East Midlands Internet Advance fares

[John @ home]

Earlier today I needed to change two Advance single tickets purchased via the EMT web site, so I telephoned their call centre.

EMT refused to allow me to change these tickets, claiming they were a special non-changeable type of ticket called Internet Advance. I pointed out that the ticket type printed on the ticket is "ADVANCE" and that the Terms and Conditions for this type of ticket allow changes to be made until the time of departure. EMT claimed that this is a printing error.

I pointed out that any printing error by or on behalf of East Midlands Trains is at EMT’s risk, not mine. Despite this, EMT continued to refuse to allow me to change the tickets for an appropriate train on a later date.

After the telephone call, I checked the information which you make available on your web site to purchasers of Internet Advance tickets. When one clicks on “First Internet Advance” on the Journey Options screen, the usual information appropriate to any Advance ticket is provided, including

Amending your booking Yes - date/time of tickets can be changed up until time of departure, subject to the payment of a GBP 10.00 fee per ticket per person and any difference in fares.

This wording not only confirms that changes are allowed until the time of departure, it is identical to the words used by EMT for all other Advance tickets.

It seems to me that, by refusing to allow me to make a timely change to these tickets and reservations in accordance with the National Conditions of Carriage, East Midlands Trains is in breach of these conditions. An appropriately stiff letter of complaint has been sent to Tim Shoveller , Managing Director of East Midlands Trains.

John

 

[yorkie]

EMT are well-known for making up rules as they go along when it comes to ticketing. I think there is a fundamental lack of understanding of ticketing in the company, and it's been the case since MML days so it's not a Stagecoach thing, although Stagecoach have had ample time to sort it out but have failed to do so.

 

[glynn80]

Earlier today I needed to change two Advance single tickets purchased via the EMT web site, so I telephoned their call centre.

EMT refused to allow me to change these tickets, claiming they were a special non-changeable type of ticket called Internet Advance. I pointed out that the ticket type printed on the ticket is "ADVANCE" and that the Terms and Conditions for this type of ticket allow changes to be made until the time of departure. EMT claimed that this is a printing error.

I pointed out that any printing error by or on behalf of East Midlands Trains is at EMT’s risk, not mine. Despite this, EMT continued to refuse to allow me to change the tickets for an appropriate train on a later date.

After the telephone call, I checked the information which you make available on your web site to purchasers of Internet Advance tickets. When one clicks on “First Internet Advance” on the Journey Options screen, the usual information appropriate to any Advance ticket is provided, including

Amending your booking Yes - date/time of tickets can be changed up until time of departure, subject to the payment of a GBP 10.00 fee per ticket per person and any difference in fares.

This wording not only confirms that changes are allowed until the time of departure, it is identical to the words used by EMT for all other Advance tickets.

It seems to me that, by refusing to allow me to make a timely change to these tickets and reservations in accordance with the National Conditions of Carriage, East Midlands Trains is in breach of these conditions. An appropriately stiff letter of complaint has been sent to Tim Shoveller , Managing Director of East Midlands Trains.

John

I would also wing a copy of that letter to ATOC and perhaps the Office of Fair Trading as well. This would be under the OFTs remit certainly and in the past they have forced ATOC to change the National Rail Conditions of Carriage wording due to it being unfair and misleading.

 

[John @ home]

I needed to change two Advance single tickets purchased via the EMT web site, so I telephoned their call centre.

EMT refused to allow me to change these tickets, claiming they were a special non-changeable type of ticket called Internet Advance. I pointed out that the ticket type printed on the ticket is "ADVANCE" and that the Terms and Conditions for this type of ticket allow changes to be made until the time of departure.

... An appropriately stiff letter of complaint has been sent to Tim Shoveller, Managing Director of East Midlands Trains.

EMT are well-known for making up rules as they go along when it comes to ticketing.

This reply was received from EMT today:

I was sorry to hear that the staff on our web support line were not adhering to the terms and conditions that clearly state that customers can amend books [sic] and I apologise for the frustration and inconvenience this has caused.

The Advance fares have been available since the start of our franchise but we have recently introduced a range of Internet Advance fares. The terms and conditions for these two tickets are exactly the same but having looked into this further, we are now aware that the system had not been set up correctly and was not allowing the agents to make such changes. All agents have been advised of the system error and feedback has also been given to the specific agent you spoke to.

Our system support team have now resolved the issue and agents can now make changes to these ticket types.