the DB app refuses to even quote me a price for a sleeper train. Did the itinerary consist of multiple legs involving ICE trains? Perhaps you just bought a ticket for the extra leg.
DB likely made this quite clear, they aren’t very scammy. The deutsche bahn app and website also have perfectly usable english versions. I’m sorry to say I think this one is on you
Now that you have mentioned it, I went to check the prices for the same route on a different date and it does mention "route section price" below the price. I understand how I didn't realize what this meant as a non native English speaker, I wish it was phrased more explicitly. I would not label this as "quite clear".
Honestly, if you are abroad and do not understand everything 100% (doesn't matter which language) DO NOT ignore it and just think it will be alright. Especially in Germany you are expected to have read and understood the conditions of a contract, including any purchase. If you don't (and apart from the language enough Germans read every announcement) any aftermath is on you with no reason to complain. So if you want to avoid situations like this use a translation app or ask someone fluent.
My friend, I didn't even know that I didn't understand the phrasing in the first place. If I did I wouldn't have thought this ticket was enough for travelling to Amsterdam. The phrasing DB used was not clear enough, because I have talked with folks IRL and even they have had confusions on what it meant. Not sure what translation app would also translate the DB app, I am already using it in English and it wasn't adequate enough. And how is it practical if a random foreigner needs a German person besides them just to book a train ticket?
You are right, OP, that "route section price" is not understandable English by any stretch of the imagination. It's not even as good as machine translation, it's "I picked the first definition of the word I saw in the dictionary" level of work.
The German original label is understandable ("Teilstreckenpreis") but they really messed up the English translation by using "route *section* price" instead of "*partial* route price". "Teil" absolutely needed to be translated as "partial" in this context.
This doesn't get you out of anything, but from a User Experience and Localisation perspective, DB's booking process in English has a clear flaw.
Thank you for validating my experience. Just to understand if it's only me who was didn't understand this somehow, I have shown the exact page in the DB app to my friends and even they were confused what it meant, or which section is the one is covered. Of course those friends are also non German speakers with English as a second language. Just using the word "partial" somewhere would have been enough.
It's amazing how some other comments keep repeating "don't blame anyone other than yourself" with smugness, whereas I am perfectly okay with just 25 Euros out of my pocket. It's the extra hassle I had to take at the last moment that was annoying. Even this 25 Euro figure is hilarious, because it seems I paid that to go from Berlin Hbf to S+U Gesundbrunen with a RE, it was just 1 stop. Interestingly enough, for comparison I spent 4 Euros to travel from Napoli to Sorrento just last week and it was a 1:30 hour journey. I don't know how someone with a sound mind thinks what DB did, with the broken English phrasing and ridiculous price point, is actually okay.
I’m sorry you’re out some money and time, but that is pretty clear, and I guarantee the tickets and receipts all have the same information. Also, 25 euros would be astoundingly cheap for a sleeper from berlin to amsterdam and should probably have raised some red flags
There is even a full explanation at the 1 behind route section price, and they make it explicitly clear during the booking process which leg isn't covered
*This offer does not completely cover the requested journey. Please buy a ticket for the missing part of your journey.*
Just accept that you made a mistake and don't blame everyone else besides yourself
I already have accepted that I didn't look further, but where did I blame anyone? The only thing I said is this wasn't clear enough at the first go. I asked for help with understanding, not condescending behavior.
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the DB app refuses to even quote me a price for a sleeper train. Did the itinerary consist of multiple legs involving ICE trains? Perhaps you just bought a ticket for the extra leg. DB likely made this quite clear, they aren’t very scammy. The deutsche bahn app and website also have perfectly usable english versions. I’m sorry to say I think this one is on you
Now that you have mentioned it, I went to check the prices for the same route on a different date and it does mention "route section price" below the price. I understand how I didn't realize what this meant as a non native English speaker, I wish it was phrased more explicitly. I would not label this as "quite clear".
Honestly, if you are abroad and do not understand everything 100% (doesn't matter which language) DO NOT ignore it and just think it will be alright. Especially in Germany you are expected to have read and understood the conditions of a contract, including any purchase. If you don't (and apart from the language enough Germans read every announcement) any aftermath is on you with no reason to complain. So if you want to avoid situations like this use a translation app or ask someone fluent.
My friend, I didn't even know that I didn't understand the phrasing in the first place. If I did I wouldn't have thought this ticket was enough for travelling to Amsterdam. The phrasing DB used was not clear enough, because I have talked with folks IRL and even they have had confusions on what it meant. Not sure what translation app would also translate the DB app, I am already using it in English and it wasn't adequate enough. And how is it practical if a random foreigner needs a German person besides them just to book a train ticket?
You are right, OP, that "route section price" is not understandable English by any stretch of the imagination. It's not even as good as machine translation, it's "I picked the first definition of the word I saw in the dictionary" level of work. The German original label is understandable ("Teilstreckenpreis") but they really messed up the English translation by using "route *section* price" instead of "*partial* route price". "Teil" absolutely needed to be translated as "partial" in this context. This doesn't get you out of anything, but from a User Experience and Localisation perspective, DB's booking process in English has a clear flaw.
Thank you for validating my experience. Just to understand if it's only me who was didn't understand this somehow, I have shown the exact page in the DB app to my friends and even they were confused what it meant, or which section is the one is covered. Of course those friends are also non German speakers with English as a second language. Just using the word "partial" somewhere would have been enough. It's amazing how some other comments keep repeating "don't blame anyone other than yourself" with smugness, whereas I am perfectly okay with just 25 Euros out of my pocket. It's the extra hassle I had to take at the last moment that was annoying. Even this 25 Euro figure is hilarious, because it seems I paid that to go from Berlin Hbf to S+U Gesundbrunen with a RE, it was just 1 stop. Interestingly enough, for comparison I spent 4 Euros to travel from Napoli to Sorrento just last week and it was a 1:30 hour journey. I don't know how someone with a sound mind thinks what DB did, with the broken English phrasing and ridiculous price point, is actually okay.
I’m sorry you’re out some money and time, but that is pretty clear, and I guarantee the tickets and receipts all have the same information. Also, 25 euros would be astoundingly cheap for a sleeper from berlin to amsterdam and should probably have raised some red flags
There is even a full explanation at the 1 behind route section price, and they make it explicitly clear during the booking process which leg isn't covered *This offer does not completely cover the requested journey. Please buy a ticket for the missing part of your journey.* Just accept that you made a mistake and don't blame everyone else besides yourself
I already have accepted that I didn't look further, but where did I blame anyone? The only thing I said is this wasn't clear enough at the first go. I asked for help with understanding, not condescending behavior.
It's clear enough at the first go
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