Avanti West Coast. What a shambles

[Newportnobby]

I spent about 3 hours on their website trying to book return tickets Leyland to Dundee. Each time I got to the end and clicked on 'Pay' all I got was "Oops, there appears to be a problem and it's us. Please start again"
I gave up in desperation and phoned them, with the inevitable  music and "We are very busy. Someone will be with you soon" Finally got through to a very helpful chap who sorted out the necessary tickets and put me through to the 'Pay' department where my dosh was handed over and I was returned to him, only to be told the booking had failed, that their website was a mess and the telephone system not much better. So, we tried again. Another failed booking. He then said "I'll get a colleague to call you as his phone system seems to be working OK" Sure enough, his colleague called about 15 mins later, went through everything again, put me through to payment, all OK, back to him and told the booking had failed again.
By this time my bank was ringing my mobile to see if I was being scammed for 3 transactions and I had to verify the last 5 transactions on my credit card to get the damned card unlocked.
Meanwhile, back at Avanti West Coast, we went through all the details again, put me over to 'Pay' and I used my debit card this time. Booking confirmed - huzzah!!!
Leyland - Preston - Edinburgh - Dundee with seats booked Preston through to Dundee.
Dundee - Edinburgh - Preston - Leyland with seats booked Dundee through to Preston.
All in £120 or so with £2 cost of 1st class post for tickets to my home and a confirmation mail within a few minutes.
Still with me? Good, because it didn't happen like that.
No e mail which gave me no confidence in receiving the tickets, so I called them this afternoon.
I didn't get a mail because they spelt my surname incorrectly, despite them reading it back to me correctly. Address corrected and mail sent - just print off your tickets. OK, but what about my £2 postal cost. 'They're E Tickets' Yeah - I know but I paid £2 for tickets to be sent to me. In the end I gave up on that bit. Life's too short.
Print off the tickets and the return journey is:-
Dundee - Glasgow Queen Street then Central - Preston - Leyland with seat only booked Glasgow - Preston.
I'm sorry but it does make you want to weep tears of rage as it's not just railways, it's everything to do with business in this country at present. You cannot contact a person as they're all too busy. You can do things online, they say, but you either can't as it ain't working, or your issue is such that only a human being can begin to understand it. Example - I had to ring my insurance company to tell them I couldn't drive for a month and explain why. Do they really think some automated  at the end of the line would have comprehended and been able to help?
Same with GPs, same with hospitals, same with banks etc etc
England has officially gone down the toilet, I believe. It's no wonder I have a heart issue and high BP.

[crewearpley40]

Easier said than done. Would you have been finding it easier in person at Leyland or Preston mick ?

[SD35]

My sympathies Mick. I've given up with travelling by rail now except in Central London and drive instead.  The last few rail experiences have been pretty woeful.

[martyn]

I had a very frustrating time trying to buy two London Travelcard tickets from home to Liverpool St. (Greater Anglia). Tried the website, every time we added a railcard for discount, we got a different fare quote, ranging from about £80 to £120, and also confusion about what return services these were valid on, not knowing the exact train we would get but a 'not before' time range.

Gave up on website, so phoned Greater Anglia; after a few 'select options' we ended up transferred to Trainline. Where a charming lady, who spoke perfect but heavily accented English (and I spoke to many nationalities on radio or phone when at work)  eventually understood what we wanted, and booked the tickets, for yet another price; she also answered questions on homeward availability. Picked them up from our starting station auto machine without problem, though I'm still not convinced that the answers to the homeward availability was actually correct, but we had no problems.

Living near a ferry port that was formerly railway owned, we used to have a excellent booking office staff, who, on visiting them, gave instant answers and even tips on cheaper fares. Alas, closed for cost cutting measures a few years ago........

Overall very frustrating. Against that, though, we have had a few journeys to the West Country by train in the last couple of years, and booking online hasn't been a problem.

But last week..........

Martyn

[port perran]

I have had similar problems with GWR in the past so turned to Trainline.
So...you pay a small commission eg £2 Redruth to Bristol return but they apply split ticket options to your booking so you often get it cheaper (often significantly) anyway.
Never had a problem with them and their website/booking system seems to be much more robust than those of the TOCs.

[Shropshire Lad]

It's something you'll have to get used to I'm afraid. Great British Railways won't have any ticket offices, just ticket machines and a website.
Trainline come under the heading of the only ticket seller I would never use 🙄
Cheers Colin

[joe cassidy]

My wife ordered some tickets from Trainline for a journey in France on 3 July.

We're still waiting for the tickets.

[woodbury22uk]

I must be lucky as booking with Chiltern, West Midland and Cross Country seems to be reliable. I always pick up the tickets at the first station I am travelling from using the ticket machine and the ticket locator code.

[Newportnobby]

Just as an update, I called Avanti again and told them of their error on the return journey. Chap was very helpful and sorted Dundee - Edinburgh - Preston - Leyland with seats reserved Dundee through to Preston. Another 35 minutes of my life I'll never get back. However, on checking my e mail ½ an hour or so later, he'd sent the original incorrect tickets again. Back on the phone and told him of his error. Humble apologies etc and 17 minutes later he sent the wrong tickets again! This time I'd kept my mailbox open so after another 9 minutes I finally got the correct tickets. Bearing in mind this saga started Sunday morning and I eventually got what I asked for Monday evening.
You just couldn't make this stuff up

[gc4946]

Most of my travel has been with Northern and I've had no problems buying from their machines at Leeds, or online and collecting tickets at station.
I've never used Trainline because of booking fees.

[crewearpley40]

Pretty poor. What a pullava

[Trainfish]

I'm not sure a pullava is going to help Mick unless he's looking to make some toast before he leaves

[Bealman]

Good gawd, Mick! Longer than the Lord of the Rings trilogy! The difference being that the latter was enjoyable

[PLD]

I'm not sure a pullava is going to help Mick unless he's looking to make some toast before he leaves

Even the First Class catering has gone down hill since it was contracted out to that Scandinavian firm... 

[Steven B]

Sometimes the computers conspire against us - the call centre staff aren't doing it deliberately. I recently took over a week, four phone calls and several visits to a website to pay for my car insurance.

Steven B.