Prior to this pandemic, I bought a JR Pass from japan-rail-pass. Unfortunately the pandemic happened and I had to reschedule all my plans, so I called them and the agent said that I had two options: get a refund and losing 15% of the total amount or getting a new one by paying only 5% of the total. I decided for the later one, but I had to send it back to them until the end of July.
In June I went to the Post Offices in Brazil and they weren’t allowing me to send anything abroad. I then send and e-mail to japan-rail-pass explaining the situation, the agent, this time a new one, didn’t quite understand, I explained the situation, another agent picked up the conversation but told me it was ok, I could send as soon as possible and he understood that we’re going through though times.
Every month after that, I went to the Post Offices to mail them my JR Pass and would immediately e-mail them saying that I still wasn’t able to send it back. I would get an reply saying it was ok, every time from a different agent.
Two days ago, November, I finally managed to send my JR Pass, so I called them and spoke to Rosana. I don’t know if she’s a normal agent, the boss or something, but she was extremely rude with me. She kept raising her voice and telling me I didn’t understand the situation. She also said that I could only get a refund by paying 15% because I wasn’t able to send it back to them until the end of July. I calmly explained the whole situation again, then and only then she agreed that there was the possibility of paying 5% for a new one, but she just said: Well, that’s not my problem, you didn’t send it back in time.
She also said that I should’ve read the e-mails they sent to their customers, which I received none.
I tried to speak nicely to her, I explained the whole situation, explained that I wasn’t able to send it back to them because the Post Offices weren’t allowing it, but it didn’t matter.
So, before you buy from [japan-rail-pass.com](https://japan-rail-pass.com), consider other options. Even though they were the cheapest option, their customer service is all messed up. Every time I sent an e-mail, I would talk to a different agent. Although it was all in the same mail thread, I had to explain over and over again.
Just so you know, 15% is around U$120, which is equal to R$650,00. The min. wage is R$1k. So it’s a lot.
Welp, that’s it. Idk if anybody has any suggestion on where to go from here aside getting a new JR Pass from somewhere else. But that’s my story. Beware when you buy from these guys.
7 comments
This is an unfortunate story. But when travel is once again permitted to Japan and all systems are go, the Japan Rail Pass is the best way for foreigners to travel in Japan. Easy to use, saves you money and train travel is the heart of the transportation system.
Unfortunately, unless you have received any confirmation that the terms and conditions would not be applied in your case (as in specifically voiding certain terms) – they are within their rights to stick to the original terms and conditions.
Note that most of Japan Rail Pass resellers do not give you any options for recouping your losses due to postponement of your trip beyond the validity of the voucher, other than getting your money back (minus the commission) and buying a new voucher.
JR Passes are non-refundable except by paying the replacement fee. This has nothing to do with any internet reseller, this is JTB policy as the agent selling on behalf of Japan Rail and has been for years. Whatever website you buy from, they are just buying from JTB and marking it up.
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This policy and fee is standard no matter what travel agent you buy from. If you expected some special deal due to COVID, well that’s unfortunate.
JR probably charge refund fee to the resellers. So the reseller will align their policy based on this, so it is normal that there is refund charges.
Of course, with Covid the situation is different and it seems that there was some possible agreement to reduce the penalty percentage.
So on the fact you have to pay something, this is unfortunate, but not really avoidable.
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However, if your story is true, then their customer care poorly handled this situation. If there is people who told you it would be ok to send it later, they understand the situation and they wrote it by e-mail, then they should honor what they said, even if was a mistake. There is nothing that can excuse people working in customer care to be rude with customers.
At least, if they had told you that you absolutely have to send it before a specific date, no excuse possible, then it would be a different story.
I saw a similar story posted here (can no longer find it), of someone who missed the deadline because of poor communication from the reseller (that might have been the same, not sure).
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I personally purchased my pass with them twice and had no problem, but did have to contact them. So if they can only give good service when there is no unusual situation, then…. it’s a bit hard to recommend, that is for sure.
I went with the cash option, knowing that I’d rather lose $50 than $476 CAD when they inevitably don’t honour what they said after they run out of money and close up shop. This was a learning experience for you, here’s to not getting scammed in the future. I would ask my credit card company for a chargeback at this point if I were you.
For the record, I’ve bought JR passes and SIM cards from japan-rail-pass.com several times in the past and had nothing but positive experiences every time.
Sounds like you may have just gotten unlucky and connected with a bad agent when you were resolving your issue. That being said, you should really be directing (at least some of) your frustration towards whomever was refusing to send your mail for five months. Did you look into alternative shipping methods (FedEx, DHL, etc.) during that time?
HIS were really good about refunding me, with polite staff, if anyone is seeking recommendations.