Virgin Gateline at Euston

[jumble]

Young Son booked for a visit to his Young lady Friend with advances
Gets to Euston just in time but find his rail card has expired and does not have enough time to buy another before his train leaves
What does the gateline do?
They told him if he bought another he could travel on the next train
He did and I spoke to the gateline person on the phone who assured me that they would advise the train manager to let him travel.
He had no issues
From this we can take away
Despite their reputation the Gate line staff at Euston can be helpful and I am surprised and very appreciative ( a ticket allowing immediate travel would have been just under £60.00 )
They have the discretion to allow travel on a non booked train
It is much better to fix the problem before boarding a train

 

[Intermodal]

I've never had any poor experiences with the gateline at Euston, even when using questionable tickets. Nobody complains about a good experience. With certainty there are problems at the Euston gateline but it is not to say that they are completely incompetent.

 

[yorkie]

That's good to hear.

Gatelines like Euston and Paddington are notorious for poor experiences but of course not all staff there are bad; it only takes a small proportion of bad apples to give a place a terrible reputation.

I still maintain there are insufficient safeguards in place to ensure staff are acting appropriately but I agree that most of the time people are treated reasonably.

 

[D.K.TAYLOR]

That's good to hear.

Gatelines like Euston and Paddington are notorious for poor experiences but of course not all staff there are bad; it only takes a small proportion of bad apples to give a place a terrible reputation.

I still maintain there are insufficient safeguards in place to ensure staff are acting appropriately but I agree that most of the time people are treated reasonably.

I have found the gate staff to be quite harsh with treatment of passengers myself l have not had any problems but seeing and hearing about them this is also from other Virgin staff who have told me they do it deliberately to anger the passengers

 

[Deafdoggie]

My teenage step-daughter was travelling Stafford-Selly Oak. She was told at Stafford “It’s the London Euston train” which is correct, but instead of the LNR Euston train, she got on the Virgin Euston one! First stop Euston! She only became aware (The automated onboard announcements simply said “Welcome on board this service to London Euston” & she just assumed they didn’t announce other stops) when her phone showed her as being on the side of Birmingham!
I got a panicked phone call from her at this point. I advised speaking to the train manager, when she said she didn’t know where they were, I said to go to the shop, explain there and they would sort it out. She poured out the story (possibly a bit tearfully and certainly panicky!) to the shop assistant, who gave her a free bottle of water to calm her and got the TM
The TM issued a free excess ticket Euston-Selly Oak, told her the times and platform at Euston and all was well.
On arrival at Euston the gateline staff were checking tickets, saw her free excess ticket, and said words to the effect of “we were trying to find you!” took her to the correct platform, got her on the correct train before boarding commenced and told her what platform she would arrive on, and what platform she would depart from, and even to remember there were two Birmingham stations and to wait for New Street!
I couldn’t fault any Virgin staff, least of all Euston gateline.

 

[furlong]

Maybe there should be a 'Thanks and Appreciation' forum to provide some balance against 'Disputes and Prosecution'.

 

[some bloke]

Maybe there should be a 'Thanks and Appreciation' forum to provide some balance against 'Disputes and Prosecution'.

Seconded.

 

[Joe Paxton]

I think at least three times when travelling out of Euston on a Friday evening with a group of people, the staff at the barrier have been helpful in holding on to tickets for members of the group who weren't there in time. I think once the rest of us got on the train to secure our seats and the latecomers made it just in time, another occasion the stragglers ended up getting a later train, and another time a friend mistakenly went to King's Cross instead of Euston - he made it after an epic sprint down the Euston Road.

On each occasion they could have declined to help (which wouldn't have been totally unreasonable on a busy Friday evening), but they didn't.

 

[Starmill]

Maybe there should be a 'Thanks and Appreciation' forum to provide some balance against 'Disputes and Prosecution'.

Seconded.

I would suggest that thanks and appreciation are best directed to the customer relations departments of the companies involved in their first instance. The positive thought is welcomed, however!

 

[gazthomas]

My teenage step-daughter was travelling Stafford-Selly Oak. She was told at Stafford “It’s the London Euston train” which is correct, but instead of the LNR Euston train, she got on the Virgin Euston one! First stop Euston! She only became aware (The automated onboard announcements simply said “Welcome on board this service to London Euston” & she just assumed they didn’t announce other stops) when her phone showed her as being on the side of Birmingham!
I got a panicked phone call from her at this point. I advised speaking to the train manager, when she said she didn’t know where they were, I said to go to the shop, explain there and they would sort it out. She poured out the story (possibly a bit tearfully and certainly panicky!) to the shop assistant, who gave her a free bottle of water to calm her and got the TM
The TM issued a free excess ticket Euston-Selly Oak, told her the times and platform at Euston and all was well.
On arrival at Euston the gateline staff were checking tickets, saw her free excess ticket, and said words to the effect of “we were trying to find you!” took her to the correct platform, got her on the correct train before boarding commenced and told her what platform she would arrive on, and what platform she would depart from, and even to remember there were two Birmingham stations and to wait for New Street!
I couldn’t fault any Virgin staff, least of all Euston gateline.

That's a really lovely story to read on a dark, drizzly evening

 

[some bloke]

I would suggest that thanks and appreciation are best directed to the customer relations departments of the companies involved in their first instance. The positive thought is welcomed, however!

I can't speak for @furlong, but I'm guessing the functions might be different. For example, suggesting to people that they copy and paste their (redacted if appropriate) emails of praise, to a forum might encourage other people to write similar ones, as well as encouraging staff/managers in other companies to be helpful.