jo_ann

Oops! I was so proud last week when I used the "sj.se" site to book tickets from Stockholm to Copenhagen for August 4th. All went well, the "English" button on the website was easy, pricing seemed great, got an instant receipt with full details sent to me.
I had chosen the option of "before departure, please check in at [website] and print your e-ticket." That's what my e-mail confirmation from the company says in English.
Now, I was a TRIFLE concerned, I'll admit, when a second e-mailed confirm came to me in Swedish.. sj.se sent this separate e-mail on the same day, subject: "Bestallningsbekraftese", saying "Observera! Du maste checka in och skriva ut din biljett innan du gar ombord". I tried calling the number on the website when I got that message all in Swedish, but I couldn't figure out how to get to an operator/agent because the recording is, naturally....in Swedish.
Today (6 days later) I've gotten another English e-mail stating that I have missed collecting my tickets at the International Service desk, so they've been cancelled, and they're charging me 250 euros!! (um, let's see....that's almost what the tickets themselves were costing! No telephone number to call or even an e-mail address, sadly, just an address I can write to overseas....realizing we've got about 2 1/2 months left before the trip, that's still not a great option!
So - if anyone out there can help, I'd be eternally grateful! The pricing seemed so much better than what I'd seen on Rail Europe's (american/english) site that I'd been so proud to accomplish this!

jo_ann

forgot to mention - they have charged me already for the tickets - I hadn't thought to call my credit card company to say "hello. charging an item in Swedish krone", so we got a call from the card company to make sure it wasn't fraud....

anyegr

Are you sure that you booked for the correct dates?

According to the website there are a few different ways to get the ticket. Did you choose e-ticket or to collect the ticket?

"Bestallningsbekraftese" is order confirmation. It says that you must check in and print out your ticket before boarding the train. That sounds like an e-ticket, not something that has to be collected.

There seems to be a form on the website for writing to them, but it asks for a case number and national id number.
https://www.sj.se/support/contactko.form?l=en&l=en

anyegr

About correct dates, in Sweden we write August 4th, 2009 as 090804. If you booked for 090408, that was April 8th.

jo_ann

anyegr: thank you for your input!! first of all: the date is okay (whew!) I booked on May 7th, picking dates from a calendar, and the confirm says "2009-08-04 (Tuesday)" so that part's okay.
Then: it indicates that I was purchasing "Home printed e-ticket" (this is again on the English confirm - heaven knows what the other says!)
I'm going to try the website you've given me now - I'll assume the case # is my order # and I think I've already found the national id number (for the US, right??)
Please accept my great thanks - I was feeling too crazy! When you think you at least have mastered ordering items via e-mail this has been a stunner!
I may come back on with info as I find out what the outcome is....in case you're still around, I may converse further!

anyegr

Not sure if a US national id number will work.

I need to sleep, it's almost midnight.

jo_ann

well, I actually tried first to print the tickets (duh. guess I should have tried that first, just to see.) anyway, I couldn't get that particular item to show for me, so that's NOT done yet.
Then, using the link you furnished, I have filled out a request for review of my order for the four tickets. We'll see what comes back!
would have been cheaper, probably, to just fly on SAS - but I thought we'd all (self, spouse, 2 college kids) enjoy the train experience, leaving from center of town & arriving same, dinner on the train, no chance of lost luggage....maybe I should have just stuck with more plane travel -
hopefully, anyegr, you've put me on the right track (ha - pun not intended) and our train trip will indeed happen!
Thanks -

jo_ann

just read your post - DO go to sleep!!
and you're right - the national id # didn't work, but luckily wasn't required to submit the form.

Kay2

Jo ann,
I have booked tickets on the site for a trip in June with print e-ticket at home option. I first received an English order conformation. It also states:

Before departure, please check in at www.sj.se/incheckning and print your e-ticket. You must present your printed e-ticket and a valid form of ID upon request onboard the train. Valid forms of ID are those approved by the Swedish Bankers’ Association or a foreign passport. Checked in tickets are neither rebookable nor refundable. Remember that this message is only a confirmation and not your ticket! Remember also to print your e-ticket in A4 format and in good quality.

Later the same day I received a confirmation in Swedish that I assume was generated after my credit card was charged and the order fulfilled. I put through the Google translator and it looks something like this:

Bekräftelse på ditt köp Tack för din beställning: ##### SJ Giltig: 000000
So: Confirmation of reservation number #### Valid on date:000000

From: City Time To: City Time Car Seats

Observera! Du måste checka in och skriva ut din biljett innan du går ombord.

Note! You must check in and print your ticket before you board. Link to check-in: http://www.sj.se/....

Telefonnummer: ###### the digits of phone number I listed

När du har checkat in kan du varken omboka eller avboka din resa. Vi önskar dig en trevlig resa och välkommen åter! Vid frågor kontakta ditt säljställe.

Once you have checked in, you can not re-route or cancel your trip. We wish you a pleasant journey and welcome back! For questions please contact your sales site.


I didn't receive the message you received about missed checking in nor an email in English. I haven't tried to check in yet.

Good luck and please let us know what you find out.

anyegr

I finally woke up again.

I tried the contact number on the website
+46 (0) 771-75 75 75.

The automatic voice lists a number of alternatives, like self service etc.

