written by RenoRaines on 26/10/2017
West Coast from Stockport to London Euston 25th October 2017. Travelling with family. There is a smell from the toilets filling the air, the trays in front of us are filthy and so is the rest of the interior of our carriage. Very unpleasant journey because of this.
written by Conwayuz348 on 29/07/2017
Myself and my mum use virgin trains regularly, however, on today's journey, despite booking seats in advance of the train journey, we had to stand with our cases due to there not being enough luggage space on the train. The luggage racks were piled up with numerous cases and child prams and there was no space for any luggage. I know the amount of luggage that people carry is outwith the control of virgin however I do believe that Bigger luggage racks would be rather helpful and would prevent a very uncomfortable journey like the one that we had today, even though we had booked 2 seats to enjoy the journey with. Not impressed at all.
written by on 25/10/2016
Whatever happened yesterday at Kings Cross Station?? (24th October 2016) Two virgin trains heading north broken down!! Hundreds of people embarking trains looking for an alternative train. No guarantee of a seat even with pre booked tickets!! Waiting around for next appropriate train, then a scramble to get on and get a seat. People sitting on the floor in isles, luggage in isles, people standing for the length of the journey. We were heading for Newcastle and were lucky to get a seat but some were not so lucky. First class was declassified which was fair under the circumstances. We were exhausted with the chaos. The staff did their best to pacify people and give relevant information out. A difficult situation for them too. I heard a man swearing at a member of staff absolutely uncalled for as most people although frustrated were reasonable. We met some very nice people on our journey whom we probably wouldn't have done without the problems!! However not a Good situation for Virgin trains they should be doing much better than this. We don't travel a lot but have recently bought a rail card with the intention of travelling to many places by train (our favourite form of travel) but hoping for less stress and chaos on future journeys!!!
written by on 25/10/2016
Whatever happened yesterday at Kings Cross Station?? (24th October 2016) Two virgin trains heading north broken down!! Hundreds of people embarking trains looking for an alternative train. No guarantee of a seat even with pre booked tickets!! Waiting around for next appropriate train, then a scramble to get on and get a seat. People sitting on the floor in isles, luggage in isles, people standing for the length of the journey. We were heading for Newcastle and were lucky to get a seat but some were not so lucky. First class was declassified which was fair under the circumstances. We were exhausted with the chaos. The staff did their best to pacify people and give relevant information out. A difficult situation for them too. I heard a man swearing at a member of staff absolutely uncalled for as most people although frustrated were reasonable. We met some very nice people on our journey whom we probably wouldn't have done without the problems!! However not a Good situation for Virgin trains they should be doing much better than this. We don't travel a lot but have recently bought a rail card with the intention of travelling to many places by train (our favourite form of travel) but hoping for less stress and chaos on future journeys!!!
written by Trudyharding on 19/10/2016
I booked a first class return train ticket late last night with virgin trains. Once I booked it I immediately noticed that I booked the wrong dates for both ways . , I booked it for today instead of tomorrow. I tried to cancel but it would let me saying is was a discounted ticket.o tried to call but closed. I called customer service 1 st thing this morning but they said as the train had already departed they would not transfer or refund ticket. So by this morning the tickets had gone up. So they want to charge me more for the tickets and not refund the full amount on the return ticket. I understand that tickets are not refundable but would have thought they would transferred them as a goodwill gesture coz they could see exactly what I had done and how quickly I tried to amend the error. So decided not to book another ticket with them out of principle so they would not refund my return ticket. Very poor customer service
written by Di901 on 22/11/2015
Having just come up from a very pleasant weekend in Dumfries I boarded the Virgin West Coast train to Euston at 18:52 on 22/11/15. I was travelling with my small dog who I had been sure to wash and brush before we boarded. He's non shed as it happens. When we boarded we had a few "aww's" and coo's from other passengers and the gentleman who had reserved the seat next to us offered to move across the aisle to a vacant space to give us extra room. Very kind of him. One Virgin worker passed and rubbed the dogs head " hello poppet" -lovely. As we began our journey the train fell into silence and my dog very quickly settled into the seat I'd placed him on my coat for comfiness, but he had wriggled and moved off it a bit. All fine. As our journey progressed I heard a very loud female ticket inspector scolding someone up the way for not having their ticket out fast enough. I had mine ready, but saw others scramble for theirs. As she approached practically yelling at passengers "TICKET" I had mine to hand. Queue a huuuuge sigh. "YOU HAVE TO PUT YOUR DOG ON SOMETHING!! DON'T YOU HAVE A BLANKET OR COAT FOR IT" It. Lovely. So now the whole train was looking at me as without a word I moved the coat under him. "THERE'S SOMEONE RESERVED IN THIS SEAT SO IT HAS TO SIT ON SOMETHING!!" She projected before moving on to her next unwitting victim. Sorry. I meant passenger. So unnecessarily rude, loud and unpleasant. As a very shy person who had taken care to be careful with my dog, it left me feeling awful for the whole trip.
