Eurostar's £120 Voucher for a £1,744 Debt Leaves Passengers Scandalised
A recent power failure in the tunnel stranded thousands of Eurostar passengers, leaving many without access to their trains for 24 hours. As a result, four of us who were traveling together found ourselves stuck at Brussels station with no end in sight. Despite promises that accommodation, food, and transport costs would be refunded, we were instead directed to an online rebooking page that showed no availability for the following day.
It soon became clear that Eurostar was prioritizing new passengers over those who had been stranded. We ended up booking our own tickets at a cost of €1,230 (£1,072) using the standard booking site. When we submitted our expenses claim, all we received in response was a £120 voucher to offset against future travel on Eurostar.
However, Eurostar claims that this voucher was sent as an apology for the delay in reacting to our claims, rather than a full and final settlement. The company's terms and conditions promise additional compensation of 75% of the fare for the affected journey in vouchers or 50% in cash if a service is delayed by more than 180 minutes.
In reality, Eurostar has now acknowledged that we are owed just over €2,000 (£1,744) in food, board, transport, and compensation. While it says that its teams are working to process the remaining claims as quickly as possible, many passengers have already taken to social media to express their disappointment and frustration with the company's handling of the situation.
The EU rail passenger rights regulations clearly state that rail operators must cover reasonable expenses in situations like this. Eurostar's actions, however, seem to be at odds with these regulations, leaving thousands of passengers feeling let down by the company's failure to deliver on its promises.
A recent power failure in the tunnel stranded thousands of Eurostar passengers, leaving many without access to their trains for 24 hours. As a result, four of us who were traveling together found ourselves stuck at Brussels station with no end in sight. Despite promises that accommodation, food, and transport costs would be refunded, we were instead directed to an online rebooking page that showed no availability for the following day.
It soon became clear that Eurostar was prioritizing new passengers over those who had been stranded. We ended up booking our own tickets at a cost of €1,230 (£1,072) using the standard booking site. When we submitted our expenses claim, all we received in response was a £120 voucher to offset against future travel on Eurostar.
However, Eurostar claims that this voucher was sent as an apology for the delay in reacting to our claims, rather than a full and final settlement. The company's terms and conditions promise additional compensation of 75% of the fare for the affected journey in vouchers or 50% in cash if a service is delayed by more than 180 minutes.
In reality, Eurostar has now acknowledged that we are owed just over €2,000 (£1,744) in food, board, transport, and compensation. While it says that its teams are working to process the remaining claims as quickly as possible, many passengers have already taken to social media to express their disappointment and frustration with the company's handling of the situation.
The EU rail passenger rights regulations clearly state that rail operators must cover reasonable expenses in situations like this. Eurostar's actions, however, seem to be at odds with these regulations, leaving thousands of passengers feeling let down by the company's failure to deliver on its promises.
can u believe they give u £120 for a 24 hour delay thats not even a day!!! we r talking about a power failure that left us stranded and hungry 
the voucher thingy is just a joke, like "hey we feel bad but lol ur gonna have to pay urself" 
i mean what kinda company does that? they should be paying us for our stress and inconvenience too 
. I mean, you get stuck for 24 hours and then they're like "oh, here's a £120 voucher for your troubles"? 
That's not even a decent consolation prize, let alone the actual compensation they should've been owed.
. I'm all for customer service, but this is just ridiculous. The EU has rules in place for a reason, and it looks like Eurostar is just ignoring them. 
I'm really disappointed in Eurostar's handling of this situation... they basically left passengers high and dry while prioritizing new bookings 
. The voucher isn't even close to making up for the €2,000 debt 
. The EU regulations are pretty clear on this stuff... it's time Eurostar stepped up and made things right 
.
. And now they say its only 75% of the fare which is still way less than what we deserve 
. Its like theyre just trying to sweep everything under the rug and not take responsibility for their mistake 
. Eurostar needs to go back to the drawing board and figure out a better way to deal with these situations 
.
. But, I gotta say, using a £120 voucher that's basically 1/14th of what they're owed as an apology is kinda harsh 
. And hey, at least some passengers are already taking advantage of the new booking site and making the most of it 
.
. I'd be furious if my family was stuck in Brussels for 24 hours with no end in sight. We'd be expecting some serious compensation, not just a half-hearted apology. And what's with the fine print? It's like they're trying to screw us over 
. I mean I've had issues w/ customer service b4 but this one sounds like major messed up 