The Royal Bank of Scotland is one of
the six miscreant banks to plead guilty to currency manipulation.
Here on the ground in my first visit to Scotland, it's hard to
imagine the evil that such men do (I would suppose they are mainly
men.) Our visit has revealed a wonderful, warm people, who generally
cannot help us enough. I do see where the moniker “thrifty Scots”
comes from: every piece of information and direction we get has not
only a cost attached but an opinion of whether it is exorbitant or
not(“his tour is very good and not as expensive as Jim's.”)
Probably because I'm an East Coast Jew, it sounds reasonable and
refreshing to me.
At a woolen store today in Edinburgh I
scandalized my WASPy wife Ann by buying sweaters and a blanket and
asking, “What is my discount on this?” She scowled and walked
away. The Japanese salesman asked his young Russian emigre manager
Denis about it, and Denis apologized that he could only give me 5%
off, but explained that the VAT rebate at the airport would deliver
me 10% more. Denis
I asked Denis about he emigration and
asked if he was Jewish, and he said no. He did have a Jewish friend
back in Russia, he said, who never paid for anything, and then when
he did pay one time, all his friends applauded.
“Why did you do that?” the friend
asked.
They answered, “Because you never pay
for anything.”
Reflecting on his story, then Denis
asked me, “Are you Jewish?”
I said that I was. He said, “No
offense.”
None taken. After all, we were in
Scotland, and he had just given me 5% off.
But I digress. Who would have thought
that the RBS was filled with crooks, because the people seem so nice?
On the other hand, listen to what happened to us yesterday as we
made our way by ScotRail, the national railroad of Scotland, down to
Edinburgh, a pleasant trip of about four hours.
First, on the day before, I bought the
tickets on line. Because it was a lengthy trip we bought first class
seats. Instead of the regular fare of £83.80,
first class was £131.40, about £48 more. We reserved seats, showed
up on time, got on the train, and found out to our astonishment that
we were seated in the regular coach, not first class. We inquired
and found that others were in the same situation. ScotRail had
figured on two first class cars but then decided on only one. OK,
not a tragedy, but we would be due our first class fare back, of
course. The conductor marked our tickets with some scribbling and
told us that when we got to the station in Edinburgh we could go to
the ticket counter and get our money refunded. Fair enough.
Except,
not fair enough. We found the ScotRail ticket counter after a couple
of tries and the curt clerk at the counter told me that since we had
bought our tickets on line, we could only get a refund on line.
Bizarro! How do you get a refund on line? How do you show them the
tickets with the conductor's scrawl?
But,
having no choice, when we got to our hotel, spirits buoyed by a
terrific room upgrade, I set to work at the ScotRail website,
division of customer support. I explained my problem:
Sirs:
On 21 May my wife Ann and I purchased by internet first class tickets to travel from Inverness to Edinburgh on 22 May on the 10:45 train. Our ticket numbers are 02308 and 02309. Our seat ticket numbers are 02310 and 02311. When we arrived at the train they told us that a first class car had been cancelled and we needed to take ordinary seats, which we did. They told us that the extra premium we paid for first class would be refunded at the Edinburgh station.
Unfortunately, when we sought payment at the station we were told that since we had purchased the tickets on the internet, we would have to seek restitution over the internet, hence this communication.
We would very much appreciate our first class fares being refunded.
I can be contacted by email at buddshenkin@gmail.com. My cell phone number from the US is 510-918-0698.
Thank you very much in advance.
Budd N. Shenkin, MD
On 21 May my wife Ann and I purchased by internet first class tickets to travel from Inverness to Edinburgh on 22 May on the 10:45 train. Our ticket numbers are 02308 and 02309. Our seat ticket numbers are 02310 and 02311. When we arrived at the train they told us that a first class car had been cancelled and we needed to take ordinary seats, which we did. They told us that the extra premium we paid for first class would be refunded at the Edinburgh station.
Unfortunately, when we sought payment at the station we were told that since we had purchased the tickets on the internet, we would have to seek restitution over the internet, hence this communication.
We would very much appreciate our first class fares being refunded.
I can be contacted by email at buddshenkin@gmail.com. My cell phone number from the US is 510-918-0698.
Thank you very much in advance.
Budd N. Shenkin, MD
The
return email said:
Case Logged Notification. Reference: SR/150522/CDQJ
Thank you for contacting ScotRail.We aim to reply to emails within 7 days. If however, you need a quicker reply please call us on 0344 811 0141. Alternatively you can visit our website scotrail.co.uk for live train information, to plan a journey, buy tickets or visit our Frequently Asked Questions.
Kind regards
The ScotRail team
Seven days seemed a bit long,
especially since we would be long gone by then, so I availed myself
of the telephone number and explained our problem to the nice young
lady – young – who took it in and said that she would have to get
me in contact with Marie, who handled such issues, would I mind? No,
I didn't mind, and young Marie – young – took in the situation,
and explained that ScotRail did not issue actual money back, but
vouchers which could then be used to purchase ScotRail tickets, or
could be turned in for cash. Would I please mail in the tickets?
“Mail?” I queried. “Mail?”
“Well, I guess you could take a
picture of them and email them to me.”
OK, that sounded possible. What would
happen then?
“Then we will mail out your voucher
to you within seven business days.”
