Virgin rail Website ‘charging double’

26 Apr 2005

Thousands of business passengers have been caught out by buying tickets through a faulty Website.

Virgin Trains has been charging double the correct fare for many journeys, even after suspicious customers complained.

Now commuters could qualify for refunds after the firm admitted it was in the wrong.

People using the Virgin Trains site are automatically offered merely a choice of expensive return fares.

Although users are encouraged to try single fares in some cases, the site fails to recognise that two separate singles would often be much cheaper.

Callers to the company’s phone line are offered the lower fares.

For example, the cheapest return day fare between London and Manchester is a £193 business advance return, according to www.virgintrains.co.uk.

But the phone line offers a £54.50 business advance ticket for the outward trip and a £23 three day advance for the return leg.

The total fare of £77.50 means a saving of £115.50. Allan Carton of Hale, Cheshire, says he first reported the fault to Virgin in January.

‘I have told Virgin several times since then. It is very frustrating nothing has been done about it,’ added the 46-year-old management consultant.

Virgin trains admitted there was ‘still a glitch’ on the Website. ‘But our IT people are working to rectify the problem,’ added a spokesman.

‘Anyone who thinks they’ve paid more than necessary should contact our customer relations and we’ll consider what they have to say.’

UKFast is not responsible for the content of external Internet sites.

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