I Got Banged In The Arse By SW Trains For £32

[Bungle73]

um that's what appears on the site when buying a megatrain ticket, so it should be obvious that it shouldn't be displayed for megatrain tickets as it's clearly misleading, but yet that is what they display on their website when buying megatrain tickets.

so yes they are misleading people, and I;d be fucked if I'd pay them a penny extra for using the correct train but using it for less of the journey than I'd paid for.

This is probably too complicated for you, but what does it say at the top of the page, and what is the URL? It says "Megabus", because it sells train AND coach tickets. I can't even find where it says what you quoted; where is it because it is not on the "main page".

 

[Lo Siento.]

I am so glad that you are not in charge of stuff

People like this are in charge of the world. That's why the world is such a fucked Kafkian nightmare.

 

[MrSki]

Maybe people should look into what they're buying before they part with their cash. I have no sympathy with people who don't bother then whine when something happens that they don't like. Why would you expect to get the sort of deals available on the MT website and not have to face some penalty for it. There is no such thing as a free lunch.

There is if you are a politician or a director of a privatised train company.

 

[free spirit]

Maybe people should look into what they're buying before they part with their cash. I have no sympathy with people who don't bother then whine when something happens that they don't like. Why would you expect to get the sort of deals available on the MT website and not have to face some penalty for it. There is no such thing as a free lunch.

I would expect to have to use the exact train specified, for no more than the journey specified. If I were to use less of the service than I'd originally paid for, then I'd not expect to have to buy an entire new ticket for it, but I'd also not expect a refund for the portion of the journey I'd not used.

That's how it should be, anything else is a complete piss take, and frankly I'd refuse to comply with bullshit rules such as that, which are unlikely ever to make it to court, or be acted upon by BTP.

 

[kittyP]

People like this are in charge of the world. That's why the world is such a fucked Kafkian nightmare.

Well yes quite but I just meant Bungle in particular.

Why am I even fucking posting on here.
I am trying to watch a very interesting programme.

 

[2hats]

You might but the majority of people don't read every last detail on every site they are buying something from.
This is generally accepted.

Sounds dangerously like it might be sailing close to the Unfair Contract Terms/Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations legislation.

 

[Bungle73]

You wouldn't ask the question and thus consult the FAQ until you had a question which would necessitate having been previously made aware of the restriction. The clue is in the name.

Yeah, it's perfectly sensible to throw one's money around and not look to see what it is one actually buying.

 

[kittyP]

Abandon all hope all ye who enter here!

 

[mauvais]

Because I am boring, I looked up the exact conditions, and they say:

10.e. You must travel between the stations, on the date and at the time(s) in your booking confirmation. If you start, break and resume, or end your journey at any intermediate station you will need to buy a new rail ticket. This rail ticket will be the price of the most appropriate undiscounted Single rail fare for the journey being made.

Note this bit:

You must travel between the stations, on the date and at the time(s) in your booking confirmation

Now. I think we should club together and buy a tangled web of Megatrain tickets for faintly possible but extraordinarily difficult to achieve journeys, all in Bungle's name. Then we can report him to the authorities when he doesn't manage to pull them all off. The cunt.

 

[free spirit]

This is probably too complicated for you, but what does it say at the top of the page, and what is the URL? It says "Megabus", because it sells train AND coach tickets. I can't even find where it says what you quoted; where is it because it is not on the "main page".

on the fucking page where you buy a fucking train ticket directly above the fucking details for the fucking train tickets you're buying you fucking ignorant prick.

 

[MrSki]

Yeah, it's perfectly sensible to throw one's money around and not look to see what it is one actually buying.

So it takes you two weeks to buy an ice cream that melts before you have read the contract law you have entered into?
Just answer this, do you think it is reasonable to have such terms & conditions?

 

[free spirit]

so how do you defend that then?

it's completely misleading, has nothing to do with the actual t&c's of the train tickets being bought, and yet there it is directly above the details of the train tickets being purchased.

 

[2hats]

Yeah, it's perfectly sensible to throw one's money around and not look to see what it is one actually buying.

Throw money around? You're confused dear. The OP said they bought a Megabus ticket not an Advance/Super Off Peak/Off Peak/Anytime ticket from the usual suspects TOCs.

Sit down. This might come as a shock: I think you'll find that few people can afford the time to read all the small print of every consumer contract.

 

[Bungle73]

So it takes you two weeks to buy an ice cream that melts before you have read the contract law you have entered into?

Now you're just being silly. But then this whole thread is silly

Just answer this, do you think it is reasonable to have such terms & conditions?

As I said Advance tickets have exactly the same restriction. I think it is reasonable that if a company offers an extreme discount over the regular price then they enforce a number of restrictions on that offer.

 

[MrSki]

Now you're just being silly. But then this whole thread is silly


As I said Advance tickets have exactly the same restriction. I think it is reasonable that if a company offers an extreme discount over the regular price then they enforce a number of restrictions on that offer.

Even if those restrictions are daft?

 

[Lo Siento.]

Even if those restrictions are daft?

We bloody paid for the tracks and infrastructure, we subsidise the bloody train companies, fuckers like Stagecoach should just be fucking grateful they get the chance to skim cash off the top for doing fuck all.

 

[kittyP]

I suspect even the train companies/MT don't think they are reasonable. They just think they can get away with fiddling people

 

[smmudge]

Also just putting them on the website isn't good enough. What if someone doesn't have internet access and orders them by phone? Do you think the person at the other end is going to read every single T&C out to them, or send them a copy and make sure they've read it before they ask for their credit card details? It's a fucking train ticket, not a mortgage.

 

[Lo Siento.]

