Velocity and The retro claim frustration~

[henleybeach]

Just writing in frustration with velocity and my latest experience with them.
About three weeks ago there was a promotion with agoda that if you book accommodation by the 18 th sept there was 50% bonus points. I had a trip to Perth so I went to the velocity website clicked on the link and booked 3 nights. About a week after my stay the points posted but only the normal amount. So I sent a email off this week to velocity for a retro claim for the 50% bonus. I got a response saying there was no such promotion and if there was can you supply evidence of it . I screen shot the T&Cs of the promotion and the hotel voucher and sent it back explaining there was a promotion and my voucher clearly stated I stayed there between 10th -13th sept. The next response was a beauty , by the same person BTW, stating that yes there was a promotion on but unfortunately you needed to book by the 18th sept and as I hadn't do that I was ineligible. So I replied saying "you have to be kidding me , the hotel voucher states I stayed there from the 10-13 sept so I must of booked before the 18th"
Another response this time from another person at velocity saying I hadn't booked via the virgin aus / agoda link therefore I wouldn't receive any points and in future when I make bookings make sure I use the link because if you book on the agoda website direct no points are awarded.
I lost it in my response , they are lying and making up excuses after excuses , I replied by saying that you treat us like idiots and your excuses are getting pathetic and its blatant lying, I pointed out that obviously I used the link because the normal points came through just not the "bonus points" so that excuse is quashed . Waiting on the next response .
I'm sick of getting treating with contempt from velocity , I had to retro claim 4 etihad flights this year and everytime they said I didn't enter my velocity number at the time of booking even tho I did and then said I must put the wrong number in 4 times ! Are they for real ? I didn't think a simple 50% bonus was so hard .

 

[stoneman]

I feel your pain, having had a similar experience - perhaps try social media for some action...

 

[pauly7]

I also feel your pain and have also battled the VA outsourced off shore customer service centre many times! My hot tip is to get on a phone M-F within Aus business hours and ring up, elevate elevate elevate until you get transferred back to AU from Asia and to an AU manager who can actually make decisions. Get their name and then deal with them directly from that point on. Has worked every single time for me . Good luck.

 

[Mattg]

I recently spent several weeks trying to get retro points/SCs posted from a couple of South African Airways flights. I was unable to add my VA number to the first sector as the check-in agent didn't know what Velocity was. For the second flight I did add my VA number but the points didn't post anyway.

After waiting 2 weeks to even be allowed to request the missing points (which in itself is somewhat ridiculous considering my VA number was never even added to one of those flights...) I put in a claim online.

Some time later nothing had happened so I called VA. They agreed it was taking a long time and asked for my ticket details. They then tried processing it while I was on the phone, but said that they were not able to and could I call back a few days later. I told them to instead call me back once it had been processed and to stop wasting my time.

If that's the process for crediting 2 flights, I'd hate to think what would happen if I flew with VA partners regularly.

 

[stoneman]

Agreed, call within brisbane business hour's... That has worked for me too.

 

[Mattg]

I also feel your pain and have also battled the VA outsourced off shore customer service centre many times! My hot tip is to get on a phone M-F within Aus business hours and ring up, elevate elevate elevate until you get transferred back to AU from Asia and to an AU manager who can actually make decisions. Get their name and then deal with them directly from that point on. Has worked every single time for me . Good luck.

This is a good tip. Though I do think it's a sad reflection on Virgin if these are the lengths one needs to go to just to get anything resolved.

I have never had any of these kind of issues dealing with Qantas' call centres in Hobart or Auckland.

 

[stoneman]

It sure is a sad reflection, considering my first 'experience' of it was well over 12 months ago..

 

[Jobeki111]

Wasn't this actually a 50% off with double velocity points promotion? I made a couple of bookings for stays later this year but didn't screenshot T&c's. If anyone has could they let me know please. I have an email offer that was double points until 31st October but i Am sure the one they were advertising on line was until 2016 :S

 

[henleybeach]

Wasn't this actually a 50% off with double velocity points promotion? I made a couple of bookings for stays later this year but didn't screenshot T&c's. If anyone has could they let me know please. I have an email offer that was double points until 31st October but i Am sure the one they were advertising on line was until 2016 :S

I'll wait and see what the next email of excuses says, then I'll ring them and hit them with all the rubbish they have telling me,
I just can't stand it how they blantly treat you like a fool, and if your going to make up stories to the customer at least double check the facts and your story!
Ill attach the screenshot of the promotion T&C s

 

[Jobeki111]

Thanks mate much appreciated but my stays are later and were booked under the T&C's below. It is no longer anywhere online that I can find. Just to rub more salt into their wounds, that Agoda offer you posted (stays until October 31) is still on the Virgin website if you also wanted to send them that link : https://www.velocityfrequentflyer.com/content/Specials/Accommodation/


If anyone has a screenshot of the one with double points until March next year as per below that would be much appreciated. Sorry to HJ the thread!
Book by Friday,18 September to save up to 50% off selected hotel stays in selected destinations across Australia, New Zealand and Asia with Agoda. Plus, earn double Velocity Points when you book a hotel stay via the link on this page or in connection with a Virgin Australia flight.
Stay period: 1 September 2015 until 25 March 2016. The discount of up to 50% may vary depending on the type of room selected and length of stay, and is only applicable where the rate is advertised. The discounts are applied to standard retail rates, are subject to availability.

