V-Flyer

Flight VS009 21 July

Flight VS004 26 July



I would like to provide you with some feedback with regard to our recent flights with Virgin Atlantic.



Firstly, the service from the cabin crew could not be faulted:), however, the food outbound was diabolical. Both my partner and I had the toughest piece of chicken that we have ever tasted and the “Dim Sum” tasted like cabbage leaves[:(!]



Whilst at the bar on the way out, I spoke to your lovely FSM:), I didn’t want to complain because the crew was so nice:), but I did mention how I felt about the food in passing. Your FSM was very concerned and informed me that your caterers had recently changed, but if anything the food had gotten worse and that she was constantly passing comments back to her manager[:0], and encouraged me to contact Customer Relations on my return to the U.K. The FSM took a note of my seat number and said that she would also be passing my comments on.



As a final point, the food was somewhat better on the way back but it didn’t have much to live up to, in fact we didn’t eat much because we made sure that we ate in the Clubhouse. In the morning, breakfast was OK but I had three cups of coffee, I didn’t really want three cups of coffee but only asked for them because each one was cold[:0][:0]. I didn’t speak to the crew about this because the last thing I wanted to do was complain at 6 O’clock in the morning.



In summery a great flight let down but a very poor standard of food.



Regards,

get ready for the 10k miles letter

Originally posted by jetwet1
get ready for the 10k miles letter

Well, at least if the food issue is a permanent one, it means that a return trip in J to SFO now earns 34,111 miles as standard.

(21,432 J miles, 2,679 Au bonus, 10,000 food bonus) [:p]

Originally posted by jetwet1
get ready for the 10k miles letter

I'm not expecting anything because I'm not Gold. I've just turned Silver (today!) but it has not taken me long to get there. All of my travel is for leisure, they can see this from my flying club account. At the very most I just might get an apology (but I doubt it.) If it wasn't for the fantastic crew I doubt whether you guys would be flying with them? I shop in SainsburyÕs and can buy better chicken there and the FSM agreed with me! To think that the crew have to eat that rubbish day in day out is behond me, I really do feel sorry for them.

All fun aside it sucks when you have a flight this long with bad food,as has been said on here many times the food is something VS needs to take a long hard look at.

I'm not expecting anything because I'm not Gold. I've just turned Silver (today!)

I wasn't gold when I wrote about the food but I got the "10K miles letter". While not sneezing at them, I would rather they had taken notice of my letter and changed the menu.

Congrats on reaching Silver [y]

Originally posted by Alan

Originally posted by jetwet1
get ready for the 10k miles letter

I'm not expecting anything because I'm not Gold.

I think you are likely to get some miles as compensation. I complained about the flight that made me hit silver status and within a few weeks there was the 15k miles. Ok the complaint was about a glass breakage, which somehow found itself as small peices in my drink so potentially quite serious, but reading on here miles seem to be the common compensation method.

Originally posted by honey lamb
While not sneezing at them, I would rather they had taken notice of my letter and changed the menu.

For me, this says it all. The standard 10k letter (and I've had a couple myself) is all well and good, but you soon realise you are being bought off. The first time I got one I thought great! The second time I was pleased with the miles but felt that the points I had raised had not been addressed. I had cause to complain recently, I specifically said that I didn't want the standard 10k miles, but wanted my points commented on, and if possible, addressed. As I had turned gold I thought I would get what I was asking for. Instead, i got the normal boiler plate + 5k miles[:(!]

However for me to continue to harp on about my pet subject of customer service (not) would be getting off the OP's first point. I have to say I am very concerned that we may not be seeing the anticipated improvement in food standards. When we heard caterers were changing I think we all thought that this was to address the many issues we had raised. However, I am now wondering if that is indeed the case.

99

According to previous posts, the new menu is launching next week. I would hope that VS have taken the opportunity to address the appalling quaility of Upper Class food.

BC

I have just had an email staing that my letter has been passed to Richard Branson's office. I thought that only Gold card holders dealt directly with Sir Richard's office? I understand that it can take some time to get a reply?

