Avanti Seat Reservations - unexpected response

[WesternLancer]

Hi - value the opinions of others, tho this is a minor matter

I have some tickets for a journey on AWC and noted this on their website. The Ticket is an Off Peak Return

To reserve train seats after booking, you just need to book your place by emailing [email protected]. Let us know your name, journey details and booking or ticket reference and let us know your preferences so we can organise a reservation for your journey.

SO I e-mailed with that info to book seats on 3 different trains (covering both outward and rtn travel)

Reply was unexpected:

Thank you for getting in touch with us to request a seat reservation.

After looking into the booking information you have provided us with, it appears that your tickets were purchased via a 3rd party ticket retailer.

As we were not the merchants of your ticket we will not be able to offer you an amendment for your journey on this occasion. You'll need to get in touch with the retailer of your ticket directly for advice on their amendment process.

Details in relation to the terms and conditions of tickets purchased from a 3rd party retailer can be found on our website at: https://www.avantiwestcoast.co.uk/help-and-support/refund-journey located under the ‘I bought my ticket from another retailer’ tab.

I apologise we are unable to assist you any further with this request and I hope you receive your amendment soon.

Tickets were indeed not bought from Avanti, but this response seems to relate to requests for refunds (and the link provided takes me to a refund page it seems to me).

Surely any operator can reserve seats against a valid ticket, esp a flexible ticket like an Off Peak etc?

I mean I could just go into any ticket office and show the staff the tickets that I have and they would reserve a seat if it was open for reservations (which I assume AWC are since it does not say they are not on their website) - which is what I now intend to do.

-Is there 'a rule' against this?
-Is it a case of people replying to e-mails without reading them?

It's not actually an amendment to an existing ticket because that was issued without reservations.

Certainly a lot more hassle (even if they would have changed it) than LNER's system where I have reserved seats on line for LNER services without even having a ticket (!) IE I reserve a seat on line a week or so ahead for my favourite seat, then buy a walk up ticket for the trip if I am going ahead with it, but would cancel the seat reservation if for any reason I opted not to travel.

Any thoughts?

 

[skyhigh]

Seems they've completely misunderstood what you wanted and thought it was an advance you were trying to change the time of or similar - I've never had any issue with other TOCs contacting them for a seat reservation no matter where the ticket was purchased. If you have Twitter/Facebook you might get a better response just by sending them a message and asking for a seat reservation.

 

[yorkie]

Yes they have misunderstood; you are not asking for an 'amendment'; a train company can issue reservations to anyone regardless of who you booked with.

I'd reply explaining this is a misunderstanding.

If it's convenient to do so, you could visit your local ticket office, who should be happy to do this for you.

 

[CheapAndNerdy]

I recently had an issue with trying to book reservations using the above email address.
In my case I had booked the tickets through Avanti (off-peak return). I had a reservation for the outward leg (made at the time of booking) and about a week before my return journey I requested a reservation for the return leg. I had done this several times previously without issue, but this time they didn't seem to understand what I wanted.

The first reply was "pleased" to tell me that I already had a reservation (for the outward journey, completed weeks earlier!). I replied that I wanted a reservation for my return journey. Their follow-up reply told me that they could not find a booking for that date and suggested that I might have used a 3rd party retailer. I informed them that I had an "open" return and asked for the matter to be escalated as a complaint. This they did, but no further contact since (2 weeks+)

As it happens there were plenty of seats in coach U (even though there was an automated station announcement that the train was very busy).

 

[WesternLancer]

I recently had an issue with trying to book reservations using the above email address.
In my case I had booked the tickets through Avanti (off-peak return). I had a reservation for the outward leg (made at the time of booking) and about a week before my return journey I requested a reservation for the return leg. I had done this several times previously without issue, but this time they didn't seem to understand what I wanted.

