Back in August I travelled on the 1345 Norwich to Sheringham and then on the 1446 back from Sheringham to Norwich. On the return trip I sat in 1st class on the 170 which as the Sheringham line has no advertised first class I was perfectly allowed to do. When she came through she clipped my ticket again and asked me if I wished to pay a supplement to remain in First Class. Obviously I refused showing her both the printed and online timetables which clearly show no first class. She insisted that if any train had first class she could charge me the excess for sitting in it whether advertised or not. I again refused and she said that I should pay as the person sitting next to me(funnily enough a reader of this forum so well versed on FCC doing the same!) had a first class ticket and so that meant I had to have one too. Again I refused and she begrudgingly trudged off.
On arrival at Norwich I went to the customer service area and the guy couldn't believe it..or as he put it very well I thought "I'm not a guard or a ticket expert but even I know that the Sheringham line has no first class and so the section is declassified on any trains it is on"
He had me fill in a form to raise the complaint so I'll await their response.
I returned to the guard as she was about to leave on the 1550 and told her she needed to talk to her own customer service team as they agreed charging excesses was wrong and she insisted she was right and I should be grateful she hadn't forced me to pay!
Anyway after being blown off by National Express customer services who insisted I should pay I got passenger focus involved who have also been ignored for 2months despite face to face meetings to discuss this. Finally today I got the following response:
"As you are aware from our previous emails and telephone conversations I have been trying to get a resolution to this complaint from National Express East Anglia (NXEA) since August. I have been in contact with them several times via email, in telephone calls and also during a meeting on 6 October 2011. I have now received a communication from them which NXEA say is their final response on the matter.
The customer relations manager for NXEA has discussed this case with the conductor manager team at Norwich Station and with other senior colleagues. They clarify that First Class accommodation is declassified in certain circumstances on their trains, however the circumstances that you detail do not apply in this instance and therefore you will be required to pay a supplementary charge should you use First Class accommodation on substituted train stock. To clarify, the fare that would be charged is equal to the Weekend First so is a supplementary charge for the use of First Class accommodation. The conductor team have all been briefed to make this supplement applicable where First Class accommodation is available and there is no First Class fare. This is to ensure that an enhancement has been correctly applied where there is enhanced accommodation.
I understand that this is not the response you were hoping to receive and that you will probably feel disappointed with it, especially considering the length of time it has taken for it to be finalised. I also appreciate that you may feel that NXEA are acting unfairly in relation to other train operators. Unfortunately we are not able to compel NXEA to take a different stance on this matter. As you may be aware Abellio Greater Anglia Limited is the railway company that will succeed National Express East Anglia as the operator of the Greater Anglia Franchise from 5 February 2012. It may be worth you enquiring again about this issue once they have taken over as they may view it differently."
Frankly I am absolutely stunned at the arrogance of NXEA towards myself and Passenger Focus and how can you charge Weekend First during the week!!!!!
Mod Notes: Original Thread
On arrival at Norwich I went to the customer service area and the guy couldn't believe it..or as he put it very well I thought "I'm not a guard or a ticket expert but even I know that the Sheringham line has no first class and so the section is declassified on any trains it is on"
He had me fill in a form to raise the complaint so I'll await their response.
I returned to the guard as she was about to leave on the 1550 and told her she needed to talk to her own customer service team as they agreed charging excesses was wrong and she insisted she was right and I should be grateful she hadn't forced me to pay!
Anyway after being blown off by National Express customer services who insisted I should pay I got passenger focus involved who have also been ignored for 2months despite face to face meetings to discuss this. Finally today I got the following response:
"As you are aware from our previous emails and telephone conversations I have been trying to get a resolution to this complaint from National Express East Anglia (NXEA) since August. I have been in contact with them several times via email, in telephone calls and also during a meeting on 6 October 2011. I have now received a communication from them which NXEA say is their final response on the matter.
The customer relations manager for NXEA has discussed this case with the conductor manager team at Norwich Station and with other senior colleagues. They clarify that First Class accommodation is declassified in certain circumstances on their trains, however the circumstances that you detail do not apply in this instance and therefore you will be required to pay a supplementary charge should you use First Class accommodation on substituted train stock. To clarify, the fare that would be charged is equal to the Weekend First so is a supplementary charge for the use of First Class accommodation. The conductor team have all been briefed to make this supplement applicable where First Class accommodation is available and there is no First Class fare. This is to ensure that an enhancement has been correctly applied where there is enhanced accommodation.
I understand that this is not the response you were hoping to receive and that you will probably feel disappointed with it, especially considering the length of time it has taken for it to be finalised. I also appreciate that you may feel that NXEA are acting unfairly in relation to other train operators. Unfortunately we are not able to compel NXEA to take a different stance on this matter. As you may be aware Abellio Greater Anglia Limited is the railway company that will succeed National Express East Anglia as the operator of the Greater Anglia Franchise from 5 February 2012. It may be worth you enquiring again about this issue once they have taken over as they may view it differently."
Frankly I am absolutely stunned at the arrogance of NXEA towards myself and Passenger Focus and how can you charge Weekend First during the week!!!!!
Mod Notes: Original Thread
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