New CrossCountry app - doesn't allow changes to older bookings

[embers25]

Are TfW free to amend advances?

 

[gpmartin]

Yes, though as with the new system on Cross Country, only until 18:00 on the day before the original journey. https://tfw.wales/help-and-contact/rail/refunds#advance

 

[johncrossley]

The old Cross Country website used to have a deadline of the day before but in practice allowed changes on the day.

Change Advance Train Ticket without an Admin Fee | CrossCountry | CrossCountry

We've made it free to change your Advance Train Tickets for added confidence and flexibility when booking with CrossCountry Trains.

web.archive.org

(Wayback Machine backup of Cross Country website from April 2024)

How do I amend my Advance train ticket​

You can make changes to your Advance train ticket 2 hours after you have purchased and up to the day before the departure time on your ticket.

So maybe you can still actually change your ticket on the day in practice but they simply don't advertise it.

 

[gembercannelle]

In early October I found myself in an unfortunate situation as I had about 20 advance tickets booked on Cross Country website and about 10 of them needed to be amended. What is worse is that I needed to amend them, ideally, to travel in February and February advances are not on sale yet (sigh). Since then, I have called CrossCountry 5 times and spend about 5 hours speaking to different agents, being on hold, and pushed around. Every time I have been given new set of instructions and different information. On three occasions I managed to get old bookings refunded after I bought new tickets.

Out of those 5 interactions, during the first one, the agent amended tickets for me and they seem to have gone onto the old system, so I have no control over them. Is it happens, I need to change one of those again, and I am not able to do so

The agent that has access to old system tells me that because the booking have been made after the new system launched, they are not allowed to touch those. The agent on the new system doesn't see it. The Customer Services are saying they will not refund them, because they are not refundable, despite the fact that I have had several tickets refunded after making the new booking and providing confirmation of those.

Any tips? I don't seem to be able to find their Customer Services email address and I really believe that hours on the phone for what used to take minutes online is a rather major change.

 

[800Travel]

In early October I found myself in an unfortunate situation as I had about 20 advance tickets booked on Cross Country website and about 10 of them needed to be amended. What is worse is that I needed to amend them, ideally, to travel in February and February advances are not on sale yet (sigh). Since then, I have called CrossCountry 5 times and spend about 5 hours speaking to different agents, being on hold, and pushed around. Every time I have been given new set of instructions and different information. On three occasions I managed to get old bookings refunded after I bought new tickets.

Out of those 5 interactions, during the first one, the agent amended tickets for me and they seem to have gone onto the old system, so I have no control over them. Is it happens, I need to change one of those again, and I am not able to do so

The agent that has access to old system tells me that because the booking have been made after the new system launched, they are not allowed to touch those. The agent on the new system doesn't see it. The Customer Services are saying they will not refund them, because they are not refundable, despite the fact that I have had several tickets refunded after making the new booking and providing confirmation of those.

Any tips? I don't seem to be able to find their Customer Services email address and I really believe that hours on the phone for what used to take minutes online is a rather major change.

I would recommend you DM them for advice on how to proceed. I don't know if we are allowed to link social profiles on here, but if you go on the cross country website and then click the X icon near the bottom of the page and then send them a private message - they are normally very helpful.

 

[gembercannelle]

I would recommend you DM them for advice on how to proceed. I don't know if we are allowed to link social profiles on here, but if you go on the cross country website and then click the X icon near the bottom of the page and then send them a private message - they are normally very helpful.

At the moment I have neither X account nor Facebook account. I created an X account exclusively to get in touch with XC when this "calamity" unfolded. My X account has been blocked within an hour after I created it because "it has been identified by AI as not authentic". However, I managed to get a reply from XC representative (on X) saying that they cannot help to amend the tickets - at all and advising me call the same number which is written on all e-tickets. *sigh*

 

[gpmartin]

I'm not sure whether this helps or not, but are you aware of the two different customer service centres?

There's the one that is run, as far as I can tell, by the (old) ticket provider (Trainline?) on behalf of Cross Country (sales.support.crosscountry@trainsfares.co.uk). I've sent countless emails to them and managed to get one ticket refunded, out of four. They eventually referred me to the other centre (customer.relations@crosscountrytrains.co.uk). I complained to them on 21 October and received an automatic reply telling me to expect a reply within 20 working days. I also received a reply to someone else's complaint (wrong reference number etc.) a few days later! But no proper response yet.

The second customer service line seems to be the in-house one, but based on past experiences with them I've not got high hopes for a resolution. The automatic reply from their address also set out the circumstances in which I can go to the ombudsman (e.g. 40 days without reply). I suspect that will be what I do next.

