Should business class be buyer beware?

[The Rok]

I wasn't sure of the correct terminology.


Here you go. Harsh as I do not like beating around the bush.



The more I read the response and the worse it looks. I did not even ask for compensation. I have also been advised to go straight to John Borghetti first and that is where I am going....

What response would of made you happy? If any?


Sent from AFF Mobile Edition

 

[JohnK]

I suggest passing a message to VA's Facebook account - the social media team is fantastic. They have helped me get in touch directly with senior management regarding poor business class service in the past.

Thanks for the suggestion but I am not ready to join Facebook. Also why is the social media great and the rest of customer service cr@p? Shouldn't there be consistency in the company?

What response would of made you happy? If any?

Acknowledgement that the product on offer is not business class and offer me 2 complimentary upgrades to real business class (from any fare class) so their product can restore my faith in their business.

That whole response is a joke. Sorry....

 

[docjames]

I'm sorry to disagree with you John, but I don't think the response was that bad. Whilst it stuck to "corporate" theme, it was at least one better than a cut and paste job (ie. written by a human, not by a cut and paste script).

One of the issues here is you complained about what happened, but didn't give them a clear understanding of what you expected in return (ie. a proposed "solution"). A statement that you would like a refund of your complimentary upgrades or similar would have helped them understand what you wanted and given them the opportunity to provide that. Instead, it reads more like feedback rather than a request for compensation.

FWIW I think unless the aircraft when you booked was a 738 and then was subbed to an E190, you are unlikely to get very far with either JB or the ombudsman. But if you have the time, it costs (almost) nothing to pursue. I think the best you'll get (eventually) might be the free upgrade returned for future use.

Keep us informed how you go.

 

[pythonisman]

Thanks for the suggestion but I am not ready to join Facebook. Also why is the social media great and the rest of customer service cr@p? Shouldn't there be consistency in the company?

Every company I've dealt with lately is the same - social media has a lot of weight because of the perceived negative impact of not demonstrating outstanding customer service (and the perceived positive impact of handling things well). VA's Twitter team is pretty useless, good to hear their Facebook guys are better.

 

[JohnK]

I'm sorry to disagree with you John, but I don't think the response was that bad. Whilst it stuck to "corporate" theme, it was at least one better than a cut and paste job (ie. written by a human, not by a cut and paste script).

You are entitled to disagree and discussion is good.

What gets me is they know that I am extremely disappointed and tell me to come back for more to make it up to me? Make up for what? They want me to pay for business class again?

And I know my complaint will probably get nowhere but I have nothing to lose and it makes me feel a lot better because right now I feel like a fool.

 

[docjames]

It's not unreasonable to "try again".

Is everything else in life perfect the first time?

I guess it's a "glass half full" vs "glass half empty" debate.

 

[lovestotravel]

Travel Advocate http://www.australianfrequentflyer....-announces-travel-advocate-service-38816.html

That is a total waste of time "The ACA does not have independent power to make decisions that affect the participating airline’s response to your complaint"

All the airline will do is respond with the same rubbish!

As for the response it's a standard response that is expected really from a large company, so not sure what was really expected

Now the issue itself could come under misleading and deceptive conduct but that's drawing a long-bow for the simple fact that Virgin Australia's Business Class | Virgin Australia pretty clearly states what the E jets include. Also the booking page doesn't list anything incorrectly either.

End of the day you should/would have known better and the best thing to do is to stick with Qantas

Worst case on Qantas you get a 734 and that chance is small

 

[fersea]

At the risk of being flamed by the OP (remember I was accused of being insulting in previous posts when I had not made one post in this thread), I make this observation.

The OP makes a lot of posts on here. He is very knowledgable about airlines and their services. He doesn't normally get things wrong. He normally knows everything about a flight before he gets on it. I would describe him as an expert. His knowledge is worth listening to.

However this time he stuffed up. He didn't read the fine print. He assumed an aircraft instead of reading the fine print. He doesn't normally do that. So when he got on the flight and it wasn't what he thought (despite the fact it was exactly what was described on the website) he has thrown the teddies out of the cot. He thought he would come on here and everyone would tell him "you poor man, you should fight virgin they have ripped you off etc."

Instead Many said "no you haven't been ripped off," some have said the E190 should not have business class but others have said they prefer it. (I admit I don't know what the aircraft looks like). He has now decided to write to Virgin, write to the ombudsman (I actually think the email he posted was the one to Virgin) etc etc.

