Trainline Reviews

1.2 Rating 544 Reviews
4 %
of reviewers recommend Trainline
1.2
Based on 544 reviews
Shipping & Delivery
Delivery Methods
Postal Service, Own Driver, Courier
On-time Delivery
Greater than 15%
Customer Service
Communication Channels
Live Chat, Telephone, Email
Queries Resolved In
Under An Hour
Customer Service
1.1 out of 5
Returns & Refunds
Refunds Process
Difficult
Returns Process
Could Be Better
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Trainline 1 star review on 21st March 2024
Ian
Trainline 1 star review on 21st March 2024
Ian
Trainline 1 star review on 17th March 2024
Dee
Trainline 1 star review on 31st January 2024
Anonymous
Trainline 1 star review on 31st January 2024
Anonymous
Trainline 1 star review on 18th August 2023
Lavinia
Trainline 1 star review on 18th August 2023
Lavinia
17
Anonymous
Anonymous  // 01/01/2019
Poor service. They claim to do the work for you in calculating the best deal for split fares, but today I looked for a day return with railcard Totnes to Bridgwater on their website and they quoted me £23. However when I did it myself, splitting the journey into (i) Totnes to Taunton; (ii) Taunton to Bridgwater, it came to £13.15 + £5.70, which is £18.85 - ie £4.15 less. On top of that if I purchase my ticket(s) through GWR, National Rail, or any other rail company that I am aware of, they do it for no additional charge, whereas Trainline load you up with a significant fee on top of that. Bad value all round.
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Posted 7 months ago
Liars, did not refund me after saying they had already processed the refund. Avoid
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Posted 7 months ago
good for convenience and price comparison when things are smooth. Bad when trains are cancelled and you need a refund. It confuses everything, not the first time I’ve had this issue. In the future, Ill be going directly via the train service
Helpful Report
Posted 7 months ago
good for convenience and price comparison when things are smooth. Bad when trains are cancelled and you need a refund. It confuses everything, not the first time I’ve had this issue. In the future, Ill be going directly via the train service
Helpful Report
Posted 7 months ago
On Friday evening 25th august Havant to Chichester train was cancelled at near 11.19pm, no notification on platform only via app, nobody around to ask for assistance on alternative journey, not surprising considering strike where kicking in at midnight! So was left standing in the bucketing rain with my wife, had to pay nearly £60 taxi to get home, extra two hours charge from baby sitter and now I can’t apply for a refund as it outways the admin fee. Disgusting sevice should be ashamed of yourselves as dozens of others left in the same position.
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Posted 7 months ago
It took Trainline two months and multiple phone calls to get them to agree a refund for a ticket for a cancelled train (Grand Central, yet again). They lost the paper tickets I had to send them by snail mail to prove my journey was cancelled (what century are they living in?) and delayed and prevaricated until I threatened legal action. Never using them again.
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Posted 7 months ago
Booked tickets via the app for a return from Stevenage to London Kings Cross. In the app it was showing as an open return ticket meaning I should’ve been able to travel back another day. I have two screenshots from the app where it clearly states open return. However this was a glitch and ‘type error’ and they actually booked a day return. I contacted them the next day to try and resolve the issue via their web chat when the open return ticket was not allowing me to book a return journey. However they refused to refund or book a replacement return ticket as I’d used the outgoing journey! Well yes, because I didn’t think there was a problem as it said open return! I travelled five minutes after booking on the app at the station, but they apparently expect you to not rely on the app to be accurate and instead either call them or read through the email confirmation before travelling. Makes a complete mockery of the app then really! Since then there have been several more emails back and forth, with myself submitting the evidence of the error in the app, and still they refuse to refund part of the ticket. Absolutely incompetent service and looking online I’m not the only one who has booked an open return to be given a day return. Be sure to check your email confirmation and don’t rely on the app, particularly if you’re travelling very shortly after booking. I’ve raised a payment dispute with my bank now as I haven’t been provided the service I paid for nor received what was advertised in the app.
Trainline 1 star review on 18th August 2023 Trainline 1 star review on 18th August 2023
Helpful Report
Posted 7 months ago
Misleading information and Defraud Formal complaint filed: Dear Sir/Madam, I am writing to file a formal complaint against Trainline (aka https://www.thetrainline.com/en-us) regarding a recent transaction that has resulted in significant inconvenience and financial loss. I trust that your esteemed authority will investigate this matter thoroughly and take appropriate actions to ensure consumer rights are upheld. Background: On 19/3/2023, I purchased train tickets through Trainline, for a journey from Rome to Verona on July 4, 2023, with a return trip from Verona to Rome on July 13, 2023. The total cost of the transaction was $180, approximately $90 per trip for three passengers. Issue: On July 12, we received notice of a railway strike, resulting in the cancellation of our next day planned journey. We attempted to find alternative transportation options using the Trainline app and initially purchased bus tickets for $132. Shortly after, upon further review, we discovered a better alternative within the Trainline app, involving train tickets. We promptly initiated the cancellation process for the bus tickets and received immediate confirmation from Trainline that the tickets were canceled, with a message stating, "refund in process." Subsequently, we were reassured via email that our refund was being processed. Only then we felt safe to purchase train tickets at a cost of $271. Further Complications: The following day, upon arriving at the station, we learned that also the train service we had rescheduled (271$), had also been canceled. We were forced to spend an additional $50 to secure alternate train tickets at the station, as well as make arrangements with a different train company. ** Despite the lack of justification for charging commission fees on a service that was not provided (twice!!!), we took it upon ourselves to handle the refunds directly with the operating railway company (Trenitalia) and chose to forego the commission fees. However, limit has been crossed, when we had found out that the "refund in process" for the bus journey resulted in a reimbursement of $0. We contacted Trainline, and they argued that the transaction for the bus tickets, purchased hours before the planned journey time as mentioned, namely the previous evening upon strike notification mail, is subject to a 48-hour cancellation policy before the scheduled departure. I would like to state the obvious: we would have not purchased additional train tickets, if we were notified that bus journey cancellation is impossible. Issues and Concerns: 1. Misleading Information: I was provided with misleading information concerning the successful cancellation of bus tickets. Despite assurances of a refund, the cancellation was not processed. 