train4you Vertriebs GmbH Reviews 242

Train never showed up leaving us to drive from Innsbruck to Dusseldorf to catch ferry home.
Chasing refund but no reply and this company seems to be struggling with debt.

Good service from Düsseldorf to Villach on August 9th. We arrived a little early at the check-in, but the motorail area was already open. The boarding process started half an hour later, so we had plenty of time to have dinner at Düsseldorf Hbf before the train left.

If you expect a state-of-the-art 21st century experience, you will have to look for another option. Carriages are old, but our sleeping car was clean. Staff was very friendly, Anja introduced herself personally as the person we could reach out to if we had any questions. Later that night we found out that a mattress was missing in one of our bunk beds, which was quickly resolved.

We travelled with our kids of 6 and 4 years old, for whom it was a great adventure. They slept very well, we needed more time to fall asleep. The AC didn't start working properly until after midnight. We arrived at Villach with a half hour delay. Our car got off the train very quickly, we arrived at our holiday address well before lunch. And avoided a long drive with small kids on the Autobahn.

Definitely worth repeating!

We have chosen this travel option because more environmentally friendly. It is sad that these night trains are operated by a company using old wagons from the Eighties, dirty and uncomfortable, overheated at departure and freezing at night, loud, with dirty toilets and unacceptable delays. Don't get me started on their website and booking system. The only positive mention goes to the friendly crew. I will rather drive in the future and will never use this again until a new company gets on the market using decent wagons, efficient service and reasonably customer-oriented service. I confirm the other reviews: stay away from Urlaubs-express

I booked this trip before reading the reviews. BIG MISTAKE!
I was charged over €1600 for a return trip with my car from Düsseldorf to Villach, returning from Verona to Düsseldorf.
What sort of company requires you to pay by Bank transfer ??? Then does not send a confirmation?
When I got my tickets, the outward trip had departure time, carriage number and cabin number. The return part of the ticket from Verona had no information. Did they already know that it would be cancelled? Because that's what happened.
I had trouble finding where to load my car at Düsseldorf Station because the company were so vague about its location and there is no signage near the station.
When I eventually got my car loaded, my wife and I went to the Schlafwagen where our cabin was not very clean. The bed sheets however were clean, even though the quilt was just a blanket loosely inside the quilt cover. There was no water in the wash basin. No showers. Both toilets in our carriage were out of order so we had to go the full length of two carriages to visit the toilet. Not pleasant in the middle of the night.
The rolling stock is at least 40 years old and had previously been operated by Deutsche Bahn. DB were probably about to scrap the carriages when Trains4you bought them. Even the very old looking locomotive still had the DB logo on it, but it had been painted over a dirty red colour.
We found it difficult to sleep, but I eventually dropped off while we we stopped in a station. I woke up some time later to find we were still the same station. Then a steward told us that we could not continue our journey because a land slip had blocked the line and we had to go back to München because that was the nearest place to unload the cars. We received no instructions or help from the company and we had to drive to Villach incurring hotel and fuel costs.

The return journey from Verona was cancelled but we only found out after I emailed them for departure times etc.
We had to drive to Innsbruck, once again incurring hotel and fuel costs.
I have sent two emails asking for compensation and I have sent by post the claims form for delayed/cancelled trains. No reply so far.
This company should not be allowed to do business, because they are at best amateurish, and at worst, con merchants. I will never travel with them again. I only gave them one star because you can't give zero stars.

Fraud company - They take you money and then cancel your trip.
After travelling with them for several years they have now stopped doing proper business.
They cancelled our return trip and shorted our trip to Verona (leaving us in Innsbruck).
They have promised to refund but after MANY MANY mails I have gotten no respond to when/IF I will get my money back.
DON'T book with them

I suggest you stay away from this company! Here’s a detailed review:

GOOD:
— The IDEA is great per se.
— The train crew was very friendly!
— They did refund my return trip (you’ll see why).

ANNOYING
— To pay, you have to wire money to their account, and you get no receipt.
— The website is very confusing.
— Supposedly, they send you your ticket about two weeks before departure, but this is not the case.

