tired planes/attention to detail

Just got to the lounge in Barbados.Checked in to be told our two seats in UC 8a/9a have broken tray tables and can't function so would we eat at the bar! Plane is on route back from St Lucia so apparently cant be fixed.Had problems on flight out with headphone socket and seat recline not working.Seems standards are slipping with no one taking care of business.I know the planes they are using are summer config but no excuse for poor mantainance

What was the response from the ground staff? Have you been offered any compensation?

Surely it can't be that difficult to fix in the time before you board

How dissapointing this must have been for you, I hope you have been sorted out with some form of decent compensation.
Unfortunately this is an ongoing problem - the outstation engineers simply do not have enough time on turnarounds to fix defects. The LGW fleet cabin is falling to bits and there simply isn't enough money/time being invested to keep it afloat.

Why should there be compensation for a minor problem that the OP was told about in advance and a perfectly acceptable alternative (eating at the bar) offered ? It to me would only be a minor irritant. I note that the OP didn't mention compensation at all

Personally I hate eating at the bar - on flights I'm very much an eating hermit and don't want people bustling around me.

I agree that sometimes there is a tendency to look for compensation as a first response - but at the same time, not everyone would see this as a minor inconvenience.

RC

[Neil]

Why should there be compensation for a minor problem that the OP was told about in advance and a perfectly acceptable alternative (eating at the bar) offered ? It to me would only be a minor irritant. I note that the OP didn't mention compensation at all

Have to disagree - the problems will affect the experience of the OP, and there should be some sort of compensation offering, probably in the form of miles or a duty free voucher. I was offered miles when my tray table wouldn't work in UC.

To the OP - yes, the LGW/MAN fleet are in need of some attention, thankfully they are due for refits starting around April next year.

Neil

[honey lamb]

I was offered miles when my tray table wouldn't work in UC.
Neil

I wasn't but then it was only for brekkie which was a bowl of fruit salad and a cup of coffee so no big deal

Why should there be compensation for a minor problem that the OP was told about in advance and a perfectly acceptable alternative (eating at the bar) offered ? It to me would only be a minor irritant. I note that the OP didn't mention compensation at all

I beg to differ too, they should be offered compensation as this really will inconvenience the pax and if eating at the bar is not what the pax wants to do then what? compensation should iron out any problems if done generously and without issue.
If you pay top dollar then expect top dollar.

cheers

alex y)

Why should there be compensation for a minor problem ........

If you pay top dollar then expect top dollar.
cheers
alex y)

I'm with Alex on this. If you book UC, you have a right to expect at the very least a working table! It's not just for meals; people put their books, laptops, drinks etc. on them all the time. Hell, I even saw a photo with a bar of Cadburys Dairy Milk on one!!!!

If I checked into a 5 star hotel and they said; "Sorry we don't have a pillow, but you can roll up a towel to put under your head for 8 hours", I'd be furious.

I accept the logisitcs are a bit different for an airline, but VS know these planes are old and require maintenance regularly, so they should have engineers and parts available where they are needed.

Can I point out that the OP did NOT mention compensation at all yet the first and third posters did. we Don't know If any was offered and if so how much but I assume it was and accepted. But we don't actually know!!!

Why is it that whenever a problem is mentioned the early response is always down the compensation route when surely it should be pressure for VS to sort things out. VS use the 'let's pay them miles' as the easy way out far too often rather than fix the problems in the first place

VS use the 'let's pay them miles' as the easy way out far too often rather than fix the problems in the first place

Well said. y)

Apalling - for a fact I would not have wanted to sit at the bar and eat especially on the LGW/MAN aircraft and would expect a fully workable suite in al respects. Compensation does nothig for me and is unnaceptable as I require what I have paid for, nothing less.
Virgin really need to grip this, a roll out of upgrading these appalling aircraft next April and finishing goodness knows when just cant be acceptable can it ? With a new exciting route this being announced, using these aircraft, the first time Virgin J class passenagers will not be impressed by this and the attitude (eat at he bar yeah WTF would be my response (well in my head anyway lol))

Since its clear that they could NOT fix the seat in BGI then it seems logical in this instance to ask if compensation has been offered and if not, then the OP should look toward the compensation route since the seat is not going to fix itself.

The OP is hardly going to stamp his feet in a tantrum until an engineer fixes his seat if vs cannot simply fix it out there.

cheers

alex y)

[Neil]

Why is it that whenever a problem is mentioned the early response is always down the compensation route when surely it should be pressure for VS to sort things out. VS use the 'let's pay them miles' as the easy way out far too often rather than fix the problems in the first place

I don't think anyone disagree's with that statement. We know VS are 'fixing' the problem by refurbing the LGW/MAN fleet, but until that happens, when something goes wrong, then one should expect some sort of compensation IMO.

