V-Flyer

I am not a happy bunny.

I flew to HKG two weeks ago, on an S fare upgraded to G with miles both ways. y)

On my return I called FC, as usual, to get the miles and TPs credited, and after the customary 11-minute hold the guy said it was all done. It is irritating enough that one has to do this. So I ring off, check my account, and sure enough he's credited the flight as an upgraded economy flight, not an upgraded premium economy flight. So I am short of 2TPs and a lot of miles (including the spring bonus). v(

I ring FC again, speak to a friendly girl who says she understands the error, says she cannot rectify it, but says her supervisor will do so and it will show in 24 hours. She miscalculates the number of miles I am owed, but I am too irritated by now to make a fuss. This involves another long hold on the phone.

Guess what? The mistake hasn't been rectified, and I've waited a few extra days but nothing. I try ringing the UC line but always seem to be put through to Swansea.

The punchline? I need those extra 2 TPs to hit the AU qualification. So this is really annoying me. n(

How can I speak to someone who can rectify this? I am sorry to be blunt, but frankly I am fed up of the amateurish phone agents I speak to who put me on hold for ages, costing me money.

And before someone says it -- I am not on facebook, and don't believe I can post there. I also am not tempted to email flying club, given that they say at the outset that it will take up to 28 days to respond! Seriously?

While I understand your frustration, surely you know the only answer is to call up again and speak to a supervisor. You need to get their name and confirm exactly when it will be done and agree on the correct number of miles/TP's that need to be credited.

You can't/don't want to go down the FB route which is probably the only other real alternative for a quick answer.

As for it costing you, look on saynoto0870 and get a geographical number, this should mean you are only charged at normal rates.

Neil

Actually that hadn't occurred to me -- thank you.

I am sorry for the rather heated post earlier but I do find it very irritating that people who answer a FC phone number seem not to understand a fairly basic procedure. Also, I have posted before about the long hold times when you call VS and I remain unimpressed by the overall level of service. (The UC line team are excluded from this criticism -- they have been excellent in my experience.) I bet that when I call back I will have to hold for 8 minutes before getting through, and then another 8 whilst the person thinks about what I've told them.

If the answer to this is 'you'd get a quicker reply on facebook', then I am flabbergasted -- why should I have to become a user of an entirely different company's product just to get someone from VS to rectify their own errors promptly? Seriously -- it isn't good enough.

And all of this because the blooming IT systems can't post the correct miles/TPs to start with...

at240 wrote:If the answer to this is 'you'd get a quicker reply on facebook', then I am flabbergasted -- why should I have to become a user of an entirely different company's product just to get someone from VS to rectify their own errors promptly? Seriously -- it isn't good enough.

Well... in principle that's not any different from having to use the services of BT or whoever your provider is in order to contact them by phone... but as someone that's not really a big facebook user myself, I understand the sentiment that it's not as embedded in our communication culture as a telephone... not quite yet anyway...

Doesn't get away from the fact that you appear to be suffering a high level of service incompetence though. I'd be annoyed myself. I thought the FC AU line was freephone anyway though? Or are you on the brink of qualifying for the 1st time rather than renewing with these extra TPs?

ratechaser wrote:I thought the FC AU line was freephone anyway though? Or are you on the brink of qualifying for the 1st time rather than renewing with these extra TPs?

The latter. ii)

at240 wrote:

ratechaser wrote:I thought the FC AU line was freephone anyway though? Or are you on the brink of qualifying for the 1st time rather than renewing with these extra TPs?

The latter. ii)

In theory you're AU now. Assuming you haven't already done so, I'd ring the freephone FC AU line.

Isn't it ironic that you rich people that can afford to fly so often that you have gold membership are the ones that VS give access to freephone? Hmm?

Tinuks wrote:Isn't it ironic that you rich people that can afford to fly so often that you have gold membership are the ones that VS give access to freephone? Hmm?

Or given a free number because they fly so much.

Tinuks wrote:Isn't it ironic that you rich people that can afford to fly so often that you have gold membership are the ones that VS give access to freephone? Hmm?

Which doesn't apply outside the UK (unless the US has its own freephone number)

Tinuks wrote:Isn't it ironic that you rich people that can afford to fly so often that you have gold membership are the ones that VS give access to freephone? Hmm?

Well if you take that approach, you could say that it is ironic that people who can afford to fly so often are provided with free food and drink in the lounge, when they could so clearly afford to buy it for themselves elsewhere!

I'll admit it is petty of me to complain about the cost of the calls, but it is not the money that irks me, it is the principle that one has to pay to wait whilst someone messes something up, and then pay to wait whilst someone else fails to rectify it.

at240 wrote:

Tinuks wrote:Isn't it ironic that you rich people that can afford to fly so often that you have gold membership are the ones that VS give access to freephone? Hmm?

Well if you take that approach, you could say that it is ironic that people who can afford to fly so often are provided with free food and drink in the lounge, when they could so clearly afford to buy it for themselves elsewhere!