BAD!
— I only got my tickets a few day before departure. I was panicking a bit and contacted them several times to no avail, and finally got a reply shortly before the trip. This caused me a lot of stress as I was wondering if I should cancel my hotel.
— The destination was changed! The train only got to Hamburg instead of Rostock. To be fair, the company offered to pay for the remaining bit of journey, but with my bicycle the trip was very stressful and the train was full.
— The Urlaubs Express train departure was 2 hours late. Families were waiting and starting to freak out. We were lucky the weather was o.k. and not too cold.
— They state on their website that you can load bicycles at any station. This was NOT the case. The train crew was very surprised and had to dismantle a bit of my bicycle to make it fit in a crew cabin (!). During this process, they broke one of my brakes.
— On my bunk bed, there was nothing. No bedsheets, no pillow, no blanket. I used my jacket as a pillow.
— When I got my return ticket, it was even worse. It changed again, and the town of departure was 6 hours away! I asked for a refund.

In short, I’m extremely disappointed. The concept of going straight from Switzerland to the Baltic Sea was very appealing to me, but the organisation and communication was a disaster. I really hope they do get their act together!

Very slow and poor communication!
Trainride was ok - but all communication has been slow and not pro-active at all.
After 1 month Im still waiting for a re-payment of a cancelled train. Not at all good customer service.

DO NOT BOOK any trip whit this Train Company! They cancelled our trip and are not paying back our money! They do not answer on mails on info@ mail adress and they do not answer on the phone at customer service, We have tried to reach they over 1 month, still no answer!

Customer support is really bad, a scandal. No answers to the emails, phone number don't work. Waiting 2 weeks to get answers to change booking. In their website says that they are having problem with the phone system. Every day there is the same message. Then they suggest to write an email. But no answers after 2 weeks. A total scandal. If I had known before I had planned my trip to drive by car, better to be assisted by this terrible company.

Very slow and diffuse communication.
To book you will need a lot of time and patience. Once you have got through the booking process, which is kinda messy, you don't get any confirmation. I.e. if the booking is accepted. On top of that they do not accept Visa nor Mastercard. This way the Visa/MC insurance cannot be used.

If your booking is accepted you will not know until after almost a week. So spontanous travelling by car is like a roulette. If your booking is declined you will never know.

Trying to contact the support centre is a joke. E-mails are not being replied, endless waitin on the phone. So many hours spent for nothing.

This way as you do bot receive a confitmation nor mail, means that you are in the siruation not to book any ticket with an other provider. Unless you could end up with a ticket you have to pay for but nevver use. It is truly an aqward system.

It is really sad that the Autozug DB concept has been so badly handled. In those days you knew instantly the price, if there was place avaliable and easy to pay by credit card.

Not like today, a terrible process. Too bad there is no other actor or service.

Carriers from the eighties, reused from an old provider of a similar services (in the eighties).
Loud, uncomfortable, poor conditions and not exactly clean. To be fair I think the sheets where cleaned. The attendant was very friendly and was trying his beste but that does not change that it seems that someone wants to make a quick buck from old outdated trains. Next time I’ll just drive the route and change drivers. Way more comfortable and faster.
In addition the initial connection from Verona was canceled and we had to drive to Innsbruck. In compensation ca. 100€ where offered. This doesn’t even cut the fuel costs. Not even speaking of the whole day which was lost.
Never again.

WARNING WARNING WARNING TO BOOK THIS CAR TRAIN

I advise NOBODY to book a car trip on Train4You UrlaubExpress!

Never in my life have I been on such a horrible journey as with UrlaubExpress. The check-in for the cars was between 20:00 and 21:00. The train should leave at 22.14. We arrive on time at 20 o'clock. At 20.30 we drive the car on to the train, where you then need to leave your car.

Then I ask the employees of UrlaubExpress where we should wait while the train arrives. Especially when it was minus degrees outside and we had three small children with us. The response I got was that the train is expected to arrive at 22:00 and that we can sit in a smal barack (!), BUT THEY CANNOT GUARANTEE A SEAT IN THE WARM BARACK FOR EVERYONE THAT IS GOING ON THE TRAIN!? They are therefore of the opinion that a large part of their guests, including small children, should stand and wait outside in minus degrees for hours before the train arrives!

