On 19th July 2019 I bought an off-peak return from Crewe to Manchester using my 16-25 railcard. I attempted to board the 10.12 Virgin train from Crewe to Manchester Piccadilly. Through my carelessness I accidentally boarded the late 10.02 Virgin train from Crewe to London that left from the same platform. When I initially looked at the boarding platforms as I arrived for my train it said the Manchester Piccadilly train would be departing at 10.16. Unfortunately this is actually the time the London train ended up arriving, which is partially how I came to make the mistake. Onboard the train when the conductor came round, I informed him of my mistake and he told me "Don't worry you can alight at Wolverhampton and get a direct train from there to Manchester". He then circled my ticket. I proceeded to do this and boarded the CrossCountry train from Wolverhampton to Manchester, which did not stop at Crewe. I was then met with the train manager who was most unkind to me in his approach and charged me a £40 anytime day single from Wolverhampton to Manchester. I have complained to Virgin and here was the response: