Trainline refusing refund on MTicket

[Elecman]

my daughters boyfriend has booked tickets via the Trainline ( yes I know I need to educate him!) to travel to/ from Manchester on Northern this Saturday ( booked 4 weeks ago before the Saturday strike# were announced) the Trainline will only refund him less a £10 admin fee. Isn’t this agianst the NCoT? In that because of the strikes he’s not able to travel he’s entitled to a full refund without admin fee?

 

[Gareth Marston]

Absolutely Trainline are being complete idiots.

 

[Haywain]

And because they are Trainline. I would expect the same of them regardless of it being an m-ticket.

 

[_toommm_]

my daughters boyfriend has booked tickets via the Trainline ( yes I know I need to educate him!) to travel to/ from Manchester on Northern this Saturday ( booked 4 weeks ago before the Saturday strike# were announced) the Trainline will only refund him less a £10 admin fee. Isn’t this agianst the NCoT? In that because of the strikes he’s not able to travel he’s entitled to a full refund without admin fee?

Did he just press on the refund button? If so, the system won't associate a Northern refund with a strike day. Phone them up - back when I was naive and used them, they refunded an M-ticket when a storm was causing havoc on the ECML (this was two years ago, but I doubt it has changed drastically)

 

[AlterEgo]

Did he just press on the refund button? If so, the system won't associate a Northern refund with a strike day. Phone them up - back when I was naive and used them, they refunded an M-ticket when a storm was causing havoc on the ECML (this was two years ago, but I doubt it has changed drastically)

This.

 

[_toommm_]

This.

Finally managed to say something correct! Like to thank my mum..... etc.

 

[Elecman]

Thank you all, No idea what he did, but he has now received a full refund after mentioning the NCoT. And has been educated by the daughter in Never Ever booking via them again.

 

[Gareth Marston]

Apart from Excess fares and pointing out the hidden costs / pitfalls of using them there is little staff at stations/ on board can do to help Trainline Customers with problems.

I work in a rural area and I've had people turn up having driven many miles expecting a manned station to sort out their internet purchases. 96% of all tickets can be bought on the day of travel there's really no no need to "book" tickets on the Internet from a third party.

 

[_toommm_]

Apart from Excess fares and pointing out the hidden costs / pitfalls of using them there is little staff at stations/ on board can do to help Trainline Customers with problems.

I work in a rural area and I've had people turn up having driven many miles expecting a manned station to sort out their internet purchases. 96% of all tickets can be bought on the day of travel there's really no no need to "book" tickets on the Internet from a third party.

I suspect part of it is because of the Trainline advertising proclaiming you can save x%. People not in the know will have bought a flexible, full price ticket at the station before, then gone online and seen advance fares, which, in their eyes, follows the strapline. They won't realise you're comparing two completely different ticket types, and they won't realise that booking fees now aren't the norm.

 

[Gareth Marston]

I suspect part of it is because of the Trainline advertising proclaiming you can save x%. People not in the know will have bought a flexible, full price ticket at the station before, then gone online and seen advance fares, which, in their eyes, follows the strapline. They won't realise you're comparing two completely different ticket types, and they won't realise that booking fees now aren't the norm.

Being a station agent I do have vested interest in understanding why people opt to buy on the Internet and not having a TVM here I do see what's ' Collected by TOD. I can confidently say that ease of sorting out problems is almost completely overlooked. It always amazes me when we get a collector who then wants to ask piles of questions about their ticket / journey they almost get over excited that there's a person to ask yet they've gone out there way to try and destroy the customer service presence they want.

 

[Puffing Devil]

96% of all tickets can be bought on the day of travel there's really no no need to "book" tickets on the Internet from a third party.

96%??

 

[_toommm_]

Being a station agent I do have vested interest in understanding why people opt to buy on the Internet and not having a TVM here I do see what's ' Collected by TOD. I can confidently say that ease of sorting out problems is almost completely overlooked. It always amazes me when we get a collector who then wants to ask piles of questions about their ticket / journey they almost get over excited that there's a person to ask yet they've gone out there way to try and destroy the customer service presence they want.

For me at least (my most frequented station is Manchester Picc) it's the sluggish service, the can't do attitude, and the general cluelessness of most of the public regarding off peak, period returns etc.