We were "lucky" to get a seat in this small barack, actually the last seat after we had ran there! Other travelers wanted to also come in, but got no seat and had to stand outside and wait for several hours in minus degrees. In addition, there is no toilet near this small barrack and everyone is standing outside and peeing directly on the ground next to the barack!

After we were "trapped" in this small barrack between 2030 and 2130 a clock, the employee of UrlaubExpress said that we have to leave the barrack and go to the train. I then ask: "Have the train arrived at the railway station?". The answer I got is "it's coming soon". It was not "soon" at all !! With minus degrees, all guests stand on the platform between 2130 to 2215 a clock and waited for the arrival of the train. All the small children were freezing outside and most of them started to cry. When the train arrived, I asked the staff of UrlaubsExpress "where is our carriage number 125?". Then the staff replies that it has NOT come yet !!! So we have to wait another 30 minutes up to 22:45 until our carriage 125 arrives. This means that in minus degrees between 21:30 and 22:45 a clock we had to wait on the train platform, WITH THREE SMALL CHILDREN! It doesn't end there...When our carriage 125 finally arrives
then it is ICE COLD, as it has not been turned on and heated.

Unfortunately, it does not end with further problems. When we arrive in Hamburg, after a long delay, I ask the employees of UrlaubExpress when we can drive off the car from the train. The answer we get is "in 30minutes". It really did not take "30min"! It took 2.5 hours !!!!

When I got home, I wrote a complaint to the complaints department of UrlaubExpress. I wrote that this is not acceptable etc. Above all, that the explicitly lie to their customers regarding the departure and arrival of their trains. Of course, they are sitting on this information. The answer I received from the complaints department of UrlaubExpress was: "We do not take any responsibility for delays, as we only rent by Deutsche Bahn. We will therefore not compensate any of our travelers. "

AGAIN, WARNING TO BOOK WITH THIS COMPANY!

We wrote Urlaubsexpress after our outward journey 13 august 2021:
"Checked in 3.30.u;departure 7.45pm. instead of 6.00pm.without any information or allowed oppertunity to buy some eat or drinks. On board no restoration.
The reserved car 212 compartment 9 was in use bu the crew. After much hassle eventually dropped in car 211 compartment 9. Toilets closed due to defect, no running water in compartment 9. Totally outdated train that did not correspond at all to the discriptione in the brochure: old junk (meuk). Gastronomy:in to the night with an empty stomach. Hygiene:no water, no toilets in car 211. Beastly mess in the only toilet car 212."
The response was that the message was forwarded to the management. One week later, before the booked returntrip Urlaubsexpress we sent again a memorymessage: no answer.
11 September 2012 the return by Urlaubsexpress from Verona to Düsseldorf: the loading went more smootly and there was water in the compartment. Buth otherwise all the same. Irresponsible was the open front door while driving. Livethreatening for two little children sometimes walking in the hallway.
All togeher: ter-ri-bi-le and for the €1960,80 we paid:
swindle.

Not in any way value-for money.. The cabins were old, dirt and not functioning..

Electricity for charging phones were useless. The restrains for the beds were broken. One of the beds couldn't be pulled all the way down, and others were broken so they couldn't be taken down without tools.

Employees on the train didn't seem to care and the company didn't seem to care either.

Even though being a VERY expensive travelform, the trip was VERY unpleasent.

Everything went according to plan. The motorcycles were tied safely without any damage. Nice beds and yes, it is all rather basic. Please take care to take some food and drinks with you: on the train there is only some chips and drinks available. Despite the bad review we have booked the trip: no regrets. The office responded quickly to last minute changes.

My car (a high car/SUV) was not properly secured on the train and got damaged/scratched and a dent. Only the front wheels was secured with slim sandbacks - and not with the bars / yellow “metal things” that are mounted into the other metal bars (also yellow) that are placed next to the cars. Apparently all other cars on the train were secured with on BOTH front and rear wheels. I was the first person (together with the unloading personal) to enter the train to discover this - so this was discovered before the unloading procedure has started.

Train4you did NOT take responsibility - and paid NO compensation!

And: Delayed trip, very dirty and OLD train (from 1970?), very bad beds, and a very noisy trip!!!

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!

