I lost my VIRGINity today.

So, having flown Virgin more times than I care to remember - DS is 13 and has never been on a BA flight - it is over for us. No more red.

In January (hot off the plane from Grenada) we booked UC from LGW to BGI 2 July (my birthday) for a two week break.

ONCI opens as we try for SEQ1 et all and the red text "theres a problem with your booking".

Travelling up from deepest Cornwall gives us so much time to worry, wonder and speculate.....are the passports in order, is there a problem.....? Quick call, two actually to UC helpline, who tell us it is our computer. No problems and enjoy UC.

Arrive at LGW and check into Hilton. 5pm sharp and trundle cases across to checkin.

Huge queue, 3 desks and no UC facility. So patiently we wait.

Eventually seen by the male clerk who is fresh out of the Easy Jet charm school.....at the start of his shift, i am glad we are early ;-/

"sorry madam there is no UC, we have seats for you in economy"

......PARDON?

"yes, sorry.". You board at.....".

HANG ON YOUNG MAN......

A short 45 minute conversation of sorts ensues where CI clerk has no idea what to do. Come back tomorrow he says cheerfully, waving me out of the way......feet firmly planted, I am not being fobbed off.

Now the three checkin staff are all half dealing with our flight query, is it cancelled, is there any UC, what do we do with them?.......queue lengthens and tutting, coughing and mumbles from the economy crowd get louder......who can blame them.... We are hogging the whole desk. Surely one CI clerk has a brain or some CS skills, or some authority?

90 minutes later, having been "sidelined" whilst others checkin, we are told we can have a partial refund and fly economy, a smaller refund and possibly fry PE.....".

OH is already n the phone to UC helpline who tell us everthing is fine..... ?|

I give up in despair and sit on my samsonite wondering what we should do.....

"lady, lady"......a loud shrill......it is me they want.

"We can send you BA. Or via Antigua with us but you arrive at 7.30."

Is that 7.30 in the evening I ask.....i dont think so the reply..... :0

So declining the two stage via Antigua and loose timings flight. We opt for BA.

Trundle back to the Hilton, off to North Terminal 'sans luggage' as VA say no twilight with BA.

We find the lovely ***** **** at BA checkin.....nothing is too much trouble. Checked in, told to trundle cases back, given a brief of BA services, lounge etc.....he was more professional in 5 minutes than 3 VA staff in 90!

So my birthday breakfast in LGW clubhouse, champagne flight in UC and early arrival in BGI are wiped out and trodden on.

Things happen, I get that. But VA, your UC aftercare was ZILCH.

Our 15 years of flying, collecting miles and recommedning, wiped out, GONE.

I hope the flight back is full and we are bumped to BA.

#easyjetservice.


Sorry it was so long, but we're just settled here at LGW......not our original plan.

:0 :0 Oh dear! Sorry to hear this -- sounds like a total mess. This is the kind of thing I have nightmares about!

It also sounds like you need a drink, and a holiday! I hope you get both.

Have a good trip.

That is absolutely shocking treatment!

'Partial Refund'? NO ! It is 75% for being bumped down under the EU 261/2004 regulations. No ifs or buts. No lower amount because its to PE rather than Y. It is 75% of the ticket price.

Of course now you've been moved to BA (assuming Club) then that doesn't apply but it is very worrying that the staff do not know the law.

But VS should be offering you extra on top because of their serious lack of service.

You really must follow this up with VS when you get back from your holiday.

Sounds like a shocker.

That said, the EU legal terms of downgrade compensation is a 75% refund of the ticket price. Just for future reference,

Marshyy11. That sounds awful. I'm on the return section.
Awaiting the VS call..........
Enjoy BA CW, its pretty good right now.

Thanks all. When I posted last night i was not sure really how I felt but jlucioli sums it up perfectly. We spent a long time looking forward to this, my birthday, our sons first UC trip and we had the finest details etched in our heads. And crash, bang, wallop they don't know what to do but try and get us to go away.

I think I am most annoyed at how badly we were treated at CI last night. 90 minutes of being shoved to the side of the desk whilst other pax checked in merrily. What makes it slightly worse is that hubby was on the phone to UC helpline who were still telling us there was no issue. Left hand - right hand.

