I am posting this following on from original post about over-distance excess fares-the situation that I require clarification about is excessing Standard to First Class on Return Tickets but only in oner direction:-
Example
Preston to Leeds-any permitted route Anytime Return: £31.70-this is the ticket that was purchased.
Upgrade to First Class on outward journey only:-
Excess charged- £13.60 incorrect
Correct process:-
'Standard Anytime Return simply pay the difference between the Standard and First Class Anytime Single fare'
Therefore correct excess should have been:-
Anytime Single Preston to Leeds-Any Permitted Route-Standard- £21.20
Anytime Single Preston to Leeds-Any Permitted Route-First- £29.50
The difference between these fares is £29.50 - £21.20 = £8.30
I have been incorrectly charged on many journeys-I have checked this with National Rail Enquiries, Virgin Trains and TPE and they all backed this up but that was following 10 E-mails, 1 hour of phone calls and a letter of complaint to Virgin who issued this particular ticket as they manage the ticket sales at Preston Station. It took 4 months to get a resolution to this and a further 10 weeks to get a refund from Virgin Trains-they issued a £10 voucher although the refund should have been £5.30-this was for all the inconvenience even though it was mainly cuased by TPE Customer Relations.
I managed to get the actual process documented in the FRPP copied by a Team Manager at Manchester Piccadilliy on a sperate journey although he was adamant that the original excess was correct until he checked the FRPP-he apologised and said taht it used to be half the difference between the Standard and First Class Anytime Retun prices-he stamped the document and I enclosed this in the letter to Virgin Trains.
I wouldn't like to guess how many passengers are incorrectly charged on this basis-it may seem like an unusual excess but if you think about the number of people who upgrade to First Class at the invitation of the train manager-not weekend upgrades-particulraly if the train us busy that get charged incorrectly based on the old process.
The key point here is that I want to know how to tell the ticket sales staff the correct process-I try and show the FRPP information but don't always have that-it seems that the problem is with the system-the team manager at Manchester Piccadilly showed me on the system-I think it is called Tribute-and they basically choose the Return Fare and this charges the incorrect price-should they select the Standard Anytime Single then upgarde this to First Class then issue the excess ticket which should be valid on the train.
I tried this on a journey from Preston to Manchester Airport on TPE Train and tehy tried to charge me £10 which is the difference between the Anytime Standard Return and the Anytime First Return!-not having the FRPP information I rejected the offer and sat in Standard for that hourney-but I shouldn't have needed to do that.
The question could be why would you require this-there are several reasons-apart from having the option it is encouraged on the National Rail 'Upgrade to First Class' page and also I travel First Class on business on journeys over 200 miles-if I want to travel First Class to Leeds for example I need to pay the excess and I probably only want to do this on the outward journey where the trains are busy and you are in need of refershments more than on the return journey.
Example
Preston to Leeds-any permitted route Anytime Return: £31.70-this is the ticket that was purchased.
Upgrade to First Class on outward journey only:-
Excess charged- £13.60 incorrect
Correct process:-
'Standard Anytime Return simply pay the difference between the Standard and First Class Anytime Single fare'
Therefore correct excess should have been:-
Anytime Single Preston to Leeds-Any Permitted Route-Standard- £21.20
Anytime Single Preston to Leeds-Any Permitted Route-First- £29.50
The difference between these fares is £29.50 - £21.20 = £8.30
I have been incorrectly charged on many journeys-I have checked this with National Rail Enquiries, Virgin Trains and TPE and they all backed this up but that was following 10 E-mails, 1 hour of phone calls and a letter of complaint to Virgin who issued this particular ticket as they manage the ticket sales at Preston Station. It took 4 months to get a resolution to this and a further 10 weeks to get a refund from Virgin Trains-they issued a £10 voucher although the refund should have been £5.30-this was for all the inconvenience even though it was mainly cuased by TPE Customer Relations.
I managed to get the actual process documented in the FRPP copied by a Team Manager at Manchester Piccadilliy on a sperate journey although he was adamant that the original excess was correct until he checked the FRPP-he apologised and said taht it used to be half the difference between the Standard and First Class Anytime Retun prices-he stamped the document and I enclosed this in the letter to Virgin Trains.
I wouldn't like to guess how many passengers are incorrectly charged on this basis-it may seem like an unusual excess but if you think about the number of people who upgrade to First Class at the invitation of the train manager-not weekend upgrades-particulraly if the train us busy that get charged incorrectly based on the old process.
The key point here is that I want to know how to tell the ticket sales staff the correct process-I try and show the FRPP information but don't always have that-it seems that the problem is with the system-the team manager at Manchester Piccadilly showed me on the system-I think it is called Tribute-and they basically choose the Return Fare and this charges the incorrect price-should they select the Standard Anytime Single then upgarde this to First Class then issue the excess ticket which should be valid on the train.
I tried this on a journey from Preston to Manchester Airport on TPE Train and tehy tried to charge me £10 which is the difference between the Anytime Standard Return and the Anytime First Return!-not having the FRPP information I rejected the offer and sat in Standard for that hourney-but I shouldn't have needed to do that.
The question could be why would you require this-there are several reasons-apart from having the option it is encouraged on the National Rail 'Upgrade to First Class' page and also I travel First Class on business on journeys over 200 miles-if I want to travel First Class to Leeds for example I need to pay the excess and I probably only want to do this on the outward journey where the trains are busy and you are in need of refershments more than on the return journey.