Purchased a sleeping car for my daughters with the purpose of sending them "safe" and comfortable through Europe. All communication took place in English (cf. that there is an English version of Urlaubs-Express' website). Without any warning, Urlaubs-Express (same as Train4You) changed the departure to an earlier time (apparantly they had not sold enough tickets for the later departure).

This was communicated only in German and in extremely unclear way, i.e. they sent an e-mail where it did not follow from the headline and where the - rather important - information about change of departure only was apparant by the end of a rather long message which otherwise contained general information about how to board the train etc. Moreover, subsequently it also became apparant that they had downgraded the accommodation from a sleeping car to a couchette.

Unaware of the change of departure time, my daughters did not make the departure in time but had to drive (in our car) through Europe.

Urlaubs-Express have ignored all (numerous) e-mails and calls about the matter. They havn't even refunded the difference in price due to the downgrade from sleeping car to a couchette.

The only word which fits their way to do business is unreliable.

That is not true, the company ist resposibble for the transportet luggage (your car) during the whole yourney. (International transport CIV)

BGH Aktenzeichen: I ZR 65/13

2. Ein Eisenbahnunternehmen haftet bei einem Kraftfahrzeugtransport mittels Autozug gemäß Artikel 36 § 3a CIV stets verschuldungsunabhängig für entstandene Schäden.

What can I say. Our car windscreen was completely obliterated when we picked up our car, as were at least two others. The car was completely full of glass from it being blown around the car making it dangerous and meaning my wife cut her hand open.

We were given zero assistance, and when I asked for compensation for the damage my emails were repeatedly ignored until I got an email from them saying (and this isn't a joke):

"I can't understand why you're so angry"
"Our only obligation is to get you from A to B"
"We are only liable during loading and unloading"

As someone else has pointed out I loaded and unloaded the car myself!

Use OBB, who are explicit on their website saying that you are insured for the entire journey.

Our car got damaged on the train journey from Villach to Hamburg and Urlaubs express-train4you refused to reimburse our damages. Our rear windscreen broke because rear windscreens generally can't handle speed levels above 120 km/h. For that reason Train4you/Urlaubs-express should have made sure the cars travelled in the right direction, or take other safety measures which apparently they didn't, or not sufficiently.

Before we boarded we were already beginning to develop some doubts about this company, since the schedule kept changing all the time, and their financial department appeared to be somewhat disorganized. But we were open-minded about this, feeling that they were perhaps a young company whom we ought to cut some slack while they were in their start-up phase.

What happened was this: We were given a refund because the onboard dinner was canceled and we were asked to disembark in Hamburg instead of Düsseldorff. But they refunded us too much: almost the entire amount we had initially paid. When we informed them about it they said it was fine. But even two days before the journey we still hadn't received our ticket. We had to contact them (instead of the other way round) to ask about our tickets. Only then did they find out that we had been refunded too much. In the end we could pay on board. But to us it seemed a little amateurish.

Halfway during the trip one of the beds fell open spontaneously and landed on my neck and shoulders, while I was holding my 9 month old daughter. Our steward was very nice and apologised. The train was clean, and the crew were friendly. And the next morning when we found out that our car (and several other cars) got damaged, crew remained friendly and helpful. They assured us that Urlaubs-express/Train4you would pay for this since it was obviously not our fault.

Apparently these good people were not aware what kind of behaviour their employer engages in.

Right after we arrived, personnel had given us a form to fill in to get a reimbursement but we never got the reimbursement. When we contacted them we were told that Train4you only accepts responsibility for damages sustained during loading and unloading of the cars, which is odd, since that is the only part the passengers get to take care of themselves. Between loading and unloading our car was in their custody. So whatever happened during that period cannot possibly be blamed on us. Naturally the authorities (train personnel) on the train and in Hamburg agreed with that assessment.

But not the people at UE/T4Y headquarters. They even tried to make us believe that we misunderstood those officers,or that they did not say what they said. You will understand that our perception of Urlaubs-Express/Train4you as a promising rookie company that deserved a chance has altered somewhat.

It's a pity. We seriously wanted to give them a chance. We thought some of the reviews were too harsh, perhaps even made up by rival companies. We feel that perhaps some people at UE/T4Y are trying hard to get their act together, but others are obviously frustrating that.