The first reply was "pleased" to tell me that I already had a reservation (for the outward journey, completed weeks earlier!). I replied that I wanted a reservation for my return journey. Their follow-up reply told me that they could not find a booking for that date and suggested that I might have used a 3rd party retailer. I informed them that I had an "open" return and asked for the matter to be escalated as a complaint. This they did, but no further contact since (2 weeks+)

As it happens there were plenty of seats in coach U (even though there was an automated station announcement that the train was very busy).

Sounds like the same issue - but I will reply and ask again as per advice on other threads - since I can do that now and go to the station tomorrow.

I have to say, and I don't want to seem rude, but what on earth is the point of paying people who are unable to understand the message you have sent them - when what you have done is follow the advise printed on their website. What is their recruitment process? Wouldn't you just do some tests based on real life scenarios and see if the candidate could understand the customer....

Yes they have misunderstood; you are not asking for an 'amendment'; a train company can issue reservations to anyone regardless of who you booked with.

I'd reply explaining this is a misunderstanding.

If it's convenient to do so, you could visit your local ticket office, who should be happy to do this for you.

Thanks Yorkie- I'll give it another go...

Seems they've completely misunderstood what you wanted and thought it was an advance you were trying to change the time of or similar - I've never had any issue with other TOCs contacting them for a seat reservation no matter where the ticket was purchased. If you have Twitter/Facebook you might get a better response just by sending them a message and asking for a seat reservation.

Thanks - but sorry not on Twitter or Facebook (tho I do wonder why would staff who read Twitter accounts be able to understand things more clearly than staff who are employed to read e-mails.... is the country going to the dogs / hell in a hand cart etc etc...

 

[Paul Kelly]

tho I do wonder why would staff who read Twitter accounts be able to understand things more clearly than staff who are employed to read e-mails

Don't know if it was a rhetorical question or not, but the obvious answer would be that replies on Twitter are often public therefore it's more embarrassing for the company if the staff make a stupid mistake, compared to replying to a private e-mail where they really don't care so much. Therefore they give better training to the staff responsible for Twitter. I'd really recommend using Twitter if you want more coherent answers.

 

[Merseysider]

Any thoughts?

Incompetence, laziness or both. Visiting a ticket office should be your first port of call now - ticket office staff generally have years of experience and will know exactly what you’re asking for.

 

[Kite159]

Incompetence, laziness or both. Visiting a ticket office should be your first port of call now - ticket office staff generally have years of experience and will know exactly what you’re asking for.

Assuming your local station has a ticket office which has suitable opening hours allowing someone to visit without a gamble of it being a wasted journey due to being closed unexpectedly

 

[WesternLancer]

Don't know if it was a rhetorical question or not, but the obvious answer would be that replies on Twitter are often public therefore it's more embarrassing for the company if the staff make a stupid mistake, compared to replying to a private e-mail where they really don't care so much. Therefore they give better training to the staff responsible for Twitter. I'd really recommend using Twitter if you want more coherent answers.

Thanks - no it was genuine question so your point is a helpful answer. Cheers.

Assuming your local station has a ticket office which has suitable opening hours allowing someone to visit without a gamble of it being a wasted journey due to being closed unexpectedly

Well this is an issue...when I was at station last saturday it had a notice on the door saying 'closed until further notice due to unforseen circumstances'....(am guessing maybe a covid related problem).

 

[yorkie]

Don't know if it was a rhetorical question or not, but the obvious answer would be that replies on Twitter are often public therefore it's more embarrassing for the company if the staff make a stupid mistake, compared to replying to a private e-mail where they really don't care so much. Therefore they give better training to the staff responsible for Twitter. I'd really recommend using Twitter if you want more coherent answers.

I think this is generally very true of the vast majority of companies, but sadly much less so for train companies, who in some cases don't seem to mind if their staff post disinformation on Twitter.

