Virgin Holidays - NOT HAPPY!

[Stebo]

Rick

How many seats are you looking for?

The company I work for has a small number
of seats on the 1st August and 31st July from Manchester
If you would like to send me an e mail or pm I can get one of our
reservation staff to give you a call.

Hope this might help

Steve

The flights are non stop

 

[Pootle]

Maybe it's worth letting Virgin know that you have over 2000 (well okay maybe some of us have peeked more than once ) customers and potential customers on this board anxious to know how well they treat you.

Just a thought.

 

[Pootle]

Sorry, just caught up with the front page - over 3000

 

[Rick Walmsley]

Hi all

just to let you know that I E-mailed this link to the customer services department but despite that they are unable to offer me any viable alternative.

I have had an E-mail explaining (to some extent) why I am in this predicament.

I will update this thread soon with their explanation and what I propose to do.

Many thanks again for the support.

Rick

 

[Leech esq]

I also have been following this thread with great interest and feel annoyed at their treatment.Each time we have flown with Virgin we have had a good standard of service. I wonder if there's any way we can get a petition together to show that all their regulars are following this lack of service?
Geoff.

 

[daywalker]

Good Idea Leech, I used to be a virgin reg (not just for Florida trips but carribean too) however we have stopped using them as we felt their service was declining and prices rising!
I'm just sorry for Rik and his family, hope you get it sorted and I'd like to echo the comments that once you do get to Florida, you will have a fantastic time.

 

[Rick Walmsley]

Hi all

Just to say the support is overwhelming.

What ever happens my holiday will be superb because of the the ideas provided by all the members on this forum. I will be doing lots of things I would never have thought of because of all your help. Whatever happens I will have an excellent time.

My Holiday will however never be " Perfect " because my perfect plan has been altered due to the incompetence of the staff at Virgin.

Yes I am still very bitter.

Rick

 

[GO2209]

Following my parents gripes about Virgin, plus other family and friends complaining, I have serious doubts about flying with Virgin in September. I am not a Virgin Veteran (9 return flights in 5 years) does not make me a 'frequent flyer' (well - ish...) However, I thought I should put 'pen-to-paper' maybe we all should. I include a segment from my email....

"I have made a concious decision to fly virgin... A statement I have always been able to support....

Virgin's standard of service has been significantly above the competition for several years. My family had opted to fly Virgin. I have chosen Virgin. We have recommended Virgin to friends and family. We were entertained ans supportive of 'BA + AA, No Way'. This is the single most powerful form of 'positive' marketing a company can achieve - Mr Branson will no doubt agree.

However, I have noticed a serious decline in both quality of service and price.

I was always prepared to pay a premium to fly Virgin. I cannot warrant this extra expense any more. My family fly to Florida 5-6 times per year. Following their recent trip they will now only fly Virgin if you are 'sensibly priced' - you are not... They will not fly with you... Poor entertainment (faulty a/v equipment), poor service (only two drink cart visits in 8 hours) and a general lack-lustre attitude to your customer base have seriously devalued your precious 'brand'.

Personally, I love planning my own vacation. It is part of the holiday experience for me. This is also true for at least a dozen families I know. They used to start with booking their Virgin flights, and planning around them. Now they reserve their accommodation and get whatever flights (from Manchester) they can. 3000+ users regularly visit the information portal www.disboards.com which I use as a valuable resource when planning my US vacations. A recent topic for discussion was Virgin [http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=398436&perpage=15&pagenumber=1] - Please read - this could be the downfall of Virgin Atlantic.

I have no desire to see Virgin Atlantic suffer. Or the brand as whole. I admire Richard Bransons creativity and attitude to customer service. Hell, I have read the books, bought the T-shirt(!), managed my (meagre) 57 strong team with his philosophies in mind... Why are you failing? Why are you becoming a second choice to 'My Travel'??!!! Why should people consider 'charter carriers' over Virgin????!

