No breakfast service on Virgin service

[Hellfire]

On my trip to London yesterday, 0656 Pendolino off Preston, an announcement was made about a technical fault in the kitchen so no cooked breakfast would be served.

This is purely an academic question as I travel in cattle class but would the First Class travellers up front have any claim against Virgin for this or is a cooked breakfast not part of the contract of carriage.

 

[broadgage]

No the cooked breakfast or any other complimentary items are subject to availability and they are not obliged to provide them.

I would be somwhat dissapointed if I had in effect paid for the breakfast via an expensive ticket, and did not receive what I was expecting, but that is not the same thing as being entitled to the meal.

If a TOC advertises that a breakfast, or anything else, is included and REGULARY OR FREQUENTLY fails to offer this, then they might be guilty of misleading advertising, but if it is infrequently unavailable, then that is just one of those things.

 

[bb21]

Virgin'll probably offer some vouchers for their failure as a goodwill gesture, but I agree that there is no entitlement to it.

Last time I wrote in about there being no catering but with the main focus on praising the guard for going out of his way to help passengers, they offered the whole amount of my First Advance fare back in vouchers.

 

[PG]

On my trip to London yesterday, 0656 Pendolino off Preston, an announcement was made about a technical fault in the kitchen so no cooked breakfast would be served.

This is purely an academic question as I travel in cattle class but would the First Class travellers up front have any claim against Virgin for this or is a cooked breakfast not part of the contract of carriage.

I'll refer you to this post (and specifically the bit I've underlined) from the Fares and Ticketing guide of the forum which seems to answer your question - however it'd be up to Virgin to possibly make any goodwill gesture to any upset First Class passenger but they'd be under no obligation to do so.

1.2 Class of Travel

Whilst Standard accommodation is provided on all trains, on some trains in addition First Class accommodation is available. This offers a more exclusive traveling environment, in most cases with more spacious and/or comfortable seating than in Standard.

In order to travel in first class accommodation, purchase of a first class ticket is required. On most trains, a first class ticket is required to walk through or even stand in the vestibules of a first class carriage, however this requirement is waived on certain trains where the layout of the carriage makes it difficult to enforce.

​

Additional First Class Benefits
Passengers travelling in first class accommodation may be offered certain additional benefits (e.g. complimentary food, drink and newspapers) depending on the train company and route. This is particularly common on long-distance inter-city routes - however the only contractual right is to travel in first class accommodation.

 

[dk1]

Would be a shame but things happen. Vouchers as a good will gesture will usually suffice.