“But we are only here in Scotland two
more days, and we will be flying home from London in 10 days.”
There is, of course, no place in London to cash in vouchers. And
since this was a Friday and a three day weekend facing us, it would
be unlikely that a railroad company would be working for some time –
especially since the railroad union was threatening strike on Monday
and Tuesday, for maximum disruption (wanting higher pay since they
make only about 40% more than police or firefighters – shades of
BART in the Bay Area! But I digress again.)
“I'll talk to my manager.”
OK, she was a sweet young thing,
trying. She came back on the phone and urged me to send them to the
same address where I had sent the first note and to attach a new case
reference number she gave me, even though I had been assigned one
“If you can get me the tickets by 2
PM on Saturday, we can try to mail out the vouchers on Monday. Where
can we send them to?”
Good question, good question. Where,
indeed?
I complied nonetheless with the
following note with the title of the new case reference number she
gave me:
SR/150522/CDRG
|
Sirs:
As I explained in a phone call and in an email, on 21 May my wife Ann and I purchased by internet first class tickets to travel from Inverness to Edinburgh on 22 May on the 10:45 train. Our ticket numbers are 02308 and 02309. Our seat ticket numbers are 02310 and 02311. When we arrived at the train they told us that a first class car had been cancelled and we needed to take ordinary seats, which we did. They told us that the extra premium we paid for first class would be refunded at the Edinburgh station.
Unfortunately, when we sought payment at the station we were told that since we had purchased the tickets on the internet, we would have to seek restitution over the internet.
We would very much appreciate our first class fares being refunded.
When I spoke to your representative, Marie, who was very nice, she explained to me that it was policy that the only refund would be by voucher, which could be redeemed at a ScotRail office. (Why ScotRail cannot credit the sum to the same credit card to which the original fare was charged, remains a mystery. That is certainly what other enterprises are able to do.) She also explained that it would take some time for such a voucher to be issued. It is unfortunate that we are at the end of our Scotland visit, and expect to leave on Monday May 25 for England.
The representative asked for copies of our tickets. See attached. She also asked for where the vouchers could be sent. We are staying at the Waldorf Astoria Caledonian Hotel in Edinburgh until Monday. If the vouchers are to arrive after that time, they should be sent to my sister's house:
I can be contacted by email at buddshenkin@gmail.com. My cell phone number from the US is 510-918-0698.
Thank you very much.
As I explained in a phone call and in an email, on 21 May my wife Ann and I purchased by internet first class tickets to travel from Inverness to Edinburgh on 22 May on the 10:45 train. Our ticket numbers are 02308 and 02309. Our seat ticket numbers are 02310 and 02311. When we arrived at the train they told us that a first class car had been cancelled and we needed to take ordinary seats, which we did. They told us that the extra premium we paid for first class would be refunded at the Edinburgh station.
Unfortunately, when we sought payment at the station we were told that since we had purchased the tickets on the internet, we would have to seek restitution over the internet.
We would very much appreciate our first class fares being refunded.
When I spoke to your representative, Marie, who was very nice, she explained to me that it was policy that the only refund would be by voucher, which could be redeemed at a ScotRail office. (Why ScotRail cannot credit the sum to the same credit card to which the original fare was charged, remains a mystery. That is certainly what other enterprises are able to do.) She also explained that it would take some time for such a voucher to be issued. It is unfortunate that we are at the end of our Scotland visit, and expect to leave on Monday May 25 for England.
The representative asked for copies of our tickets. See attached. She also asked for where the vouchers could be sent. We are staying at the Waldorf Astoria Caledonian Hotel in Edinburgh until Monday. If the vouchers are to arrive after that time, they should be sent to my sister's house:
Emily
Simon
9
Elsworthy Road
London
NW3 3DS
United
Kingdom
I can be contacted by email at buddshenkin@gmail.com. My cell phone number from the US is 510-918-0698.
Thank you very much.
I then received the following reply:
Case Logged Notification. Reference: SR/150522/CFCT
|
 |
|
Thank
you for contacting ScotRail.
We aim to reply to emails within 7 days. If however, you need a quicker reply please call us on 0344 811 0141. Alternatively you can visit our website scotrail.co.uk for live train information, to plan a journey, buy tickets or visit our Frequently Asked Questions.
Kind regards
The ScotRail team
We aim to reply to emails within 7 days. If however, you need a quicker reply please call us on 0344 811 0141. Alternatively you can visit our website scotrail.co.uk for live train information, to plan a journey, buy tickets or visit our Frequently Asked Questions.
Kind regards
The ScotRail team
SO,
we now have at least three different case numbers and a promise for
them to hurry up to issue us vouchers for which we will have scant
ability to exchange for the cash they already took from us. In
essence, as Ann summarizes it, they
took our money in exchange for a seat they promised but could not
produce, and now refuse to refund our money.
The
irony is that this occurs in a country that is so punctilious about
financial matters, so watchful, so financially conscious. As always,
one asks, is it stupid or evil? Or as in most cases, a bit of both?
For RBS, evil wins the day. For ScotRail, I figure it's both -- stupid in bureaucracy, but evil in screwing the public.
I'm just trying to figure if my 5% discount from Denis covers my £48 loss to ScotRail.
I'm just trying to figure if my 5% discount from Denis covers my £48 loss to ScotRail.
Budd
Shenkin
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