In retrospect, I ought to have known better than to trust anything that Branson man does, but Virgin trains are the cheapest (and only) option for me to get to visit my other half (I don’t drive, and a flight would take just as long but be twice as expensive).
So, on Monday I booked tickets that would take me to see my beau at the end of September. Except the website timed out on me and gave me all sorts of stupid errors, and eventually took me back to the start page. So, I assumed that no ticket had been booked. WRONG! The tickets have been booked, my credit card charged, and the fucking tickets have been sent to a nonsensical address, which means that I have no hope in hell of getting them.
So, I did what any normal person does, I rung up customer support. After being on hold for what seemed like an eternity, I got to speak to a human being. I rather rationally explained the problem, and was there any way that it could be fixed. His response, “Sorry, no, its an automated process, you’ll have to cancel the tickets and rebook. There will be a charge of £7.50 (almost HALF the ticket price) for this.” What the fuck??? There is no way I am paying stupid amounts of money because you lot are so fucking incompetant. Its not my fault. I haven’t decided to change my plans. Its your fucking website.
Argh! This was supposed to be my holiday, my 4 days away from my office and my work, so that I could actually have a bloody break (I haven’t even had a weekend off since the beginning of August.) I haven’t seen my boyfriend for over a month, I’m stressed, and this was the last straw. I’m currently in tears because I can’t cope with the hassle anymore.
The tickets had already been paid for. I’ve managed to sort it out now, and they’re going to refund my old tickets at no extra charge, and I can book new ones.
They do indeed suck. I mean I even threatened them with the rail regulator, and the chit of a girl answering the phone, just kept on reading from a script. And she wouldn’t put me through to her supervisor!
Virgin trains are indeed inappropriately named. They suck many many anatomical parts. They spontaneously sent a ticket to my friend, which she had not in any way ordered, claimed that their website could on no account have possibly made an error, and only agreed to refund her money when she was able to prove she was on a flight, actually in the air, when the ticket was booked. I’m glad you managed to get your tickets sorted out, but they really need to either sort out their website, or stop insisting it’s infallible and that any errors must CLEARLY be the fault of the customer, possibly in a drug-addled state that he or she can no longer remember.
My Virgin Trains story is unsuited for the Pit as it’s a good news story.
Two friends of mine booked a tickets to the west coast of Scotland to catch a ferry to Mull (or some other island, it was a while ago). The train got into Glasgow about an hour late, which meant they missed their connection. Missing the connection meant thay were going to miss the ferry. Luckily, there was a Virgin rep on the platform, looking for people who were in exactly that situation. The rep put them in a taxi and they were whisked off across the Scottish countryside for around two hours) and Virgin picked up the tab. That’s pretty good customer service.
Has anyone else noticed that Virgin trains stink? I mean literally stink - of sewage?
They’ve got these new, automated lavatories, the kind where you have to press a button to open the door, press another to shut, another to lock, etc. (is it really such a chore to have to open a door manually, anyway?) But the complex technological bit about disposing the waste-products is beyond them. The result - a filthy miasma of urine and shit hangs about the carriages throughout the journey. It’s not just one or two faulty trains either - I’m obliged to use them regularly.
Given that Sir Dicky is both taking the piss and full of shit, perhaps we shouldn’t be overly surprised.
Anyhoo . . . the above is splendidly descriptive. I suggest Virgin should be forced to use it in all their promotional literature for at least 12 months.
And I’m glad the OP got herself sorted - have a nice time and fill yer boots.
I’d have to disagree with you there. I think Connex are the single best argument against privatisation of the railways. Well, they were until the government revoked their franchise anyway…
