in these cases. Its made quite clear that you can reserve seats on virgin (FOR FREE) when you book so why did you not do this ??? if you dont then you shouldnt start complaining when someone asks you to move from a seat you didnt reserve and they did
  • Tumtitums
    Tumtitums Posts: 310
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    cookie365 wrote: »
    You've never been on a Virgin WC train have you? There are displays above the seats showing reservation status.

    At least there are on actual real trains. Not sure about ones that don't actually exist ;)

    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
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