tired planes/attention to detail

Table was broken down-route.

The chances are that the maintenance crew at Barbados had neither the time, parts or skills required to pull the suite apart and fix it.

IMHO, the suggestion to use the bar was a perfectly acceptable alternative.

And in my opinion - it wasn't.

And when I've paid £X,000 for seat on a plane I really don't concern myself with the logistics of whether maintenance crews have time, parts and skills etc to make sure things work as they should do. In fact I pay that kind of money specifically so I DON'T have to worry about things like that. I'm sure that you're probably right. Its just not my concern.

People seem to react to this "compensation" word. Who cares what you call it - it just semantics. The fact is, if you don't recieve what you've paid for, that situation should be corrected to the satisfaction of the customer.

Its clear that a number of people here would be satisfied with an apology - and a number of people feel that more than that is appropriate. Whilst in this case I fall into the latter camp, I respect anyone who says they wouldn't care.

In my view, running out of a wine, or a menu item is fine for an apology. Not getting an UC suit that functions correctly, to the extent that I'm unable to eat or work in the comfort of my seat however, is not.

Well said Frenchy78!

My original thoughts on there were 'what' compensation was offered, rather than was it offerered at all.

In the same way VS provide compensation for broken IFE, a broken table should warrant higher levels of compensation due to the impact on the passenger!

After all, you dont book a table at a top restaurant to find yourself seated at the bar - especially at £40 a plate! You'd expect a reduced rate for a lesser experience.

If my intention had been to work during that flight on my table, would 5 hours on a bar stool qualify as UC experience worth £k's? Not in my book.

Sorry for the delay in responding but have had broadband problems on my return from Barbados.Will update you as follows,
Before we got to the plane we were offered some onboard voucher which we duly excepted.The ground staff were great and we were assured that our comments would be noted and forwarded.(I await with interest any personal follow up !).

On board, again the staff were great and very apologetic and in fact were able to get one of the tables to work so my wife and I were able to dine together in one of our seats rather than the bar.
My own view is you pay a lot of money to travel UC so you expect things to work but it just seemed that no one seems to be bothering about this config of plane now which is a pity for the people who will travel on them for the next few months.As far as compensation is concerned the voucher were a nice gesture but we all know this is a quick fix to the passenger to smooth things prior to departure,I'm not really interested in being given miles as I never seem to be able to use them on flights to go where I want to go,but thats another story !
All I want is someone at VA to realise the need for better attention to their fare paying passengers and maybe an acknowledgement of the action they are going to take

Hi teepee - thanks for the update.

If you don't mind me asking, what was the voucher for? Was it FC miles, onboard duty free or even a free flight/discount?

I agree with you - yes we all know that the LGW/MAN 747 configs are due an upgrade and yes it's planned - but it should have been planned much earlier to avoid issues/complaints.

[Darren Wheeler]

The upgrades for the LGW/MAN fleet were planned for 2+ years ago. Unfortunately for VS, the recession then hit and they were postponed as the cost was given as about £5m per aircraft (including full IFE upgrade).

Virgin, with business passenger numbers falling, were faced with the stark choice of delay or continue and risk going under.

luke 085
On board duty free.

A broken table and no option to move to another seat would be a capital M major inconvenience to me, because I tend to work for long periods on flights, and the bar is no alternative. So yes, it would be a severe detriment to the reason for booking UC, and missing an uninterrupted four or five hours of work would set me back considerable.

Would I accept an apology however, yes, probably. But I can remember last year on one of the LHR 747s sitting in 19A to find the seat constantly slipping to the lowest setting, which is no hope for work. I reported it, an engineer came on board before take off to try to fix it, but couldn't. Then one month later sitting in the same seat, you guessed it, I complained to the crew, who checked the log and hey presto no record of the problem existed. So that's VS failing and while an apology and benefit of the doubt is sometimes OK, on that occasion I fired off a very stern note.

In the same way VS provide compensation for broken IFE, a broken table should warrant higher levels of compensation due to the impact on the passenger!

After all, you dont book a table at a top restaurant to find yourself seated at the bar - especially at £40 a plate! You'd expect a reduced rate for a lesser experience.

If my intention had been to work during that flight on my table, would 5 hours on a bar stool qualify as UC experience worth £k's? Not in my book.

I agree, a non-functioning table is at least just as bad as non-functioning IFE, and compensatory miles credits for that seem quite common.

[honey lamb]

In the same way VS provide compensation for broken IFE, a broken table should warrant higher levels of compensation due to the impact on the passenger!

After all, you dont book a table at a top restaurant to find yourself seated at the bar - especially at £40 a plate! You'd expect a reduced rate for a lesser experience.

If my intention had been to work during that flight on my table, would 5 hours on a bar stool qualify as UC experience worth £k's? Not in my book.

I agree, a non-functioning table is at least just as bad as non-functioning IFE, and compensatory miles credits for that seem quite common.

Actually, a non-functioning table would to my mind be worse than a non-functioning IFE. I can find other ways to entertain myself but a table is multi-functional. I was fortunate that when my table ceased to function it was at the end of an overnight flight and at a time that I would not really be using it except for breakfast so it was no hardship for me to eat at the bar

I met a nice bloke in Vegas last week and know UCS is going to be the dogs nads again : ).
I would be dissapointed to be honest, its not an everyday thing UCS for some folk and shouldnt be looked upon as just a seat by people who are always turning left. Times are hard and if busineses want people to spend money with them on premium products they should at the VERY LEAST provide it as advertised and no excuses or half measures.

Agreed EGG.

People must keep in mind that we all have very different lives, different priorities etc. For example, not everyone routinely has the opportunity to fly in UC. Not everyone is lucky enough to be able to afford to travel in UC frequently.

I'm planning a 40th birthday trip for my other half in UC to Miami next year.

Now, I travel a fair bit with work (sadly not on virgin as much as I would like) but my partner has never travelled in anything other than Economy before and he literally could not be more excited about the experience.

For us its a hugely expensive treat to travel in UC and in order to do it we literally have to save up our money ALL YEAR (and South Beach isn't cheap either! ). But we're happy to do it because we know we are paying a premium to get the best service.

A hyporthetical scenario, I realise - however if my partner and I were to reach the big day and we were to climb on board that aircraft and turn left, only for one of us to be told our suite is broken and we wouldn't be able to eat at our seat or use a laptop etc - you can bet your life that I wouldn't accept (or expect) just a simple "were sorry". I'm not saying this would ruin our trip and I definately am not the sort of passenger that would stand in the middle of the cabin and have a hissy fit. But in my situation a basic "sorry" would not be OK, I'm afraid.

Thats not what we saved up hard for all year long. Its not the sort of thing I want or expect to happen the first time I introduce my other half to UC travel.

Seems in this case everything worked out for the OP, and he got a small gesture as a result. I also realise this started out as more of a commentary on the state of the AC rather than a debate on "compensation" - so all of this is probably kinda off topic, anyway

Must say for Virgin charge in UC its a disgrace to have poor cabins as they do on some of the older 74's. I've done many flights with them and have regretably started switching to BA Club where possible because whenever I complain I simply get offered air miles, which whilst I'm happy to take, is hardly the point, I'd rather have a decent flying experience. I genuinely feel Virgin needs to be extremely careful not to lose its special identity.

Regarding eating at the bar, OK, if needs must, BUT there you are, tucking into your slop soup or rat pate when "ding dong" seat belt light comes on..what then? half an hour later back to your fine dining which is now a gaspachio??

I can attest to service slipping, along with tired cabins. I was on Lady Luck (G-VWIN) and saw torn seats, many tray tables broken, and personally (can you believe this) had a service request and a meal not delivered. I just wasn't given breakfast. The response at Heathrow was "So sorry sir. Are you a Flying Club member?" I was offered 150 miles. (which I refused.)

see post below

[Darren Wheeler]

SADLY AS YET NO RESPONSE FROM ANYBODY AT VIRGIN ALTHOUGH I WAS ASSURED MY COMMENTS WOULD BE FORWARDED.ANOTHER PART OF THE 'ATTENTION TO DETAIL' THAT SEEMS TO BE MISSING NOWADAYS

Please edit your post from block capitals.

'Shouting' on here will not get you response any quicker.

Thank you.

Sorry Mod but getting a bit annoyed now with lack of response.

