Threatened and sworn at over reserved seat.

[ChrisCooper]

I once got on at Southampton Parkway on a AXC headed fro Brumj Internhational and there was no reservation indication. At Reading a load of new pax got on and suddenly this young lady said I was sitting in her seat. I said that when I got on there was no reservation...it seems that whilst in transit it had become reserved! The passenger next to me chuckled as they had sat down in a seat that was not reserved, which I could have occuped, but remained unreserved. I then had to do the usual and squat in a vestibule.

I thought reservations could only be done up until the time the train began it's journey? Booking seats during the journey seems very bad practice for this reason, people may sit in an unreserved seat which then becomes booked and by the time they realise there are no other seats available.

The really funny thing would have been if the person sitting next to you who found it amusing had the same thing happen to them at the next stop!

 

[34D]

I thought reservations could only be done up until the time the train began it's journey? Booking seats during the journey seems very bad practice for this reason, people may sit in an unreserved seat which then becomes booked and by the time they realise there are no other seats available.

The really funny thing would have been if the person sitting next to you who found it amusing had the same thing happen to them at the next stop!

I thought the same. Was it definitely the correct train?

 

[WestCoast]

Don't CrossCountry now allow seats to be reserved after the train has left its origin, there was a thread on here a while ago?

 

[Lampshade]

Seat reservations can take place up to 2 hours beforehand as far as I know, they dynamically update on VWC as well.

 

[AlterEgo]

Reservations, on Virgin at least, must be made at least two hours before the train leaves it's *origin* station.

 

[Seacook]

I thought reservations could only be done up until the time the train began it's journey? Booking seats during the journey seems very bad practice for this reason, people may sit in an unreserved seat which then becomes booked and by the time they realise there are no other seats available.

The really funny thing would have been if the person sitting next to you who found it amusing had the same thing happen to them at the next stop!

Could this have been a problem with the computer system? If the reservations were not displayed until after the journey had started then this situation could have arisen. If so, the train manager really should have made an announcement to alert the pax to check the displays.

I assume it was a Voyager and would not have reservation cards.

 

[DaveNewcastle]

Could this have been a problem with the computer system? If the reservations were not displayed until after the journey had started then this situation could have arisen.

. . . . I assume it was a Voyager and would not have reservation cards.

That does happen on Voyagers.
It can become very chaotic as pax boarding later find all their seats occupied.

Blame the IT!