Railcard Reviews 612

This is a summary of an email I sent to my local MP, the Minister for Transport, a conservative Junior Transport Minister, Railcard Helpdesk, as well as the CEO (Jacqueline Starr) and Chief Delivery Officer (Nicole Jennings) of RDG (Rail Delivery Group) who own Railcard.
Most of these email addresses are simply first name dot surname @raildelivery.... etc

The I am writing to formally express my dissatisfaction with the application process for the Disabled Persons Railcard. I have a disability and have recently had to seek assistance due to a change in my medical circumstances. My experience with Railcard/RDG has left me feeling frustrated, angry, and unheard.
Frankly, no one seems willing to help, and the treatment of people with disabilities is unacceptable. I hope that someone reading this will agree that my experience should not be tolerated.

Qualifying for a Railcard was great, allowing me to remain independent. I was pleased to apply without using an expensive phone number, which many disabled people cannot afford. However, I was asked to submit four documents: my medical exemption certificate, proof of my repeat prescription, a copy of my exemption certificate AGAIN, and the DVLA letter confirming my inability to drive. Yet, the website only allowed me to upload two documents. It seemed there was an assumption I could combine four documents into two. This unnecessary complexity made me feel like Railcard didn't want me to succeed. Living with a disability is challenging enough without these barriers.

After finally uploading the documents, I reached the payment stage. When I entered my card information, I received a “technical fault” message and was instructed to call a 0345 number, which I wanted to avoid due to its cost. This panicked me, making me fear I would lose all my data. I called the number and was connected to a call centre in India. I was told my application wouldn’t be approved until my documents were verified, which I was charged for while on hold. If this is standard, why not state it clearly instead of showing a "technical fault"?

I gave my card details over the phone, but I was concerned about being charged twice, as I had already entered my information online. The customer advisor couldn't provide clarity. After my Railcard was approved, I asked a supervisor named Lendl about the complicated process, but he only offered to speak to the “higher ups” or have me email customer support, without any assurance of a timely response. I said that nothing about the process so far gave me any confidence that my co0mplait (which is now as) would be managed and responded to.
After he cut me off, I called back asking for Lendl but was told he was unavailable, which I knew was untrue. I spent £21 in call costs over a 58-minute call for no answers.
It's disheartening that those with disabilities are not adequately supported. The process is not fit for purpose, and the customer care falls short. I encourage a review of my call on 14 October 2024 at 16:49 and a follow-up at 17:55.

In accordance with UK GDPR/Data Protection Act, I wish to submit a Subject Access request for these calls and any related information. I aim to share this with my network to highlight the treatment of disabled individuals.

Discrimination against people with disabilities must end. The Trustpilot rating, with 73% of reviews being 1 star, reflects widespread dissatisfaction. I encourage you to view the reviews and recent BBC coverage of similar issues regarding Young Persons Railcards.

I look forward to hearing from you.

My wife applied for a Two Together Railcard and had a problem with loading an appropriate photo. We made 2 phone calls to the helpline on a Sunday morning. Each time a very helpful, polite and patient representative replied within a minute or two and assisted us. Really good customer service, thank you.

I've just spent over 3 hours trying to renew my annual £30 Senior Railcard through Tesco Clubcard. After finally completing the process of downloading etc I was asked to put in my card details. Assuming this was part of procedure to confirm the amount of £30 saved, I did so. Only then did I realise that it hadn't gone through and I had now paid the full amount and lost the £30 Clubcard voucher which still waits to be redeemed and cannot be cancelled and even though I hadn't finalised the Railcard transaction, there was no way of cancelling that either. Furthermore downloading the Railcard was a nightmare.
So what should have been a simple process has now cost me £45 instead of £0.
It's been over 4hrs now and instead of getting ready for an enjoyable break away I'm left stressed and exhausted.

I applied for a railcard recently, paid for it and received an email informing me that an activation code would be sent through. After two weeks I had not received it so emailed them and an activation code was promptly sent through. I had opted for the digital card, and once activated I noticed that it had actually started the day the I ordered it. I contacted the customer service desk, and was informed that the activation code had been sent out on the date of application, however despite me informing them that I had not received it, they were unwilling to change the dates, even though they could see that it hadn't been activated or used!

I was put over to a manager, who was absolutely useless, and didn't appear to actually know how the system worked - customer service for this area of rail travel is extremely poor and although it does provide some good discounts, it is getting less, with more travel restrictions being imposed on when the card can be used. If your card works then fine, however do not expect much help if you have any issues with it.

