Do you want to complain to Virgin?

[PaulaSB12]

If you want to complain to Virgin here is the best person to complain to;


Ms Bernadette McCurdy
Virgin Holidays Ltd
The Galleria
Station Road
Crawley
West Sussex


she is the Executive for customer services.
I have written to her before about the disney dining plan and why does Virgin now refuse to sell it despite the fact that they sold it for the same period that I am going on holiday to a dis member having a virgin wedding. At the end of April just out of curiosity I went through the booking process for the same hotel I am going to Pop Century for 1 person for the exact same dates, when the hotel came up it had two options room only and disney dining plan. I went through the booking process up to the checkout and did a print out, sent that printout and a letter to Virgin, 4th May I got a letter cancelling my holiday and returning my deposit back to the debit card the money came from.

 

[mushumadness]

well all this has got me to check my fuel supps on this years and next years holiday

this year with tcd is £114 for all 8 of us combined which I dont thinks bad

and next year with tcd its £108 for two of us which had jumped quiet alot but hey it gets me to florida so I dont argue lol

 

[Hilary]

Now Virgin don't include the tickets so something worked!! and I don't see your logic in your statement about going elsewhere for this holiday just because it includes the tickets, no other holiday company includes them and not everyone would want length of stay passes.

Sorry, maybe I didn't make my point very clearly - I was saying I didn't understand people complaining that Virgin weren't offering what they wanted when they had only to choose an alternative operator to get their requirements. i.e. buy from whoever can fulfill your requirements, rather than complain that the person you'd like to buy from doesn't sell what you want!

BTW, I completely agree that you shouldn't feel any need to pull this thread just because there are different views being expressed - isn't that what healthy discussion is all about?

I don't think anyone is trying to attack you personally.

 

[Laurafoster]

I agree, we all probably at some point or another say something on this board that is going to have mixed opinions. Be a pretty boring place if everyone had the same view.

I always fly with Virgin and I personally have never had any issues with Virgin, BUT i tend to fly in low seasons when its quieter and less busy. However that is mostly because Virgin always work out the same price or cheapest for me. If another airline or company gave me a cheaper deal then i would go for them.

 

[tashasmum]

We have flown with virgin on 8 occasions and will be again this christmas. The only problems we have had is when we haven't flown with them i.e last year we had a big family vacation,17 in total and we made the mistake of flying with first choice, never again. There is good and bad with all companies and if you are not happy with the service complain. If you have never flown with virgin you can't really complain just go with someone else. As with anything else if you don't like a certain shop you go somewhere else.

 

[Grumpy John]

At the end of the day Virgin obviously sees a market in Scotland. If people want to use them then the service will be kept on. If people choose not to fly with them for whatever reason then the service will be dropped and people north of the border will have to travel a bit further to use Virgin.

Simple really

By the way I fly Virgin twice a year from Gatwick, only me and her indoors. It is not because we are wealthy it is because we are careful with our money and choose having holidays as we both work hard.

 

[UKDEB]

Virgin are charging me about £3200 for 2 adults and 2 children, going out the last week and a half of September with car hire and staying at All Star Sports and that's without Disney tickets and Universal tickets.

TCD however, are charging £2800!

We still keep coming back to the same thing. You obviously perceive that Virgin is better than TCD, or you wouldn't be so keen to fly Virgin - you'd be congratulating yourself on getting exactly the same thing from TCD for £400 less. What you are saying is that you want something which you consider to be better, but without having to pay.

Have you tried pricing your holiday separately? You might find you can fly with Virgin for less than the TCD package price. September is Value Season at WDW and the price is $79 per day (that's per room, not per person). In their favour, TCD don't seem to be charging over the odds for the accommodation element as far as I can see, but they are adding £54 per person fuel surcharge, plus a £10 booking fee per person. What are your dates?

Does your Virgin quote include the 5% discount for booking online? That would go someway towards your fuel surcharges.

 

[jen_uk]

If you book online Virgin also regularly do a 10% discount, they offer it sometimes on friday nights and weekends. I booked mine with a discount and got about £250 off! Also as I stay onsite I dont bother with car hire as the Disney transport is so good, that will save you several hundred as well.

