Be prepared not to laugh. Be prepared for pain. After making a stupid mistake whilst booking my Eurostar ticket, the company refused to correct it or cancel the ticket. Therefore I had little choice other than to write them an email...
(CODE: Middle-age and ruffled feathers are creeping up on me.)
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Your question (Ed O'Meara) 29/03/2011 05.42 PM Dear Eurostar
After booking this ticket, I realised that I had made a mistake in the booking and called immediately to get this corrected. I was told that I could not make any change at all which makes this ticket void without refund. If I want to make the correct trip I need to pay for another ticket!
Is this correct? No other company has such a policy. I understand that changing a ticket two weeks after booking is a major problem, but 1 minute after booking? This seems hugely strange.
Please let me know as soon as possible.
Many thanks
Ed O'Meara
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Subject Eurostar Booking Reference: RROANT Content Email on behalf of Eurostar from (Isabelle, Eurostar.com Support) 30/03/2011 11.27 AM Dear Mr O'Meara
Thank you for your e mail,
You have read and agreed to the terms and conditions of your tickets. You also went through at least 5 pages confirming the dates and times of your booking. I am really sorry you still feel unhappy about our decision not to change your booking but we have to obey to the terms and conditions of your tickets.
Kind Regards,
Isabelle, Eurostar.com Support
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Dear Isabelle
If I didn't noticed the mistake initially, cycling through another 5 pages or the same thing wouldn't alert me! As you know, because people regularly buy online they are:
1) Liable to make the odd mistake
2) So used to the process that they skip through the stages as fast as possible.
I'm sure that if you buy a product from Amazon, you do exactly the same thing. Of course, the difference being that if you make a mistake on Amazon, you can correct it even after purchase! No other company does what you do! It is not a model of e-commerce that will prove popular or sustainable. There is a huge difference between making an error in booking a ticket, realising it, and trying to get it sorted immediately as opposed to changing plans some time after.
Given these facts, it seems laughable that Eurostar have set up a system which punishes human error without any recourse to correction. I want a Eurostar ticket, I want to go from Paris to London on the 30th. I don't want to pay twice for it! Is that unreasonable? No.
I am cycling to Paris for charity, and was planning to take the Eurostar back (because I have my bicycle). Your company's policy strikes me as something far less than charitable.
Terms & Conditions are all very well, but they are long and generally standardised. The fact is that 6 months ago a friend who made a similar mistake buying from your site had his ticket changed free of charge without any quibble. When was this extremely sensible and customer-friendly policy changed to cause as much grief to the customer as possible? When were you planning to make the policy change clear? Which bunch of humorless middle managers took the decision to change it in the first place?
If the operator wanted to help me with a few clicks of his mouse, he could have done. Rather than bothering about unfair and petty rules, he could have used his human discretion. It would have cost your company nothing to correct an honest mistake. It cost me a great deal more than that and has made me extremely annoyed with your company.
I understand that you're only doing your jobs as directed, but your company policy is grotesquely stupid and far, far removed from any real idea of customer service or basic common sense.
None of this is personal and I don't bear you the least bit of malice.
Hope you have a wonderful rest of day.
Thank you for taking the time to reply to my email,
Ed O'Meara
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Email on behalf of Eurostar from (Isabelle, Eurostar.com Support) 31/03/2011 08.51 AM
Dear Mr O'Meara
I really understand the point you are making. We used to be quite "flexible" in changing fixed tickets but a lot of people took advantage of... it and phoned regularly to change non-flexible tickets expecting us to do it for free because we had done it in the past which is not fair on passengers who are paying more for a semi or fully flexible ticket.
Our policy got stricter since March 1st, this is why we can't make any changes on fixed tickets without a valid reason.
However, as you are cycling for charity, and if it's not too late, I am ready to make an exchange on your booking with fare difference only to pay. Please call us back on 08448 224 777 and ask for me.
Kind Regards,
Isabelle, Eurostar.com Support
VICTORY!!!
After examining my consciense, I found a nagging point. It seems that you can't say you're going to do something for charity (even as a lie) and then not.
It's like curing cancer and then being so caught up in the Hello Magazine home shoot and The One Show interviews, that you forget to release the cure. So...
www.justgiving.com/Ed-O-Meara/
*COUGH*
Victory all round! Reminds me of a silly article in the paper at the weekend:
ReplyDelete"I was selling a good house in one of the Burnhams, a smart part of Norfolk. Both owner and buyer were alpha males. I had to renegotiate the price following the survey, in which a couple of minor problems were found. After heavy negotiation we were still £500 adrift on the price. Neither party needed the money or was concerned about paying/losing £500 – but both had to win. I suggested the £500 be donated to charity. Both agreed, the sale went ahead and the RNLI was delighted."
Ben Marchbank
Bedfords, Burnham Market