I'll admit it is petty of me to complain about the cost of the calls, but it is not the money that irks me, it is the principle that one has to pay to wait whilst someone messes something up, and then pay to wait whilst someone else fails to rectify it.

I agree with you totally. It's awful for any company to make their customers call at premium rates and then keep them on hold for ages, and of course doubly annoying when the call doesn't yield the desired result at the end of the day

Tinuks wrote:
I agree with you totally. It's awful for any company to make their customers call at premium rates and then keep them on hold for ages, and of course doubly annoying when the call doesn't yield the desired result at the end of the day

0844/45 numbers are NOT premium rate call rates in the UK, they are national rate.

However the problem is that only applies to BT landlines and not mobile phones which are more expensive.

The issue is that many people have home and mobile phone plans that include 'free' calls to geographic number (e.g. 020, 01642and even the 'extra' London 020 3XXX XXXX range) so they have to pay exrra.

If the Principality Building Society can have an 0844/45 AND a geographic number for people with mobiles then Virgin can jolly well have one too.

honey lamb wrote:

Tinuks wrote:Isn't it ironic that you rich people that can afford to fly so often that you have gold membership are the ones that VS give access to freephone? Hmm?

Which doesn't apply outside the UK (unless the US has its own freephone number)

I think there is a toll free US number. I remember having called a 1-800 number

There is at least 1 UK mobile network (the one I'm with as I only found this out the other week having been with them for 5 months now!!) that does include all 08 numbers (including freephone numbers) as part of your standard monthly allowance on many of their tariffs.

Tinuks wrote:Isn't it ironic that you rich people that can afford to fly so often that you have gold membership are the ones that VS give access to freephone? Hmm?

Matthew 13:12 (in some translations and interpretations)

Tinuks wrote:
I think there is a toll free US number. I remember having called a 1-800 number

yes the US number is toll free but I think only when dialed in the USA

tontybear wrote:

Tinuks wrote:
I think there is a toll free US number. I remember having called a 1-800 number

yes the US number is toll free but I think only when dialed in the USA

...or on Skype, if I'm not mistaken.

pjh wrote:

Tinuks wrote:Isn't it ironic that you rich people that can afford to fly so often that you have gold membership are the ones that VS give access to freephone? Hmm?

Matthew 13:12 (in some translations and interpretations)

LOL

tontybear wrote:0844/45 numbers are NOT premium rate call rates in the UK, they are national rate.

However the problem is that only applies to BT landlines and not mobile phones which are more expensive.

The issue is that many people have home and mobile phone plans that include 'free' calls to geographic number (e.g. 020, 01642and even the 'extra' London 020 3XXX XXXX range) so they have to pay exrra.

If the Principality Building Society can have an 0844/45 AND a geographic number for people with mobiles then Virgin can jolly well have one too.

This is one of my pet hates, too. And another is people - by which I mean operators in call centres, customer service managers, etc. - that try to convince me that nowadays these so-called "national rate" numbers are not premium rates.

It's almost impossible to get a land line tariff nowadays - even from BT - that doesn't include "free" calls to true geographic numbers (01...02...) plus the non-geographic standard rate number series (03...) at some part of the day at least. And some also include 0845 and 0870 as well. As for mobiles - pretty much every plan that includes "free" minutes will include 01 02 and 03 but will exclude all others.

So it's simple. 0844's, 0871's, plus various others (and on mobiles most typically, 0845 and 0870) cost more than 01, 02, 03 to call. I defy anyone to show me a mainstream phone tariff, landline or mobile, where this isn't true as a minimum at off-peak times (evenings and/or weekends).

So, calling these numbers amounts to a cost premium. And it's wholly without justification. The 03... scheme was set up to offer non-geographic numbers at normal (and hence includes all "free" call packages) rates. So it can't be justified by the wish to hide a location.

Which leaves only one remaining reason: revenue sharing - meaning that the company gets paid when you call them. It is THAT which irks.

at240 wrote:On my return I called FC, as usual, to get the miles and TPs credited, and after the customary 11-minute hold the guy said it was all done. It is irritating enough that one has to do this. So I ring off, check my account, and sure enough he's credited the flight as an upgraded economy flight, not an upgraded premium economy flight. So I am short of 2TPs and a lot of miles (including the spring bonus). v(

Back to the OP, I just noticed this morning that my recent return from SFO was short of miles posted. I too had a W upgraded to a G with miles, the return miles was down from 8,037 to 6,698 and the bonus miles from 5,385 to 4,488.

Will see what response I get, but it may be worth checking your statement if you're in a similar position recently.

An update!

It took me several days to summon the energy to try again, but I rang back earlier today and got through to the premier team. After an 8-minute hold (prediction correct to the minute!) all is rectified.

I am a much happier bunny now.

P.S. the agent thought an S fare earned 3 TPs -- v(