Great Western Coffee Shop

Ok... Now I am exceptionally cheesed off!

I was at Telford today attempting to get to London. Now normally I would have gone W&S but I finished in Telford alot earlier than planned. So I caught the bus down to Telford station... I had a valid ticket to Wolverhampton already so I used that to get to Wolverhampton.

I then got to Wolverhampton but only had 10 minutes to make my connection. (Which is a valid connection) So I sought advice from a helpful member of staff on the platform who said that it was not a problem to buy tickets on the train.

However the guard on the train wasn't so helpful. He insisted on charging me the full Anytime Fare with no railcard, despite being told that I could buy on the train... Now normally I wouldn't be too bothered, but considering the normal price would have been ^10.90 compared to the ^70 he charged me... That is a little frustrating!

I'm not expecting any sympathy here but is there anything I can do to appeal this as I was told that it was ok (by a member of staff) to buy tickets on the train...?!


Maybe I'm having a bad day... again... had alot of those recent :(

Hope everyone is having a good bank holiday weekend!

TT

Complain to Virgin. They ought to refund it you, mainly due to the fact that the member of staff gave wrong advice however that is not your fault!

But *did* you get incorrect info?....

Was your questiuon "Can I buy my ticket on the train?".....or "I have a xxx railcard - can I buy a discounteds ticket on this train?".....

To get the right answer, you have to give full info in the question.

Personally, I have never heard anyone ask the latter question - people don't seem to realise that this is necessary until it's too late & they're on the train....

Of course, you might have given your friendly station assistant all the info requiredto get a sensible answer....

Ohhh it gets worse...  And now I'm really p***ed off!!

There was no at seat 1st service on board... Staff shortages apparently. But that not what I'm annoyed about now... The TM said an anytime ticket includes a free weekend first upgrade... Well I had to spend 20 minutes arguing with the CSA in the onboard shop that I am entitled to complimentaries! Well she only gave in when I spoke with the train manager and got him to confirm with her that I was correct >:( then I went to the first class lounge and dealt with a very patronising women who said more or less the same thing as the lass on the train!!

If I remember rightly you have a DSB railcard, which would make the information the platform staff gave you correct (in my mind at least).
The way I was taught was that holders of disabled persons railcards should be permitted to use their railcards to purchase tickets on board as not all booking offices are fully accessible and that the extra time taken due to mobility / sight problems when going to the booking office may mean the railcard holder misses the train they were intending to travel on.
I know it doesn't say that in the railcard terms and conditions but NRCoC states: Special arrangements may apply if you are disabled. You will find details of these arrangements in each Train Company's 'Disabled People's Protection Policy'.

VT's protection policy states the following:
2.5 The Disabled Person‟s Railcard will continue to be valid for purchasing reduced price travel for the holder and an accompanying adult on all Virgin trains.
and
3.1.16 In training provided to on train staff, they are advised to use their discretion with disabled customers who, due to their disability, have been unable to buy a ticket before boarding the train, to allow them to use their Railcard.

Hope this helps,
RTS

PS: Couple of replies since I started typing so I'll carry on:
3.3.11 Our on-board staff will be happy to serve refreshments at seat to disabled customers unable to visit the Shop.

[Edited for typos]

THe lass on the train was obviously wrong, but unless Virgin have changed their rules, neither Weekend First Upgrades nor First Advance are valid in their lounges....

First Advances are allowed in the Euston lounge. I have done so twice over the last couple of years.

Not sure about Weekend First. But surely if you have a First Class ticket, you are allowed in the First Class lounge?!

AsI said, it wasn't long ago that First Advance wasn't allowed in the lounges....I'm pretty sure Weekend First still aren't.

You're expected to pay the premium....

From Virgin Trains (http://www.virgintrains.co.uk/routes-stations/first-class-lounges/)' website:


Anyone know what a First Open ticket is?  ;)

YES!

SADLY!

However I do know that weekend first is valid in the birmingham vermin lounges

In hindsight, you really should've hung around and got the WSMR service into Marylebone. A train company that knows how to do Customer Service.

FA, my question was slightly hypothetical..... because to my mind First Opens haven't been sold by any rail company since 7th Sept 2008.

Edited for typo  ::)

Don't think they are - I had that discussion with their Customer Service team only a month ago.

Edit: When is that lounge open at weekends???

New Street 1st Class lounge is open 8am-6pm on Sat and 10am-6pm on Sun.

I thought that you would know better!

I've used at New Street