FWIW I tweeted VA last night as I stood at checkin as we just couldn't find anyone who could help or gives us a definitive answer. Why is there no one left 'in control' at 5pm? Honestly BA could not have been more professional.

Why weren't we phoned at home yesterday and advised?

Checkin told us they were the only 3 staff with no supervisor/managers. It was like dealing with a part time Saturday girl who sweeps the floor in a hair salon (no offence to those girls - but that was the hierarchy level we were at)!

Upper Class service it was not.

So here I am in a warm Hilton bed, wondering what my birthday will pan out like....could be worse I know, but VIRGIN you could have made it so much better.

Poor you, VS have to seriously improve the way they cope with these problems. It is beyond me that in situations like this they can't ensure that tyne information is communicated to all the departments involved and staff put in place to professionally manage the disappointment caused to the passenger. Enjoy your BA flight, birthday and holiday and let us know the response from VS when you complain on our return.

I am so sorry to hear about your experience yesterday. I cannot imagine how devastated I would have felt. Part of my holiday is the thrill of anticipation and to have it all taken away like that ..... I so hope that today brings you a super trip in CW followed by a wonderful holiday.
Happy Birthday !
Best wishes hiljil

This applies to both posters - I would go back to the check in area and ask for a supervisor, then calmly kick up a stink.

Explain your legal right to 75% refund due to downgrading and go from there.

Also, how much later does the BA flight arrive? If its more than 4 hours you may be looking at €600 compensation under eu261/2004. Not totally certain but worth a try.

BA flight gets in about 90 mins later so not too much disruption, apart from finding our own way to the hotel.

In BA Terraces now, which is ok. Not as blingy as Clubhouse and just feels a little flat....no eggs benedict or massage!

Still find it so shocking to have no contact from Virgin.

Still, forecast today is wet in the Westcountry .......

Have a good flight marshy11. Don't let the start ruin the rest of the trip.
Good luck.
hiljil

absolutely amazed by the lack of service in this instance.
if the aircraft type had been changed then VS should atleast have contacted you to let you know and offer the 75% refund to downgrade you to PE or given the option to opt for BA CW.
I would have been pretty furious indeed.
Reckon you should concentrate on enjoying your holiday now, CW cant be too bad after all. Would definitely take this up with VS upon your return though.
Hope you have a great flight and a fantastic well deserved holiday.

'Partial Refund'? NO ! It is 75% for being bumped down under the EU 261/2004 regulations.

75% is a partial refund, is it not?

so if you are booked to go to BGI today in UC you won't be !!! what joy

Oh poor you! Like you say, the fact of being downgraded is bad enough, but can at least sometimes be excused in exceptional circumstances (and I'm not necessarily saying that this was the case here either...). But the service level you received was totally unacceptable and VS have to sort it out - it's not as if this was a situation where they didn't have enough notice to draft in a senior manager or two to handle the fallout.

The cynic in me also says that there is a 'deliberate ignorance' of the compo rules here by staff in order to minimise payouts where a passenger does not know their rights (although I believe there is a grey area around whether the 75% rule applies to the round trip cost or a proportionate percentage to cover the leg of the trip affected...).

For example, when VS tried to bump me from PE to Y on a recent heavily oversold flight back from Antigua, they quickly backed down and found me some seats when I kicked up a fuss. And while I would like to think it was because they realised the error of their ways in what they were doing to an AU customer, I rather suspect it was because I was quoting EU261 at them, and they realised that they should pick on someone else that might be prepared to accept the Select vouchers that they were trying to hand out!

Anyway, BA in CW isn't too bad an alternative... plus always the remote chance of an op up! If I were BA and there were space in F, I'd probably do it to secure your future business - definite marketing opportunity there!

The cynic in me also says that there is a 'deliberate ignorance' of the compo rules here by staff in order to minimise payouts where a passenger does not know their rights

Completely agree with this.

Thanks all for the comments.

Am so going to enjoy BA, the service so far has really been incredibly professional.

I'm just sad that our 'love affair' with VS has been shattered. When you look forward to something for some time, when you smile in your sleep at the very thought if it, it breaks your heart when it's taken away.

To turn up at the airport and be treated as unwanteds was so upsetting. Things do go wrong we get that, but in my mind that is usually when you see you made the right company choice, in the way they handle it.