 

[UKDEB]

The fuel supplements alone is costing £280

The fuel supplements with TCD are £216 + £40 booking fee.

 

[angel659]

Hi

My god I have just seen this thread and it has taken me all of 20 minutes to read and my eyes are hurting

Personally I loved our flight with VA last year and cant wait to go again next year. We are in the process of booking we are just negotiating with the TA at the moment.

We have flown with Brittania, My Travel, Thomas Cook Airlines, JMC, Monarch and BA (although it was only to Aberdeen so I dont think that counts really).

JMC (are now Thomas Cook) was the worst flight I have ever had in my life. All of 27 anyway the air con never worked both ways the entertainment was poor and the staff were rude. We flew on a DC10 and it was so old and looked unsafe. All throughout the flight I was praying we would make it back safely. I am a good flyer. The noises the aircraft made. It scares me just thinking about it. We flew with them to Mexico and never ever ever again.

My Travel have been excellent short haul and long haul. I would never have a problem booking with them again.

Virgin has in my opinion come out the best. I actually enjoyed the food on the plane, the entertainment was fab and the staff (ground and aircrew was really good). I was so impressed. They were great with the kids.

Having recently been looking to book for Oct 2007 we have found Virgin to be the cheapest. Thats including fuel and extra charges. Also we like the flexibility of Virgin. We are booking a 17 night stay and TCD do not offer this or any other company unless you book it all seperately. Another reason I vote Virgin. We can book a package holiday to Port Orleans cheaper and they accept our family of 5. All other tour operators reacons the rooms are for max of 4. If we booked via disney they would allow our 5 as the rooms occupy 5. Why do other UK tour operators other than virgin only allow max 4

Ok so it may cost an awful lot for you to travel from Scotland, but as mentioned earlier how about people in the SW. Its just as hard and just as many want to go to FL than those who live in Scotland. Thier is obviously a reason why VA have the flights as they do. We are fortunate enough to only live an hour or so away. As I say to everyone you cant please everyone, Somebody has to be unhappy and unfortunately thats you. So if you dont like the policy then unfortunately you will have to look elsewhere.

We are not rich not the least. We have 3 kids and I work shifts as I am a Aux Nurse. We do not have time to go out. We put our going out money aside to pay for a holiday to FL. It really depends on what people priorities are. For us a holiday every other year with enough money to take the kids out every so often. We never allow the kids to go without. Sometimes I work extra shifts to get extra money to pay for the tickets. It all works out in the end.

I hope you manage to book your holiday and we were also quoted £70 per person for fuel charges. Try looking around you never know you may get what your looking for with VH. Also christmas day there were offering a big discount on thier holidays. If you want to chance it wait till then.

 

[Frances999]

Paula Jane - you have no valid reason for complaining to Virgin whatsoever. You obviously feel that they are overpriced and that is fair enough. However, hundred's of thousands of customers do not feel the same way. Furthermore, it's not as if Virgin Atlantic are a monopoly and there are no other substitutes. Look elsewhere if you are not prepared to pay for their service - there are plenty of other flights to Orlando. I wouldn't be surprised if they completely disregarded your complaint.

We still keep coming back to the same thing. You obviously perceive that Virgin is better than TCD, or you wouldn't be so keen to fly Virgin - you'd be congratulating yourself on getting exactly the same thing from TCD for £400 less. What you are saying is that you want something which you consider to be better, but without having to pay.

Absolutely - that is certainly my pereption of this as well.

 

[pixiepower04]

Sorry but having looked at the 2001 census both Scotland and the South West have the same population give or take 140000 out of 5 million. So I cannot see how you can discriminate against someone living in the SW.

Claire

I'm sorry, how did I discriminate? It was said tongue in cheek as friends of mine live there and they tell me it takes near on 5 hours from where they live to get to me when we lived in Surrey.

 

[Claire L]

Hi,

You're an exception since you live in the corner of the country and it takes forever to get anywhere from Cornwall!!

