Trainpal Reviews 101

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.

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.

I booked my tickets 6 months in advance but unfortunately had a fall 4 days before I was due to travel. I did need hospital treatment for 3 fractures to my right hand, so not able to travel. Had to 'jump through hoops' to get a refund and prove what had happened to me. I had sent hospital letters etc but they tried every way they could not to refund. Talk about adding insult to injury and feeling that I was dishonest! There was no way I would let this go when legally I was in the right. After 3 months I did get my money back but there's no way I would consider using them again.

Second time we had used them, tickets were fine and no problem using them. My issue is the Train was delayed, so I received an email with a link to the tickets to get a refund, but when you click the link, you get a message in what looks like Chinese and no access to the Tickets, won't be using them again

Hi,

I hope everyone is in good health.

I had a very sad experience with this company customers services, TrainPal; I trusted them and bought a ticket well in advance. On the day of the trip, they sent me an official email from TrainPal informing me that the train was delayed by an hour, but when I found out, it wasn't. I didn't use the tickets, I was forced to buy others tickets.

Even with all the evidence I've already sent to them, they refuse to give me a full refund, only wanting to refund - £1.86 and - £3 in vouchers...
I now ask, did I even buy the tickets with vouchers myself?

Due to they mistake, I didn't use they services and I feel that I shouldn't have to pay for a service that I didn't use: They were the ones who have to compensate me for all the shame and humiliation I went through running around the stations and at the Airport to avoid missing my flight.
To me, it's not a fair or trustworthy company. My family, friends, and everyone in my company will never use this company for a train travel or anything else.

I wish everyone all the best.

I had real problems buying a ticket + railcard using a promocode (that reduced the cost of the railcard). The railcard purchase failed for some reason - although my credit card was debited with the cost of it. The e-tickets went through - but I had no railcard to accompany them - so finally cancelled e-tickets and bought tickets at the station (only a hour before train left). I did get refunds for everything including the railcard payment. Of course, having used the promo-code once, I can't re-use it even though the first rail card purchase failed - not my fault - I approved it in my bank app. This app is a bit clunky - hopefully it will improve. Chat line (tedious to use - why do all coms have to be typed?) was helpful - and didn't have to queue for help.

Purchased a ticket through trainpal, given 3 tickets with 3 different seats at either side of the train, it was extremely difficult to go from seat to seat on a moving train and quite dangerous carrying a suitcase and other items trying to pass other passengers

The seats should have been allocated in the same carriage not either side of the train

Train problems at Birmingham, missed hospital appointment at Royal hospital Derby.

I’m extremely upset with my experience using TrainPal. I purchased tickets through the platform, and the train was canceled due to an accident—not through any fault of mine. The refund process has been painfully slow and incredibly complicated.

If the system already has all of my records, why do I still have to send in the paper tickets? This seems completely counterproductive and goes against efforts to be more environmentally conscious. Even after I sent the paper tickets, I was told they hadn’t been received and was asked for proof of postage. This is utterly ridiculous. I purchased the ticket online—everything should be in the system.

It’s easy to verify that the train didn’t operate and that I bought a ticket, so why is it so hard to process a simple refund? The whole process has been a waste of time and energy. In the end, I didn’t get a refund because they claimed they didn’t receive the tickets. Who knows if that’s true? They can just claim they didn’t receive them, even if they actually did. Why can’t everything be done online with the proper records? Very disappointing service, and I feel completely helpless.

Tried 9 times yesterday to book tickets for December travel. I used same card i booked last month's travel but this time payment kept failing so I tried my second bank which failed also my wife's card. Although last month's transaction was satisfactory also Trainpal advised I was due a refund for late train however' poor show this time. I would like to speak to someone at Trainpal on the phone.

I booked two return tickets last night applying my rail card. Within 10 minutes I realised but my rail card had also applied to the second set of tickets and this was incorrect.
I tried to change this – impossible (and I ‘am’ techi, so I needed to do a refund.
So for a £7.65 ticket they were charging £4.99 administration charge!!!
With Trainline this would’ve been easy, just thought I’d take advantage of the £10 off offer they were showing for First bookings… which didn’t materialise!

Stay clear of TrainPal

I could not retrieve my ticket code at the station due to a problem with the TrainPal app. I therefore had to buy a ticket at full price to get to my destination. I could not get any help from TrainPal chat who kept asking me for my booking number. How can I when the app is not working?! After two hours or more, on showing them the receipt for the ticket I had to buy they agreed to a refund LESS £9.99 ADMINISTRATION FEE!!! It was their fault! I was told there could have been an upgrade to the app so I deleted it and reinstalled the app. Lo and behold my ticket code appears out of the blue. You have the worst customer service and customer experience ever TrainPal and I will never use you again. My £40 ticket ended up costing me £63 which as a pensioner I can ill afford.
Rubbish company and rude, idiotic customer service.
Avoid TrainPal at all costs.

I simply tried to change the date of my return by a day the day after the initial booking. The system was terrible. I ended up doubling the cost of my trip and booking duplicate tickets I then had to try and refund. When I contacted train pal they just failed to understand the problem properly and despite being in touch with them over a couple of days they refused to try and put things right. What an unhelpful expensive mess. Avoid.

I would not entertain this company after being promised a refund when my wife was in hospital and I cancelled my trip to Scarborough. Then you renaiged on your promise and sent countless emails from different people asking for a SICK NOTE! after I had sent proof of her time in hospital.

Why have I got to give one star for this review it doesn’t warrant any stars !!
How stupid is refunds for cancelled train £8.30p for return fare
Navigate app then pay for first class stamp drive to post office pay for tracking etc £3.70p , send tickets and track post to address in Edinburgh then wait up to 15 days for refund
How easy would it be to take photos of tickets and email

No wonder this country is going to the dogs !!

Came to know about this via FirstDirect perks offering 15% (about £5 discount) on a £35 railcard.
How do they work?
All railcards are issued via Trainpal app and a train ticket purchase using the app is necessary to activate the railcard as per terms and conditions. Redeeming the railcard is so difficult on the app, and the app is not user friendly. Once redeemed the app displays railcard but you are free to use other sites to purchase discounted tickets. but remember to show the railcard on Trainpal app. This bit felt like a deception hence 1 star.