Poor VA service - warning, contains rant!

[jmphoto]

I have been fairly loyal to VA since I moved back to Aus from the UK, but a recent episode detailed below has made me question loyalty. Bear in mind, I don't mind that the flight got cancelled; it happens. The staff were terrific, and seemed to do all they could.

The customer service as a follow-up is what has let them down. I emailed on August 23 the below email, and received a Dear John response, with a request for receipts. I replied that it was disappointing that their response doesn't detail any of my concerns. Still no update a month later.

My flying has decreased significantly as I'm now 400km from an airport serviced by VA, and just yesterday I see I've dropped to PS. The same week that this cancellation happened I had just flown ADL-MEL-HBA-MEL-SYD-BNE-MEL-ADL, so not completely without airtime!

--

Virgin cancelled VA719 on August 20.

I had upgraded the flight to J class via Upgrade $, and when the flight was cancelled I was told by lounge staff that I would be put on QF585 in J, and they would let me know when QF were ready. After a short wait I was asked to retrieve my bags and check in at QF. Upon arrival I was told that my name wasn't in the system. Multiple back and forth walks between VA and QF and both airlines insisted that my name was on the FIM and it would come through eventually.

With about 20 minutes before QF585 was due to depart I was told it was too late, and instead was given BPs for ADL-SYD-PER, on VA427/VA571. My 4pm arrival had quickly turned into a 1.45am arrival, and was told that there were no shorter connections available.

• QF585 left with a spare J seat, and presumably plenty of spare Y seats.
• VA put 5 other J guests on the QF flight – but I missed out.
• I wasn't offered the option to fly to PER via MEL on VA228/VA693, which would have resulted in an 8.30pm arrival.
• I wasn't offered the option to fly on JQ974
• I wasn't offered the option to fly on VA713 the following day.

The crux of the matter at hand is that I paid to upgrade my flight to J, which ultimately disadvantaged me by sending me to Sydney and making me arrive 6 hours later than if I had no status, flown economy and been routed via Melbourne.

I received $250 travel bank credit, but given I spent nearly that much upgrading it is hardly compensation. And to kick a guy whilst he's down - VA571 was a 737! The ground crew and cabin supervisors on both flights encouraged me to complain, because plenty of travellers are unreasonable, and lose their mind when this happens, and they're at the coalface and cop it.

Rant over.

 

[BAM1748]

Not good and while things go wrong it's all about the recovery. I think I'd prefer to go the next day and have a quiet night at a hotel and 2am at an airport.

Matt

 

[jmphoto]

Not good and while things go wrong it's all about the recovery. I think I'd prefer to go the next day and have a quiet night at a hotel and 2am at an airport.

Matt

I agree. I think there were great options, good options, and poor options. VA chose to go with the poor option in this case. FWIW still haven't had a reply from them.

 

[jmphoto]

Well not sure if I'm getting old and bothered, but the update from VA seems pretty poor to me, but would love opinions:

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The Flight Interruption Manifest (FIM) for QF585 ADLPER 20Aug16 included 5 seats only. This was the maximum quota offered to us by Qantas. [/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]To address your subsequent finding that at least one seat remained available; the number of seats offered by an airline for FIM recovery and the actual availability will always differ. Virgin Australia and Qantas both have policies to avoid blocking up to the last available seat for FIM use in order to maintain some availability for their own use, with last minute changes for example. It appears that you were misinformed regarding your recovery on QF585.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]
Your recovery was always intended as ADL-SYD-PER on VA427/VA571 – which was the next available J class itinerary. [/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]
[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The earlier option of ADL-MEL-PER on VA228/VA693 was part of the recovery plan, with economy class passengers rerouted on this itinerary. The reason this was not offered on this reservation was most likely due to insufficient J class availability.

We regret the lengthy extent of your recovery, which exceeded our preferred standards for high value business class guests. Due to limited J Class availability across options with all carriers on this occasion, this itinerary remained the earliest possible alternative to maintain the class of service.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]
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[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]In light of the circumstances, I have updated your Velocity account with 15,000 points as a gesture of goodwill and apology for the inconvenience caused to you. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]
[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]I have forwarded your feedback to our Network Operations and Ground Operations management teams for their internal review of their disruption management processes and procedures.
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[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]We appreciate your continued support of Virgin Australia and look forward to welcoming you on board in the near future.
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[RooFlyer]

I agree with all of your sentiments and don't like that they credited your account with the points without offering them to you and giving you the opportunity to accept, or not.

I would:

* Reply to their e-mail saying you are still dissatisfied and their depositing 15K points into your account does not mean you accept their explanation or conclusion;

* But otherwise put it behind you. UNLESS others can point to much greater compo points being offered in similar circumstances, then go back to them for same.