A couple from Austria travels on the ÖBB night train. A lot goes wrong on the way to Rome. The company reacts.
Munich – Train journeys don’t always go smoothly. The Munich Philharmonic Orchestra recently experienced a ten-hour odyssey with Deutsche Bahn. And I, a comedian in Austria, was also not satisfied with his train journey. He complained via Facebook about his chaotic trip to Rome with the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB).
Austrian comedian experiences chaos trip to Rome with ÖBB – booked compartment does not exist
Benedikt Mitmannsgruber vented his anger on his Facebook page. “My girlfriend and I took the night train to Rome yesterday,” he wrote there on October 30th. The comedian added sarcastically: “And the ÖBB has once again outdone itself in terms of reliability.” Apparently the rest of the trip to Italy didn’t go entirely according to plan.
The ÖBB recently presented its new concept for night trains, which also promised advantages for German travelers. According to his own statements, Mitmannsgruber experienced less comfort. He had booked “a private compartment” on the ÖBB Nightjet for his girlfriend and himself before the trip. But that didn’t help the couple. “When we got on the Nightjet in Linz, we noticed relatively quickly that our private compartment didn’t even exist. 20 other passengers had the same problem and sat desperately in the horror car 404,” said the comedian.
This alludes to the well-known 404 error page. Users see these on the Internet when a non-existent URL is accessed. He then had to sit on his own suitcases with his girlfriend for “about an hour” because the train was very full. The conductor later explained “that the ÖBB had swapped the wagons in Vienna”. He couldn’t serve the comedian and his girlfriend with an alternative seat. And “the sleeping and sleeping compartments are all already completely booked,” he said, according to Mitmannsgruber.
ÖBB Nightjet to Rome: “It was freezing cold and even more crowded”
He offered an alternative journey on a day train the next morning. However, it was pointed out that this connection was also completely booked. Therefore, he could not guarantee the couple that they would get a seat the following day. Against this background, postponing the trip to Rome was out of the question for Mimannsgruber and his partner and they “spent eight hours in a really comfortable seated car”. In contrast, many of the fellow passengers in Salzburg got out of the overcrowded carriage early and looked for a hotel to stay overnight.
The comedian from Austria ended his post by pointing out that the two were “now close to Rome”. However, they were “afraid that our hotel room would be swapped and we would have to spend the night in a pigsty or (even worse) in an ÖBB carriage,” he wrote full of irony. That probably didn’t happen, but he commented on his post two days later as follows: “Update: Our carriage isn’t there on the night train back to Linz either! Thanks.”
Opposite today.at Mitmannsgruber gave further details after his return. “Our compartment wasn’t there again,” he said. The wagon was swapped again. “It was freezing cold on the train and even more crowded than on the way there,” said the comedian. And again the couple had to make the eight-hour journey in a crowded carriage. After all: Mitmannsgruber took it quite calmly: “It was worse on the way there, because it was a surprise.”
ÖBB reacts to comedian’s complaint and apologizes
Upon request from IPPEN.MEDIA An ÖBB spokesman commented on the incident and expressed his regret. “First things first: We are sorry that we could not provide the usual service. Our most important task is to get passengers to their destination safely and quickly. Unfortunately, we were unable to do this due to a short-term car breakdown.” We are trying to be “more flexible in such situations in the future”. The ÖBB is therefore “currently putting 33 new generation Nightjets on the rails”. The spokesman also made it clear: “If something like that happens, we will of course give money back.”
This is what happened in the case of Mitmannsgruber. The comedian said today.athe received a refund of half of the money he had paid for the previously booked compartment at the ÖBB counter at Linz main station. (kh)
#Comedian #settles #accounts #ÖBB #chaos #trip #freezing #cold #crowded