I just got the impression that you were blaming people who lived in Cornwall for being 'so far' away, yet wanting a better deal yourself when you also live so far away from the major airports.

Claire

 

[Claire L]

As for the increased Glasgow prices the overheads for the flights are bound to be much higher as they have to get the planes there in the first place by some logistical repositioning and then the costs of getting the crew there for each flight as they will be living too far to travel the same day as flying. Also the return crew will be displaced when they land at Glasgow and will have to be transported back down South, I am sure there are other items such as catering, maitainence on standby etc that may cost more, hence the costs of the flights would not be the same as for a Gatwick flight. But you do get the conveience of a scheduled airlines flying non stop to Orlando, which no otehr airline offers at this current moment in time, so a short trial is understandable to see if the route is economincally viable, if it is then the prices may come down a little way.

Claire

 

[Ang1e]

Paula Jane - you have no valid reason for complaining to Virgin whatsoever. You obviously feel that they are overpriced and that is fair enough. However, hundred's of thousands of customers do not feel the same way. Furthermore, it's not as if Virgin Atlantic are a monopoly and there are no other substitutes. Look elsewhere if you are not prepared to pay for their service - there are plenty of other flights to Orlando. I wouldn't be surprised if they completely disregarded your complaint.


Absolutely - that is certainly my pereption of this as well.

Ditto all the above!

I think everything that can be said has been said.

We fly Virgin because we did in 1988 - when I called to book for our 1st 'family' trip in 2000 I was offered the Frequent Virgin Discount of 10%. I know it's supposed to be offered on ar after your 3rd trip but who was I to argue when it was handed to me?

Every trip we've had since then I have priced up with other companies TCD included and with the 10% discount Virgin haven't been beaten.

There are always other things to add onto the price of the holiday. We do an overnight stop at an airport hotel the night before - we don't HAVE to, it's our choice to do that rather than get up at silly o'clock and drive down on the day.

I would love Virgin to fly from East Midlands airport - ½ hour journey from home! If the prices were a lot more than from Gatwick would I complain? No. I'd either save more and go another year or go from Gatwick.

I don't think Virgin are the be all and end all. If I could go fly cheaper then I would. A seat back TV doesn't do it for me. If the saving is a considerable amount I would buy a laptop and a couple of batteries and the kids could watch some DVDs (would be handy in the car too).

A holiday is not a necessity. It's a luxury - it's something we WANT. Don't mean to be harsh but if it's too expensive for you and you feel you can't afford it then leave it a bit longer. But please don't critisise those who can go more often. My husband and I work hard to pay for our holidays and don't ask anyone else to pay for them - why should I feel guilty about that

As has been mentioned maybe the costs from Scotland are 22% more because Virgin don't have as many flights flying from there as they do from Manchester & Gatwick. Maybe they've only been allocated a few slots. They have to pay the airport fees for flying from there don't they surely they can negotiate lower charges when they have more flight slots?

Sorry for waffling and hope I haven't caused any offence. Please don't see this as a personal attack - they're just my opinions.

 

[tashasmum]

I wouldn't take it to seriously if i were you, but as you can see there are not too many complaints. What you pay for with one company you can save with another and vice-versa. All travel companies have pros and cons and you just go with the best one for you at the time.

 

[Red-Snapper]

Hey i read all 4 pages

Sorry you felt you had to mention my post Pixiepower - I tought I had made a reasonable reply and certainly not in anyway rude. I said some of your comments were valid (I currently have a problem with VH) but that they would probably be more interested if you had actaully ver flown with them.

You are entitled to you opinion but so is everyone else. I dont actually think the tone of any of the first page replies is agressive but you must admit your comment about never being a customer did rather set you up for a fall.

I personally would have left your first post uneditted but maybe had second thoughts about your followup.

Finally I am very confused about the "millions" of Scots flying to Florida being equal to us down here. I had always assumed there were far less of you up there than in England, am I wrong ?

 

[UKDEB]

I'm very disappointed that you've edited your initial post. It certainly didn't offend me. I simply didn't agree with it and I thoroughly enjoyed responding to it. Now, nothing is in context.