I'm sorry for anyone else who is bumped, but I do hope VS make it as seamless as they should.

Needless to say my first TR will be the return leg.....here's hoping.

The cynic in me also says that there is a 'deliberate ignorance' of the compo rules here by staff in order to minimise payouts where a passenger does not know their rights

Completely agree with this.

Me three. I think that these EU laws need to be sharpened up, so there is a very severe penalty on the airline if they don't offer what they are legally obligated to.

This all to do with having limited resources. Only one A330 aircraft that is flying the BGI route with UC seats, the same thing happened to my wife and me on our 30th wedding anniversary, I only hope in don't happen again when we fly to BGI in September v(

First post (and very possibly last flight with VS.) Was massive Virgin fan. Had intended to post trip report of our UC flight LGW-BGI on 3/7/2013, however we have been caught up in the same problem that you have marshy11. Called today by Trailfinders (booked as they can do through routes from IE) to say that there is no UC on our flight after waiting 9 months for trip 4 of us (two adults + two young ones.) Offered PE with Y trips as compensation or miles. We don't travel often, but when we do we decided a few years ago to do it nicely, saving up and really looking forward to it (as said before 9 months in this case.) PE is not an option. Clearly the knock on effect of two days BGI trips with no UC have had their impact - no BA/VS flights until Friday. We have chosen VS at extra cost and massive inconvenience - changing hotels etc. Like marshy11 we had already started our travels and are now in Cork for three days instead of one. What I suspect has happened is that one of the Manchester two class A330s have replaced the normal LGW BGI three class ones for whatever reason (tech problem??). It's difficult to describe the feeling when you have saved/worked hard for ages for something that you have been promised and paid for, for it to be taken away at the last minute. This applies to all airlines, but VS in this case you have done it to us where other airlines haven't. As far as I am aware, BA don't have two class planes...

Julian

I am so sorry to hear this. :0 n( v(

VS need to start thinking hard about this. We all know that planes can have technical problems, but if you vaporise a premium cabin on a prime leisure route at the start of the summer holidays, you are really going upset people. Is there no way they could move a LHR A333 across from LHR on a route where there is lots of alternative J capacity?

Am so shocked and saddened by all of these stories. You have every right to feel upset/let down/angry.

Never nice to hear that the "dream" flight you were waiting for months for has just been taken away from you. It does leave a bitter taste in your mouth.

As others have said, things like this do happen and we, as flyers, have to accept that. What we don't have to accept is shoddy/shocking/rude service. I just feel so sorry for you that this has happened to you. If you were at home, you would have at least had the comfort of your own homes to sort out these problems, it's so hard trying to deal with all of this in a strange environment with everyone gawking at you.

Have you spoken to the UC helpline and asked them if they are still claiming that everything is OK!?

Needless to say my first TR will be the return leg.....here's hoping.

I would do a BA trip report too for comparison.

And you never know, VS might work some magic and win you back.

And you never know, VS might work some magic and win you back.

ever the optimist sealink. I like it. Lets hope VS think about the consequences of moving their premium passengers to a major rival. If as someone said above, BA seize the opportunity and give an OP UP they may potentially win a VS passenger over.

[Neil]

While I fully agree that this is not a good situation, it is unfortunately a downside to VS having only a small fleet. If an a/c has gone tech and they don't have any replacement with this config, then there really is little VS can do apart from downgrade (of which they have to pay the correct level of compensation as per the EU regs) or move pax to an alternative flight.

The harsh reality is planes do get switched, sometimes at short notice, for a variety of reasons on any airline. In this case it seems the planned aircraft has gone technical, so rather than cancel the flight they've found another plane which, sadly, doesn't have UC.

From a commercial point of view I'm afraid it makes more sense to upset LGW passengers, who are primarily infrequent leisure travellers, than LHR passengers who may travel frequently on the prime business routes.

Clearly in this case, customer service was severely lacking and that needs bringing up with VS.

But let's not pretend BA are perfect either - a quick read over on Flyertalk will reveal they are frequently utterly appalling when things go wrong. How to deal perfectly with customers every time something goes awry is, it seems, an issue airlines all over the world just can't master.