VH booking goes missing - HAD REPLY NEED ADVICE

Well before I get to the nitty gritty, have just returned home from Florida and Vegas, and had an absolute amazing time. First time in UC, don't think I will ever be able to to turn any other way but left from now on.

Just need a bit of advice of where I should direct my letter - We booked our trip through Virgin Holidays.

First ten days in Florida went without a hitch Lovely villa, car etc. Then on to Vegas flights were great with Delta. Arrived at The Wynn at 4.30pm and went straight to check-in. They had no record of us, I showed them all itinerary and schedule from Virgin, they did some more checking for us but still could not find any booking, and to make matters worse they were fully booked. So there we were, myself, dear hubby, mother and two kids homeless. The Wynn managed to find us two rooms at the Bellagio (amazing Hotel), but by the time this was all sorted we actually walked in to our rooms at 10.30pm. So I not only paid for 2 rooms for 4 nights at the Wynn to Virgin Holidays, I was now also forking out for 2 rooms for 4 nights at the Bellagio (obviously not budgeted for). I then spent the next morning trying to speak to someone at Virgin, which I eventually managed to do by midday. Virgin Holidays spoke to the Bellagio and had the money refunded to my Credit Card. My question is that I only had four days in Vegas and with this mix up, lost two days in total of my holiday, which I must say was the most stressful day I have experienced in a long time. Should I push for compensation for the complete nightmare we found ourselves in obviously the fault of Virgin Holidays in the UK? Sorry for the ramble, any advice would be appreciated.






Moved to Virgin Holidays forum by mod .... Nick

[Nottingham Nick]

I would say the responsibility lies firmly at the door of Virgin Holidays, and would push them to sort it out.

Nick

[mitchja]

That's not good at all [:#]

You need to contact Virgin Holidays customer relations ASAP. I've also been stung by this with V Hols (happened me myself and a friend a few years ago in BGI, arrived at the hotel only to find V Hols hadn't booked our room, as luck would have it though, they had another room available for us)

Dont accept thier first offer of compensation, as this will just consist of a 10% discount off your next holiday.

Regards

Happened to me too in NYC a few years back, though we did get a room in the end.

It's always struck me that the system adopted seems to lead to the situation that the voucher isn't so much a proof of identity to claim a prebooked room as a request that you be given a room. Many of the bigger hotels we've stayed at in NYC, LV and the West Coast have seemed surprised to see us when we've turned up, with lots of tapping at keyboards, quizzical looks and discussions in the back office. The only exception I've seen to this has been with smaller hotels in the Carribean where check in is often limited to "Hello Mr and Mrs H and the LFO, sign here, here's your room key, bar's over there...

Even if it isn't VH's fault (they aren't the only company in the world to make mistakes) as they sold you the holiday it's their responsibility to sort it.

Paul

Is there any best address to write to?

You've got me worried now, as my last 3 nights accommodation in Orlando in November have been booked through VH.

I am also fairly sure I read on here a post from someone who also booked the hotel in question - the Doubletree - in Orlando through VH & turned up to find the hotel having no trace of a booking for them.

Is there any way you can check VH have booked the rooms in advance?

Thanks
James

You poor things, the same happened to us 3 or 4 years ago on a VH trip to Arizona & California - all was OK for the first few hotels, then we turned up at our pre-booked hotel in Sedona only for them to say they had no booking. I then spent a good hour from a payphone outside trying to sort it out with VH's Los Angeles office. In the end it was all sorted out but the experience means we now generally book direct with hotels...so much better to be able to view your actual reservation on-line!

On that occasion VH apologised saying that, for certain hotels in their brochure (this one included), they had to go through a third party agent and it was this agent who had let them down.

Not sure re the address I'm afraid but I'm sure someone here will advise

Thanks
James

Originally posted by Kraken
You've got me worried now, as my last 3 nights accommodation in Orlando in November have been booked through VH.

I am also fairly sure I read on here a post from someone who also booked the hotel in question - the Doubletree - in Orlando through VH & turned up to find the hotel having no trace of a booking for them.

Is there any way you can check VH have booked the rooms in advance?

Thanks
James

Either email or phone the hotel direct??

Any ideas on how I should word a letter regarding compensation< [?]

