Dear VT,

I am writing to complain about the six hour diversion and overall poor service on Virgin Trains on Sunday 4 January.

I was travelling on the 11.55 train, as the 12.15 train I had booked had been cancelled because of the plane crash. We were told a power line failure meant the train was delayed before Watford. We waited for an hour on the train, and then returned to Milton Keynes half an hour later. Some escaped at Watford, but I had brought my bike so I couldn’t leave.

We waited for two hours outside Milton Keynes station for a bus to take us to London Euston. There weren’t enough coaches, and it was freezing. By now there were crowds of hundreds of people. Randomly I met an old friend from primary school, who you had also decided to divert to Milton Keynes to wait in snow.

We decided instead to take the bus to Luton Station, as there were too many passengers pushing on to too few coaches. At Luton Station, I bought another ticket to London. No-one said we were allowed to travel on the train to King’s Cross with the original ticket to London. That was annoying.

After I paid for a ticket to Central London, the person behind the counter asked me if I had a valid Virgin ticket to London – yeh, that’s right, after – and then I was told it would be refunded immediately. I was given the receipt back and considered the payment voided. However, I’ve checked my account and it was never voided – I’ve paid twice for the same unsatisfactory service, which took a total of eight hours.

This whole situation has really disappointed me, and I’m frustrated the card transaction wasn’t cancelled at the station like the ticket person said – this has really shocked me, as it was taken without my consent. The ticket only cost £7.85, but it should never have been charged.

The way you funnelled everyone back to Milton Keynes was ridiculous too. You should have just let us make our own way back at Watford. It wasn’t far, you made it further.

I’ve travelled with Virgin many times between London Euston and Manchester, in standard and first class. This is the second time I’ve been delayed, and I’m really frustrated right now about the whole situation.

Regards,

Patrick