From:
Rob BEAUMONT
Subject:
Virgin
misinformation Costs me dear Virgin profit again
To:
"'virginLies@aol.com'"
<virginLies@aol.com>
I'll try to keep this short, as I, like most
of you could fill a small
encyclopedia with the intricacies of the event.
I had an economy ticket from London to New
York....needed to come back
early... thought it might be difficult to
change but enquired anyway.
The man at VA reservations in New York said
no, I suggested paying more...
but he still said no, so I was about to hang
up and re-arrange when he said
I could go standby ..really I said ...with
the same ticket.... YES he
replied.. and take the 10.20 flight instead
to make sure you get on. Do I
need some sort of reference.... NO he said
just turn up and go, but get
there early to make sure you get on.
So you guessed it, I turn up, the checkin staff
deny all knowledge .. It's
now too late to go back and stay in NY as
my friends have gone on holiday
and taken the key.... so staying will cost
me more than buying a new ticket
... which is what I do. £190 later I
have a ticket and lots of apologies...
I go to check in and wonder if given the circumstances
they would give me a
courtesty upgrade to placate me. "No, upgrades
are only given for commercial
reasons" ..... What better commercial decision
than placating a very irate
passenger that's just been hit for nearly
£200 as a result of Virgin staff
disinformation.
I get to London and get hit for a £30
taxi fare.... as no one can pick me
up... had I known I would be paying for the
ticket I could have booked on
the later flight and arranged a lift for free.
After complaining and acknowledging the type
of ticket but stressing why I'm
complaining the response I get tells me about
the restricted ticketing for
cheap deals... bearing no relation to the
details of my complaint. Their
telephone booking says that calls would be
recorded but not this one. So now
I'm into them not believing me and I'm having
to trace calls from the phone
I made to prove it. They always apologise
for taking a long time and say
they value your custom but it doesn't feel
like it. They don't give a damn.
I am so damn well annoyed for being treated
like this, what do we have to do
have a conference call with a lawyer every
time we book a flight to make
sure they get their facts right
Heck I even run a holiday company, we'd get
hung out to dry if we treated
people like this.
From:
Rob BEAUMONT
Subject:
Virgin
misinformation
Boy you must be busy with the amount of complaints
... amazing that one
person can respond so quickly and a large
airline takes three weeks.
So the response time, I got an automated letter
in about 2 weeks.. then
nothing for about 3 weeks. SO I phoned and
requested an email response ..and
lo and behold the next day I got one. Unfortunately
they obviously didn't
read my complaint and spouted a load of standard
stuff about ticket pricing
and flexibility
I contacted the UK side Yvonne Laing Customer
Relations Executive,
I wrote, then phoned then emailed and then
phoned again
I found the website from a friend who had
just "come across it on the web"
Top idea.... I was always biased towards Virgin
for the very reason that
Branson was made out to be a peoples man ....
but the more I find out the
more likely I will fly BA in the future..
I'm sure people have some bad
stories butI have head lots of REALLY GOOD
ones about the way they handle
their complaints....
Please don't hesitate to contact me if you
need anymore rants and raves..
I'm sure I havn't finished yet.
cheers
Rob Beaumont
Ski, Snowboard and Mountaineering Holidays
in Chamonix
www.skichamonix.com