Passenger Confusion

[davidgillon]

Picked up my tickets for my trip North on Tuesday and realised that the Passenger Assistance booking I'd gotten by email was wrong when I compared the two.

I have a 1st Class Ticket (wouldn't normally buy one, but this time the difference was only £13 and I'll save most of that from the food and drink you get in 1st), but now I'd noticed it, the Passenger Assistance wheelchair space booking was for Standard - ticket and assistance were both booked on the same web form, but I'm pretty much convinced they then read the PA stuff off it and do it manually.

So I phone PA, convinced that by this close to Christmas the 1st Class wheelchair space will already be booked by someone else. Get through to someone and explain what's happened.

He is confused by the existing booking: "So, there's three of you travelling?"

Me: "No, just me."

Him: "But they've reserved three seats"

Me: {Sigh} "That's because you have to fold up the other two to use the wheelchair space." (Seats F99, F003, F004. Seriously, how can he not know that!)

Him: "Okay, give me a minute and I'll reserve the 1st Class Wheelchair Space"

Me, to myself : "You'll be lucky."

Amazingly enough he was: "All sorted. I'll send you through the email confirmation"

20 minutes later, confirmation arrives. It still lists the Standard class reservation.

I ring back, amazingly I get the same guy (not sure how many Passenger Assistance operators they have, but I could hear at least two more in the background).

Me: "It still says Standard Class"

Him: "I definitely changed it and reserved seat L99 for you." [and I know that's the 1st Class wheelchair space] "The system probably hasn't updated itself. I wrote it into the text. Here, I'll send it again."

New email arrives almost instantly. It won't let me in initially, but eventually does, I scroll down to the relevant section:

"

COACH:

F    SEAT: F99

 

COACH:

F    SEAT: F04

 

COACH:

F    SEAT: F03

 

Seat reservations (shown only if made as part of Passenger Assist booking

 

MEETING POINT:

 

ASSISTANCE:

Assistance at station for boarding. Wheelchair user requiring ramps at origin station. Luggage assistance. OWN WCH, Seat L99 (KGX) Assistance in transferring between trains, Assistance at station for alighting, Wheelchair user requiring ramps at destination station, Luggage assistance, OWN WCH, Seat L99 (DAR)

"

(My highlights)

So it's entirely possible I have both the 1st and Standard Class wheelchair spaces booked, plus my original non-wheelchair 1st Class seat (it's a great system, it allocates you a normal seat and prints it on the ticket before it allocates you the wheelchair space). I'm definitely going to be interested to see where I end up on Tuesday, and I'll definitely need a drink, whichever it is.

Why is everything so complicated when you're a wheelchair user?

Comments

[jesse_the_k]

Which seat did you ride?

to answer your question: because we have infinite time to deal with bureaucrats, and the bureaucrats like feeling powerful important.

[davidgillon]

Right seat, but everything else was wrong. See today's post for details.