Rail Europe

[ziggy14]

What would you do? The following is what happened to us today.

I went to the website for Rail Europe and made reservations for the Eurostar at a great price. $45 each way per person for one adult and one youth. Everything went through for the reservation and I received an email saying "Thank you! Your order has been received and will be processed in the next 2 business days."

Thinking everything was done with the eurostar reservation, I went and made our hotel reservations that are non-refundable.

About 4:30 this afternoon I get an email from Rail Europe stating "Thank you for booking online with Rail Europe. We are holding your order in our system to advise you that the fares you requested from Marne La Valle to London and back are sold out. We are holding the lowest available fares at the date and times you requested. The total of your order with these fares would be 687."

This is approx $400 more than our original reservation.

I called to question the change in fares and was told that their web site is not live and the fares on there are not guaranteed. If this was the case, they should have set up their web site for cutomers to submit a request to get a quote, not let you make a reservation thinking you got one price and then send you a notice indicating that the price has gone up a few hundres dollars.

This just does not sit right with me. Is there anything I can do to report this web site to warn others of the way they conduct their business.

This may sound petty to some but now I am stuck with reservations at a hotel that I can not cancel and can not get a reasonable fare on the Eurostar.

Thanks for any advise anyone can provide.

Thank you.

 

[Miffy2003]

Hiya,

I'm really sorry - I don't have any advice but this has happened to me before and it is so frustrating. Did it say anywhere on the website that the system wasn't "live" and the price would need to be verified? Is it worth giving them a ring and explaining the situation and see if they will at least compromise with you?

Can you use the money you have paid for your hotel as a credit for another hotel somewhere else maybe? (Sorry - clutching at straws I expect)

I hope you get it all sorted out! So annoying!

Good luck & best wishes,

Karen

 

[Baloo2003]

I had a similar experience, where I saw that a round trip from Waterloo to Disneyland Paris was going for $94. Since I am from the US, I had to call the number here in the US. They were trying to send me through Paris where I would have to change trains at a busy station in Paris. We only needed a one-way trip to Waterloo, so I expected to pay about half of the $94. The lowest price I was given from Disneyland station was $120 one-way. The person I spoke with didn't seem very knowledgeable about prices and schedules. I was eventually told that the $94 dollar price went through Paris and was only valid between 11am to 3pm. Since the direct ride from Disneyland to Waterloo which only runs once that day is after 3pm it was subject to different pricing. With the $94 round trip price I even suggested that we purchase that round trip from Disneyland Paris to Waterloo and not use the return ticket. This wasn't an option.

Contacting them left me with a weird, uncomfortable experience for such pricing differences.

 

[DisneyBB]

Hi,

Have you tried www.eurostar.co.uk ? I think site would give you live fares. I also thought www.raileurope.co.uk was live fares, they don't seem very clear. Changing trains is not so much of a hassle we have done it at Lille before. This maybe an option for cheaper tickets, change at Lille for a direct train to DLP. Also how would they know if you didn't use the return part of your ticket? People miss trains all the time !