 

[Falcon1200]

As someone fortunate enough to have rail staff privilege travel I do not normally have to buy a ticket, and do not normally reserve seats either, but last year was left with no choice on many operators. Staff were instructed, just as per the OP, to e-mail Avanti to book a seat, but in my experience their system was completely useless: There was no comprehension that all I wanted was a seat reservation and already had a travel ticket. On one occasion I was told to phone to book a seat, so I did, however that person could also not understand that I did not want to buy a ticket ! In the end I gave up trying to reserve a seat on-line or by phone and resorted to going to Glasgow Central, where, I must say, the Avanti booking office staff could not have been more helpful.

In complete contrast, reserving seats on Cross Country (via Facebook) or LNER (via their own website) could not have been simpler.

 

[WesternLancer]

As someone fortunate enough to have rail staff privilege travel I do not normally have to buy a ticket, and do not normally reserve seats either, but last year was left with no choice on many operators. Staff were instructed, just as per the OP, to e-mail Avanti to book a seat, but in my experience their system was completely useless: There was no comprehension that all I wanted was a seat reservation and already had a travel ticket. On one occasion I was told to phone to book a seat, so I did, however that person could also not understand that I did not want to buy a ticket ! In the end I gave up trying to reserve a seat on-line or by phone and resorted to going to Glasgow Central, where, I must say, the Avanti booking office staff could not have been more helpful.

In complete contrast, reserving seats on Cross Country (via Facebook) or LNER (via their own website) could not have been simpler.

This is what annoys people - what seem to be false barriers between TOCs - general public would think if one operator can have a website where you can do this easily (eg LNER) why can't they all adopt the same software.....obv the structure makes it hard to achieve that but the passenger does not care.

Roll on GBR and lets hope they can do better.

 

[skyhigh]

Thanks - but sorry not on Twitter or Facebook (tho I do wonder why would staff who read Twitter accounts be able to understand things more clearly than staff who are employed to read e-mails.... is the country going to the dogs / hell in a hand cart etc etc...

I tend to find Facebook/Twitter is better for simple queries such as seat reservations that don't require investigation and a detailed response. It's also easier to correct any misunderstanding as you don't have to wait days for a reply.

 

[WesternLancer]

I tend to find Facebook/Twitter is better for simple queries such as seat reservations that don't require investigation and a detailed response. It's also easier to correct any misunderstanding as you don't have to wait days for a reply.

Good points (tho limited logical reason why - if you can devote time to replying immediately on twitter, you do the same to e-mails / written letters etc etc). Or in the case of my post you could simply do what your website says you will do when asked...

Tho I do take your point of course. Thanks.

 

[Deafdoggie]

I suspect that Twitter is replied to in-house, whilst the email is possibly outsourced & possibly to a company not based in the UK. This does create many misunderstandings! But it's cheaper.

 

[WesternLancer]

I suspect that Twitter is replied to in-house, whilst the email is possibly outsourced & possibly to a company not based in the UK. This does create many misunderstandings! But it's cheaper.

I suspect you may be right. But IMHO no point in having it if it can't be used properly. Better to do a ryaniair type option with no means to contact if you don't want to resource it properly. Otherwise you are just paying people to annoy your customers!

 

[Deafdoggie]

I suspect you may be right. But IMHO no point in having it if it can't be used properly. Better to do a ryaniair type option with no means to contact if you don't want to resource it properly. Otherwise you are just paying people to annoy your customers!

Totally agree. Although that in itself can lead to customer frustration at not being able to contact at all

 

[WesternLancer]

Totally agree. Although that in itself can lead to customer frustration at not being able to contact at all

Oh yes, fully agree of course.

Yes they have misunderstood; you are not asking for an 'amendment'; a train company can issue reservations to anyone regardless of who you booked with.

I'd reply explaining this is a misunderstanding.

If it's convenient to do so, you could visit your local ticket office, who should be happy to do this for you.

Just an update - I e-mailed them back that day to ask for this to be looked at again, saying I thought they had misunderstood. No reply sent to me before the departure of the train today.
Went to station yesterday (run by EMR who had not sold the tickets I might add) and reservations made over the counter as expected.

Clearly a waste of time e-mailing Avanti sadly.