Written on: 24/02/2016
I'm sorry to hear that you were upset on a journey which should have been enjoyable........... but at the same time I am appalled that an animal was allowed to get onto a passenger seat.
You have to understand that some people have allergies to animal hair - those hairs will be carried right back to the person's home. It is also the case that most people will want to arrive at their destination without animal hairs on their clothing.
As cute as little dogs are it just has to be acknowledged that they cannot be put on a seat which is designed for a person - not in a public area anyway. The proper place for animals is on the floor.
The ticket inspector might have lacked diplomatic skills but was absolutely correct in directing that animals must not be placed on seats. Human health and comfort MUST be put before the convenience of animals.
Written on: 24/02/2016
Wow! I wrote this review MONTHS ago. You commented twice? You must be very invested. FYI Virgin have already responded with an apology and a free first class return trip. Very satisfactory as indeed they were in the wrong. case closed.
Written on: 05/04/2016
This isn't really about the rights and wrongs of what you did/didn't do, but about the officious and overbearing nature of the ticket inspector. I am glad that Virgin recognised that their staff on the day fell short of their usually friendly approach & excellent service standards. Ref. dogs - I own one myself - too large to sit on a seat. I would not object to a fellow traveller using an empty seat for their companion, but would expect them to use their coat/light blanket for the reasons others have mentioned.
written by 4Harrington on 13/11/2015
Virgin Trains have now taken away the quiet coach in first class. This is poor. Many passengers need to concentrate on work or just prefer to relax in a pleasant environment. Now, it is a nightmare having to listen to other passengers on their 'phones without any consideration for others. This is a retrograde step.I shall be looking for alternatives.
Written on: 24/02/2016
I travelled in January on Virgin East Coast and I am absolutely certain I was in a quiet coach. I may have imagined this but two days ago I was booking my next trip and 'quiet coach' was offered. (This is in first class by the way.) Are you sure that 'quiet coach' has been removed from all trains on your route (as opposed to rolling stock problems on the day) or across all routes? I'll look out for that the next time I book.
written by on 29/08/2015
Paid 390 pounds for 2 first class tickets, outward from Kings Cross to Edinburgh and inward from Glasgow to Birmingham. The outward journey had faulty air condioning in the food car, so they closed it. The sandwiches that were brought round looked dog eared and reminiscent of the bad old British Rail food days. The useless staff had no idea which items were gluten free, and we had to pay for the only items we could find from the shop. The return journey was no better. A large Japanese party had filled the luggage car, so we had to haul 100kg of luggage into the passenger compartment which clearly has no provision for a lot of luggage. The only food offering as it was a Saturday, was an apple or Danish, not the more comprehensive hot breakfast served in the week. Although there is a baggage delivery service, it only operates on weekdays. Seriously? The archaic paper ticketing system resulted in no less than 12 separate tickets - how aboutt a passbook app like the airlines? The espresso machine was broken so only regular codes could be served. The journey from Glasgow to Birmingham International required 2 changes, far from ideal with all our luggage (needed for a 17 day vacation). All in all a BIG mistake to try the train for a trio to Scotkand. We will fly next time.
written by Gomez151 on 15/08/2015
I purchased tickets prior to coming to UK for a month visit. Knowing nothing of the system, I used a clearance company for our trip. Virgin trains was the third trip we took in UK and it was way below par of the others. We had a smooth ride, no hitches, no being buffeted about in the car like on Virgin. WiFi was offered but at a huge price, for my idea but a lot of what I wanted to look at, at the long 6 hour trip was blocked. No movies, youtube, etc. And when I did get on it was so very slow. And the car was swaying so my fingers kept hitting the wrong keys. I did purchase the '24 hour' block and then found out it is consecutive, so after I was off the train it con't to run the clock and was time lost. The seats were comfortable, even with bouncing around in them for 5 hours because of the poor rail, or car wheel conditions, however the dropdown tray to hold food was too inclined and everything kept sliding into our laps. But they were very nice, like the train prior to this, did hold our luggage in the luggage car and help my disabled husband to and from.