And that TPE give me 50% off with my Railcard instead of 33% for a flow I use everyday - this being online only.

 

[Gareth Marston]

96%??

Only 4% of all journeys are on Advance Purchase Tickets. Seasons, off peak, anytime, Rangers and rovers can all be bought on the day of travel for the same price as buying ahead. The biggest myth / misconception about rail tickets in the UK surrounds believing that you must book ahead and that you automatically get a discount by booking ahead and/ or buying off the Internet.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Personally, I book online on the VTWC site in order to avail myself of a reservation for Coach A, seat 45, this being the best Standard seat on a Pendolino in my view. Prior to the seat selector I used to just use the TVM as I mostly buy walk-ups. For work I purchase online through our corporate system as I am mandated to do so.

 

[sheff1]

96% of all tickets can be bought on the day of travel there's really no no need to "book" tickets on the Internet from a third party.

I take it you are excluding the buying of tickets at stations such as Sheffield. For many tickets there is most definitely a need to book on the internet if you want to be sure of actually getting what you require. Admittedly, this can be done on the day of travel, even whilst standing by the TVMs next to the booking office where staff claim the ticket cannot be sold / does not exist.

 

[_toommm_]

I take it you are excluding the buying of tickets at stations such as Sheffield. For many tickets there is most definitely a need to book on the internet if you want to be sure of actually getting what you require. Admittedly, this can be done on the day of travel, even whilst standing by the TVMs next to the booking office where staff claim the ticket cannot be sold / does not exist.

Buying a ticket, correctly, at Sheffield, with no hassle or fuss?

Don't be so stupid. Put your posts in the speculative ideas thread if you're going to talk drivel.

 

[paddington]

I have actually started using the trainline recently, now that there is no credit card fee, because some of my credit cards have special offers which give me cashback worth more than their booking fee. And I also get additional cashback from a cashback portal.

When there is no trainline offer I use EMT as they have reliably paid 1% cashback on all my tickets (higher rate on EMT services), even for walkup tickets. Otherwise it's VTWC for seat selection and formerly VTEC (only LNER train I have taken had become non-reservable at the time I booked).

However, back on topic, I may prefer to use ticket offices if I foresee a need to change or refund a ticket.

 

[dcbwhaley]

Buying at the station means you have to get there fifteen minutes before the train leaves to allow for the queue of people who, typically, can't remember their inside leg measurement when buying a weekly season ticket, or have long arguments about why they can't send an unaccompanied kangaroo to Mallaig.

With an m-ticket you can arrive as the train pulls in.

 

[pdsalford]

For me at least (my most frequented station is Manchester Picc) it's the sluggish service, the can't do attitude, and the general cluelessness of most of the public regarding off peak, period returns etc.

Same for me with most Northern Rail ticket offices. Add to that you can never predict whether the office will be open, even during advertised opening hours

 

[skifans]

I work in a rural area and I've had people turn up having driven many miles expecting a manned station to sort out their internet purchases. 96% of all tickets can be bought on the day of travel there's really no no need to "book" tickets on the Internet from a third party.

Theres always going to be lots of different cases for different individuals. But personally, if I book undiscouted Off Peak/Anytime tickets online a week in advance through TPE they will post me the tickets along with a plusbus for free. Getting the plusbus represents a reasonable saving for me in getting to the station and lowers the overall price of the journey, and at the moment I'm not really aware of another alternative. Added bonus of it means im more likely to get a seat reservation. Theres lots of individual reasons for different people and journeys and different reasons to book or not.

 

[Gareth Marston]

Theres always going to be lots of different cases for different individuals. But personally, if I book undiscouted Off Peak/Anytime tickets online a week in advance through TPE they will post me the tickets along with a plusbus for free. Getting the plusbus represents a reasonable saving for me in getting to the station and lowers the overall price of the journey, and at the moment I'm not really aware of another alternative. Added bonus of it means im more likely to get a seat reservation. Theres lots of individual reasons for different people and journeys and different reasons to book or not.

For the minority who know how it works and take advantage of their knowledge there are many times more normal punters who don't and get caught out, pay more than theyneed to, spend more time and effort to get tickets than they need to. I had a bloke make a special journey to town today to collect his Trainline bought off peak return plus booking fee as he was worried he would "lose the price he saw it at".