My sister recently planned on getting the train from Newcastle to London Kings Cross. She had bought her ticket in advance. On arrival at Newcastle train station, 20 minutes before her train, she tried to collect her ticket from the machine but it did not print. My sister obviously approached the information desk for assistance, and received abuse from 'T', who accused my sister of swearing, my mother of lying, and threatened both of them, even calling over the security guard.
Thankfully, 'N' gave my sister a ticket which would permit her to travel on that day and sort out the problem at a later date. Both N and the train guard assured my sister that she would not have to pay for this ticket, as she had already paid for this online.
East Coast Trains subsequently issued my sister with a demand for payment for this ticket, so my mother wrote to them advising of the mitigating circumstances and explaining that my sister had already purchased a ticket for this journey. She received a letter in response informing her that this was out of the control of East Coast. My sister appealed against the fine and demand for payment issues by Revenue Protection Support Services, including the booking confirmation for the original ticket which was denied. She consequently received a summons for criminal proceedings, the maximum penalty of which is a £1000 fine and/or 3 months imprisonment.
We are now out of pocket due to East Coast's blunder. How can we contact anyone at East Coast to discuss this problem? Is there anything we can do about this?
I have attempted to gain action or contact with the relevant people by using East Coast's Twitter and Facebook pages, but received an email in response informing me that East Coast will not action because I did not originate the complaint. I have asked East Coast, via the social networking sites, to contact my mother instead, at her email address, but I am not hopeful.
Is there anything we can do to discuss this?
Thankfully, 'N' gave my sister a ticket which would permit her to travel on that day and sort out the problem at a later date. Both N and the train guard assured my sister that she would not have to pay for this ticket, as she had already paid for this online.
East Coast Trains subsequently issued my sister with a demand for payment for this ticket, so my mother wrote to them advising of the mitigating circumstances and explaining that my sister had already purchased a ticket for this journey. She received a letter in response informing her that this was out of the control of East Coast. My sister appealed against the fine and demand for payment issues by Revenue Protection Support Services, including the booking confirmation for the original ticket which was denied. She consequently received a summons for criminal proceedings, the maximum penalty of which is a £1000 fine and/or 3 months imprisonment.
We are now out of pocket due to East Coast's blunder. How can we contact anyone at East Coast to discuss this problem? Is there anything we can do about this?
I have attempted to gain action or contact with the relevant people by using East Coast's Twitter and Facebook pages, but received an email in response informing me that East Coast will not action because I did not originate the complaint. I have asked East Coast, via the social networking sites, to contact my mother instead, at her email address, but I am not hopeful.
Is there anything we can do to discuss this?
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