Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr Reviews 

Train was cancelled 5 minutes before it was supposed to leave. No replacement bus or replacement train. So we waited an hour for the next train. Then they announced all trains were cancelled for the next 3 hours but a replacement bus was on the way. 10 minutes after the bus was supposed to arrive they announced that it, too, was cancelled. I was supposed to be taking a 20 minute trip that ended up taking over 4 hours. Why would anyone ever pay €20 for this experience?

EUR 18.90 for a 26 minute train journey from Duisburg to Viersen that is also delayed.

I'm from the Netherlands and I'm used to things being expensive. These VRR prices are not normal.

Worst ever service.
Completly unreliable, endless delays and cancalation.
And even more! they notify about delays at every last moment and by parts, e.g. train will be in 2 minutes, after a monute again in 2 minutes and like that for half an hour, till next ttain by schedule will come!!!
Cancalation happens right on road. They ask you to exit train and wait for next nowhere in between!

Not a great experience, frustrating really.
This may be long.

Went to visit Germany & bought the Germany ticket through the VRR app.
Firstly it wasn't made clear that DeutschlandTicket is a subscription - not mentioned in an explicit, clear or visible way. I am not the only one who experienced this based on the few I asked, they were also surprised.

They say the subscription renews on the the 10th of each month (PSA: cancel before then to end subscription AND while you're in Germany otherwise it will be incredibly difficult), however charge you on the 4th of the month????
I emailed them the day I got charged (4th), took 5 days to get a response, struggled to cancel - I believe it may be linked to vpn and or German sim. Eventually managed to cancel it.
I then emailed asking if a refund was possible (because I had cancelled before their subscription renewal date) - no. No refund.

I don't know a company that charges before the subscription renewal date. Very weird. Not sure if it's a common practice in Germany but VRR doesn't state that they'll charge you earlier than the 10th either.

Overall, frustrating, stressful & not a great experience.

This story has three parts, and they all come to show the level of esteem that this truly mediocre company has for its customers...

Part one: I arrived at Duesseldorf Flughafen, and bought a Neun-Euro-Ticket at the Flughafen S-Bahnhof. I put in 20 Euro, and received 11 Euro in change - but no ticket. I wrote to automat-vrr@... with the details of the incident (13. Juli, 12:28 Uhr, Automatennummer: 621302). After two days, I got this response: "Unsere Automatentechniker waren inzwischen vor Ort und haben das Gerät überprüft. Eine technische Störung konnte ausgeschlossen werden, der Automat funktioniert einwandfrei. Die von Ihnen beschriebene Situation können wir daher leider nicht rekonstruieren. Externe Ursachen wie äußere Manipulationen können wir nicht vollkommen ausschließen; diese waren jedoch bei der Überprüfung nicht festzustellen. Wir müssen Ihnen aus diesem Grund mitteilen, dass wir Ihrem Erstattungswunsch leider nicht entsprechen können."

Part two: I was surprised and a bit angry (why would I make this stuff up for 9 Euro?), but I just decided to buy another ticket. I did not realize that I was supposed to write my name on it. So while I was on a bus in Essen going to visit a friend, my ticket was confiscated by a Kontrolleur and I was asked to go to Essen Hbf the next day to "solve the issue". I asked if I could "solve" it in Dusseldorf, where I was staying, but they said no. So I went back to Essen the next day, and at the VRR office I was greeted with a fine of 60 Euro for not having written my name on the damn ticket. You could say that this was my fault (I "should" have known this?), but they could have made this crucial requirement a little bit more evident - maybe a bright red sign at the ticket machine, letting foreigners and newcomers know that they need to put their name on the little paper ticket?

Part three: After paying my fine, what happened? I did not get my ticket back. They said they had to send it "per Post" to that location/office in Essen, and it would take 48 hours. How was I supposed to travel in the meantime? I had already paid a big fine, why can't I get my ticket back? I asked if they could at least send it to the Dusseldorf office, but they said no. 

How would you feel if you were treated like this? This was definitely one of the worst customer service experiences I have ever had, in the many countries I have been to. They are showing, through this kind of treatment, that they do not think very highly of their customers. I hope a better company comes around eventually that treats its customers better.

The worst transportation company I've ever had to deal with. Trains and busses constantly delayed, canceled.