"Sadly as yet,no response from anybody at Virgin although I was assured my comments would be forwarded.another part of the 'attention to detail' that seems to be missing nowadays."

[Darren Wheeler]

Thank you, but you are aware that V-Flyer is totally independent of Virgin Atlantic Airlines and anything you post here will not be replied to by anyone form VAA?

I have to say that thei to my mind, comes under the Sale Of Goods Act in that the product was "Not fit for purpose" and some refund should be carried out due to this.

I have to say that thei to my mind, comes under the Sale Of Goods Act in that the product was "Not fit for purpose" and some refund should be carried out due to this.

And you'll make some lawyer happy if you want to pursue that!

I have to say that thei to my mind, comes under the Sale Of Goods Act in that the product was "Not fit for purpose" and some refund should be carried out due to this.

Not sure of that. They say they will get you from A to B and everything else is 'nice to have' i.e. IFE is not part of the contract, nor is getting a particular meal.

I have to say that thei to my mind, comes under the Sale Of Goods Act in that the product was "Not fit for purpose" and some refund should be carried out due to this.

Not sure of that. They say they will get you from A to B and everything else is 'nice to have' i.e. IFE is not part of the contract, nor is getting a particular meal.

hmmm not sure i concur with that. you buy a package and if part isnt delivered then .....

which leads me to when I took BA to the small claims court, quick summary, return flight from Tampa sold on basis on 777 with individual Tvs food etc all as advertised.
we got a series 1 747 (Biggles was flying) leased from some obscure airline, no Tvs less leg room,food ran out in short a nightmare.
trdading standards advised write for refund -if no joy -small claims court.
wrote -BA said yea right take us to court -i did - and the day the papers arrived they called,apologised and settled out of court

I have to say that thei to my mind, comes under the Sale Of Goods Act in that the product was "Not fit for purpose" and some refund should be carried out due to this.

Not sure of that. They say they will get you from A to B and everything else is 'nice to have' i.e. IFE is not part of the contract, nor is getting a particular meal.

hmmm not sure i concur with that. you buy a package and if part isnt delivered then .....

which leads me to when I took BA to the small claims court, quick summary, return flight from Tampa sold on basis on 777 with individual Tvs food etc all as advertised.
we got a series 1 747 (Biggles was flying) leased from some obscure airline, no Tvs less leg room,food ran out in short a nightmare.
trdading standards advised write for refund -if no joy -small claims court.
wrote -BA said yea right take us to court -i did - and the day the papers arrived they called,apologised and settled out of court

I think what you've described there falls way short of what you would expect based on BA's sales and marketing. Therefore it's unsurprising that they should have felt it right to settle (eventually!).

In the case of the broken table, personally I would expect to be compensated for it (cash unlikely but a small mileage award would be fair). I'm not sure that you would win in court over it, but I think the airline would be unlikely to contest it as the costs of defending such an action would far outstrip a fair and reasonable settlement.

I wouldnt waste your time trying to sue them over this, I personally think you have a very good point but in my opinion it would (as previous poster said) make a lawyer very happy trying to prove the point. Best way is start using BA Club where possible, sad fact is that VS seem to be slowly losing that "edge" to the extent that I think in most cases BA's offering is considerabley better now. Hopefully VS will sort themselves out soon enough. this post will probably be very unpopular on here, but its my view

sad fact is that VS seem to be slowly losing that "edge" to the extent that I think in most cases BA's offering is considerabley better now. Hopefully VS will sort themselves out soon enough. this post will probably be very unpopular on here, but its my view

And you are entitled to your view . I fly both, in the premium cabins. VS premium economy beats WT+ hands down. I much prefer VS UC to BA's Club World, although when I can MFU (upgrade) to Club on any BA WT+ fare for 25K miles its a bit of a no brainer sometimes where the fares are equal.

BA First is great, and again the ability to have a meaningful 241 redemption available swings it for me over VS UC.

Set against this customer services complaints handling is woeful. But head over to the Flyertalk BA board and you'll find similar disgruntlement - once post entitles "customer services won't respond to my emails" comes to mind, there were others about timely refunds after the snow/ash chaos, etc. The grass is not always greener.

Regards
R3dV