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Virgin Holidays and USA Flydrive

PostPosted: 10 Feb 2009, 16:32
by stu
Does anyone know why i am unable to book any flydrive through Western USA?

I did email VHOL about 2 weeks ago and true to form they have not replied.

Many thanks.

PostPosted: 10 Feb 2009, 17:02
by pjh
I see what you mean. I seemed to get to a West Coast option, but it only gave me 'flights and hotels' when I made my selection, and then that vanished I could only do the East Coast,

I think the best bet would be to..[xx(]..call them.

Paul

PostPosted: 10 Feb 2009, 19:09
by Treelo
Don't know why this has failed Stu. I have done 3 or 4 flydrives thro' VS over the last 5 or 6 years and have never had a problem before [?]

PostPosted: 10 Feb 2009, 19:24
by mitchja
Just call to make your bookings. The VH website is a waste of time for bookings these days if your planning on anywhere other than Florida.

The website has got far worse recently. I think it's down to the new reservation system they are now using.

Regards

PostPosted: 11 Feb 2009, 09:05
by stu
Thanks for the replies.

I would phone but last year i booked a holiday to florida via the telephone. It was with an Indian (i think) call centre and to get it booked was an absolute nightmare - i barely understood him he barely understood me. Needless to say after about 40 minutes and despite the fact the details were confirmed back to me, when i got my booking through the mail he had put me flying from London not Manchester.
Virgin Holiday customer services are so poor they refused to change the booking to Manchester which meant we then had to arrange parking and a hotel in London as an additional cost to our holiday.

The problem with Virgin Holidays is that they offer a great product, it just seems of recent times its a chore to get it booked.

PostPosted: 11 Feb 2009, 09:12
by Nottingham Nick
If you read the DIBB, the non-UK call centre is getting a real kicking recently.

People refusing to use it, and passing this message on must cost VH a massive number of lost customers. A number that is only going to increase if the bad publicity continues.

I really wonder if the saving they make by having it overseas is a genuine economy. [?]

Nick

PostPosted: 11 Feb 2009, 09:42
by pjh
Stu

If you're not intent on collecting FC miles you might have a look here and let an agent take the pain for you.

I provided a shopping list of requirements, changed my mind a couple of time, had options in a 24 hour turnaround, a short phone call to hand over wads of cash and full VH booking documentation a week later. Granted I didn't get any FC miles as I would have done using my FC number, but neither did I spend hours on hold.

quote:Originally posted by Nottingham Nick
If you read the DIBB, the non-UK call centre is getting a real kicking recently.

People refusing to use it, and passing this message on must cost VH a massive number of lost customers. A number that is only going to increase if the bad publicity continues.

I really wonder if the saving they make by having it overseas is a genuine economy. [?]

Nick


Hopefully people are letting VH (and SRB) know that this is an issue and that human interactions can't simply be rendered down into process management dictated by scripts on screens. It's a shame; when we first started using VH just over a decade ago, and even as recently as 3 years back, you seemed to be in touch with people who had experience of the holidays they were selling.

I have to admit that not all my experiences with the offshore call centre have been bad; some have actually as they should have been, swift and accurate...

Paul

PostPosted: 11 Feb 2009, 15:00
by stu
quote:Originally posted by pjh
Stu

If you're not intent on collecting FC miles you might have a look here and let an agent take the pain for you.

I provided a shopping list of requirements, changed my mind a couple of time, had options in a 24 hour turnaround, a short phone call to hand over wads of cash and full VH booking documentation a week later. Granted I didn't get any FC miles as I would have done using my FC number, but neither did I spend hours on hold.

quote:Originally posted by Nottingham Nick
If you read the DIBB, the non-UK call centre is getting a real kicking recently.

People refusing to use it, and passing this message on must cost VH a massive number of lost customers. A number that is only going to increase if the bad publicity continues.

I really wonder if the saving they make by having it overseas is a genuine economy. [?]

Nick


Hopefully people are letting VH (and SRB) know that this is an issue and that human interactions can't simply be rendered down into process management dictated by scripts on screens. It's a shame; when we first started using VH just over a decade ago, and even as recently as 3 years back, you seemed to be in touch with people who had experience of the holidays they were selling.

I have to admit that not all my experiences with the offshore call centre have been bad; some have actually as they should have been, swift and accurate...

Paul


Thank you for that link it looks very interesting and ill give it a try.

A thank you also to the mods who left this on the general discussion.