What has really happened is his pride has been dented. For once he got something about airlines wrong. That upsets him.

Having said all that I have great admiration for the OP. anyone that can afford to fly as much as he does mainly in the premium classes but has the time to fight this as much as he has must be doing something right!!

 

[trooper]

And without appearing to "pile on" I find it... somewhat strange shall we say...that the OP shows so much attention to detail in other bookings (ensuring a QF flight was a 767..because he had researched/knew about the differing Biz products) while apparently ignoring readily available information about the Virgin product he had booked...

If one is going to research ONE flight.. why not another?

 

[lovestotravel]

http://www.australianfrequentflyer....uestions/why-fly-business-i-dont-30541-4.html

An interesting thread and as usual different opinions and tastes.

Would I pay for business class travel? Short haul business class is a waste of money and long haul business class airfares at face value are way too expensive.

Personally I prefer to travel overseas as often as possible so look for ways to maximise my trips on the cheapest (full-service) airfares available. At the moment that travel is in economy but hopefully will soon become travel in business class for not much more than economy travel.

Also reminded me that I thought you never flew business JohnK ?

 

[Ausbt]

Quite frankly I'm just staggered that someone with 18,905 posts on this website could get this so wrong. It will make me look more critically at those post-counts from now. I mean sure 99% of my posts are utter babble, but hell at least I've only made a 100 or so of 'em!

Complaining effectively is a real skill. I recently had a win and a loss. My formerly favorite hotel in Melbourne stuffed something minor up. I went for it: my strategy is generally 'kill them with kindness/segue-into-false-praise'. Failing that, beg. But I had fail on that one. Moving right along, more recently I dealt with a certain airline. I had a very surprising result. That airline is now a hero in my books - I love them so much I could almost cry!

Effective critiscism people - it works! ...50% of the time.

 

[Sprucegoose]

Ultimately we all vote with our feet despite what bleetings we offer the world

 

[eastwest101]

I am actually just curious about the timeframe from when JohnK booked the flights to when they were flown? If they were booked a long way out it is possible that the CNS-TSV leg got changed from an ATR72 to an E190 and the TSV-BNE may have changed from a B738 to an E190 due to a schedule change or aircraft requirements?

 

[tuapekastar]

http://www.australianfrequentflyer....uestions/why-fly-business-i-dont-30541-4.html



Also reminded me that I thought you never flew business JohnK ?

Neither legitimate nor fair to be dragging up 18 month old threads to try and prove a point. Are people not allowed to change their minds? Not to mention one of the flights was taking advantage of a comp upgrade from flexi.

 

[Aussie_flyer]

End of the day you should/would have known better and the best thing to do is to stick with Qantas

Worst case on Qantas you get a 734 and that chance is small

JohnK doesn't like Qantas either. The number of complaints on that company I see on here from him is huge. It seems it's a case of 'never happy'.

 

[straitman]

JohnK doesn't like Qantas either. The number of complaints on that company I see on here from him is huge. It seems it's a case of 'never happy'.

I don't agree with you on the never happy comment :!:

Whilst I don't agree with JohnK on this occasion. (He normally researches a lot better)

John does fly a lot and we hear of his bad experiences and we hear of his good experiences but we do not hear of the majority of his experiences as they fall into the 'normal' range in his opinion. That is not never happy it is normal IMHO.

 

[docjames]

+1 straitman

 

[straitman]

I am actually just curious about the timeframe from when JohnK booked the flights to when they were flown? If they were booked a long way out it is possible that the CNS-TSV leg got changed from an ATR72 to an E190 and the TSV-BNE may have changed from a B738 to an E190 due to a schedule change or aircraft requirements?

CNS-TVL could never have been an ATR if JohnK booked business class.

 

[Sprucegoose]

I think we should depersonalise the thread. The OP has articulated their position quite publicly which has created some dissension. Putting this aside ultimately it is a free market and if people don't like the product, it won't fly, literally.

 

[fersea]

http://www.australianfrequentflyer....uestions/why-fly-business-i-dont-30541-4.html



Also reminded me that I thought you never flew business JohnK ?

That was an interesting thread and yes johnK was against business class but said that if he could get it for much more than Y he would choose it.

seems he has been doing this including the free upgrade on this trip so he has well and truly learnt "the ropes" from this forum. (I think I am starting to pick them up). On this occasion he got it wrong.

**** happens. Move on.