[mitchja]

Gill

V Hols customer relations email:

[url=mailto:[email protected]][email protected][/url]

Their Snail Mail Address is:

Customer Relations
Virgin Holidays Ltd
The Galleria
Station Road
Crawley
West Sussex
RH10 1WW

General fax number is 0870 990 4209

If you need to call, I'd call the FVC number (0844 557 3895) and ask them to put you though to customer relations (during normal office hours)

Regards

[honey lamb]

Aaargh! You've all scared me witless! I had a booking for Jury's Boston for next week made directly with the hotel. However I discovered that there was a much better deal going on the VS website with the 1 FC mile per £1. Having tried to book on line but unable to do so because I don't have a UK postcode I called and was put through to a charming man. Admittedly he was completely fazed by the fact that I didn't have a postcode of any description and by my wanting to claim miles and kept on having to put me on hold while he checked with his supervisor but eventually the booking was made. He told me that the voucher would be put in the post the following day (this was last Friday week) but it must be in the same post as the ubiquitous cheque since it hasn't arrived. To be honest I forgot about it as this has been a busy week for us with exam results, offers of college places, grant applications etc., but over the weekend I remembered and by some miracle was able to pull up the booking on the Virgin Holiday website, post code or no post code and printed it off. On this basis I cancelled my original booking. Now you tell me that there may not be a booking there at all!!!

This is my first time using VH and I'm now beginning to wish I had remained a VH virgin [:0]

[Neil]

Originally posted by honey lamb
This is my first time using VH and I'm now beginning to wish I had remained a VH virgin [:0]

Don't worry HL, I have used VH for hotel only bookings on numerous occasions, including Jury's Boston without any problem what so ever. As others have said, and as I always do, just email the hotel a few days before your trip and confirm all is ok and that any room requests have been passed on.

Neil

I've booked many hotels through VH, as recently as a couple of months ago and have only once experienced a problem. This was a couple of years ago in SFO but they did put us up and sorted it out with VH the following day.

As to ringing the hotel to check if they've got your booking, I would ring 3 days before arrival - before that they may not even have a record of the booking.

Jilly

[honey lamb]

With profuse thanks to Gill for highlighting the issue and similar thanks to all those who suggested I contact the hotel via phone or email, I did just that. The Jurys Doyle website wasn't exactly the most user-friendly but I found how I could email the Boston hotel direct and did so, hitting the "Send" button just as the theme tune of Corrie echoed from downstairs. Having watched the first of tonight's episode of the denizens of Weatherfield (sad, I know, but I did see the first episode when most of you weren't even a twinkle in your Daddy's eye) I scampered back upstairs to find an email from them confirming my reservation just coming through. Now THAT's customer service! [^]

Thanks everyone [:X]

Originally posted by mitchja
Gill

V Hols customer relations email:

[url=mailto:[email protected]][email protected][/url]

Their Snail Mail Address is:

Customer Relations
Virgin Holidays Ltd
The Galleria
Station Road
Crawley
West Sussex
RH10 1WW

General fax number is 0870 990 4209

If you need to call, I'd call the FVC number (0844 557 3895) and ask them to put you though to customer relations (during normal office hours)

Regards

So is it best to e-mail them?

[Neil]

So is it best to e-mail them?

I would write to them - I find with any Virgin company if you email them you get an annoying standard reply from somebody usually India based. If you write to customer services in the UK you usually get a more personal and appropriate response and on the last 2 occasions I have had a reply quicker writing than email.

Neil

Just wanted to update you all. Wrote to VH on 23 August, received a reply within two days stating they are looking into the matter, I have wrote again today to them enclosing a copy of previous correspondence as I have yet to have a reply [V]. I shall give it another week, if no reply what do you suggest I do? Is Richard Branson still part of VH? If so should I write to him? [:(!]

Please help.

Had reply from Virgin (see below), as you can see only offered £50 per adult (obviously they do not think that this did not impact on my 11 year old son, as we were retricted to what we could do shows etc. because there was a possibility we would have to pay the Bellagio out of our spending money if this was not sorted in resort). They have only enclosed £100 cheque even thou there was 4 adults (including my other son aged 16). I was going to write and say that I would accept that offer as a good will gesture, but want compensation for lost days in Vegas. What do you think please?


The money they refer to being credited to my credit card was because when I returned to the UK I found that the Bellagio had taken one nights reservation as a deposit, which they should not have done, so this is totally seperate to my original complaint. Sorry for the ramble.


Dear Mrs Smith

Thank you for taking the time to contact us about your recent holiday.

I am pleased that you enjoyed your stay in Florida but I am disappointed that you experienced some difficulties in Las Vegas.

I am concerned to learn of the difficulties you experienced upon check in. Having fully investigated this matter our records certainly indicate that your reservation was made in the correct and normal manner and sent through to the hotel as expected. In view of this, there was certainly nothing to suggest that you would not receive the accommodation or room type booked in accordance with the invoice and itinerary we sent through to you and we certainly did not receive any information prior to your departure to indicate otherwise. Please rest assured that this shall be addressed with the general manager in the strongest possible terms.

I understand that as the hotel was fully booked the hotel made arrangements for you to stay at the Bellagio. However, you should not have been required to pay the hotel any money as payment had be made to the Wynn, therefore a transfer of funds should have been made by the Wynn to the Bellagio.