Made a mistake when uploading my photo for digital senior railcard. I phoned and asked for advice. I got through straightaway on a Sunday. Harry couldn’t have been more helpful in rectifying the problem. Thank you!

i bought the Railcard Network, travelled on my own, no discount at all - so what is the benefit - NONE

I have just tried to purchase a 'Disabled' Rail Card online. On two attempts plus, I made payments twice as informed of error code when payments complete but not aware bank account had been debited and are pending about to go through and cannot be cancelled. Rang Rail card was asked to try a make a third attempt and payment which was declined was told nothing could be done and to ring back tomorrow. Now I have no card but two payments about to go through which the bank cannot to stop. I do not like to give card details over the phone but stupidly did and now feel uneasy. If there are known issues with the software why does the Gov.uk website, where I started from. provide and support a link to this site to make applications. If I do not receive a refund for over payment or no Rail card for the first payment I will contact 'Watchdog' investigate as there are so many other complaints, The application takes up you time and your money. My God watch over my bank account. What about people that are not IT savvy ,they stand no chance either.

I do love the Railcard system it is very useful. I buy them annually for my elderly Mum and Aunt but it would be much better if, like a bank card, both a digital AND plastic Railcard were issued. Elderly people prefer plastic yet lose them (quite often) and then can't travel them until a replacement arrives (at a cost) then they find the one they lost 😳

I ordered 2 railcards, a 2 together for myself and husband and a 16-25 for my son online. Ours arrived no problem, unfortunately 16-25 had no picture. I rang they replaced the card and it arrived in time for our weekend away. Staff on phone were extremely helpful and those replying to emails as well. Thank you.

False advertising.
Website says 1/3 off rail travel
Then in small print says £12 minimum fare before 10am
But no worry! This doesn't apply to advance fares!
Oh by the way you can't buy advance fares
£30 down the drain

I bought my disabled railcard yesterday morning and for some reason railcard uk took the payment of £20 from my bank account twice. I phoned railcard uk as soon as I noticed, as this was the last £20 I have. Railcard agreed the payment had been requested twice but said I would have to wait 5-7 working days for the money to be returned to my bank account. I phoned my bank and they said the transaction is still pending but they can't stop it, it has to be railcard uk. So why can't railcard just cancel the transaction and return my money! I'm disabled and need this money now.....

I encountered significant issues with the password reset link for my railcard.co.uk account. Despite multiple attempts, I never received the reset email. Imagine being unable to show your digital railcard to a ticket controller because you're locked out of your account! Over the past 48 hours, I've spoken with three different customer support representatives. While I can now access my digital railcard on my phone, I still can't log into my railcard.co.uk account.

Each customer service rep gave me conflicting and questionable advice, such as "wait for 30 minutes, and it will work." This appeared more like some strategy to end the call than genuine advice. Eventually, I received an account recovery email, but when I completed the form, it generated an error, claiming the link had expired—despite it being just five minutes old. Clearing the cache and cookies did not help.

The third representative suggested using the chat function on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram for technical support, but I don't use any of those social media platforms. This has been a highly frustrating and time-wasting experience. If you're facing a similar issue, I recommend trying to sort out the digital card via the app and customer support over the phone, and then sending a complaint email through their contact page to resolve account access issues. I still am unable to access the account but I am hoping the latter will solve it - who knows! I feel sorry for the customer support team.

Teenage son is trying to move his railcard to new iPhone. Even though he's followed the process and spoken with support several times, it still won't work. After independent research, he found the card can only be on two phones (shame ticket sellers don't know this and threatened him with a penalty for not having his card on his phone even though he had the email confirming purchase). Even worse if he tries to reset his password, he doesn't receive the reset email and he has checked his spam folder. What is he to do?

UPDATE: Well, I have been proved wrong. I thought they weren't interested but Railcard have come back from the original unhelpful reply and corrected my issue with dates. Kudos to them.

Four stars because of the original (unhelpful) reply.

I used railcard before turning 31. I am truly disappointed that they don't have railcard after 31. For working woman who has to look after family, grocery, future savings, and at end spend money while travelling for work purposes. Kindly get some railcard after 31 too. Money is not being doubled at home or growing on tree.

Baited me into believing I could actually get cashback on my purchase when in reality it was making me sign up for an extremely predatory company's data collection & extortion scheme. As a disabled person i find it absolutely abhorrent that this company endorses and supports the business practises and ethics of completesavings and would recommend anyone considering buying a railcard from these hoodlums to consider doing so elsewhere. Feeling absolutely disgusted.

I attempted to buy a railcard with Tesco vouchers, but couldn't. Enquired why using their contact us form, but Railcard replied that they don't accept Yesco vouchers. I give up with them and another facet of broken Britain. Tesco's don't want to know either.

I would give 0 .they charge me for special delivery, but they didn't send any information or email about payment, delivery, day or time. Customer service is worst i ever see,very very rude agent including managers! I can say it's like a scam ,they offer service but never provide !
And they refuse to do refund for special delivery. Shame!

Absolute rubbish. Ordered and paid for railcard online. All useful details proving I have a railcard have disappeared from the national rail ordering site. The app on my iphone just shows an error message so there are no details on the phone. I never received the text to put the railcard onto the phone so had to try another way. At the end of the purchase I have no proof anywhere that I have a railcard which I could use to travel. Spent too long trying to make a useless piece of software work. Could it be designed to be any worse if you really put your mind to it? I would be ashamed to be associated with designing and running software this terrible.