New Virgin East Coast Website

[Deerfold]

When you say interaction what do you mean? VTEC advised us that previous bookings would be safe. If we can't amend them or view any relevant PDFs then that clearly would have been a lie.

That's my thinking.

Poor show.

 

[Haywain]

When you say interaction what do you mean? VTEC advised us that previous bookings would be safe. If we can't amend them or view any relevant PDFs then that clearly would have been a lie.

In what way are the bookings not safe? There may be a misunderstanding, but there is no lie.

 

[westv]

In what way are the bookings not safe? There may be a misunderstanding, but there is no lie.

If you can't amend them or print off any PDFs then they are not useable. Clearly that means they aren't safe in any context relevant to passengers.
At no point did VTEC indicate this issue prior to the changeover.

 

[Merseysider]

That has now been completed, I understand. Not bad for a completely manual process!

It most certainly has not - I'm still missing one from my account!

 

[Wallsendmag]

It most certainly has not - I'm still missing one from my account!

If you have multiple vouchers it should be complete in the next couple of days the physical transfer of vouchers from old to new is complete. The notification process is still underway.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[Romilly]

If you can't ... print off any PDFs then they are not useable .... At no point did VTEC indicate this issue prior to the changeover.

It seems to me that this is going to become a significant issue. Admittedly the pdf of a print-at-home ticket will have been emailed to the purchaser, but people lose access to emails or delete them, and hitherto it has been possible to access the pdfs via one's account on the old website. Everyone with an online account could have been emailed with a couple months warning that they needed to print off the pdfs before 31st July and that would no doubt have decimated the problem. But as it is, there was no noticeable public warning of the close-down date or of the need to print off pdfs before that date.

 

[Merseysider]

If you have multiple vouchers it should be complete in the next couple of days the physical transfer of vouchers from old to new is complete. The notification process is still underway.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Thanks mate

 

[SaveECRewards]

Cross posted with one of the other forums, but thought relevant.

Guide where to book tickets online: http://saveecrewards.co.uk/review/where-book-train-travel-online

There's even a site out there that still sells VTEC catering vouchers, many sites that support cycle reservations, some that offer free postage, etc. I forgot to cover carnets (which are missing on the VTEC site) but I'll do that later today.

Some people, the best option is to stick with the VTEC site due to free WiFi and seat picker but others have requirements not currently met with the new site.

The old VTEC site used to charge for postage unless your journey started at a station with no collection facilities, then it would be free. Now you pay for postage in all cases.

I want to like the VTEC site, but they needed to bit the bullet and keep WebTIS running until it was feature complete. I would have been happy to use the beta site when I was not needing a cycle reservation or buffet vouchers.

 

[dcsprior]

Cross posted with one of the other forums, but thought relevant.

Guide where to book tickets online: http://saveecrewards.co.uk/review/where-book-train-travel-online

It'd be good to add a summary table at the end of this article, so that if more than one of the key features is important you can quickly see which of the TOCs listed offer them.

 

[Joe Paxton]

Cross posted with one of the other forums, but thought relevant.

Guide where to book tickets online: http://saveecrewards.co.uk/review/where-book-train-travel-online

One small but crucial point re the XC fee-free amendments for Advance tix - booking must be done on the XC web or mobile web site (and you need to be logged in when purchasing), as it doesn't apply to bookings made via their mobile app.

None of the ticket amendment screens are actually optimised for mobile so you need to do an amount pinching-and-manipulating but in my experience it's all quite do-able, however I can imagine some less adept at small-screen interaction might find it a bit frustrating.

 

[infobleep]

Yes, often it's the client who forces this kind of thing on the supplier who would rather not put such a half-job live.

I once worked on the data part of a new piece of software being implemented. I was working on behalf of the client and not the software supplier. I wasn't involved in the software design as such. My experience of the software wasn't complimentary.

Another time a supplier of software won a contract because the software was cheap. Eventually they got pulled because the software couldn't do some of things they claimed.

So whilst I don't doubt clients can be awkward, there are also some companies who from my experience think they can just milk large organisations and not make an effort or price their software so cheap they win work but then not do anything helpful afterwards. I have a disliking for both.

 

[IanXC]

In what way are the bookings not safe? There may be a misunderstanding, but there is no lie.

The comms used this text:

The countdown is on!
Want to use our slick new site and bag the best fares? Course you do!
Well, just create a new account using the same email address as your old one (it only takes a second) and you’ll see just how smooth booking can be – it’s well worth it, we promise.

Register Now

The best bits of having an account
Finding the best fares is easy. Checking your loyalty points is a doddle. And setting up ticket alerts is oh so simple. What are you waiting for?

