Why did you wake me up? - Virgin SMS at 5.30am

[moa999]

Something for the Velocity reps to look at.

On Saturday I was flying ADL-MEL-SYD and booked on a 1600 departure
(I was actually in SYD and flying into ADL on QF81 (per other large thread on this board))

At 5.31am SYD time / 5.01am ADL time
I received the following text:

From: VirginAus
Text: Check-in at https://va.aero/xx_xx_ for your flight to MEL, reservation no. xx_xx_. You can receive your boarding pass via SMS directly to your smart phone.

This is the first time I have ever received such SMS from Virgin, and did not receive one for my second leg.

However to send a text at 5.30/5.00am on a WEEKEND for a flight in more than 10 hours, is very poor.

 

[markis10]

SMS messages are not time stamped for the time they are sent, only the time they are received, depending on the network I have seen a 12 hour delay between the two!

 

[lovestotravel]

Putting the phone on silent is a pretty easy solution

 

[samh004]

Putting the phone on silent is a pretty easy solution

I do the same, however potentially missing all calls and texts just to save yourself the frustration from one isn't the best solution

 

[under the radar]

However to send a text at 5.30/5.00am on a WEEKEND for a flight in more than 10 hours, is very poor.

not everyone works 9-5 mon-fri... get a personal assistant or turn your fone off!!! :shock:

 

[opusman]

See also http://www.australianfrequentflyer....elocity/pointless-sms-alert-1-39am-48782.html

The solution is to use your phone's "Do Not Disturb" feature.

 

[lovestotravel]

I do the same, however potentially missing all calls and texts just to save yourself the frustration from one isn't the best solution

Easy enough to set message alerts on silent

If it's important I'd get a phone call and I do leave my phone on at night, but I don't allow emails/SMS to notify me until 8am just phone calls can ring and vibrate etc

 

[The Rok]

I do the same, however potentially missing all calls and texts just to save yourself the frustration from one isn't the best solution

That's why apple are great, do not disturb feature on the iPhone.

 

[docjames]

For those saying "turn your phone off", some of us are on call and required to answer 24/7.

The SMS system is fraught with issues like this. Have never seen one of these before. I think it's useful that the OP posted for VA to look at this.

Perhaps the VA rep(s) could comment what triggers an SMS dispatch / what the expected delivery is etc?

 

[lovestotravel]

For those saying "turn your phone off", some of us are on call and required to answer 24/7.

No idea about iPhones but you can easily stop SMS alerts on Android and still receive phone calls

 

[docjames]

No idea about iPhones but you can easily stop SMS alerts on Android and still receive phone calls

Can also receive text messages out of hours too.

 

[oz_mark]

For those saying "turn your phone off", some of us are on call and required to answer 24/7.

The SMS system is fraught with issues like this. Have never seen one of these before. I think it's useful that the OP posted for VA to look at this.

Perhaps the VA rep(s) could comment what triggers an SMS dispatch / what the expected delivery is etc?

They're is some definite queuing of SMS messages going on somewhere. I had a flight on VA that generated 9 SMS messages, some of which came in up to an hour after the plane had landed!

 

[Fruitcake]

SMS at 5:30am or 1:39am? Sounds perfect. Then I can call them back and deal with it at my convenience rather than having to juggle a phone call whilst on the way to work or something.

 

[Gremlin]

I even got the SMS at 5:00am to remind me that my wife and kids were due to check in for the flight. Apparently I'd booked them using my points, so I got the message.

And it was the last chance I had for a decent sleep in before I had the delightful little cherubs back jumping on my bed at 6am (or earlier) every morning.

 

[drewbles]

Can also receive text messages out of hours too.

This is why you use Do Not Disturb to filter what is and isn't allowed out of hours. I work 24x7 effectively, and only work calls/texts alert me after hours.

 

[docjames]

Frankly, i am so used to being awoken in the middle of the night that a random text is fairly irrelevant to my situation (spam / irrelevant - I go straight back to sleep!), but there is some obligation of the businesses generating them to avoid "unsociable" hours. The odd one may sneak through, but they would not want to be sending to all and sundy at 5am.

The work calls etc all come from "blocked" so i can't effectively filter as suggested (by many).

Yes, there are ways of blocking them for those who can be non-disturbed.


Having never received a text from VA such as this, i'd love to know from Va what "generates" an sms.

 

[lovestotravel]

They're is some definite queuing of SMS messages going on somewhere. I had a flight on VA that generated 9 SMS messages, some of which came in up to an hour after the plane had landed!

That could be the network (Telstra/Voda/Optus) if it was during a period where your phone was off

SMS can come though many days later if it's been queued in the system somewhere

 

[Velocity Frequent Flyer]

Something for the Velocity reps to look at.

On Saturday I was flying ADL-MEL-SYD and booked on a 1600 departure
(I was actually in SYD and flying into ADL on QF81 (per other large thread on this board))

At 5.31am SYD time / 5.01am ADL time
I received the following text:

From: VirginAus
Text: Check-in at https://va.aero/xx_xx_ for your flight to MEL, reservation no. xx_xx_. You can receive your boarding pass via SMS directly to your smart phone.

This is the first time I have ever received such SMS from Virgin, and did not receive one for my second leg.

However to send a text at 5.30/5.00am on a WEEKEND for a flight in more than 10 hours, is very poor.

Hi Moa,
Certainly not standard procedure for early morning wake up calls... off the top of my head I'd say that mobile providers obviously play a part in the process... will feed this back to the team and see if we have any more details.

 

[bcworld]

On a similar note - I'd like to know why there seems to be a lengthy delay in notifying pax of flight changes.

My flight to BNE on Saturday was cancelled. I received notification of this from Tripit 3.5 hours before Virgin let me know. There was no issue with queuing of SMS because it was the same story with email notification.

The net effect for someone relying solely on Virgin's alerts would be that the option to change to an earlier flight was not viable and only later flights were an option.

 

[Virgin Bart]

On a similar note - I'd like to know why there seems to be a lengthy delay in notifying pax of flight changes.

This also goes for long term changes. I've got a flight in May that has been changed months ago and still no official notification. I've been proactive about it though.