written by mamurray76 on 14/08/2015
My trip from Scotland to West Sussex was horrible. Due to an unfortunate accident trains were delayed more than an hour. Poor announcements were made regarding those delays. When a train did finally arrive it was drastically overbooked causing me to stand for more than two hours while traveling with my dog who had to lie in the aisle way. There were several heated arguments over unrecognized reserved seating and no personnel could be found at all. No explanation was made to oncoming passengers regarding the delays or canceled reserve seating. On board announcements telling people of refreshments available were not appreciated when there was no way possible to move through the train. I missed my last connection and had 4 hours and $64 in taxi fees added to my trip. I know Virgin could not control the delays but the manner in which they were address was appalling. As there are few alternative for long distance travel I wish future passengers the best of luck.
written by on 02/07/2015
Except in the UK we have animal welfare standards, which clearly didn't apply to me, my daughter and the other poor souls trapped in a carriage with broken air conditioning on the hottest July day ever recorded. The service, I use the word loosely, was the 15.30 KX/Glasgow yesterday July 1st. The train was already a replacement for a faulty one and, magically, was 'prepared' and left within the time frame you can get a refund for delays (hmm). We had booked seats on Coach B, which was completely closed off and all reservations cancelled, so it was a free for all. At first we were glad just to get seats together at all, but it quickly became clear that the heat in the coach was dangerous. Within a few minutes our supplies of water for the 3 hour journey were running out, my daughter was feeling unwell and the carriage was getting hotter and hotter. No staff appeared to check tickets or welfare, though I understand that Twitter and FB were full of complaints, which may have explained why bottled water was handed out about 2 hours into the journey - thank goodness by that time we'd managed to find seats on the next coach, which had aircon, but was still a mighty 28 degrees (measured by a fellow traveller), so I can't begin to imagine the temperature on coach C. I tried to find a seat on another coach for an elderly passenger who boarded at Peterborough, but got stuck on the wrong side of the only member of staff we saw for over an hour, who was pushing a drinks trolley through the train, so he ended up having to take a seat in cattle class too. Virgin is a massive organisation and it's appalling that they think it's fine to have trains that simply don't work. If we'd had a dog with us, I could have rung the RSPCA who, no doubt would have had police waiting at the next station and prosecutions for cruelty would have no doubt followed but, sadly, we were only humans....
written by usSmith260 on 12/06/2015
I was on a train from Glasgow to Birmingham New Street, The train was fairly packed and as we kept going further down the line more people would get on and more seats would be used, the crew made announcement after announcement about no sitting on the floor suitcases on chairs etc. but there was no room the luggage racks were full, the luggage hold room was full and trying to get through to other carriages was a nightmare, I was travelling with a group of 8 and we had 8 suitcases and we had to put them on the extra chairs behind us, we kept getting asked to move them but there was no where to move them to, to make it worse the wifi wouldn't work and the announcements made through the speakers about where they are arriving to and departing from where made 5 times in the space of 3 minutes so if you are travelling with virgin try and reserve seats or don't travel with virgin at all !!
written by Lowebe192 on 30/03/2015
Having purchased a 24 hr WiFi pass I was disappointed that firstly the WiFi between Aberdeen and Edinburgh was very intermittent and secondly that the pass did not work on the virgin train from Edinburgh to London Euston. A total rip off. Also despite booking a seat with a power socket there were no reservations on the train to London and no sockets to be seen. The food was average bit at least the yrains were pn time. Next time I will fly
written by 83Porter on 26/11/2014
I decided to buy Virgin train tickets for my journey from Carlisle to Glasgow because they were offering cheap tickets and the train was only 10 minutes later than my usual one.However, I've found these trains are always 20 minutes late causing me to miss my connection in Glasgow. How come signalling problems only affect Virgin Trains. I have to watch all the other trains coming and going on time. Excuses, Excuses. I'm changing back to Trans Pennine Trains. Much better punctuality..