If you continue to listen, they say "for English press 6". I didn't continue after that, but you could try it.

Warning: I have no idea how much that phone call would cost for you.

hollyfrances

Hi JoAnn,

I live in Stockholm and call them for you if you like (I speak Swedish) and find out what the situation is and then get back to you via email.

Contact me via email with the booking reference number.

jo_ann

Latest info: last night (after anyegr finally headed to sleep - ha!) I got an e-mail, which seems to indicate that they'll work on the situation....
anyegr: thank you! I listened once to reams of the voicemail instructions - I thought it was all the way through - and never caught the English part. With your help: I called just now (any cost of call is lower than the penalty or lost tickets i seem to be facing)did indeed get the English part, but as I expected, I got no answer at this point. I'll call very early here on Monday and see how it goes.
hollyfrances: I feel like I should try this and then, if I still have problems, I WILL be contacting you! (my only question is how to do that? if you wouldn't mind - e-mail me at [email protected] with your e-mail address? and I'll be in touch - your offer is very kind and most appreciated.)
Fodors people are the best - seriously!
And I will publish the results of this problem - I tried last night to find a "check in" button and couldn't, after entering my confirm number. I'm still irked that I seem to have caused this problem!
Kay2 - your date is so much closer than mine - have you by any chance noticed if you have the ability to check in now if you so chose? And thank you for the Google Translator - I haven't tried that yet (my confirm looks very much like your version - thanks for the translation!)
This trip is going to be so wonderful - I hate to give up on this aspect of the travel!
Take care all - and thanks!

Kay2

No, I have not tried to check in and print my tickets. I don't travel for another month, so I haven't gotten to that.
I guess because they are advance purchase nonrefundable nonchangeable tickets the part about once I have checked in I can't change them is immaterial.
I need to dig around home for some legal size paper so I can print to A4 size. I normally would wait until I get to Europe as I will be in Stockholm for 4 days before this train trip. I may try to check in and let you know how it goes.

I went to the link provided for checkin in the email and that is in Swedish. So, I went to the sj.se home page in English and clicked on the tab for "My order"
There is the place to enter Order number and telephone number customer provided when ordering online for print at home e-ticket to allow you to check in. Is that what you tried?

jo_ann

Hi, Kay2 - I'm on travel now myself for just a couple of days. That is the spot I went to - I'm going to try all this again tomorrow morning, as well as probably trying the phone number again (might be Tuesday, actually - I'll be home by then, versus charging remotely and REALLY running up that phone bill!)
When I went to that "my order" it is not offering me the check-in option - but, our trip is over 60 days away still, and I think that's also an issue.
I will definitely by on by Tuesday with an update on all this. Boy, I hope I haven't lost lots of money here!
It's ironic - the card I used to charge the ticket has actually been cancelled by "card services" because of what seemed to be an attempt at fraud on it - we're waiting for the new one to show up this week. I use that card for points but also for travel items, and find something seems to come up periodically on it. So - if they have indeed tried to charge me 250euros for this weird reason, I think they may have trouble. But - I just want to use my tickets!!
I'll be back in a day or two on this.
Thanks to all for your help.
Jo Ann

jo_ann

wow. First of all: life is good, and thank you ALL for helping me through my angst! I got an e-mail from the ombudsman for the Swedish train site: nothing is wrong with my reservation, and the person indicated the e-mail didn't match up with any confirm # they would have used. I can check in anytime before travel (Kay2: this is good news, eh?)
And - in the last post I mentioned the card had been cancelled due to a fraudulent attempted charge (actually, it was in CA for an online auto-parts order) Well, I'm now thinking this same "250euro charge" may be related somehow - the only train tickets I've charged for the past 10 months are the Sweden tickets and suddenly a non-US dollar charge is being threatened on that same Visa card...coincidence? I fear not!
I get home later today and will check all my cards online and make sure nothing has hit....
Next times I post: it will be looking for restaurant ideas!
Again, thanks to all, and I SWEAR there will be a trip report in August!
Jo Ann

Kay2

Thanks for the update. I'm glad all is well.

My husband agreed to try check us in and print e-tickets to a file (I usually try to save an electronic copy of e-tickets, etc. anyway) until I could round up some legal paper to print on.
However another technical job (he is trying to help my nonprofit professional organization by recreating our logo in a high resolution format) kept his help time occupied this weekend.

The credit card concern is a real problem, isn't it? When I got back from Australia several months ago two charges were attempted there that weren't mine. They didn't go through, but one popped up a couple times in different forms.
Then when I was booking the Sweden and Norway train, plane, and hotel stuff last month, I couldn't remember the second level of online security for Visa code for a site that required it, so after a couple of attempts I switched to my Mastercard. Because I had already charged something to the Visa on a site that didn't require the second level of security, the bank's computer was alerted and I received a recorded message asking me to verify that I had made a purchase on a Norwegian site and was rejected on another site. The computer is trying to look out for me.

anyegr

It's good that it worked out for you. Hope you have a nice trip.

jo_ann

Interesting, Kay2, about your Visa issue, too. I get so annoyed when "card services" yanks our cards because of a "maybe" fraud, but obviously, there's so much out there that it needs to be done.
Anyegr: thanks for the good wishes. Next time you see me on here, it will be asking for restaurant ideas! I'm busy sifting now~
Again, thanks to all!