Glacier Express: wrong tickets ordered, no refund
Keren and her son are set to travel to Switzerland at the end of February. They mistakenly booked first-class tickets for the Glacier Express instead of second-class and are struggling to get a refund or exchange. Keren is looking for advice on how to avoid extra costs due to this mistake.
- Consider contacting the Rhätische Bahn directly for a potential solution that differs from the previous responses.
- If you’re open to it, regular trains may provide a scenic experience without the high costs of the Glacier Express.
- Upgrading to first class is an option, but expect extra charges of about 62 CHF per person. Think carefully about whether it’s worth it.
- You can try inquiring at the station counter for assistance, as they may have different solutions available.
AI-generated summary-
Hello
Thanks in advanced for your help
Me and my son are traveling End February to Switzerland,
i ordered a saver day pass class 2 – for the Glacier Express & trains to and from the Glacier stations
The trip at the Glacier are for 2 persons at February 28,2020 from CHUR to BRIG
By mistake I choose seats in the Glacier Express for class 1 instead of class 2.
already sent several emails and had some phone calls with the srvice center – but they insist that all is noted in their terms and don’t want to help cancelling the tickets.
they advised to order 2 more tickets for class 2, or upgrade at the train to first class that this is an additional 62 CHF for person, no refund for the wrong tickets will be received any way
i think if it is a human mistake they can make some exceptions, most made by tourists…and it is almost 2 month prior the ride, for sure the seats i want to cancel will be ordered by other costumers
Do you have some suggestions? idaes to avoid this extra costing?
Thanks a lot
Keren
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Hi Keren and welcome to MySwissAlps!
I am sorry to hear what happened. Please tell me, where did you buy your tickets? On which site?
Thanks,
Ildiko
Hi & Thanks for replying
i bought the tickets at the Glacier Express web site
Hi Keren,
Unfortunately seat reservations are normally not refundable, regardless of where you buy them. I’m not happy with that rule, and I don’t think it makes sense, but we’re not the railways and can’t do anything about it. Currently I can’t open their terms, at least not through the link in the footer of the website. But I’m sure the terms indeed say that it’s not refundable. Sorry!
Thanks…
Do you have some suggestions? idaes to avoid this extra costing? or minimixe them?
go for 1st class
it is typically worth it due to the panoramic cars in those trains
thought about this, unfortunatly it is an additional cost of 124 CHF..
Not sure how much it would cost but have you checked with SBB whether you could swap your 2nd Class Saver Day Pass for a 1st Class one? Your cheapest option may be to just catch regular trains rather than the GEX. The scenery is the same but you will need to change trains at Disentis.
Hi Arno,
It’s in black and white (or at least greyscale) – http://www.glacierexpress.ch/en/agb/. Found through search. The link to Ts & Cs at the bottom of the page is a mighty weird one indeed.
Hi Keren,
I guess you have exhausted the line that you are not seeking a refund but rather an exchange of reservations from 1st to 2nd Class. It will cost them nothing so to decline your request just seems cruel and heartless to me. I had a bad experience with an overly officious matré de train on the GEX.
When I travelled on the Bernina Express bus I made the mistake of booking non-adjacent seats for my wife and I. A quick email and they fixed it up without hesitation. Different management and different culture in the two organisations.
Personally I would boycott the GEX and take the regular train. You will probably enjoy it more especially if you pack a picnic lunch to have onboard.
Many thanks for a thorough and understandable explanation along with some interesting ideas. Thinking and deciding what to do, I promised my son the ExpressGlacier train so I will probably have to pay extra for the tickets I have already purchased. By the way can tickets be sold to a third party?
Hi Keren,
I’m not sure if you could sell your seat reservations. I doubt there is much of a market for that sort of thing on eBay (for example). I suppose you could let the ticket office at Chur know you have a couple of 1st Class seat reservations available for anyone who rolls up hoping to get on the train without one.
They aren’t tickets so don’t try to sell them as that. Tickets cover the fare ( in your case the Saver Day Pass) – seat reservations are a separate thing.
Whatever you decide, I hope you enjoy the trip.
Then when you get home write a scathing enter of complaint to the General Manager of the railway.
I have no idea what happened there but obviously I meant a “letter of complaint”. Go straight to the top. Works every time.
Thanks, i was in contact with the service dept. and then asked to forward my complain to a service manager, he also replied the same as the service dept. “nothing can be done”…
Do you know where can i send to a “letter of complaint”? isn’t it directed to the service dept. that refused to take action?
Hi KerenDor,
I would write a formal complain letter and submit it to the contact address stated on the official homepage.
http://www.glacierexpress.ch/en/contact/
I hope you will get a favourable reply.
Best regards,
Anna
Thanks, tried it, it is the same customer service address that i sent my complaint to, they are perceived to be covered by the terms of the transaction listed on the site, and no changes or refunds accepted..
It seems that by the end it is inevitable and will need to add the additional cost to upgrade to 1st class.
Still not able to believe this is the service they offer to their clients…
you can try on site at the counter at a station.
Will try also..
Thanks all for your help !!!
The Glacier Express is run jointly by two private Swiss railways, the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn (MGB) and the Rhätische Bahn (RhB).
I would try contacting RhB to see if you get a different response.
Tel. +41 81 288 65 65
Fax +41 81 288 61 05
railservice(at)rhb.ch
If all else fails complain to
Piotr Caviezel
Head of Sales and Marketing
Rhätische Bahn AG
Bahnhofstrasse 25
CH-7001 Chur
I really appreciate your help, Thanks!!!
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