Personally I think the compensation point smacks of opportunism. Surely this is a 'it was one of those things' moment. I thought it was great that the ground staff told them in advance. At the end of the day the staff were between a rock and a hard place and aimed to set customer's expectations. Had the staff treated me with indifference to the issue with no advance warning then a letter would've headed to VS but even then I wouldn't have expected compensation.

Personally I think the compensation point smacks of opportunism. Surely this is a 'it was one of those things' moment. I thought it was great that the ground staff told them in advance. At the end of the day the staff were between a rock and a hard place and aimed to set customer's expectations. Had the staff treated me with indifference to the issue with no advance warning then a letter would've headed to VS but even then I wouldn't have expected compensation.

If that is your opinion - I salute you.

if on the other hand you think to yourself "hey - I paid alot of money/miles for this experience and this product and it didn't live up to the promise - I should be compensated" then that is every bit as valid.

Many things in life can be swept aside as "one of those things" - however it is personal choice as to whether you accept lapses in service as "one of those things" - or whether you stand up for your rights to expect to get what you paid for. A working product.

I realise these kinds of situations polarise opinion a great deal, but where there is no chance that an issue with the product can be resolved without inconvenience to the paying passenger, then requesting a goodwill gesture, compensation - whatever you want to call it - is absolutely, 100% appropriate.

Personally, I would consider having to eat at the bar, rather than in the comfort of the rather expensive upper class suite I have paid for, to have a material negative impact to my enjoyment of the upper class product.

Generally I am not a fan of the compensation culture either - however I draw a significant distinction between filing an erroneous personal injury claim following a mild toe-stubbing - and a genuine lapse in the service provided to me when I have paid good money for something.

I think the key difference here is between the terms 'compensation' and 'good will gesture'.

One implies legal pursuits and all sorts of negative things. The 'good will' would probably take the form of some FC miles, a free bottle of fizz etc. In this instance the 'good will' is appropriate in my view.

With the table not working, its not just a case of not being able to eat in your seat, but what would you do if you wanted to do some work on the flight? It's not the end if the world, but it can easily disappoint people, people have made that clear above.

I won't say any more on this but I just don't get why because the service wasn't complete there's a feeling you're entitled to compensation. I could pick numerous holes in an offering out of recent trip reports - no ice cream offered, IFE was rebooted, 1 toilet out of order so I had to queue - where do you draw the line as these are all service failings too? I do agree that VS might want to affer a goodwill gesture as a table being broken is quite a tangible service failing item but to expect it when a reasonable alternative with advance notice was offered?

[Neil]

I do agree that VS might want to affer a goodwill gesture as a table being broken is quite a tangible service failing item but to expect it when a reasonable alternative with advance notice was offered?

I'm not sure a seat at the bar is a resonable alternative. The bar stools certainly as comfortable as a suite, you can't watch a film/the IFE at the bar whilst eating your meal, what if there is turbulence?

I think the tray table not working is a major inconvience, not just at meal times. As Hamster has said, what about wanting to use/watch a laptop/ipad? I would expect some sort of compensation/good will jeasture (call it what you will, all amounts to the same thing).

Maybe it wasn't an issue to the OP, maybe it didn't affect their flight, so they might not feel the need to address it with VS, when it happened to me, it certainly did affect me, so I spoke to the FSM on board and was offered miles, which I accepted as a suitable compensation.

Neil

I won't say any more on this but I just don't get why because the service wasn't complete there's a feeling you're entitled to compensation. I could pick numerous holes in an offering out of recent trip reports - no ice cream offered, IFE was rebooted, 1 toilet out of order so I had to queue - where do you draw the line as these are all service failings too? I do agree that VS might want to affer a goodwill gesture as a table being broken is quite a tangible service failing item but to expect it when a reasonable alternative with advance notice was offered?

Do you think that the above issues you've reported on a recent flight would be less likely to occur if everyone on similar flights wrote in and complained each time?

Why would VS bother to spend money fixing issues quickly or ensuring they don't happen in the first place when they seem to have a very forgiving bunch on here.

I do agree that VS might want to affer a goodwill gesture as a table being broken is quite a tangible service failing item but to expect it when a reasonable alternative with advance notice was offered?

I really would like to think that you would accept just an apology if your table was not working on your £2-£3k seat
But somehow i reckon like most people you would expect something for the inconvenience.
Upper class suite = reasonable alternative = bar stool :0

Would you honestly be happy with that and no recompense I cant see it?

cheers

alex

The OP's seat wasn't broken, the table was.

[Darren Wheeler]

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. The other options:

Sit in either PE or Economy to eat, subject to availability
Turf another passenger with a working table, out of their suite.

Given that it was only for meals, I think compensation is not due. It would be akin to wanting compensation because the toilets in Upper were out of order.