 

[fandroid]

Looking at the TfW site, it requires a phone call to their customer support if changing an Advance after 1800 the day before and it says "normal terms and conditions apply". Does anyone know what that means in practice? I'd be happy to risk paying a modest fee for late changes if I thought I could often rely on fee-free changes the day before.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Looking at the TfW site, it requires a phone call to their customer support if changing an Advance after 1800 the day before and it says "normal terms and conditions apply". Does anyone know what that means in practice? I'd be happy to risk paying a modest fee for late changes if I thought I could often rely on fee-free changes the day before.

I'd expect that means the standard £10 admin fee. Baffles me why it's not part of accreditation for Advances to be changeable right up to departure time online, though.

 

[dvboy]

Can’t get Apple wallet tickets on the new XC website either, so that’s another reason to stop using them.

 

[gembercannelle]

I'm not sure whether this helps or not, but are you aware of the two different customer service centres?

There's the one that is run, as far as I can tell, by the (old) ticket provider (Trainline?) on behalf of Cross Country (sales.support.crosscountry@trainsfares.co.uk). I've sent countless emails to them and managed to get one ticket refunded, out of four. They eventually referred me to the other centre (customer.relations@crosscountrytrains.co.uk). I complained to them on 21 October and received an automatic reply telling me to expect a reply within 20 working days. I also received a reply to someone else's complaint (wrong reference number etc.) a few days later! But no proper response yet.

The second customer service line seems to be the in-house one, but based on past experiences with them I've not got high hopes for a resolution. The automatic reply from their address also set out the circumstances in which I can go to the ombudsman (e.g. 40 days without reply). I suspect that will be what I do next.

Thanks - yes, I am acutely aware of the fact that there are two different centres and that the former doesn't have access to new booking system (and hence cannot verify that the booking has been made); furthermore, their agents don't seem to understand the fact that they can access old system only.

I am happy with any solution that allows to replace hours on the phone with purely email interaction - I don't see how the ombudsman can possibly find in their favour given that they have successfully refunded 8 tickets before I hit the wall of "no refund, ever".

 

[td97]

Can’t get Apple wallet tickets on the new XC website either, so that’s another reason to stop using them.

This format is included in the booking email

 

[OscarH]

I'd expect that means the standard £10 admin fee. Baffles me why it's not part of accreditation for Advances to be changeable right up to departure time online, though.

There's very little requirement for what has to be available automatically/email support/phone support. That balance is left for the retailer to decide

 

[johncrossley]

People have reported that the Uber app doesn't charge a fee when changing an Advance ticket. You simply rebook it and claim a refund on the old ticket. Can anyone confirm this is still the case? If so, that seems a better bet than TfW.

 

[dvboy]

This format is included in the booking email

You’re right, I failed to spot the attachment!

 

[gembercannelle]

To update: called on Monday to amend 3 tickets; was re-routed to Customer Relations, waited for half an hour for someone to answer the phone and eventually gave up. Called on Wednesday evening (about 8pm) again, was told I need to call when Customer Relations are open that it between 9am and 5pm Monday to Friday and on Saturdays from 9am to 4pm. Called yesterday (Friday) about 8pm again. Was told that this number is not CrossCounry anymore and rerouted somewhere where I was advised to buy new tickets and call back to request a refund. I asked if they can wait for me to do so and was told no. Called 15 minutes later and a member of staff who answered the phone wrote details of the tickets I was looking to amend and told me that I have been given incorrect advice, the case will be investigated, and I will be contacted by email. Every day is a new day. The number in question is 0344 736 9123.

 

[gpmartin]

So having escalated my complaint to the main Cross Country customer relations desk on 21 October, I've still received no response from them (other than a few automated e-mails saying how busy they are) despite the promise to reply within 20 working days. I've therefore made a complaint to the Rail Ombudsman service today. I'll let you know what happens...

 

[Blinkbonny]

So, I'd been dreading this but finally got round to re=booking a ticket from the old site by ringing customer services (03447 369123)

In the end fairly painless, though of course first thing she says is there's a £10 charge.

I just said, no there's not - that's why I book with you!

She just seemed to accept this and issued the replacement ticket without any further discussion. Though why she would just take my word for it Lord Above knows!

Makes you wonder.

 

[gpmartin]

So having escalated my complaint to the main Cross Country customer relations desk on 21 October, I've still received no response from them (other than a few automated e-mails saying how busy they are) despite the promise to reply within 20 working days. I've therefore made a complaint to the Rail Ombudsman service today. I'll let you know what happens...

To close the loop on this, the Ombudsman reviewed my case promptly and succeeded in getting a response from Cross Country quite quickly. They offered no apology or explanation but they did offer to pay £25 to 'settle' my complaint (a princely 50p more than they owed me for unrefunded tickets). I accepted this offer. I hope the inconvenience and cost associated with resolving this the hard way might just result in some organisational learning - but I don't suppose I'll ever know.