F**k you Renfe

I will speak very highly of the train service here in this country because I think it is amazing.  I love that you can easily hop on a train for fairly little money to explore the country whenever you please.  We have been able to go to so many places and see some wonderful things thanks to Renfe (the train company).  You can get the high speed train or a slower more scenic route depending on where you are going and I think it is a stress free way to see the country.  Like I have said in previous posts there are bathrooms on board, which are relatively clean considering it is a train bathroom, and if you are lucky on a longer trip there is usually a snack car.  We tend to bring our own snacks but it is nice to get up and stretch your legs and grab a coffee as you watch the scenery fly by.

All pleasantries aside I have a serious beef with Renfe right now and I need to vent.  So here goes.  There are these super handy ticket machines you can use to purchase your trip tickets without having to speak to the service people or if you do not want to buy them online (which is also very convenient).  Unfortunately these machines are like something you might have used 20 years ago when automated machines first became a thing.  (Side note I do not actually know when automated machines became a thing I just mean they are archaic in the lifespan of said machines)  They are touch screen but the sensors are way off so they always think you are touching something else so you must be very careful what you are buying and more often then not we get through the entire transaction right up to the point the tickets should print and then it says there was a printing error and the trip has been refunded. Once this has happened three times in a row you start to wonder if the trip is even worth it.

So we were taking a mini holiday for a long weekend up to Santander which is a gorgeous city on the northern coast of the country.  It is about a three and a half hour train trip through some mountains and it is lovely.  We purchased our tickets about a week beforehand using one of these machines and didn't think about it again.  We got on the train on the Friday morning and enjoyed a perfect weekend away.  On Sunday we arrived at the train station about 15 minutes before our departure time and handed over our tickets to the lady at the desk.  She handed them back and said nothing but “No, no, invalid”.   I thought perhaps I had given her our old tickets but no it said Santander to Valladolid.  So I handed them back and said Si (yes).  She just said “No” and handed them back and pointed at the date and then just went on to the next customer like we didn't exist.

I am immediately furious and can feel the anxiety creeping into my core and I do not know what to do.  The tickets that we purchased had the wrong date on them.  Thanks stupid machine for not doing what I said to do.  Our tickets were printed for the same day we first went to Santander not the Sunday we had requested.  So here we go again with a language barrier issue and we turn to one of the guys standing there and tried to explain what happened.  He literally just shrugged his shoulders at us and turned away!  I could have just murdered him.  So remember my customer service post well here it was in action.  Ross and I had to run to the asshole ticket machine and buy new tickets for the train that was now leaving in 5 minutes and we were lucky because there were only two seats left.  So we run back over and she acts like she has never seen us before and I am so mad I can feel the tears.  The guy who wouldn't help us was just standing there and Ross started to yell at him telling him Renfe owed us 60 euros for the screw up but of course the guy just shrugs and walks away.

Now finally on the train we are fuming mad.  Not only has this trip now cost us an extra 60 euros but the stupid TV isn't working either, only our screen the rest were fine.  Normally we wouldn't even care because we don’t watch it anyway but we were already pissed so Ross said he was going to complain to the person who walked by next and obviously it was rude guy from the station so he was no help.  This was the most frustrating trip we have taken with Renfe.

I take responsibility for not double checking that the tickets were printed properly when we first purchased them and maybe it was something stupid that we did.  What upsets me is the complete lack of care from the employees.  Even if there was nothing they could do they didn't even listen to our story or offer an apology.  They literally just shrugged and walked away, as someone who cares about customer service this is so insulting to me.  I mean in the very least say sorry.  Take responsibility for your company and see if there is something that can be done.  Listen to the customer who is trying to explain to you what has happened.  

Gahhhhhhhhhhh

So as I have said before train travel here really is great but understand that it will be solely your responsibility to make sure everything is right and do not expect any help from the attendants.