@AvantiWestCoast denied me entry with valid @CrossCountryUK ticket, *** Resolved Ticket cost reimbursed***

[Kyosanto]

For the first time since covid I took the train instead of the car to get to the airport. Do the planet a good deed they said... The result is not a success...

 

• -Purchased an Open Return, Nottingham to Birmingham International, from Cross Country.
• -I intended to break the journey at Birmingham New Street overnight, then resume it the following morning, so prior to purchase I asked Cross Country customer service if this was allowed. They explicitly said it was okay and gave me a link to the following fare rule:  National Rail Enquiries - 2V
• -I completed the first part of the leg without issues, come the following day, my ticket get rejected at the gate. I hail the gate agent for help, who tells me bluntly my ticket is invalid.
• -I tell the gentleman surely that's not possible and attempt to show him the messenger conversation and the 2v fare rule on my mobile phone.
• -His reply is to tell me he is going to have me removed from the station by security as I'm causing trouble. (I had not even raised my voice). He then proceeds to talk on his walkie talkie,  so instead of staying to see what will happen I head to the ticket office.
• -The gentleman there accepts to see my mobile phone with the fare rule, but after some time fiddling with his computer says "Sorry mate I haven't a clue" and says all he can do is sell me another ticket at regular price. Keen to avoid trouble and get my train, I buy the ticket.
• -I complained to Cross Country on messenger and asked them to reimburse the 2nd ticket, as well as let them know about the abusive gate agent. They replied that AvantiWestCoast is responsible for this station and I should address my complaint to them. They also confirmed once again that my ticket was still valid and I should have been let in.
• -I emailed CS at AvantiWestCoast with the same complaint, asking for the refund + letting them know about their abusive gate agent.
• -The reply was a very tone deaf mix of corporate templates. They denied the refund on the ground that "Customers are informed prior to purchase of the fare conditions", following by some condescending explanation about why, according to their rules, overnight journey breaks are not permitted.
• -How they addressed the complaint about their gate agent behaving like a bully was yet worse. They said they are passionate about their customers (lol), but the agent acted according to company policy here so did nothing wrong. They will however pass my feedback directly to "the relevant staff" to see how they can improve their service. What an absolute joke. I think this is a result of using a template reply, but you can imagine how happy I was to have them confirm in writing that it's their company policy to call security on customers who politely ask a question at the gate. Also you don't "pass feedback" to a bully.
• -Anyway I replied I was not impressed with how they treated my complaint, I attached the full Messenger conversation again to show that I was indeed well informed prior to making the purchase, and pointed out to them that under the 3rd party act I am allowed to claim reimbursement from them, as no matter what they claim I was evidently mis-sold the ticket.
• -They've been ignoring me now (4 days).

 

 

My next steps

1. Go back to Cross Country once more and ask them to intercede, since so far they've been the more helpful one.
2. After a few more days of no reply from AvantiWestCoast, send a final email, looping in the CEO for good measure. Maybe tweet about it to get some attention.
3. Letter of claim if they persist in denial.

 

 

Note that the amount for the extra train ticket is extremely small, talking under 10 quid. But I have this irrepressible need to see injustice repaired. If the staff had explained things politely without use of threats I probably even would have been okay with letting it go...

 

Can you please let me know if I have anything wrong here, in case I am blinded by my self-righteousness.

• I see this as a 120% chance of winning here. I was sold something based on a promise made in writing. That promise was a lie. There is no way I have no right to have my second ticket reimbursed here is there? 
• Could I claim for more than that? The entire fare perhaps! 
• Am I right to keep going for Avanti instead of CrossCountry?

 

thanks in advance

[BankFodder]

Everything you are saying sounds fine and makes sense.

You need to proceed against whoever it was who sold you the ticket

[Man in the middle]

Don't fanny about with customer service and call centres. Write to this bloke:

 

Tom Joyner,

Managing Director,

Cross Country,

Cannon House,

18 The Priory Queensway,

Birmingham,

B4 6BS.

 

Of course he won't answer it personally but he probably has a department which will ensure somebody addresses your issue properly instead of giving you the brush off.. 

[Kyosanto]

Mini-update.

 

Have written to the CEO of Cross Country via email, but got a generic reply from one of his blokes, and the reply is just as bad as Avanti's if not worse.

 

I'll paraphrase it by "Avanti is right about the fare rules (which means we were wrong about it and mislead you), but you bought the second ticket from them so it's not our problem"

 

I appreciate the logic. We told you our product would do ABC. The product just does AB. I had to buy C, but that's still not our problem.

 

The reply didn't mention anything about the gate agent's bullying. Swept that under the rug. Not their problem either.

 

I took the story to twitter now. Wonder if any media would be interested?

[Kyosanto]

A positive update:

 

Not sure if the tweet had anything to do with it, but I eventually received a positive reply from someone on the CEO team, and my ticket will be refunded. Perhaps yet better than my handful of quids, they have said to be looking into the issue that caused me such trouble

 

 

Quote

At the moment, we're continuing to follow up on the concerns you've raised, as it's evident that the messaging with regards to overnight breaks of journey is very confusing at present. As part of this, we are taking this up with industry colleagues in order to ensure there is clarity on this going forward, and this work is currently ongoing.

In the meantime, we recognise that you did everything you could to try and find out the answer before you travelled, and it's unfair that you should end up having had to pay for a new ticket because of the confusion. As a result, we'll be happy to reimburse you with the full value of the additional ticket you had to purchase in order to complete your journey.

 

 

As for the jerk who threatened me at BHM station, I'll just have to file it on the long list of passive aggressive british rail employees I've encountered.