Most reviewers were let down by their experience overall, citing widespread dissatisfaction with the platform. Customers frequently reported extreme frustration when trying to secure refunds for cancelled or delayed train journeys, claiming that valid requests were repeatedly denied or ignored. People also heavily complained about unhelpful customer service teams and automated chat bots that completely failed to resolve basic booking issues.
Some reviewers were not happy with the booking process, noting that payment methods frequently failed or search attributes changed unexpectedly right before purchase. Additionally, travelers experienced unexpected extra charges and hidden non-refundable fees that caused frustration.
Zero customer service
ref 1134745516705869
At first very good but had issue with app error on my last booking which showing failed payment while trying to pay, which in turn blocked my account. After various attempts to resolve via chat and reattempt using different payment methods I was assured there where no issues and then further emails over the last 2 weeks with what seems to be a copy and paste reply saying unusual activity ???? From a ticket booking service 🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️. Now been told to set up another account which in turn looses all the so called loyalty point.
Very poor service with no feed back to resolve.
Bought Trainpal Card on the basis of online ad offering 15% off all UK bookings. Turns out it’s 3% and tough luck, the card is non refundable.
Misleading advertising.
The chatbot understands why I’m frustrated tho so there’s that!
I was excited when I found Trainpal - the prices looked good and it was good to have an alternative to Trainline.
However, everything about it is worse. Firstly, they used to not support in app tickets which meant that after a long flight, all my friends at LGW could get straight onto the platform but I had to wait in line to print my tickets.
Now I see they do have tickets in app, but the payments fail randomly. It's just a far inferior experience.
I would give no stars if I could. You can't speak to an actual person. They messed my booking up and then told me I can't get a refund.
I wish I had seen the reviews before I booked. I will stick with Trainline in future.
They are very very very bad service and whene you need to get your refunds because of delays they never pay you back the money they stell you in your face
I find booking on line very difficult with TrainPal
Train line is much better to book on and I know they have a booking fee but I prefer to book with trainline and not TrainPal with TrainPal it’s not clear navigating around their system
When I eventually booked my tickets I had to authorise a payment through my bank but couldn’t as it didn’t lead me back to TrainPal
It’s a very tricky site I’m afraid
They also give you different prices at different times I can do without this frankly
I need clear instructions
I booked two First Class seats on a return Avanti West Coast trip via TrainPal and was furious to get two separate seats, not adjacent seats, on both outbound and return trains.
It's an implicit requirement that you want two adjacent seats but the system made no attempt to assign two adjacent seats. And there was no warning during the TrainPal booking process that adjacent seats might not be assigned.
I then looked on the Avanti West Coast website and realised they have a seat selector and found plenty of adjacent seats available on the outbound and return trains, so I cancelled with TrainPal and booked direct with Avanti West Coast.
The system is rigged so as to provide separated seats when booking via third parties and therefore encourage you to book direct.
I won't be using TrainPal or other third parties in future.
********************************************
Re the pathetic Trainpal response..... why would I want to "contact Trainpal for further assistance", I previously contacted you and you said "Seat assignments are provided directly by the train operator and unfortunately can't be guaranteed in advance" so,,,,, as I say,,,,, when booking via third parties the system is rigged so as no to give adjacent seats when 2 tickets are booked,,,,, IF YOU WANT ADJACENT SEATS FOR 2 PEOPLE DO NOT BOOK VIA THIRD PARTIES LIKE TRAINPAL BOOK DIRECT WITH THE TRAIN OPERATOR !!!!!
On April 26th at approximately 17:05 at Luton Airport DART, my mother and I had purchased our tickets online in advance. These tickets clearly included the journey from Luton Airport to Airport Parkway, including the DART shuttle. However, when attempting to use the QR code, it did not work at the gate, so I approached TFL staff for assistance and they refused my tickets. I have paid additional £9.80. I have contacted TFL after but they are still refusing the validation. I have clear evidences showing I booked from the airport to euston including the shuttle service. I request my £9.80 refund, since TFL doesn't acknowledge the situation and I am directed to trainpal
Is It Me That's Rubbish, Or The Trainpal website??
Hi
I tried to answer the email re.''Coming Back To Trainpal''. The link in the email takes me to a blank page with 'Forbidden' in the top left hand corner; the email address on Google doesn't work, FaceBook states
'This content isn't available at the moment
When this happens, it's usually because the owner only shared it with a small group of people or changed who can see it, or it's been deleted.'
I shan't be bothering to try and contact Trainpal again.
Phil Carter
Avoid- TrainPal is fine until something goes wrong
TrainPal is fine until something goes wrong, at which point you’ll face the most incompetent "customer service" imaginable. I’ve had to battle agents who claimed that honoring my statutory rights for a cancelled train was "illegal" and a "breach of consumer law"—the literal opposite of the truth.