Do NOT use September/11 as an excuse. I am tired of hearing it. I appreciate the marketplace is evolving and changing. A market can change, your key principles should not. 'Rick Walmsley' is the victim, I am not. I do not wish to be. Until I see Virgin moving back onto the right 'track' I shall be reluctant to fly 'Virgin' - I wonder how many others will share my opinion? Good press spreads quickly, bad press spreads like wildfire!

Good luck in returning Virgin to it's previous strengths."

I have addressed this to Media Relations, Customer Service and (on the off-chance!) richard.branson@virgin.co.uk!!!

I am not adept at complaining - very British I guess! This 'saga' (in conjunction with personal experience) has lead me to 'have a go'. Maybe more of us should express our opinions?

 

[Rain]

I too have just emailed Virgin in support.

I basically told them as a first time Virgin Flyer I am very worried about the comments of regular flyers on the Dis board.

Hope all ends well Rick

Lynda

 

[kazzie]

The support must be heartwarmimg for you Rick.

I'm not sure if they keep old communications from customers but if they do there must already be a file for me,as I have needed to do a couple of times.

I fly Virgin as I fly PE, if BA would put World Traveller plus seats on that route I would happily have an alternative.

 

[Kell-Bell]

Hi Rick

Just wanted to offer you (and your family) my support, and I really hope that they sort this out so your holiday is 'perfect'. And try not to let it spoil all your plans and your holiday.

Chin up and don't give in. After reading this I'm getting a little nervous about my holiday. (booked with Virgin) Hope they don't start making a habit of this!

Good luck.

Kell-Bell

 

[Shugmac]

Hi Rick

I too have been following this thread with intrest i know how disapointed my family would be if anything was getting in the way of their disney holiday i hope some good comes out if all this it has made me a little concerned as we have our holiday booked with virgin this is the first time we have used them we thought it would be worth paying a little extra, but we have already had to change our hotel i was pricing for next year on their website and noticed that our hotel had not only changed name but had been downgraded so hubby got on the phone and queried this we had to pay extra £30 for the new hotel we are getting, so i dont think i will be using them again after reading what everyone has said about them.

 

[Rick Walmsley]

Hi all

I attach some answers that Virgin Holidays sent me in relation to the matter.

1."I'm afraid you were never booked onto the VS75/76 which was due to the fact the systems didn't link up and confirm the booking"

2."We first became aware of the situation on 8th May 2003(bearing in mind I made the booking on 2nd May 2002!!!) when Virgin Atlantic informed our Flight Management department and advised us of the situation. Between now and then we have gone down every avenue to find an alternative but unfortunately the time has come where option we have booked as our best option."

(a) this is incorrect as they were clearly aware of the problem at least since the beginning of February when I tried to pre book my seats and was told that my booking was not showing up. Since that time they have continued to reassure me that I was on this flight and there was no problem with the booking.

(b) why was I not made aware of this at an early stage in order that I could find a viable alternative.

Had I known about these problems six months ago I could have cancelled and re booked another flight under the terms that I wanted. I should have been given the choice. They have clearly been hoping that someone would cancel and then I would have been none the wiser. How many other people are in this situation.

They don't want to give you this option because they know you would probably cancel and they want your money. They also know that if they leave it until the last minute to tell you then in most cases the average customer is left with no option but to take whatever poor alternative they offer.

Well I'm not their average customer.

Nor will I be bullied into accepting what they have offered.

I feel they way I have been treated has been deplorable and as a result I cancelled my flights with Virgin today.!

 

[Pootle]

I'm so sorry it didn't work out for you with Virgin. Hopefully you have managed to get seats on another direct flight. Even so, I am sure you deserve some compensation for any additional expense you might incur plus an amount for the stress and the hassle this has caused.

Some years ago I got hundred of pounds from Kuoni after a special holiday went wrong due to factors known to them. They were not generous to begin with but I persisted and used phrases picked up from the case studies on the back of Holiday Which? magazines. Every issue they deal with 2 readers' bad experiences and include a boxed "Point of Law" applicable to each complaint. Below I give a few which may be helpful to you. Two are similar I know.

