The Weekly Gripe

Gripes the News
The Soapbox
Gripes in the pipes
*

Problems booking tickets on thetrainline.com

164 comments  Add a comment

I "bought" a 1st class Apex return from Bristol to London advertised at £46.50 online only to receive tickets for a standard saver return through the post.

I appreciate this seemed like a good deal (perhaps too good to be true) but between me pressing the correct buttons i.e. next to the 1st class Apex text (which showed up through out the rest of the online booking, so I knew I had selected the correct product) on the page and me receiving my ticket.

theTrainline.com took it upon themselves to not give me what I ordered nor inform me that this was either not available or the incorrect price.

I have to say that I'm not entirely pleased with the way all this has gone, in fact I only looked at theTrainline.com in the first place because a colleague said he had booked a 1st class Apex return for the same day between Neath and London for £56.   So I am not the only one who saw good value 1st class rail tickets offered on the Trainline web site.  Phew! Thank god for their customer service - "No madam, you are mistaken, that cannot possibly have happened" Arrgh... it did happen, don't you just hate being called a liar?

Problems booking train tickets online with theTrainline.com I for one won't be using theTrainline.com in the future because as far as I can see they made a mistake and refused to admit that they did!  To add insult to injury they will now charge me an additional £10 to cancel the ticket that they screwed up in the first place.  My colleague received the correct 1st class tickets, yet they messed up big time with mine... what a farce!

Thanks for letting me having a moan and get this off my chest!

By Maz


Leave a comment

First Prev 1/11 Next Last

Andy

Andy

Same moan, £10 taken off me too. I just don't trust Trainline and reading the stories I am definitely never booking again, coach was half the price anyway and the service is better.
12/02/20 Andy
1
Angus

Angus

My tickets to spurs home games repeatedly being rejected by the barrier machines
26/08/19 Angus
-1
Ronnie Renaldo

Ronnie Renaldo

I had previously Booked thru Trainline on 3 previous occasions,without any problem.
Then they suddenly decided to CHANGE their site.God knows why?
Inadvertantly I managed to buy a Ticket that could only be Downloaded
onto a MOBILE,which I & my Wife do not possess.
OK so we are an elderly couple,trying to keep up with today's technology.
But nobody takes this into account! Apart from all the inconvenience involved,
these overpaid young graduates who constantly change their Internet Sites
usually do it for one reason,viz TO CONFUSE THE PUBLIC & MAKE MORE MONEY.
Will Never Use Trainline again. Apart from the Distress it Caused my wife ,especially as she was Visiting London to see a Relative Having Chemotheraphy ,combined with the
Unhelpfulness of some of the Staff at Newark Northgate & having to Pay an Additional
£27 for the same Ticket. TRAINLINE NOTE
It's Back to the Only Reliable Way to Travel these days. BY CAR.
Furthermore, If Inclined who do
I sue or Claim From : Trainline,Network Rail or Virgin. ? But of Course they Treat us
all with contempt & believe they have it all sown up,until they get too complacent & clever
as they invariably do & C--k it all up!
22/03/17 Ronnie Renaldo
0
Frustrated

Frustrated

They charge a ten pound admin fee if you want a refund before you travel. All for entering everything yourself online and then electronically down loading the ticket. Complete rip off. Then you can't unlock your tickets from one device to another, and after trying numerous times to contact them and being redirected until Google said no chance I have just given up.

I won't be using them again.
16/09/16 Frustrated
0
PilotB

PilotB

Have had similar issues recently. They did not send me my return ticket, and are now calling me a liar! Awful, awful customer service. I will not be using them again.
29/04/14 PilotB
1
steve

steve

i looked at the train line for split tickets [its the way to get cheap tickets]1single ticket in jan14 plymouth to taunton trainline£37 looked on line national rail £8-90 you can then go to the local station and pay and pick up tickets what a rip of train line are
29/10/13 steve
3
Flying Scotsman

Flying Scotsman

Had e-tickets to go down to London to look after our grandchildren. My husband was rushed to hospital and as he wasn't fit to travel I contacted "TRAINLINE" to cancel our tickets. I was put on hold on the phone while the advisor spoke to his line manager. Finally, I was told that as the tickets were "e-tickets" there was no way they could be refunded. He then explained that East Coast e-tickets were refundable but Glasgow to London weren't. This is not made clear when booking. My husband and I are Pensioners and losing £110.00 is hard in this time of austerity. It's hard to believe that if they were unable to refund these tickets that a Credit Voucher could not be offered. It would be interesting to know how many times this issue arises and who is getting all this money for nothing! TRAINLINE customer care is very poor. The fact these e-tickets are not refundable is not prominent when booking. No explanation as to why East Coast e-tickets are refundable and other routes aren't. Very confusing! Hope my gripe warns other fellow travellers to say "No" to E-Ticket option! I will certainly not book again through TRAINLINE.
15/05/13 Flying Scotsman
2
ANGEL

ANGEL

PLEASE PLEASE DO YOURSELF A FAVOUR AND DO NOT USE TRAINLINE.COM. THEY ARE UNPROFESSIONAL, DO NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY AND KEEP YOU WAITING ON THE PHONE WHICH COSTS YOU A FORTUNE. EVEN IF IT MEANS PAYING A BIT EXTRA THROUGH ANOTHER COMPANY. AVOID THIS COMPANY AT ALL COSTS. C
10/11/12 ANGEL
-4
40 minutes of MOH

40 minutes of MOH

My experience is bittersweet. I booked tickets, and they arrived quickly! However, they had sat our group of 7 in different carriages on the the reserved seat trains!! They have now kindly changing our seats for FREE, (though I originally phoned sunday got told they would phone LATEST by tuesday, it is now Thursday and I phoned them!). Oddly enough my initial price was £307 but I was only charged £293? so no complaint on price!!

All in all a 3* company advertising as a 5*
24/03/11 40 minutes of MOH
-6
anorada

anorada

I ordered my train tickets online 2 days ago and still do NOT have the booking confirmation to my email. I do not agress with you charging 3.50 for online booking! Terrible.
When will you send my confirmation? Glad I have an extra day to figure this out myself...Bogus!
09/12/10 anorada
1
unhappy

unhappy

There website states they look for the cheapest groupsave tickets and then they don't
18/10/10 unhappy
8
Mona

Mona

My gripe is the @**$ing Trainline.com website takes forever & a day to work. Somedays it would be quicker to walk by the time the site has gone through all its stages. Phew, feel better already. Great website!!
28/09/10 Mona
-22
Terry

Terry

I would boycott Trainline if I were you. I have one and only one method of booking tickets in advance: the ticket office.
17/08/10 Terry
4
GMAC

GMAC

MyTrain.ticket they worst online booking service I have ever used.
I have booked online for a number of years as I work off shore so go regularly on long train journeys.
But I have to say if your booking online DONOT BOOK with Mytrain.ticket.co.uk they are by far the worst , on their website they have advertised an any time fully flexible/fully refundable ticket you pay a bit more because it is fully flexible Ideal as I sometimes require to travel either late on a tuesday or early wensday morning.
But it was ANYTHING but flexible only useable on day of stated travel and refund takes 28 DAYS with the added cheek of a £10 charge. So I contacted customer services to try and amend the booking , Customer service an Absolute disgrace no help, very cheeky and with the added bonus of a £10 charge. I have booked online before and once I contacted customer services with other companies and had nothing but a helpfull and friendly service.
Need less to say I wont use them again and will not berecommending there services to any one in the end it cost me more in time and money than it would have just to pay at station.
20/07/10 GMAC
13
Mon

Mon

Virgin is jsut a master in ripping its customers off the money! I bought my ticket online for the very same price as if I bought it over the phone. I could not make a trip and was told that e-tickets are non-refundable and non-changable, but if I booked over the phone (exactly the same price), they would happily change my journey. Yes, Virgin, we got your point. It is so easy to overlook your funny condition for online users and so easy to rip your customers who happened to change their travelling plans off the money. What a customer service! Or...expensive price = poor customer service?
20/07/10 Mon
5

First Prev 1/11 Next Last

FEATURES

Gripes the News
Gripes in the pipes
The Soapbox
spinner