The Oui Agency for Train and Bus Reservations

I’m a generally positive person and refrain from spreading negative things about others. However, in this case I feel I need to make an exception as a warning to any one of you who may be travelling by train or bus in Europe. Naturally there are various ways to organize a trip, however, if you are not that savvy or just want to go with a legit option of an agency for extra convenience, you may run into the Oui company. Make no mistake however, this company is a scam and it will not deliver what it promises.

My experience with them constitutes a trip in Spain, using the local railway system. Why didn’t I just book from the railway company directly? Stupidity I guess! Whatever the case, the Oui company seemed legit and I booked a couple of tickets between the two Spanish cities I was planning to visit. Everything was smooth and before long I got the confirmation email. However, as the days passed, I never got any ticket codes. I contacted the company and they said that they would send me the tickets by snail mail (believe it or not, there are companies in this century that still use snail mail to deliver information, that could be easily and securely transferred electronically). I never received those tickets and after bugging them about this matter, they said that they could not issue me an e-ticket but I was welcome to cancel the reservations I had with them for a refund. Of course they neglected mentioning a substantial cancellation fee and the fact that the only way that the cancellation would be accepted was if I would send them back the tickets! Clearly, there was zero chance of me wasting any more time on this matter in the off-chance they would reimburse me for the reservation which might have not actually taken place with the railway company at all, as far as I was concerned. They could have just created a false reservation, issued a fake ticket (which they never delivered) and got me into this whole labyrinth of bureaucracy until my patience would inevitably run out.

Making the same reservations with a local railway company (RenFe) was significantly easier, even if I had to navigate the most old-fashioned website I’ve come across in this decade. Still, all the payments were smooth, straight-forward, and the tickets were delivered by email promptly. Also, the train travel was very convenient and enjoyable, much like the trains in Italy.

Although I don’t have sufficient evidence that Oui’s business plan was indeed centered in conning people (otherwise they’d be hearing from my lawyer), but all the evidence so far points to the fact that they are not a serious company, while most likely it is a scam organization altogether. It could be that their other services are fine, but after this whole ordeal I am not willing to take the chance. Would you?