nightmare Caledonian Sleeper journey - with a decent outcome
Sep 30, 2013, 11:17 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: London
Programs: BA bronze card, NHS Blood Donor silver card
Posts: 1,617
nightmare Caledonian Sleeper journey - with a decent outcome
At the start of August, a planned weekend trip to Glasgow for a wedding had to be unexpectedly brought forward so we could attend a funeral on the Friday. I was working till fairly late on the Thursday, so the sleeper (due in to Glasgow at around 7am) seemed like the best option.
The plan was to board at Euston at around 11pm, retire to the lounge car for a nightcap, and be in bed and nodding off somewhere around Watford.
Except the loco bringing the carriages down from Wembley depot broke down. Twice. We weren't able to board until 2.30am, and finally got going at 3.
At 7am, I woke up, aware that we weren't moving. Had a look out the window and discovered we were in Preston. The crew told us that due to a door locking problem, we weren't going to be moving for a while, and suggested that we caught the first ex-Euston Virgin Trains service of the morning, which got us to Glasgow around 10am.
Nearly two months later, ScotRail have replied to my complaint - a full refund (in the form of a cheque, as requested) will be following shortly. They've also given me £5 in rail vouchers to apologise for taking so long to reply, and a free return trip on the sleeper to be used in the next 12 months.
While the journey itself wasn't much fun, I think that's not too bad for service recovery.
The plan was to board at Euston at around 11pm, retire to the lounge car for a nightcap, and be in bed and nodding off somewhere around Watford.
Except the loco bringing the carriages down from Wembley depot broke down. Twice. We weren't able to board until 2.30am, and finally got going at 3.
At 7am, I woke up, aware that we weren't moving. Had a look out the window and discovered we were in Preston. The crew told us that due to a door locking problem, we weren't going to be moving for a while, and suggested that we caught the first ex-Euston Virgin Trains service of the morning, which got us to Glasgow around 10am.
Nearly two months later, ScotRail have replied to my complaint - a full refund (in the form of a cheque, as requested) will be following shortly. They've also given me £5 in rail vouchers to apologise for taking so long to reply, and a free return trip on the sleeper to be used in the next 12 months.
While the journey itself wasn't much fun, I think that's not too bad for service recovery.
Oct 4, 2013, 7:44 am
#2
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Edinburgh
Programs: BA Blue, Sixt Platinum, HH Gold
Posts: 308
At the start of August, a planned weekend trip to Glasgow for a wedding had to be unexpectedly brought forward so we could attend a funeral on the Friday. I was working till fairly late on the Thursday, so the sleeper (due in to Glasgow at around 7am) seemed like the best option.
The plan was to board at Euston at around 11pm, retire to the lounge car for a nightcap, and be in bed and nodding off somewhere around Watford.
Except the loco bringing the carriages down from Wembley depot broke down. Twice. We weren't able to board until 2.30am, and finally got going at 3.
At 7am, I woke up, aware that we weren't moving. Had a look out the window and discovered we were in Preston. The crew told us that due to a door locking problem, we weren't going to be moving for a while, and suggested that we caught the first ex-Euston Virgin Trains service of the morning, which got us to Glasgow around 10am.
Nearly two months later, ScotRail have replied to my complaint - a full refund (in the form of a cheque, as requested) will be following shortly. They've also given me £5 in rail vouchers to apologise for taking so long to reply, and a free return trip on the sleeper to be used in the next 12 months.
While the journey itself wasn't much fun, I think that's not too bad for service recovery.
The plan was to board at Euston at around 11pm, retire to the lounge car for a nightcap, and be in bed and nodding off somewhere around Watford.
Except the loco bringing the carriages down from Wembley depot broke down. Twice. We weren't able to board until 2.30am, and finally got going at 3.
At 7am, I woke up, aware that we weren't moving. Had a look out the window and discovered we were in Preston. The crew told us that due to a door locking problem, we weren't going to be moving for a while, and suggested that we caught the first ex-Euston Virgin Trains service of the morning, which got us to Glasgow around 10am.
Nearly two months later, ScotRail have replied to my complaint - a full refund (in the form of a cheque, as requested) will be following shortly. They've also given me £5 in rail vouchers to apologise for taking so long to reply, and a free return trip on the sleeper to be used in the next 12 months.
While the journey itself wasn't much fun, I think that's not too bad for service recovery.
Oct 4, 2013, 11:05 am
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: London
Programs: BA bronze card, NHS Blood Donor silver card
Posts: 1,617
Oct 5, 2013, 11:57 am
#4
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Edinburgh
Programs: BA Blue, Sixt Platinum, HH Gold
Posts: 308
Though I suspect you might be right, the non-cynic in me thought it might just be a genuine change for the better. Or just a surprise after a year of many, many Deutsche Bahn interactions.
