Virgin Holidays - NOT HAPPY!

[ColUK]

I think its also worth pointing out that if you was in the airport and the flight was overbooked that the airline would be offering compensation to go at a different time.
Why should this be any different?

 

[Rick Walmsley]

Hi all

Still not received any explanation or even acknowledgement of my first E-mail (I was told they strive to answer any problems within a day, It appears that they must have that many complaints that this is not managable)

As the weekend is now on us I don't anticipate any reply by Monday, by which time I'll be on the phone again!!!!

I find this level of "customer care" appauling. I mean how long does it take to type:

"We acknowledge the receipt of your email dated .....
The matter is now receiving our attention...
We will contact you by.....
If you are not satisfied please feel free to contact us at tel.....

Yes the above is the usual bland pro forma reply but I'd rather have that than nothing.

There were problems with my original booking (caused by them not me) and they bent over backwards to ensure the booking was made. Now that they actually have my money that level of interest seems to have disappeared.

Of course the holiday countdown clock is slowly ticking away and as it does so any possible alternatives slowly disappear as well, almost to the point that you have to accept the situation.

They know this and so do I.

Fortunately I have several contacts within the "industry" that can give me lots of "ammunition" should the matter need to be taken further.

I love a fight and one of my best assets is that I am too stubborn to let things go if I'm backed into a corner.

No doubt I will update you with further information before anyone from virgin bothers to show an interest (I have got to stop being so sarcastic)

Maybe they are getting that many complaints that they just haven't got round to mine yet!!

Any way enough complaining, I'd like to thank each and every one of you for the support that I have had over the matter.

Come to think of it, I'd like to thank you all for the invaluable information that you have all provided me over the last few years.
This trip would not be happening without your advice/tips and savings.

I am very g

 

[Rick Walmsley]

Ooooops didn't finish

I'm very grateful for all the support that you all have shown me

Thanks again,

Rick

 

[Rick Walmsley]

Hi all

Much to my surprise I received a letter this morning from the travelstore ackowledging my E-mail.

They have forwarded it to Virgin Holidays and are awaiting a response.

I expect an update sometime next week .

Will keep you posted

Rick

 

[Celestine]

Stick to your guns! Virgin have also bumped us from the first flight of the day to the last (at least it is still flying direct), however that puts a real spanner in the works as I need to rearrange my schedule & decide whether to cancel hotel at Gatwick. Tried to find out why as an online search showed availability on that flight, but everyone seems to blame everyone else so in the end I am grateful it is direct flight (as travelling with two children), I'm still travelling on the same day & our prebooked seat etc. are still in place. As an aside, our letter stated we would now depart Orlando 2100 & arrive Orlando 1015 the next day. When asked, they couldn't explain why we were due to circle Orlando for 13 hours!

 

[DisneyBB]

Celestine - what day are you flying back ? We are due to fly back on the 14th Nov on the early flight, but it no longer appears on the virgin schedule.

 

[Celestine]

DisneyBB we go 11/10 & fly back 18/10. 11/10 now shows 3 flightd 1015, 1230 & 1300 from Gatwick, didn't check the number of return flights, but guess if they get you out there, they have to get you back!

 

[Sue & Co.]

This thread is getting me a little concerned. We fly out 8/11 and back 22/11 both times direct flights from Virgin (and with carefully booked seats so that I get a left aisle) because I have a disability and need the shortest journey possible. If they are going to start changing flight times or worse trying to bump us this is going to cause serious problems but at the end of the day is there anything we can realistically do about it. Previously we flew BA and had no problems whatsoever but then in todays climate perhaps they are now just as bad?

 

[Red-Snapper]

Looking on the brightside for a moment...Virgin have actually added a third daily flight during the summer.

I dont understand however why this would mean they would move passengers from one flight to the other - unless they have taken so many over bookings

 

[AlexE]

Our original return flight was the 17:50 from Orlando to Gatwick with return for a car hire at 16:00 - No problem

We then had a change of itinery instigated by Virgin Atlantic which changed our return flight to the 21:10 - no problem - but our travel agent (Virgin travel store) didn't change the return time of our hire car - problem

When querying this with our travel agent they said that that the change was by Virgin Atlantic so we would have to pay the extra 'day' for car hire and insurance. When I told them I wasn't happy with this they told me to email their customerservices.

Success

Virgin are picking up the extra charge.

So it pays to query (very politely I might add) any changes you are not sure of and you may be successful.



All of the above was done very politely by myself

 

[floridalol]

If you have the Dollar car hire through Virgin they give you a few extra hours free of charge anyway past the return time so this shouldn't have been a problem anyway.

 

[Celestine]

I'm now a little worried based on AlexE's experiene. We have a hire car booked. Where does it state what time the car has to be returned. The timing sound rather similar to hours & I don't want to be stung for something when it wasn't my doing in the first place

 

[Rick Walmsley]

Hi all

Its over a week now since they received my initial complaint and although they eventually acknowledged it I HAVE STILL NOT HAD ANY SORT OF ANSWER TO MY QUEERIES OR WHAT THEY PROPOSE TO DO.

To say I am not impressed by this level of service is an understatement.

Looks like I need to get on the phone again (if they bother to answer)

Will update as and when anyone from Virgin gives me an answer.

Still not happy


Rick

 

[kevin harrison]

Rick

Just get on the phone again and ask to speak to a supervisor and tell them politely you want your money back. Just be very very insistant and say you were promised a response and you still haven't had one, so you now want your money back. Don't let them blame Virgin, It's their problem if they haven't had a response from Virgin and they should be chasing them up for you.

Once they realise you are serious and may lose money, they will sort it out for you pronto.

Keep us informed.

 

[kevin harrison]

Basically Rick, become a pain in the ****, but be polite with it.

 

[floridalol]

Celestine - basically your hire car will have to be returned at the same time you complete the paperwork at the hire desk - so if you pick up the car at 16.00 it will need to be returned by that time at the end of your holiday - if you book through Virgin and hire through Dollar they give you an extra few hours grace so you can enjoy the final day of your holiday to the full.

 

[rob@rar.org.uk]

Originally posted by kevin harrison
... tell them politely you want your money back ...

I'm not sure that I'd run too firmly with this tactic. If Virgin have massively overbooked their flight that day, they might be happy to provide you with a full refund (and no compensation) in order to free up some seats. You'd then be left wiuth the challenge of finding new flights at short notice, during a busy time of year.

Best of luck with your negotiations.

Regards

Rob

 

[Bekki]

Im with Rob on this one, stick to your guns and be a real pain.

Good Luck

 

[vernon]

rick, I'd stick to your guns on this, IMHO it's not acceptable to just palm you off with an indirect flight and then ignore you hoping you'll go away. I would send another email stating the times and dates of your previous phone calls and emails stating that the "solution" is not an acceptable one. Before doing all this I would find out the email address of watchdog and CC a copy your email to them as well. As far as I'm concerned either Virgin re-instate you on the direct flight or they negotiate with you about flying an alternate date (with ££ compensation), indirect ( with ££ compensation) , change flights if they offer free flights at a later date or they upgrade you on different flights .

Good luck

 

[Robbie Fowler]

I agree with the 'firm but fair - pain in the bum' approach. We had a problem with our booking for this year and after a few emails of denial from Virgin, we then got a phone call basically saying they had sorted everything out - even tho up until then they would not even admit there was a mistake. All in all it was cleared up in 7 days.

Stick at it and dont give in!!!

Good luck.