Create new account

Your bookings are safe
When you create your new account, it might take a little time for any current bookings to show up - but don't panic, we'll do some clever work in the background to make sure you can see these within a day of registering.

I can well see why people feel mislead by this; there is no suggestion of any loss of functionality including that promoted at the time the original bookings were made on the old site. There is no suggestion that the new site has more limited functionality than the old one (other than catering vouchers and travel insurance which was mentioned in the small print).

Part of the problem with the specific text about old bookings is the informal way that the Virgin brand uses language. The use of "show up" and "see" with respect old bookings if used by a professional TOC may have alerted me to the idea that it might be read only (as compared with using "be available" and "access" in the same sentence). This therefore leads the reader to draw a different conclusion than absolute meaning of the words used - so yes there is no lie, however VTEC's use of imprecise and misleading language has lead their customers to misunderstand what they meant.

Finally the idea that "bookings were not safe" to the extend that old bookings and funds paid would be completely lost is clearly a straw man argument; the customer expects a retailer saying their purchases are "safe" to mean that they are not going to suffer any detriment.

 

[FQTV]

Finally the idea that "bookings were not safe" to the extend that old bookings and funds paid would be completely lost is clearly a straw man argument; the customer expects a retailer saying their purchases are "safe" to mean that they are not going to suffer any detriment.

On the 19th June, I bought a gift voucher for over £700 on the old site, when they had (it rapidly turned out) already switched off the functionality to redeem it on that site. The new site does not recognise old site gift voucher codes.

After several emails and phone calls, the value was manually applied to new site gift voucher codes, though too late for it to be relevant to the original purpose.

I was promised a complimentary ticket by way of compensation.

As of the 2nd August, I have received nothing at all.

 

[Deerfold]

The comms used this text:

I can well see why people feel mislead by this; there is no suggestion of any loss of functionality including that promoted at the time the original bookings were made on the old site. There is no suggestion that the new site has more limited functionality than the old one (other than catering vouchers and travel insurance which was mentioned in the small print).

Part of the problem with the specific text about old bookings is the informal way that the Virgin brand uses language. The use of "show up" and "see" with respect old bookings if used by a professional TOC may have alerted me to the idea that it might be read only (as compared with using "be available" and "access" in the same sentence). This therefore leads the reader to draw a different conclusion than absolute meaning of the words used - so yes there is no lie, however VTEC's use of imprecise and misleading language has lead their customers to misunderstand what they meant.

Finally the idea that "bookings were not safe" to the extend that old bookings and funds paid would be completely lost is clearly a straw man argument; the customer expects a retailer saying their purchases are "safe" to mean that they are not going to suffer any detriment.

Quite - any indication I wouldn't have had full access and I'd have downloaded everything as PDFs. However as this would be time consuming and I got the impression nothing would be lost, I didn't.

 

[Joe Paxton]

On the 19th June, I bought a gift voucher for over £700 on the old site, when they had (it rapidly turned out) already switched off the functionality to redeem it on that site. The new site does not recognise old site gift voucher codes.

After several emails and phone calls, the value was manually applied to new site gift voucher codes, though too late for it to be relevant to the original purpose.

I was promised a complimentary ticket by way of compensation.

As of the 2nd August, I have received nothing at all.

All part of VTEC's Virgin-brand infused desire to surprise and delight you, their valued customer.

(Was the gift voucher bought with a credit card? If so there might be scope for a section 75 claim.)

 

[westv]

Quite - any indication I wouldn't have had full access and I'd have downloaded everything as PDFs. However as this would be time consuming and I got the impression nothing would be lost, I didn't.

Indeed. As well as that, the inability to amend tickets.
If the situation remains as it is it will be just disgraceful.
And I still contest that have VTEC lied in their information about the changeover.

 

[trainophile]

Is it not one of the rail legal requirements that Advance tickets may be amended within explicit parameters, subject to an administration fee if the company chooses to charge one?

I'm underwhelmed with the new site, mainly because I keep my A-B tickets at my A address and my B-A ones at B. I delete my order confirmation emails when I've collected the tickets, and rely on "my bookings" for reminders if needed. Although they appear now to be there in a rudimentary format, the layout is awful, unless I'm missing some kind of filter option. I'm looking on my phone, maybe it's more useable on a computer?

 

[Wallsendmag]

Is it not one of the rail legal requirements that Advance tickets may be amended within explicit parameters, subject to an administration fee if the company chooses to charge one?

