Avoid Trainline when buying tickets online

A reader has told me of a worrying offer from Trainline. He always tells his wife of my advice never to use Trainline, but it seems she likes it and made a recent purchase.

She was asked if she’d like to save £16 off her next journey, for which she ticked a box. On checking her bank statement, she found she had been charged £10 a month via a company in Portsmouth called ‘MyTime Rewards’, without having been notified.

Our reader complained and says he has been promised a refund. I shall say no more, as my views of Trainline are so well-known regarding its totally unnecessary charges.

However, it is worth adding that for those who like Trainline’s layout - and I confess I do - you can still get that by using the Virgin Trains (West Coast) website. I never buy online anyway, as I buy from a station or a machine on the day of travel, but when I’ve looked on behalf of friends I find the ‘mixing deck’ system used by many operators totally confusing.

Trainline led the way and were it not for its charges I’d have sung its praises for years. But it gets commission from ticket sales and has no need to charge, and customers can avoid such fees completely by using Virgin Trains.

Turning to a different matter, a reader had to send some tickets for a refund under ‘Delay Repay’. And as he rightly thought them valuable to back his claim, he thought he’d obtain a proof of postage.

The address quoted was a FREEPOST one without a postcode and the Post Office refused to issue a proof, saying this cannot be done for letters without a postcode.

Now, it’s true most people scan tickets and apply online, but not everybody can… or wants to. I asked a colleague at the Rail Delivery Group, but he said the RDG has never had any queries regarding this.

So, over to readers, please: has any reader had a similar problem when posting tickets to a FREEPOST address?