I suspect oven the train companies/MT don't think they are reasonable. They just think they can get away with fiddling people

Always the same, the people at the top know they're fucking people over, just the obedient little shills who think it's all real.

 

[Lo Siento.]

Also just putting them on the website isn't good enough. What if someone doesn't have internet access and orders them by phone? Do you think the person at the other end is going to read every single T&C out to them, or send them a copy and make sure they've read it before they ask for their credit card details? It's a fucking train ticket, not a mortgage.

They could make it pop up before you bought the ticket and it would still be a stupid T&C solely aimed at hoping people accidentally fail to comply with it and can then be ripped off a bit more.

 

[Bungle73]

We bloody paid for the tracks and infrastructure, we subsidise the bloody train companies, fuckers like Stagecoach should just be fucking grateful they get the chance to skim cash off the top

Except you didn't because the majority of Britains railways were built by private companies

for doing fuck all.

Yeah, running a railway service is doing "fuck all"................

TBH the people who have to deal with some the ridiculous complaints that I hear about the railways (and coming from people who aren't interested in explanations, nor in understanding why something is done the way it is, and usually expect the railway to be run for their benefit and there's alone) should be given a medal.

 

[free spirit]

so how do you defend that then?

it's completely misleading, has nothing to do with the actual t&c's of the train tickets being bought, and yet there it is directly above the details of the train tickets being purchased.

here's what Which say about consumer law and how it would apply to this situation where the tickets are being sold with misleading information on the website, and a crucial term being hidden away in t&c's or FAQ pages that have to actually be hunted out, rather than being prominently displayed.

Misleading actions
Companies are not allowed to use misleading or underhand tactics to get you to part with your cash.

Misleading omissions
Sometimes it's not what's actually said that's the problem. Sometimes its what's been left out that's the issue.

The CPRs offers consumer protection against traders who are economical with the truth, or miss out key information that you might need to make an informed decision, will be caught out too.

Traders must make sure the information is provided in a timely manner - and not so late that it's of no use to you.

It's considered misleading if a trader does any of the following:

• Omits material information that the average consumer needs, according to the context, to take an informed transactional decision
• Hides or provide material information in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely manner
• Fails to identify the commercial intent of the commercial practice if not already apparent from the context

And information must also be displayed clearly - obscure presentation is tantamount to an omission.

Megatrain were in the wrong here, no 2 ways about it.

 

[MrSki]

Except you didn't because the majority of Britains railways were built by private companies



Yeah, running a railway service is doing "fuck all"................

TBH the people who have to deal with some the ridiculous complaints that I hear about the railways (and coming from people who aren't interested in explanations, nor in understanding why something is done the way it is, and usually expect the railway to be run for their benefit and there's alone) should be given a medal.

What run the railways for the benefit of the people?
What an absurd idea.

 

[Bungle73]

What run the railways for the benefit of the people?
What an absurd idea.

Not "the people", one individual person. But you already know what I meant didn't you......?

 

[Lo Siento.]

Except you didn't because the majority of Britains railways were built by private companies

(a) The private companies that built them were liberally compensated when the railways were nationalised (b) they were maintained/repaired/replaced by the British taxpayer for the next 50 years then (c) sold off for a pittance (d) the expensive infrastructure bits taken over again (with more "compensation") then (e) subsidised ever since (f) whilst all the while private companies made a profit.

Yeah, running a railway service is doing "fuck all"................

Do megatrain run a railway service? They're just a middle man service skimming off the top, are they not?

TBH the people who have to deal with some the ridiculous complaints that I hear about the railways (and coming from people who aren't interested in explanations, nor in understanding why something is done the way it is, and usually expect the railway to be run for their benefit and there's alone) should be given a medal.

The railway should be run for the benefit of the people who live in this country and it's not, it's run for the benefit of shareholders.

 

[2hats]

consumer law

It strikes me that the notion of penalising the customer for completing only part of the journey may be at odds with the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations (1999) which considers a contract term that makes it very difficult for you to end a contract, such as making you pay high termination charges, to be grounds for voiding the contract.

 

[free spirit]

It strikes me that the notion of penalising the customer for completing only part of the journey may be at odds with the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations (1999) which considers a contract term that makes it very difficult for you to end a contract, such as making you pay high termination charges, to be grounds for voiding the contract.

that was exactly my thought as well, but I was failing to remember the exact name of the regulation I was trying to remember.

That's why I'd lay significant odds that this has never been taken to court, and why I'd seriously doubt that any train guard would attempt to get BTP to arrest someone with a ticket for that train who'd just got on at a later station.

 

[tufty79]

I give bungle about another 20 minutes til he explodes all over his monitor in a bloody froth of rage.

 

[kittyP]

I give bungle about another 20 minutes til he explodes all over his monitor in a bloody froth of rage.

Or cums. It could go either way

 

[Fingers]

So I've finally found the t&c's in question, and the pertinent item is hidden away as item 11 a.



I'd lay odds that megatrain would never attempt to enforce this rule in court, as they'd likely get laughed out of court for the rule being unreasonable. It's also not stated or even hinted at anywhere else in their advertising, website etc not even in their 'important information' section just before the tick box to tick that you've read the t&c's. Put simply, this looks and feels like a classic case of tricking people into buying something that has terms and conditions attached that then result in that person being likely to fall foul of those t&cs and being forced to cough up a load more money as a result... and that's not allowed.

Brilliant, I am going to take this further. I knew i could not remember seeing this when I booked. I am going to try and bang them straight up the ass

Sorting a crib sheet from great advice above

Going to make BlakeyBungle's head proper explode.....

watch this space....