Thalys Reviews 677

This company honestly needs a restructuring. Customer service from the dark ages.

I’m a marketeer by profession and this company should be used as an example of how not to do things.

- doesn’t provide information to consumers on delays.
- cancels trains and let’s you figure it out and fight with other passengers for seats, even in 1st class.
- sends you emails which you cannot reply to as their server blocks them
- in this era, still charges you if you want to call them
- not Reachable in the weekend
- old trains

Garbage train too expensive

Mistakenly entered the wrong day for travel by one day on a non-refundable ticket. Immediately notified Trainline.com as the agent. No response for 5 days and no flexibility. Followed up with Thalys and again no flexibility for a genuine mistake. Do these companies put the customer's best interests ahead of policy?

After a 22hour flight I was taking the train from Brussels to Paris, due to connection changes we were in Brussels 4 hours ahead of schedule, so I asked whether I could jump on an earlier train, not even needing a seat. Yet thalys staff refused because of the principal that I had the cheapest non changeable ticket. Knowing that the trains are never full, this is just horrible customer service. These guys don't care about loyalty !!!

So.. we started our journey in Brussels and took a Thalys to Schiphol, where we comtinued to New York with KLM. We payed 150 euro (2 persons) for the trip from Brussels to Schiphol. The ride would take 1 hour and 30 minutes. Due to 'problems on the track' it took us an hour more (!!). Not worth the money because an intercity train would take us there just as 'fast' (and for half the price).
On the way back, we did book tickets for an intercity train BUT the Thalys before us broke down, leaving our train stuck behind it. Result: 1 hour delay on top of a trajectory of 2 hours and 30 minutes.
Either way, we were f*ked. A total disgrace. In total we spend about 250 euro and not once was the train on time. Oh and it was a really beautiful day on the way back; not one of those days you'd like to spend in a goddamn train.

Thalys has to invest urgently in new equipment, trains are old and uncomfortable and unreliable! Again, today another more than one hour delay because of failing equipment! No need to see that this is an unacceptable experience! It is so expensive and not even a drink during the train; for that people need to book premium, even more, expensive! If there was another choice, Thalys never again! I guess that is the reason why the price goes up and service goes down! In what another way can people travel from Brussels to Paris. Thalys, you are crap!

The worst customer service I have ever seen. You will end up paying way more than the price they advertised. I don’t recommend this railway company. I wish there is more competition in the railway segment.

I'm on a Thalys train right now. Bought a return London-Amsterdam, the way there was fine but returning is a bit weird. Someone else has the same seat as me in the same carriage, so I have moved three times. The train stops in Rotterdam which is near my final destination but I wasn't able to book that, only Amsterdam. There's also no information available whatsoever about when the train stops where, so it's impossible to plan. I ended up having to go via Amsterdam. I paid 200 quid.. for this? Please sort it out Eurostar. I still have to connect in less than an hour in Brussels and I'm worried I won't make it in time. Will update this review if this isn't the case..

If I could not give a star, I would have done it. Poor service. On the way to Paris my train was already delayed by 20 minutes. On the way back, I had a delayed of more than 1 hour. I had to take another train as no one advice us to do it. The staff doesn't give any information. They don't provide any food or water. I have never seen such a poor service in ages.

Worst train experience. For a 20 min journey you pay 66 euros!! DONT GO WITH THIS COMPANY!!!!

When booking tickets on the Thalys website the date reset to the day of booking and didn’t catch it until after payment was made. Customer service said it is not their booking system and would not change the ticket to the correct date, no refund, no credit nothing... terrible. Don’t make a mistake booking - you’ll get no help from Thalys.

As a 20 years old student, that has moved to the Netherlands a year ago, it was always my dream to travel and meet the beautiful city of Paris. To experience the Eiffel Tower, go to the palace of Versailles and admire the Arc of Thriomphe is what i dreamt of. This year, me and my friends, all of them students, decided that for New Years we would like to spend it in the beautiful city of lights. We came across the promotion of Thalys to travel there at a very low price. We obviously took the promotion cause why not. This last month, as everyone knows, the situation is Paris is very delicate. There has been protests all over Paris, with people destroying monuments and public places. You would understand that in such scenario, there is a high risk that with New Years the situation would even escalate. We made contact with Thalys to see if there is any option to either cancel the ticket and give us a refund, or to change the date of the ticket. A representative of Thalys told us that both options weren’t possible. It’s either we go, or we stay in The Netherlands and lose the amount of money we paid for the tickets. Such a shame that a big company like Thalys, prefers to put life of people, students in this case, in danger instead of offering a solution. I totally understand that we bought the tickets as a promotion, but with such situation, it’s not safe for tourists nor for Parisians, and yet still they won’t do something about it. Such a bad experience, and we didn’t even travel with them yet. Not humanitary at all. Thanks for the experience Thalys, I would surely recommend your services to other friends (NOT)!

we bought tickets to Paris for new years back in October on a promotion. back in October there were no protest and shooting and we were also very exited to go to Paris to spend new years there. but now there are allot of problems in Paris with protest and shootings that its just not safe to go there atm. we do not feel safe to go and we have brought our concern to Thalys so we can exchange our tickets to go later but they told us NO!
i find it very disgusting how they're basically forcing us to go when we do not feel safe. its also a lost of our money if we just dont go. idk but if this how Thalys treats their travelers then it's better to not do business with them anymore. how soulless can they be?

