written by Rory on 05/10/2011
I was flying to Ireland from Liverpool on September 30th at 15.20 so I booked a train with Virgin from Heald Green in Cheshire to Liverpool South Parkway having to change at Manchester Piccadilly. The cost of the Train journey was £10.40. The first leg of the journey was good and arrived on time. The second leg was to depart at 13.07 but shortly before that there was an announcement that it would be 11 minutes late, shortly after that it was changed to 15 minutes late, then 18, 21, 25 and finally at 13.30 the Train was cancelled. The next scheduled Train was 13.37 but again it was announced that it also would be 11 minutes late. I had a flight to catch with the gate closing at 14.50 so I had no choice but to pay £70.00 to get to the airport by Taxi. I called Virgin a few days later and explained my case; I wanted either a refund on the ticket or a new ticket for a different date as I regularly use the service. The lady I spoke with was very nice but in the end, she offered me a new ticket but at the full cost of £10.40 or if I wanted a refund there was an administration cost of £10.00 leaving me the grand total of 40p. I thought I was dealing with a reputable company in Virgin, but obviously Richard Branson is no better than our very own Michael O’Leary.