The level of intimidation is shocking. When I mentioned escalating to my bank for a service they failed to provide, they threatened that my future payments would be "affected." They would rather bully you into silence than refund £7.15 for a train that didn't run.
Be warned: they have a history of this. Years ago, they told my partner to dispute a refund with his bank, then blacklisted his account for doing exactly what they told him to do, demanding he reverse the chargeback before they’d unblock him.
They do not follow the National Rail Conditions of Travel or UK Consumer Law. Save yourself the stress and book directly with the train operators or Train Line (much better even if a little bit more expensive) instead.
appalling customer service - unclear terms and conditions
appalling customer service, unclear that the discounted rail card purchase was so tied to conditions. Tried to refund and cancel within 5 mins and refused - avoid all costs
I had 2 trips booked through TrainPal but I want and broke my right shoulder. Asked for a refund for both trips and within 24 hours refund was approved after filling a simple form in. Will use again
This company and their customer support are horrible! Our train was cancelled and replaced by a bus, so we chose not to take the bus and requested a full refund. However, they refused to refund the £4.99 administrative fee, claiming that they still provided an alternative service so that it was not their fault. But customers should not be expected to accept a bus service when they booked a train?!
After several emails, they offered a £3 coupon that was only valid for one month and for trips over £15. This is disgusting. We refused the offer, and even after escalating internally, we still did not receive a satisfactory solution.
I am literally shocked that a company with such a short-sighted approach can continue to refuse a small refund of £4.99. Imagine how they treat hundreds or thousands of customers in the same way? Just avoid using this platform at all costs; their customer support is a joke!
My journey was delayed by oved 6 hours because of cancellations, unplanned maintinence and coach replacements and TrainPal refused to refund. I will have to take this up with my bank.
Avoid ! The app plays games switches journey details so you have to ask for refunds and they charge 9.99 each time
It’s almost comical. A brief search shows pages of one-star reviews describing the same issues. This app clearly has form — despite the existence of another TrainPal profile on Trustpilot showing over 10000 reviews. More on that later. Here’s what actually happened.
At first, I assumed the mistake was mine. However, on two separate occasions, I booked a London to Manchester ticket after carefully double-checking everything — even though the journey I actually input was Manchester to London Euston.
I eventually had to book the correct journey four times because the app repeatedly:
• switched the departure and destination stations, or
• inserted the wrong time.
Each error meant cancelling and rebooking. Each time, I was charged a £9.99 “admin” fee. At that point, I genuinely started questioning my own sanity. It gets worse.
Refunds are only issued if you rebook with them, effectively forcing you to keep using a faulty app just to recover your own money. Even then, after refunds were confirmed, the app began stating they had failed. One refund of £132 was marked as completed, but I was told to wait three days.
**Edit: the refund has now landed — at £127, meaning a deduction was taken (less than the stated £9.99, for reasons unexplained).
**Edit 1: As of Monday 16th Feb. I am still awaiting refunds of almost £400.
I am still owed £364 (£199 + £165) after nearly £20 in admin fees. In total, I am £496 out of pocket. Over two evenings spent repeatedly booking, cancelling, and paying fees, the ticket price also increased. I have now completed the trip (12 February 2026) and ended up paying almost £700 for a return journey.
This would be bad enough on its own, except that a significant number of the complaints I have since read relate specifically to refunds not being processed.
Notably, even the Trustpilot profile with 10,000+ reviews still contains over 1,200 one-, two-, and three-star reviews describing journeys and refunds going wrong. This second profile is almost all negative reviews.
As of 14 February, I am still waiting on almost £500 in refunds. Given the volume and consistency of similar complaints, I remain concerned.
This app does not “disrupt rail travel.” It misbooks journeys, charges for its own errors, and makes customers chase hundreds of pounds.
This is not a glitch — it’s a pattern.
Best avoided. Or at the very least, read the complaints first.
I purchased tickets but when I checked the cost breakdown I was charged extra for using a promo code!
Payment information
Original ticket price £57.20
Railcard savings. -£19.15
Booking fee £0.00
Promo £5.99
5.00 off (from promo code pack) -£5.00
Total £39.04
Disgusted
invited a new user, and that gave me a chance to spin the wheel again. The wheel landed on £1, but instead of adding the full £1 to my balance, it only increased it by £0.40. The wheel does not show a £0.40 option — the minimum reward is always £1. This inconsistency meant that I couldn’t reach the £30 bonus, even after following all the steps.
This is misleading and feels like a scam. I wasted time and effort for a reward that was never actually attainable. I would not recommend TrainPal’s referral promotions.
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