Velocity account suspended

[simmomelb]

Got another email today asking to call the velocity call center. They sent a reset password email. Set a security question and made me set a pin number. Took under 20mins and I now have access to my account. Now to use some points for a much needed Holiday to Bali.

Just arrived back in Melbourne from Bali on VA this morning, suksma! (What kind, authentic and genuine people they are).

Enjoy and glad to hear you sorted out your account

 

[RAM]

Another issue for VA is related to status, because they allow SCs to be pooled as well as points (which is something that is almost unique to VA, AFAIK).

Given that 6 members can be added to a family pool, it’s possible for someone to get to Platinum without even earning 200 SCs in their own right. If VA weren’t strict about enforcing the “same household” rule, I suspect a lot more people would be able to shortcut their way to status.

Some misundestanding about 'family pooling' mentioned above have already been dealt with.

One additional issue that has not been correctly covered is that 'multiple children' can only be in the 'family pool' until they reach the age of 18. Once all children have reached 18 you can only have one included in the pool - so you're reduced to yourself, another adult and one 'child' aged over 18.

5 return SYD to Europe flights with 3 children sure used to generate some nice status but could cause arguments on who got into the lounge once the first 'child' reached 18.

 

[simmomelb]

Once all children have reached 18 you can only have one included in the pool - so you're reduced to yourself, another adult and one 'child' aged over 18.

5 return SYD to Europe flights with 3 children sure used to generate some nice status but could cause arguments on who got into the lounge once the first 'child' reached 18.

This is incorrect.

You are not a 'child' once you reach 18, you are then considered an adult.

There is no way around this as the DOB is picked up automatically and will not allow more than 1 person 18+ to pool to the beneficiary.


From the Velocity site...

"A Family Pool can consist of up to 6 family members (including the beneficiary) that are living at the same address, including a maximum of 2 adults over the age of 18 and then up to 4 children under 18. Note that if there are already two adults in a Family Pool and a child in the Family Pool turns 18, then that member would be classed as a third adult and would then be automatically removed from the Family Pool."


The important part to take note of, is line that reads "including the beneficiary"

Meaning the beneficiary can have up to 4 children under 18 years of age and 1 adult 18+ pooling to the beneficiary, which is a total of 6 people including the beneficiary.

- Beneficiary (X 1)
- Adult 18+ pooling to the beneficiary (X 1)
- Children under 18 pooling to the beneficiary (X 4)
This comes to a total of 6, including the beneficiary.

If you have no family members under 18, it's purely the beneficiary +1 adult (18+).

 

[RAM]

This is incorrect.

You are not a 'child' once you reach 18, you are then considered an adult.

There is no way around this as the DOB is picked up automatically and will not allow more than 1 person 18+ to pool to the beneficiary.


From the Velocity site...

"A Family Pool can consist of up to 6 family members (including the beneficiary) that are living at the same address, including a maximum of 2 adults over the age of 18 and then up to 4 children under 18. Note that if there are already two adults in a Family Pool and a child in the Family Pool turns 18, then that member would be classed as a third adult and would then be automatically removed from the Family Pool."


The important part to take note of, is line that reads "including the beneficiary"

Meaning the beneficiary can have up to 4 children under 18 years of age and 1 adult 18+ pooling to the beneficiary, which is a total of 6 people including the beneficiary.

- Beneficiary (X 1)
- Adult 18+ pooling to the beneficiary (X 1)
- Children under 18 pooling to the beneficiary (X 4)
This comes to a total of 6, including the beneficiary.

If you have no family members under 18, it's purely the beneficiary +1 adult (18+).

Well that's not what the emails from VA said. With the first two children then turning 18 - they got removed from the pooling arrangement however when our third was approaching 18 we received a different email saying that he would remain in the family pooling as an adult.

Making a total of three adults - beneficiary, partner & youngest (now Adult) child.

Happily, that's the way it has been for the past 5 years is wife & I and youngest child (now 22+) are in the family pool. His account & mine auto sweep into my wife's.

 

[simmomelb]

Well that's not what the emails from VA said.

Nor the way it has been for the past 5 years is wife & I and youngest child (now 22+) are in the family pool. His account & mine auto sweep into my wife's.