Points of Law

"Where a tour operator makes significant changes to your holiday plans, your claim may include a sum for loss of enjoyment - covering the disappointment and frustration involved in a change plus the hassle involved in trying to sort things out."

"If a tour operator lets you down or fails to provide services you have contracted for, you can claim for inadequate service, as well as for disappointment, distress and loss of enjoyment, plus reimbursement of out of pocket expenses incurred."

"Many tour operators' booking conditions contain a term that restricts your entitlement to compensation for changes. Such clauses may be unenforceable."

"When you book a holiday, the tour operator must provide you with the holiday you have booked, or give you notice of any major changes as soon as they come to light."


Which? usually assist people in going to the Small Claims Court if they cannot get satisfaction. Now I wouldn't know if your situation is different because it is fly-drive rather than a full package, but I suspect not. Had it been flight alone I'm sure it would have been.

I certainly think you should look into seeking compensation from them. One more point, I suspect (and heard a TV 'expert' on how to complain say) that a proper letter, sent snail mail is likely to get better results than an email.

Good luck with it whatever you do and have a wonderful holiday.

 

[kevin harrison]

One question,

When the original booking was made, did you receive an invoice confirming booking ? If so, surely you have a case because you can say that Virgin must have known about you when you made the booking on 2nd May 2002, and not as Virgin claim on 8th May 2003.

Just a thought.

Kevin Harrison.

 

[Rick Walmsley]

Hi all

In answer to kevin's question I have a receipt for my initial booking ie deposit paid.(will be able to obtain excact date from credit card)

I then have a booking confirmation dated 6th january 2003 stating all flight details confirmed as booked.

I then have another confirmation dated 19TH MAY 2003(IE 11 days after they claim they were informed that I wasn't on the flight) again showing my booking as being confirmed.( which also happens to be the time that I paid them the rest of my deposit ie @£2000.

Can you now understand the level of incompetence that I am dealing with.

With so much going I missed this. I'm glad that you pointed this out as it is possible that individuals within this company may have actually commited a criminal offence. Will take further legal advice and research the matter.

Continue with the advice guys.

Love a challenge

Rick

 

[amf]

I really hope that something good comes of this and am very much in agreement with others comments to the effect that once you are all there you'll have a wonderful time

Another avenue you might consider is contacting your local Trading Standards.

Good luck.

 

[UKDEB]

Your contract is with the agent through whom you booked, not with Virgin Atlantic. It seems that there are 400+ travellers in the same situation as you. I'm sure if Virgin Atlantic (or even Virgin Travelstore) could put on an extra flight to sort out this problem, they would quickly do so. I imagine that finding a free aircraft and a free departure slot is impossible.

I'm not defending anyone here, just pointing out some facts. As I said in an earlier post, I would be asking upon what basis they chose who should be bumped and who shouldn't. If I were one of the first people to book the flight (and I would guess you must be amongst them), I would be insisting that I was re-instated and someone else was bumped.

If the problem was with Virgin Travelstore's system and no fault of VA, then I would imagine your only recourse would be compensation from VT.

Either way, it needs to be pursued through VT.

 

[kevin harrison]

I think your best course of action is to contact Virgin Travelstore again and tell them you have proof that you booked when you did and tell them that if you are not reinstated onto the flight you booked originally you will take them to the small claims court.

Tell them you have copies of all yours and their correspondence, and ask to speak to the most important person available. I'd imagine they wouldn't want to go down the avenue of legal action.

Remember your argument is with Virgin Travelstore and not Virgin Atlantic.

This is an excellent guide to the small claims court

http://www.compactlaw.co.uk/smcf1.html

Regards

Kevin.

 

[UKDEB]

I think we are fundamentally saying the same thing here, Kevin. My point is that I don't imagine it is within VT's capability (or anyone else's for that matter) to create additonal capacity. In which case, the best Rick can hope for is financial compensation. His only hope is that he gets re-instated to the original flight at the expense of someone else. On a level playing field, then last in, first out, would be fair, but it's probably not that simple.