written by Lisztomania on 02/01/2014
Vigin trains look brilliant, they are very comfortable and from a visual and practical point of view have been designed very well. Sadly as soon as you step on one the overwhelming stench of urine hits you and never seems to ease, the tannoys don't work, all you hear is "the next station is **inaudible** thank-you for **inaudible** the shop is located in carriage **inaudible**" this happens on every virgin train I get on and has done for years, nobody comes through the carriage to inform you of the information that you didn't hear. Overall the service is very good but the smell and tannoys need to be fixed which are the only reasons Virgin don't get 5*
written by on 23/11/2013
I travelled from euston to Chester on a Thursday lunchtime, the cleanliness and service from the departure and arrival times to the on board food and service could not have been better. I was very impressed, but travelling back early afternoon on a Saturday could not have been more different. Although the departure and arrival times were spot on, there was absolutely no on board service. You could, if you could find your balance, make your way through carriages to a small area where after showing your first class ticket you could have either basic tea or coffee and a 'snack box' which contained a cracker, some soft cheese, a miniature bag of pretzels and a an even smaller back of jelly beans! The carriage was dirty and had a strange smell to it. Where were the sandwiches, fruit or a glass of wine? I cannot see how, for the same price, two journeys could have been more different. it is definitely not worth upgrading to first class on virgin trains at the weekend. As this was a special treat I was very much disappointed and will not make this mistake again.
written by extendedpaul on 11/07/2013
I travelled first class from Lancaster to Euston on a Virgin evening meal service. The hot meal choices were tandoori chicken or vegetable curry. The elderly couple sitting opposite and I all refused. Come on Virgin, surely you can offer something other than Indian food. Not everyone likes it ! My complaint to Virgin was acknowledged but never answered.
written by on 03/06/2013
After three seriously delayed journeys, I wrote in to request some form of compensation. I received it a few months later in the form of two vouchers. When I go to use the vouchers, not only do I have to post them off recorded delivery (cost 1 to customer), I have to make sure its 14 days in advance of use so to ensure they can be processed. I then call an 0845 number (cost 2 to customer)to get a promotional code. I then call an 0871 number (cost 3 to customer)to be able to book the tickets. Not only do I have these costs and inconveniences, but I also have no way of booking online, thus am unable to secure any form of online discount. THIS is what is considered COMPENSATION for a horrible CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE??
written by on 14/09/2009
Virgin Trains customer services department is the worst I have experienced yet. Rude and missinformed. I would not travel with them again if I didn't have to.
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As rated by our community of reviewers
Mkchickens's Response to Di901's Review
Written on: 29/11/2015
It is normal practice for a ticket inspector to loudly alert passengers when entering a couch to produce their tickets. This is standard on any train, the voice has to project to the end of the coach and allows passengers to have notice to produce their tickets.
I don't wish to add to any upset you may have felt when being told to' put your dog on something' and agree this should have been asked discreetly. However, I would take exception to any dog sitting on a seat meant for a passenger. I do not want to brush hairs from my clothes, or have a doggy smell transferred on to my clothes, also some people are highly allergic to dogs. It may have felt like the whole train was looking at you, the chances are they more concerned with getting on with their business. Hopefully your dog as lovely as he/she is will now travel on the floor thus avoiding any issues for you or others. I wish to add I am not connected in any way with any train operator. I am however a worldwide traveller on trains, planes etc..
Di901's reply to Mkchickens's Comment
Written on: 29/11/2015
As I said, the dog had been cleaned earlier in the day out of consideration for others and as it happens it is a non shed, hypoallergenic breed. Having checked prior to travel, small pets are entitled to travel on seats if they are available. As you say, the matter would have been better handled in a discreet manner by Virgin trains.
Di901's reply to Mkchickens's Comment
Written on: 29/11/2015
As I said, the dog had been cleaned earlier in the day out of consideration for others and as it happens it is a non shed, hypoallergenic breed. Having checked prior to travel, small pets are entitled to travel on seats if they are available. As you say, the matter would have been better handled in a discreet manner by Virgin trains.
Di901's reply to Mkchickens's Comment
Written on: 29/11/2015
As I said, the dog had been cleaned earlier in the day out of consideration for others and as it happens it is a non shed, hypoallergenic breed. Having checked prior to travel, small pets are entitled to travel on seats if they are available. As you say, the matter would have been better handled in a discreet manner by Virgin trains.
Betterthanclarkson's reply to Di901's Comment
Written on: 24/02/2016
I'm afraid there is no such thing as a "hypoallergenic" breed. Some breeds affect some people less than other breeds and but it is not possible to know the circumstances of every passenger who boards the train.
An animal can never be 'entitled' to cause harm, discomfort or inconvenience to a human being - and a paying customer at that. Again, even with the allergy issue being taken out of the equation, people can't be expected to arrive at business meetings with hair or animal smells on their clothing.
And at the end of the day - which dog would be troubled by having to lie on the floor? They'd be perfectly happy there.