 

[gruntfuttock]

So I'm not alone!

Also had to send several increasingly abrupt emails - refuse to deal with the call centre any more after a number of previous attempts. When they finally posted the points after some months there was not even the courtesy of a note to say they'd resolved it. Never expected they'd apologise for the screwup, that would be against some dumb head office policy or other.

Sadly the corporate travel policy is best-fare-of-the-day so I still end up using VA for work more often than not unless there's an appreciable difference in departure time...

VA's onboard experience is good enough (both QF & VA are more than adequate for domestic travel) but disappointingly the 'customer care' and the policies behind it are sufficient for me to spend more to fly QF whenever I have the opportunity.

 

[CJEMNMAC]

I'll wait and see what the next email of excuses says, then I'll ring them and hit them with all the rubbish they have telling me,
I just can't stand it how they blantly treat you like a fool, and if your going to make up stories to the customer at least double check the facts and your story!
Ill attach the screenshot of the promotion T&C s
View attachment 57339

I also find with some of the promos the "normal points " post quicker than the "bonus". I do note the T&C's say allow 6 - 8 weeks after check out for points to post. this could be part of the delay.

 

[Milboo]

I had an epic battle a few years ago with a retro claim with people not doing what they said they would etc. In the end I gave up dealing with them, did some googling and found the head of customer service email details at VA. Emailed them and within an hour, I had an email from someone senior who sorted the issue, credited the points and gave me an apology bonus.

 

[Ausbt]

I'm sick of getting treating with contempt from velocity , I had to retro claim 4 etihad flights this year and everytime they said I didn't enter my velocity number at the time of booking even tho I did and then said I must put the wrong number in 4 times ! Are they for real ? I didn't think a simple 50% bonus was so hard .

To deal with the increasing amount of incorrect assertions from Agoda that "it doesn't appear you booked via Virgin Australia" my tactic for a while was to screen-shot every page through the booking process and email it to [email protected] . I would state at the top of the email: "this is to go on record that this booking has been made via Virgin Australia to and ensure you credit me with appropriate points later". I actually have found Agoda to be quite good about fixing things up.

 

[AdMEL]

This does not bode well for the claim I'm about to make for three Hawaiian airlines flights! As noted, it is not possible to put Velocity number in the booking and I didn't have time/forgot about it when checking in (mostly automated check in anyway). Flights are worth 90 status credits, so keen to get them credited!

In the past, I've had the run around trying to get Europcar points credited (they've told me I wasn't the primary driver when I was and had supplied a copy of the rental agreement) and Agoda points. Given the small amounts of points usually involved (a few hundred), I don't bother chasing them anymore, as it's not worth my time and effort. Have also not had restaurant points credited - again, haven't bothered chasing given the number of points.

 

[Jobeki111]

You didn't make a hotel booking with the recent double points offer (the one with T&C's until 25 March 2016 not 31st October) and screenshot it did you ausbt (or anyone else)? All the email offers in my inbox are for stays until 31st October rather than the 25th March one :S. I agree not usually worth pursuing but this would probably be worth 7000pts for me as I have a couple of stays including a big family one

 

[Ausbt]

Jobeki it seems I was completely unaware of the double-points offer, thus didn't screen-shot it. I have, however, got a booking made (and already stayed) for that period which is yet to points-credit. So, when it does credit I will post back and let you know precisely how much I got so at least you know if I got double-points or not. I'll PM you as well.

 

[Ausbt]

Yep, double-points are posting. This from an AUD$229 one-night stay:

08 Oct 15	17 Sep 15	AGODA HOTELS VELOCITY BONUS POINTS
08 Oct 15	17 Sep 15	AGODA HOTELS VELOCITY BASE POINTS
08 Oct 15	17 Sep 15	Agoda Hotels Platinum Tier Bonus Points

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[blackcat20]

This does not bode well for the claim I'm about to make for three Hawaiian airlines flights! As noted, it is not possible to put Velocity number in the booking and I didn't have time/forgot about it when checking in (mostly automated check in anyway). Flights are worth 90 status credits, so keen to get them credited!

I recently claimed for some Air NZ flights and it was relatively painless. The claim was autorejected (non-earning class) but as I'd been upgraded I emailed with the information and eticket and had no dramas being credited with the points for the class booked.

 

[fortymilliondaggers]

Ive had the runaround several times includig for partner flights not postig points.

An ihg redemption voucher i intended to use overseas which was marketed as givong acess to ihgs international network but could only be used in aistralia.

Mostly agoda though. So i just stopped using velocity and agoda.