2. Duplicative Purchases: The platform enabled me to purchase identical target products for the same passengers, on the same route, and for the same date, leading to unnecessary expenses and confusion. 3. Commission Fee Refund: The company did not refund the commission fee for undelivered products, contrary to established industry practices where other platforms take responsibility for such scenarios. 4. Distress and Miscommunication: The inadequate communication and erroneous refund process caused considerable distress and dissatisfaction. Desired Resolution: I respectfully request that your authority investigates the following aspects: 1. The circumstances surrounding the refund denial for the canceled bus tickets and assess whether it violates consumer protection regulations. 2. The functionality on the platform that allows customers to inadvertently make duplicative purchases and the potential implications for consumer rights and financial well-being. 3. The company's refusal to refund the commission fee for undelivered services and its compliance with consumer protection standards. 4. The impact of the misleading communication on consumer experience, including distress and financial loss. I believe that your involvement will aid in achieving a fair and just resolution to this matter, preventing similar incidents from occurring in the future. I am attaching relevant purchase and cancellation confirmations to this email, including correspondence with the company. I anticipate your timely response and assurance that appropriate actions will be taken to protect consumers and uphold their rights. Thank you for your dedication to safeguarding consumer interests. Sincerely, Eddy and Gali Avital
Trainline 1 star review on 17th August 2023
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Posted 7 months ago
Service après-vente qui n’est pas à la hauteur. Aucune volonté de comprendre ou d’écoute. J’ai exposé un potentiel problème. On me répond que c’est une erreur de ma part. J’envoie des copies d’écran. Personne ne répond, affaire classée. Plus jamais je ne passerai par ce type de site.
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Posted 8 months ago
Admin fee in order to get a refund on a cancelled service- £10 “admin fee”(!!!!) on a £14 ticket so entitled to £3 back on unused ticket. Beware of this company
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Posted 8 months ago
I did purchase a train ticket today, I never got a mail with the confirmation from Trainline, now I do not have any way to show I bought a ticket .
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Posted 8 months ago
Booked advance single tickets to/from Liverpool/London for £170.94. Had to cancel 5 days before travel. Refund value was £13.83. Disgraceful.
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Posted 8 months ago
Had a bad experience with your refund policy. We booked 1 set of non-refundable tickets for 1 route and another set of non-refundable tickets for another route. When we tried to request for refund of the refundable tickets due to change in our schedule, our request was denied just because all the tickets were bought under a single transaction receipt. Lame excuse.
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Posted 8 months ago
Celestina from Customer Support live chat is amazing!! I had a frustration with a booking that would be really risky with a wrong email etc. She is smart since depsite my frustration she got in the point immediately and helped me out. She is also a really patient and kind person during the whole conversation! Wish all the companies had customer support bless like her. - Apostolos
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Posted 8 months ago
Trainline is easy to use but does not provide a full refund. I got criticised by the train line for getting "too many refunds" and they cancelled my refund option. Trainline you and your associates are shocking. You are nothing to do with rail companies and you try to aggravate people like me who do not always know all the rules. Trainline is a company for modern times, it is "woke" and I won't use it ever again. Thank you for your cooperation.
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Posted 8 months ago
Disgusting customer service. Apps mistake but refuse to refund my ticket. Never using this app again!
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Posted 8 months ago
After my journey was delayed by an hour and a half, I sought a refund only to find that I needed to post the paper tickets back to them in order for it to be considered. This seems like a barrier put in place simply to reduce the number of refunds they’d have to give out. Filing for a refund within my account, along with screen shots of the reference and transactions, is surely more than enough evidence to show that I purchased the tickets. I’m not sure what further verification the mailing of the paper tickets provides, a step also recognised by Trainline itself as ‘old-fashioned’. This is either an arbitrary and unnecessary step in the process of refunding, and should therefore be removed, or it is an intentionally inconvenient and unfair barrier to the refunds process, which should therefore also be removed. A silly design, or a greedy move. Either of which reflects poorly.
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Posted 9 months ago
What is the point of the app if you still have to purchase tickets at the stations and even use google maps? Really, the app says there’s a live tracker but it never works! The whole app is a sham, just stick to google maps everybody
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Posted 9 months ago
Telephoned customer service and they were very helpful and got me the cheapest tickets to London. I then rang to change the return journey time, again very helpful an easy process. I finally had to cancel the whole journey and downloaded the app to do this. Again very easy process and refund was back in my bank in 2 working days. Very impressed!
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Posted 9 months ago
My train was cancelled on 29th March. Trainline charged me €115 lot to go on train 1 hour before despite e mailing to say there would be no extra charge due to train being cancelled.. Now they won’t refund me. Any e mails I sent are responded to by bots (as you will see by response to this). I phoned and was told by guy called Ajitesh yesterday, i shouldn’t have been charged extra and that refunds could take years but at least 8 to 10 months, due to volume. Why charge people for rearranging cancelled tickets and then say you will refund but keeping fobbing off. Scam. People will give up chasing eventually. I also spoke with Jason, Masood and many others.
Trainline 1 star review on 20th June 2023 Trainline 1 star review on 20th June 2023
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Posted 9 months ago
Trainline is rated 1.2 based on 544 reviews