Reservations / 3rd party sites

[d70g]

Conversation overheard today (on an AWC from Glasgow):

Passenger: Someone was sitting in my reserved seat, but showed me their own reservation which matched mine.

Train Manager: Did you buy from a third party vendor, such as Trainline? Because they buy phantom reservations. Next time, book via Avanti or Scotrail.

I'm smelling BS. But is the Train Manager correct?

 

[Adam Williams]

But is the Train Manager correct?

No.

But I'll tell you what does happen: TOCs manage to completely clear out reservations for services when they screw up the schedule data, and then create problems for customers of all booking sites (including their own!) when different customers then end up with multiple reservations for the same seat. All industry participants are using the same reservations system and the same interface to it.

The other thing they do is swap out rolling stock at the last minute and completely invalidate reservations, leaving customers confused when they're expecting a standard class seat but the coach allocated to them is clearly a first class one (or doesn't even exist on the train!).

Third party retailers are a convenient scapegoat, though.

 

[d70g]

No.

But I'll tell you what does happen: TOCs manage to completely clear out reservations for services when they screw up the schedule data, and then create problems for customers of all booking sites (including their own!) when customers then end up with multiple reservations for the same seat. All industry participants are using the same reservations system and the same interface to it.

Third party retailers are a convenient scape-goat, though.

Thanks. Suspected as much.

 

[yorkie]

Conversation overheard today (on an AWC from Glasgow):

Passenger: Someone was sitting in my reserved seat, but showed me their own reservation which matched mine.

Train Manager: Did you buy from a third party vendor, such as Trainline? Because they buy phantom reservations. Next time, book via Avanti or Scotrail.

I'm smelling BS. But is the Train Manager correct?

They are talking absolute nonsense.

 

[800001]

Usually it’s a case of a) person on wrong timed train, b) wrong coach, c) they have amended there seat to a different one but have forgot and then sat in original.

 

[Bill57p9]

I think the key thing here may well be Avanti...

 

[alistairlees]

Conversation overheard today (on an AWC from Glasgow):

Passenger: Someone was sitting in my reserved seat, but showed me their own reservation which matched mine.

Train Manager: Did you buy from a third party vendor, such as Trainline? Because they buy phantom reservations. Next time, book via Avanti or Scotrail.

I'm smelling BS. But is the Train Manager correct?

Your sense of smell is excellent. Which train was this on?

 

[LYuen]

Thanks. Suspected as much.

A specific example of what could have happened.
The passenger bought an advanced ticket with a reserved seat
Between the booking date and the travel date, the service was cancelled. The third party did not notify the customer about the cancellation.
Avanti cleared all existing booking for the cancelled service.
Then, they reinstated the service, assuming all seats were free to book at that moment. They sold the seat again.

If the passenger books the ticket via Avanti or Scotrail, they may get a notification stating when the service is cancelled, but still it is Avanti's problem for screwing up the schedule and booking.

 

[Re 4/4]

they're expecting a standard class seat but the coach allocated to them is clearly a first class one (or doesn't even exist on the train!).

Doesn't exist is a problem, but if your reserved seat ends up in first class, are you allowed to use it? Just like you're allowed to take a normally forbidden route if someone messed up and sold you a ticket with an itinerary for it?

 

[alistairlees]

A specific example of what could have happened.
The passenger bought an advanced ticket with a reserved seat
Between the booking date and the travel date, the service was cancelled. The third party did not notify the customer about the cancellation.
Avanti cleared all existing booking for the cancelled service.
Then, they reinstated the service, assuming all seats were free to book at that moment. They sold the seat again.

If the passenger books the ticket via Avanti or Scotrail, they may get a notification stating when the service is cancelled, but still it is Avanti's problem for screwing up the schedule and booking.

This is not entirely correct. If the reservations on a train are wiped by the carrier (e.g. Avanti), then no other retailer (whether independent or another TOC) is going to know*. There is a piece of work ('retailer alerts') in the pipeline to resolve this, but it is some time away from being live. Note that I am talking about reservations being changed, but the schedule being unchanged (so the train still exists with the same IDs).

If the train really is cancelled - i.e. it no longer exists with the same IDs - or its times are changed, then the retailer is able to identify this through the Timetable Comparator Service, and can use this information to inform the customer. This service is in use by (I think) all independent retailers, and most TOCs.

*unless they actively query the reservation system with each reservation reference to check if it still exists (which might need to be done multiple times if the reservation was made some time before travel). This would be a poor use of resources, though.