Post automatically merged: Apr 30, 2023

Well that's not what the emails from VA said.

Nor the way it has been for the past 5 years is wife & I and youngest child (now 22+) are in the family pool. His account & mine auto sweep into my wife's.

Care to share the text of this email (without divulging any identity)?

It's definitely not possible, it's clearly stated on the Velocity website, as I've copy and pasted above, and there have been no changes to this.

Give the Velocity team a call if you're doubting what's written on their website.

You cannot have more than 1 X 18 + years of age pooling to the beneficiary.

It's very clear.

 

[burmans]

Care to share the text of this email (without divulging any identity)?

It's definitely not possible, it's clearly stated on the Velocity website, as I've copy and pasted above, and there have been no changes to this.

Give the Velocity team a call if you're doubting what's written on their website.

You cannot have more than 1 X 18 + years of age pooling to the beneficiary.

It's very clear.

Well to be pedantic, it definitely 'is' possible if that's what is in his family pool, wouldn't be the first time T&C's have been strangely (mis?)interpreted, and why the hell would he want to ring up if he's got a benefit he maybe shouldn't have!

 

[SydneySwan]

My experience is same as @simmomelb. Once our 2 boys turned 18 they were eventually removed from family pool. I say eventually because it took several months for the last one to be evicted.

Good luck to @RAM if he has 3 adults in his pool. My expectation would be though that if he removed his adult child from the pool he wouldn't be able to add that adult child back in without removing himself. My money is on some sort of IT glitch / undocumented feature.

 

[burmans]

Just checked, my 25 year old daughter still in my pool as well as my wife. Yeah I agree it’s a glitch but thankfully reward systems seem to be full of these, sometimes in our favour!

 

[simmomelb]

His point was that an email he received stated he could have 2 adults, 18+ pooling to the beneficiary, this is not true and has never been the case.
If people have worked around this, or the system hasn't picked up on this, it is something that needs to be looked into, which is a completely separate issue.
The terms clearly state, only 1 person 18+ can pool to the beneficiary.

His following statement, as per the terms, is incorrect...


"Some misundestanding about 'family pooling' mentioned above have already been dealt with.

One additional issue that has not been correctly covered is that 'multiple children' can only be in the 'family pool' until they reach the age of 18. Once all children have reached 18 you can only have one included in the pool - so you're reduced to yourself, another adult and one 'child' aged over 18."

 

[RAM]

My experience is same as @simmomelb. Once our 2 boys turned 18 they were eventually removed from family pool. I say eventually because it took several months for the last one to be evicted.

Good luck to @RAM if he has 3 adults in his pool. My expectation would be though that if he removed his adult child from the pool he wouldn't be able to add that adult child back in without removing himself. My money is on some sort of IT glitch / undocumented feature.

... so let sleeping dogs lie. Still making hay while the sun shines.

The extra status credits make maintaining beneficiary status so much easier.

 

[simmomelb]

... so let sleeping dogs lie. Still making hay while the sun shines.

The extra status credits make maintaining beneficiary status so much easier.

No disagreement there RAM, good luck

 

[louie-m]

I've now received a second email (the last in February when this post was started) saying my account has been updated (when it hasn't by me). I can get into my account and my points are still there but it then says the account is inactive, suspended or closed. Rang Virgin and got the same answer, word for word, as last time, about "suspicious activity". There's been no activity on the account for nearly a year - I've found it impossible to get any good deals to use the points - though I did actually search for flights last week, before booking with Rex. Have to say I am finding this irritating, not least because last time I was told someone would be in touch within 30 business days and no-one ever was and I fully expect the same to happen this time.

 

[blankman]

I noticed my account was suspended back in February.

I was never notified of this and never received a letter or email advising of this change of status.

After a very firm phone call a few days ago I finally received an update today.

The email states they advised me of the suspension in January (a lie and something Velocity admitted to me in February when they told me they have a "backlog of suspension letters to send out").

They pulled the only two velocity numbers from my family pooling and asked me to prepare a stat dec and advise them of:

The members full name and date of birth and my relationship to them. These family members have been pooling to me since 2018.

