• See more This is Money on Google - save us as a Preferred Source

In June, I travelled by train with Avanti West Coast from Edinburgh to Birmingham which took four hours and 15 minutes.

I had initially booked a 'standard premium' ticket which gets you a more comfortable seat than standard class and a guaranteed table, but later paid £77 for an upgrade to first class so I could use the hot breakfast and hot drinks service.

On the train I asked the steward for something to eat and a cup of tea, but he said the train was short staffed and therefore he could only offer cold drinks and snacks.

I had a can of coke and a packet of shortbread for breakfast. I later went to the cafe to buy something hot to eat, but it was closed.

The next time I travelled with Avanti, in July, the same thing happened again. I booked a first class seat on a mid-morning service from Birmingham to London Euston but was told by the train manager there would be no hot food due to a shortage of staff.

Why does Avanti keep advertising this service it can't provide? D.F., Birmingham

Missing out: This traveller upgraded to first class on Avanti, but didn't receive the cooked breakfast which supposedly came with the ticket

Helen Crane, This is Money's consumer champion, replies: Given the astronomical cost of train tickets in this country, passengers have a right to be miffed when they don't get the service they expect.

Fares have been frozen this year, but went up by an eye-watering 4.6 per cent when the last annual rise was implemented in March 2025.

Unregulated fares, which include first-class tickets, can be increased at the train operator's discretion and went up 5.5 per cent in the year to March 2025.

You booked in advance and paid £51.50 for your off-peak ticket from Edinburgh to Birmingham New Street, departing just before 9:00am.

This was in 'standard premium' which is Avanti's version of premium economy on a flight - like a normal seat, but with a few extra perks.

According to its website this gets you a 'bigger, more comfortable seat, a guaranteed table, extra luggage space, a 'spacious coach layout' and an onboard shop with hot and cold options.' The onboard shop is not free.

As it was a long and early trip, you later decided to treat yourself and pay £77 to upgrade to first class, getting you a hot breakfast and hot drinks.

You did this via the third-party train tickets and upgrades website Seatfrog.

Avanti claims that first class offers the benefits of standard premium as well as a 'dedicated first class coach and onboard team, personalised at-seat service, complimentary a la carte menu, priority boarding messaging (at selected stations) and complimentary lounge access (at selected stations).'

An a la carte menu sounds very posh indeed - so you were dismayed not to be able to sample from it.

The steward told you there was no-one to cook the food as there weren't enough staff on the train.

You were only offered so much as a hot drink just as the train was pulling into Birmingham, your final destination.

You asked Avanti for a refund, having essentially paid a £77 upgrade fee for a can of pop.

'I considered that I had paid for a service that they had failed to provide either by failing to staff their train properly or by crew laziness,' you told me.

First, it offered you a 25 per cent discount off future travel. Avanti told you that while you hadn't been served food, you had 'benefitted from a bigger seat with enhanced leg room and a table'.

However, this still rendered your upgrade worthless as you told me the exact same seats were present in the standard premium section as in first class.

'If I had known the service would be so bad I would have stayed in premium and saved £77,' you told me.

The train operator then upped its offer to 50 per cent off future travel, but said it couldn't offer monetary compensation as 'the meals and drinks are complimentary.'

I felt it was fobbing you off. Food as advertised as part of a first class ticket, and it is obvious that the price of your cooked breakfast was baked in to the price.

This is when you contacted me, and shortly after informing Avanti you had done so it swiftly repaid your £77.

You were pleased with that outcome - until the exact same thing happened again just a few weeks later.

You had just settled in to your seat on a 9:12am train from Birmingham to London, which cost you £47.25, when the assistant train manager walked through the first class carriage, apologising to passengers that there would be no food.

She said there was not enough staff to cook, which you said made a lot of passengers unhappy. She advised them to complain to Avanti.

This time, I contacted the firm and asked why it kept letting down its first-class customers.

It reiterated the line that refreshments offered to first-class customers were complimentary.

I gave the firm my view that this is disingenuous. If they are truly free of charge, why do first class ticket holders pay more than premium ticket holders who sit in the same type of seat?

It replied that first-class ticket holders get a dedicated member of staff in their carriage, though I don't see the use in that if they can't serve you any food or drinks.

It also said first-class ticket holders get access to first-class lounges in the station, though you told me that the one time you had tried to use the lounge at Birmingham New Street, it was closed due to lack of staff.

In the end, it relented and issued you an apology along with a 50 per cent off voucher for future travel. You said you would accept this, as you were planning an expensive peak-time trip to London and it could be worth more than the cost of your £47.25 ticket.

An Avanti West Coast spokesperson said: 'We're sorry to hear of Mr F's experiences when travelling with us recently. We've been in touch with him to apologise and offer a gesture of good will.'

You remain unhappy with the firm's service, saying that you received 'A long waffling email of apology saying things like this don't happen often.'

'I know first hand they occur quite a lot,' you added.