I would like to share my experience with all clients and with Thalys management itself;
I travel regularly from Montpellier to Rotterdam and need to take 2 Tgv s ; changing in Brussels or Paris taking the thalys.
Several times I was running for the connection thalys and I was met with very rude behavior from the staff, blocking the entrance in a very unpleasant way, saying at several occasions:
“ you should have arrived earlier”!
Totally not understanding that their company sold me this connection and if there are delays I should not be made responsible as a client!

But the worst thing is the arrogant behavior!

Try to vote with your feet and take the car or flight if possible!

Great service from boarding to the bar service. Special kudos to Esther who managed customers’ difficulties with the credit card payments due to technical glitches with grace and an easy smile. The trip from Bruxelles to Amsterdam was pleasant as a result.

Tip! Get there early. Made it for the train but they would not let me board. Had about two more minutes before it departed but the train guard said no. Had to buy another ticket. No refund!

If you can avoid taking Thalys please do. They nearly refused to let us board as we had an email confirmation which said it was enough for entry, and the ticket collector refused to let us on. He argued with us, told us we didn’t follow instruction, didn’t have time to search for our tickets - all the while my 12 year old was standing next to me very upset. The Trailine ticket explictily notes an email confirmation presented is enough. This man was horrid and rude. AVOID THEM

Horrible they sold me 4 tickets from Amsterdam to Paris for $1080 euros WITHOUT any seat. We were force to stand for 3-4 hours. They shouldn’t have sold tickets if there were no seats. The manager in charge said OH WELL u already paid for it and u can’t get a refund it’s not their fault. Would never recommend this train for anyone.

I travelled with my whole family from Paris to Brussels one cold winter. It was the last trip. Booked a first class ticket so that we can rest after a whole day of gallivanting in Paris. Dinner were served to other passengers but we were offered pastries and were encouraged to have more. We thought that this is strange being offered, sweets but we took some anyways. Then, we noticed that everyone is halfway their dinner and when we asked about ours I was simply told, there were none left. That was it - no explanation, no warning, no apologies. I explained that we paid for first class and expecting to have food on board because by the time we reach Brussels, it will be midnight but this staff just said, "but where do you want me to get your food, look outside!" We were really shocked but made sure not jut to keep quiet about it. The manager came and asked me what seems to be the problem in a very arrogant way. Surprisingly none of his staff explained to him the situation. He did not sound nor appear compassionate at all. In the end we were served microwaveable burgers - which we have to FIGHT for.
Terrible and just unbelievably rude service from a first world country. They need serious updating and revamping of customer service training with basic courtesy or just simply very, very ignorant and uneducated staffs!

If you had a good experience with them, this is pure luck and I really hope that nobody will experience ours.

I had purchased a ticket from Aachen to Paris. I emailed the company two weeks before my departure to change to an earlier travel time as I had a flexible 1st class ticket. I received NO response from the company and could not find my ticket in my account. Whilst in Aachen I found a Thalys store and more office and went in with my pre printed ticket to ask about changing my travel time. I still had three days before I was to depart. The staff member told me all I had to do was turn up in the morning and show the train manager my ticket. I checked regarding a new ticket and any costs involved.
On the day of my departure I turned up early and caught the early train. There was no manager to be seen so I spoke with the wait staff and he told me to take my seat and the manager would be along soon. Finally the manager came and told me my ticket was not valid as o could only change it to the train scheduled before my departure. I told him that this was the train. He had no idea regarding his schedule. Then another very rude and offensive manager who proceeded to tell me my ticket was not valid as I did not have a Thalys card. As I had my internet up, I pulled u the website to show him that this was not the case. He refused to look and told me that because I only speak English I do not understand and I should learn to speak French. He also threatened to take my passport
At the Brussels stop another manager came along and apologised stating he did not know what he was talking about and tried to give me a bottle of wine.
This is the worst company I have ever been subject to. The cutlery had old food in it and the food looked like it was three days old. The power outlets were broken so I could not charge my laptop and I did not get a taxi booking as offered with the ticket.
I purchased a first class ticket for ease of travel and it was horrendous. I finally received a two reply emails- the first gave me another set of rules regarding ticket changes and the second was a response to my original email- two weeks after I travelled
Do not travel with this company!!!!