On hold with Virgin on a Saturday evening....... wonder how long it will be..........

[Batesy]

Been on hold for 22 minutes to Virgin. Lucky I entered my Velocity number as I am gold and the prompts asked me to do so....

I just wanted to link a paid and a redeemed booking to make sure Mrs Batesy (also gold with Velocity) get our bookings linked for our trip to DPS.
Gave up and never actually spoke to anyone, got sick of the music and prompts that thank me for my patience and telling me that the next available agent will be with me soon. Little way to go Virgin Australia to catch the Red roo.

 

[LiamR]

Re: On hold with Virgin on a Saturday evening....... wonder how long it will be......

Been on hold for 22 minutes to Virgin. Lucky I entered my Velocity number as I am gold and the prompts asked me to do so....

I just wanted to link a paid and a redeemed booking to make sure Mrs Batesy (also gold with Velocity) get our bookings linked for our trip to DPS.
Gave up and never actually spoke to anyone, got sick of the music and prompts that thank me for my patience and telling me that the next available agent will be with me soon. Little way to go Virgin Australia to catch the Red roo.

Virgin Australia don't have the ability to link PNRs (Well, at least in the times I have asked to do so) the best they can do is put a note in the booking for you to be assigned a seat together.

20mins isn't good. I don't think the Gold help desk is open today, only on weekdays.

 

[markis10]

I got through in 2 mins at 2 pm, I suspect there are a lot of people ringing up re the status match etc! Give the Gold desk a ring after 7, I think they are there until 10!

 

[LiamR]

Re: On hold with Virgin on a Saturday evening....... wonder how long it will be......

I got through in 2 mins at 2 pm, I suspect there are a lot of people ringing up re the status match etc! Give the Gold desk a ring after 7, I think they are there until 10!

Are they open on Weekends markis10? I didn't know that.

Next week, if one of the Virgin reps could post the official opening hours of the Gold Help desk (Is there a Platinum help desk?) that'd be great.

 

[Homer]

Re: On hold with Virgin on a Saturday evening....... wonder how long it will be......

It's because no flights are landing at OOL and, I am told, BNE and more than 1,000 DJ pax had to find other flights from early today. Sadly I might be one of them. I'm currently waiting on DJ 539 to depart SYD as that's the aircraft operating our (new) 8pm departure...

 

[markis10]

Are they open on Weekends markis10? I didn't know that.

Next week, if one of the Virgin reps could post the official opening hours of the Gold Help desk (Is there a Platinum help desk?) that'd be great.

According to the rep I spoke to last night yes, and the lady at 2PM said "welcome to Velocity Premium", maybe they are trying to show up QF shock horror, I hope so!

 

[indigo1]

Re: On hold with Virgin on a Saturday evening....... wonder how long it will be......

Oh no! It must be all the new comped customers clogging up the lines

 

[Mal]

Re: On hold with Virgin on a Saturday evening....... wonder how long it will be......

It's because no flights are landing at OOL and, I am told, BNE and more than 1,000 DJ pax had to find other flights from early today.

Yeah South-East Queensland (Gold Coast, Brisbane and Sunshine Coast) have been a mess flight wise today. Still not entirely sure why - there has been heavy rain over the region, but nothing I'd consider exceptional.

So that is part of the issue.

 

[LiamR]

Re: On hold with Virgin on a Saturday evening....... wonder how long it will be......

Yeah South-East Queensland (Gold Coast, Brisbane and Sunshine Coast) have been a mess flight wise today. Still not entirely sure why - there has been heavy rain over the region, but nothing I'd consider exceptional.

So that is part of the issue.

Yeah, I heard about an hour ago that OOL has been shut all day. It's been raining, but nothing that bad. Apparently it's really poor visibility out there.

 

[Mal]

Re: On hold with Virgin on a Saturday evening....... wonder how long it will be......

Apparently it's really poor visibility out there.

That makes sense. I haven't bothered checking the NOTAMs or similar airport information, but suspect that is probably the case. The rain has been heavy at times in BNE, and there is mist/fog around at times.

 

[Batesy]

Re: On hold with Virgin on a Saturday evening....... wonder how long it will be......

Thanks for the replies. If there is a major disruption VA should update The hold message to indicate that.
Even the IT boffins at my work do that when there are major issues so you can determine whether to stay on hold and try to talk to someone.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Re: On hold with Virgin on a Saturday evening....... wonder how long it will be......

If there is a major disruption VA should update The hold message to indicate that.

This has been a point of criticism previously. Perhaps the DJ reps may wish to take note. Surely it can't be that hard to implement.

 

[markis10]

Did another call ten minutes ago, through in a minute, no issues!

 

[kamchatsky]

Re: On hold with Virgin on a Saturday evening....... wonder how long it will be......

On Thursday night about 10pm I called up normal line (not Gold) to book my DJ ticket, I was on hold for about 2 minutes before getting a very courteous CSR!

 

[markis10]

Re: On hold with Virgin on a Saturday evening....... wonder how long it will be......

In all fairness the weather in SE QLD is causing issues today, that sort of event is hard to predict, so making sure you have the resources to deal with it is hard, anyone who has worked in emergency management would understand where I am coming from, sometimes you cannot get enough help!

 

[ash.1111]

Re: On hold with Virgin on a Saturday evening....... wonder how long it will be......

OOL and MCY airports closed due to weather. Major disruptions, unfortunately these things happen from time to time.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Re: On hold with Virgin on a Saturday evening....... wonder how long it will be......

In all fairness the weather in SE QLD is causing issues today, that sort of event is hard to predict, so making sure you have the resources to deal with it is hard, anyone who has worked in emergency management would understand where I am coming from, sometimes you cannot get enough help!

I agree totally and the higher than normal phone traffic regarding the status match would just compound the issues. I do think though, that any airline should have pre-recorded computer generated telephone messages just waiting for the moment......inclement weather would be one of the easy ones to implement quickly. Our local electricity authority has something like this "if you are calling for a supply outage in the Southport, Surfers Paradise and Benowa areas, we are aware of the situation and crews are attending".

If they can do that, surely an airline can generate a phone message like... "we are currently experiencing high call demands due inclement weather closing OOL and MCK airports. If your call is of an urgent nature please hold for assistance, but if you can delay your call, we'd appreciate it. If you would like us to return your call after this event, please press star now. Thank you for your understanding."