They also pulled two random points transfer transactions from last year and gave me the velocity numbers of those recipients. They wanted full name, date of birth and relationship with those members also.

The family pooling and points transfers are between legitimate family members so I had no issue doing the stat dec.

What did concern me is them asking me to send full names, velocity numbers and dates of birth of these family members via regular email. In the same email as them professing to care about my account security.. I think they should have provided a secure link or similar.

What also irked me is that this email demanded I take the stat dec to a police station for witnessing and signing (no alternative offered). I didn't think this was correct but went to the police station anyway and they refused to do it as only a JP or lawyer can do that!

I sent them the stat Dec signed just by me and gave them all the info they asked for. Reminded them of the shambolic way they have handled this and told them they can either accept what I've sent or not- I have alternative airlines to fly and won't spend another second on this bullish!t.

Gold member from the time virgin blue first introduced status and then platinum as soon as that came in. I have no issue with them auditing accounts but the method has been so unprofessional.

 

[love_the_life]

I noticed my account was suspended back in February.

I was never notified of this and never received a letter or email advising of this change of status.

After a very firm phone call a few days ago I finally received an update today.

The email states they advised me of the suspension in January (a lie and something Velocity admitted to me in February when they told me they have a "backlog of suspension letters to send out").

They pulled the only two velocity numbers from my family pooling and asked me to prepare a stat dec and advise them of:

The members full name and date of birth and my relationship to them. These family members have been pooling to me since 2018.

They also pulled two random points transfer transactions from last year and gave me the velocity numbers of those recipients. They wanted full name, date of birth and relationship with those members also.

The family pooling and points transfers are between legitimate family members so I had no issue doing the stat dec.

What did concern me is them asking me to send full names, velocity numbers and dates of birth of these family members via regular email. In the same email as them professing to care about my account security.. I think they should have provided a secure link or similar.

What also irked me is that this email demanded I take the stat dec to a police station for witnessing and signing (no alternative offered). I didn't think this was correct but went to the police station anyway and they refused to do it as only a JP or lawyer can do that!

I sent them the stat Dec signed just by me and gave them all the info they asked for. Reminded them of the shambolic way they have handled this and told them they can either accept what I've sent or not- I have alternative airlines to fly and won't spend another second on this bullish!t.

Gold member from the time virgin blue first introduced status and then platinum as soon as that came in. I have no issue with them auditing accounts but the method has been so unprofessional.

Interesting that there was no one at the police station who could sign the stat dec. Our Woden one has a JP on duty everyday from 9 - 5 from memory (or certainly during set hours).

 

[clifford]

Interesting that there was no one at the policy station who could sign the stat dec. Our Woden one has a JP on duty everyday from 9 -12 from memory (or certainly during set hours).

I think that the ACT might be a little different from most other places in Australia. BTW, there's never one in the Belconnen station when you need one.

 

[simmomelb]

You can get a statutory declaration signed by any JP, so just do that, it's perfectly fine to do that for all stat declarations from a legal perspective.
On a side note, are those legitimate family members living with you (all residing at the same address)? You may be asked to prove this also.

 

[hossein_au]

Interesting that there was no one at the police station who could sign the stat dec. Our Woden one has a JP on duty everyday from 9 - 5 from memory (or certainly during set hours).

I think the OP was under the impression (rightly or wrongly) to have the stat dec witnessed by a police officer. As these matters are typically handled by a JP, which usually are located within the police station, I am not surprised the police officer declined and refer the OP to a JP.

 

[blankman]

Just an update- received an email yesterday saying there was a "change" to my account. Logged in and it's now completely unrestricted.

Good outcome but no original notification, no progress updates and no apology to a process that lasted 6 months is just subpar.

Great airline in the air and on the ground but I think this audit process with the complexities involved is one process that either should not have been outsourced to the Philippines or the staff there should have been much better trained.

 

[louie-m]

I still can't get into my account.

 

[blankman]

I still can't get into my account.

Call them and insist they communicate with the "relevant team" while you're on the line. They'll try to palm you off and say they'll send a message- just insist on staying on the line for feedback. Three days later I had the request for the stat Dec.

Apparently there is a massive backlog and they're in no particular hurry..