A man from Shaoyang, Hunan province, reported that he purchased a high-speed rail ticket from Shenzhen, Guangdong, to Shaodong, Hunan, via the TONGCHENGTRAVEL platform on April 24. He paid 388.24 yuan, and the booking confirmation showed the train number, carriage, and seat details.
On May 1, when he arrived at Shenzhen North Station, he was unable to board the train because the system indicated he had "no valid electronic ticket." After contacting TONGCHENGTRAVEL's customer service, he was told the failure was due to an "input error by the ticketing party." Despite his request to be allowed on the train, the客服 stated it was no longer possible. After the train departed, the passenger had no choice but to stay overnight at the station and later purchase a new ticket.
The passenger continued negotiations with TONGCHENGTRAVEL, demanding an apology, a refund, and additional compensation. Initially, customer service offered a refund plus 80 yuan in platform vouchers. This was later increased to over 1,100 yuan, but the passenger rejected both offers. After he shared his experience on social media, the platform proposed an additional 300 yuan, bringing the total compensation to over 1,400 yuan, which the passenger eventually accepted.
On May 5, a TONGCHENGTRAVEL客服 representative confirmed that the issue had been resolved and a payment of 1,468.5 yuan had been made to the passenger. The客服 explained that the incident was caused by an "information callback error." During the booking process, the ticket was not successfully issued and should have been shown as a failure, but due to a callback error, the platform incorrectly displayed the booking as successful, misleading the passenger.
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