I'm underwhelmed with the new site, mainly because I keep my A-B tickets at my A address and my B-A ones at B. I delete my order confirmation emails when I've collected the tickets, and rely on "my bookings" for reminders if needed. Although they appear now to be there in a rudimentary format, the layout is awful, unless I'm missing some kind of filter option. I'm looking on my phone, maybe it's more useable on a computer?

You can still amend any WebTIS booked ticket only not online, the Customer Solution Centre can change any ticket for you and our Travel Centres can amend CCST tickets.

 

[Deerfold]

I'm looking on my phone, maybe it's more useable on a computer?

No.

There's no indication of which trains to change onto, seat reservations, wifi codes, breakdown of cost of individual tickets, which card was used for the booking.

 

[Deerfold]

You can still amend any WebTIS booked ticket only not online, the Customer Solution Centre can change any ticket for you and our Travel Centres can amend CCST tickets.

They appear to be overwhelmed. There's people on twitter reporting being on hold for hours.

What are CCST tickets?

 

[Bletchleyite]

As far as I'm concerned any modern business that requires me to phone up to make a basic regular transaction such as a ticket change is not fit for purpose.

Telephone calls are for exceptional situations where I need to discuss a problem with a person. I should not have to phone up to do something normal.

 

[John @ home]

What are CCST tickets?

Credit card sized tickets.

 

[AlterEgo]

As far as I'm concerned any modern business that requires me to phone up to make a basic regular transaction such as a ticket change is not fit for purpose.

Telephone calls are for exceptional situations where I need to discuss a problem with a person. I should not have to phone up to do something normal.

Agreed.

The implementation of this upgrade has been utterly, utterly woeful.

 

[Joe Paxton]

Agreed.

The implementation of this upgrade has been utterly, utterly woeful.

You seem to have misspelled "awesome"...

 

[westv]

Agreed.

The implementation of this upgrade has been utterly, utterly woeful.

You seem to have misspelled "awesome"...

Awsomely woeful?

 

[Hadders]

I've used the new site to make my first booking (as I'm splitting Advance tickets so needed to use the seat selector).

I really don't like it and I had difficulty in getting the seat selector to work. Although I thought I'd synchronised the seat reservations this wasn't reflected in the confirmation email. What I did discover is that it's possible to amend the seat reservation on-line after booking and a new confirmation email is sent. This is one positive point of the new site.

A couple of other points:

- The confirmation screen gives the transaction number as well as the collection reference. the transaction number isn't needed and really should be removed - some people will erroneously make a note of this number and use it to try and collect their tickets from TVMs which then won't print.
- Webtis gave the option to send the confirmation email to an alternative email address - can this be reinstated as it was quite useful.

 

[SaveECRewards]

- The confirmation screen gives the transaction number as well as the collection reference. the transaction number isn't needed and really should be removed - some people will erroneously make a note of this number and use it to try and collect their tickets from TVMs which then won't print.

Indeed someone tried this today, I could see their comments on Twitter. They thought the ticket machines weren't compatible with the website, but the ticket office managed to find their booking.

Has anyone got their vouchers yet?

I will apologise for being overly critical of this site, I hadn't realised that it's actually well liked. But now I know...

https://twitter.com/Virgin_TrainsEC/status/893174340895870978

It has been a great success for a lot of customers too. ^SH

The long hold times for web support must be all these people phoning up to express their delight in the booking tool.

 

[westv]

I will apologise for being overly critical of this site, I hadn't realised that it's actually well liked. But now I know...

https://twitter.com/Virgin_TrainsEC/status/893174340895870978


The long hold times for web support must be all these people phoning up to express their delight in the booking tool.

I asked on Twitter if there was going to be an official apology about the website problems. I was basically told there was nothing wrong with the site. :roll:

 

[SaveECRewards]

I asked on Twitter if there was going to be an official apology about the website problems. I was basically told there was nothing wrong with the site. :roll:

They don't know how to say sorry! We don't think it's in the Virgin vocabulary.

Sometimes it's good to admit your mistakes rather than pretend all is better than ever. People know mistakes can be made, just better to admit them than dig deeper.

 

[47271]

Well, I suppose that the site was a great success for me yesterday. I managed to book a ticket on it. It took me twice as long as the old site, especially the farce that's the seat selector, and I was in a constant state of irritation. But if completing a simple booking is a great success, then I experienced that. Wahey!

I totally get it that VTEC are strapped for cash, and businesses do all sorts of annoying things to their customers when they're in that state, but everything about dealing with them at the moment is getting on my nerves. It wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't all served up in that awful cheesy Virgin-speak. I don't mind it when it goes with great service, it sort of works, but when you're on the receiving end of crud like this website it really does feel like they're laughing in your face with their tone.