I was going to be refunding the amount to you in the form of a cheque but I have been advised by the hotel that they have refunded your credit card. Therefore I would advise that you check your statement to confirm that the refund has been received. In addition to this, I am happy to offer £50 per adult due to being moved hotel and any convenience caused.

In summary, I am sorry that you were disappointed during your holiday with us. We are committed to providing complete holiday satisfaction and you have my assurances that your comments are important to us as these assist in monitoring and improving future experiences.

Yours sincerely
VIRGIN HOLIDAYS LIMITED

Cxxxx Fxxxx
Customer Relations Executive
Enc: £100. Cheque

[HighFlyer]

Did you have to pay for the nights at the Bellagio? I am a bit lost.

I guess the bottom line is, what do you want as fair compensation? I think they can do a lot better than £100, though it might be a long struggle on your part to get it. I would certainly push for more if you feel that part of your holiday was ruined.

I, like many others replying on here, have had bad experiences with Virgin Holidays, either trying to move me from a preallocated hotel or not booking me in for the correct number of days.

Thanks,
Sarah

Originally posted by HighFlyer
Did you have to pay for the nights at the Bellagio? I am a bit lost.

I guess the bottom line is, what do you want as fair compensation? I think they can do a lot better than £100, though it might be a long struggle on your part to get it. I would certainly push for more if you feel that part of your holiday was ruined.

I, like many others replying on here, have had bad experiences with Virgin Holidays, either trying to move me from a preallocated hotel or not booking me in for the correct number of days.

Thanks,
Sarah

Yes sorry, basically when we got to Vegas and they had no booking for us at the Wynn, the Wynn found us 2 rooms at the Bellagio. I had to give my credit card as security for the booking. It then took from midday on Monday to Midday on Wednesday to actually be informed that Virgin would settle the bellagio's bill, but up until then we were told that we may have to settle the bill ourselves and claim it back on our return to the UK. Obviously this impacted on our plans as we could not take the chance and book Grand Canyon tour and a show just in case we had to foot the bill ourselves. So effectively, we lost two days of our holiday because we were not able to do anything. Even though Virgin did settle the bill in the end, when i returned to the UK the Bellagio had taken a holding deposit from my card which equated to 1 nights reservation for the two rooms, hence this is what I have now had credited to my card. Compensation I would look for would be for two days lost holiday. Should I push for more?

Although I appreciate that when you book through VH they have a responsibility to resolve this kind of issue they are just effectively a middleman. I think it is just as likely (like VH are inferring) that it was the Wynn who lost your reservation details after VH sent these through to them.

I have stayed in hotels before where even though I booked the room directly on their own website well in advance (and prepaid) and had the confirmation email etc that they could not find the reservation on their system (this was one of the major hotel chains). They then tried to fob me off blaming me/the travel agent who booked it for not completing the booking until I showed them the confirmation email and the booking online on their website via my laptop!

If you do believe them when they say that they have investigated this fully and that they did complete their procedures correctly but the reservation was lost by the hotel then the offer by VH to pay any compensation (as a goodwill gesture) seems relatively fair to me.

Have you made any form of direct complaint to the manager at the Wynn? - If what VH are saying is correct they had given them the details and even paid for your room.

Originally posted by oxmatt
Although I appreciate that when you book through VH they have a responsibility to resolve this kind of issue they are just effectively a middleman. I think it is just as likely (like VH are inferring) that it was the Wynn who lost your reservation details after VH sent these through to them.

I have stayed in hotels before where even though I booked the room directly on their own website well in advance (and prepaid) and had the confirmation email etc that they could not find the reservation on their system (this was one of the major hotel chains). They then tried to fob me off blaming me/the travel agent who booked it for not completing the booking until I showed them the confirmation email and the booking online on their website via my laptop!

If you do believe them when they say that they have investigated this fully and that they did complete their procedures correctly but the reservation was lost by the hotel then the offer by VH to pay any compensation (as a goodwill gesture) seems relatively fair to me.

Have you made any form of direct complaint to the manager at the Wynn? - If what VH are saying is correct they had given them the details and even paid for your room.

I quite understand where you're coming from, but even though VH are middlemen, it was to them that I entrusted to make all arrangements for my holiday, and it was them that I gave large amounts of cash to. I do not think that £50 per adult (only enclosing £100 cheque - so something else they have got wrong) there were 4 Adults, and one child. How can they just offer per adult and not person, if anything my 11 year son was more upset at not being able to do the things we had promised, but VH have not even recognised him. I know people that have a flight delay and are given 50k miles, but VH actually lost me two days of my trip and I do not feel that £50 will replace that. If they are blaming the Wynn, then as my agents they should give adequate compensation and then make a claim themselves to the Wynn for reimbursement.