Originally posted by Alan
I have just had an email staing that my letter has been passed to Richard Branson's office. I thought that only Gold card holders dealt directly with Sir Richard's office? I understand that it can take some time to get a reply?

I too got that email. I received it on May 31 and got a reply from SRB's office on Jun 3 (with the 10K miles) As stated above I was silver

Alan,
The important thing is that you passed on your comments. VS knows your flight number and specifically what you didn't care for about your food. Many pax just "suffer in silence" and this doesn't help VS one bit.

If you hear back from customer service, we'd appreciate you sharing the reply.

Thanks, Alan -

Chuck

Thats the stock reply. When my luggage got lunched at the hands of the airport baggage handlers, they sent me the same letter then a email came with the offer of 15k miles and a refund on the bag. Was Red at the time on my first Virgin flight.

We flew UC (for the first time) back in May. The UC experience was great apart from the food on the MCO-LGW leg.
We contacted customer services and our comments were passed to SRB's office.
We were both dissappointed with the food on this flight. SRB's office gave us 5000 miles each ( next time We will both complain seperately to see if we each get 10000miles).
We got a standard response about the food with the offer of the 5000 miles.
We contacted VS again and asked specific questions as we wanted the issues resolved as we intend to fly UC again next year.
The second reply stated that our concerns had been passed to the caterers and that our comments would be included in cabin crew training.
As to the poor food, they blamed the transistion / introduction of the new menu ( back in May???). We are still trying to work that one out as we had the bangers and mash on the outward flight and the steak on the inbound leg and from this forum we can see that these items had been served for many months previous to May.
I'm sad to say that after this second letter we have not followed up our complaint any more.

Alan hope you have better luck with you comments.

Tim.

I read in last weeks ' Heathrow Skyport' (in fact it was the headline on the front page), that Gate Gourmet management is pleading with the workforce to accept changes and save the company.

It later goes on to state 'The company has been making losses since 1999 and the situation got even worse when it lost the Virgin Atlantic contract in June'.

What I don't understand is, and if this has already been answered somewhere and I've missed it then I apologise, why do we have exactly the same menu from an entirely new caterer?

I don't know if any of you ever saw that TV programme on how airline food is 'created', but I can say that the menu's are usually cooked and prepared at some giant factory type place in the US (either US or Asia), then frozen and sent out to the catering companies worldwide. They then partially defrost them before taking them out to the aircraft. It was mostly the salad items and fruits etc., that are actually prepared on the company premises. It was all very enlightening.

Maybe I just kinda answered my own question there!!

As mentioned in an earlier thread of mine, I too mentioned the menu on a recent UCS flight, and the crew were as much peeved about the menu as the PAX and are hoping it is going to get sorted out soon. I have to say I went for the Bangers n Mash (1st time, I usually go for the chicken which is always dry with overcooked rice), and I thought the SnM was nasty (the green mash was OK but didn't like the sausages).

Matt

It will be like most buisnesses, that they are bought from a central source and branded for each customer

The food supplied to VAA by Gate Gourmet for UC would have been for the most part prepared freshly the day before or the day of each flight by chefs in their kitchens at Hatton Cross, with the exception of some of the pastry items, which would be bought in. The EY food would have been bought in frozen with the exception of the some of the Special Meals and entrees on the routes such as 250, 200, 900 & 300 these were made in house.

Originally posted by BlackCat
According to previous posts, the new menu is launching next week. I would hope that VS have taken the opportunity to address the appalling quaility of Upper Class food.

Oh good, please keep us informed of that developing story.

The standard letter arrived addressed only to me with 5,000 miles with no mention of my partner[:0]so not impressed. I have asked them to credit 10,000 miles each. The food was crap

Alan,
It may be 5000 each,
When I complained on behalf of myself and partner we both got 5000miles... making the 10000.

VS seemed relucant to answer the questions in my feedback letter even though 99% of the feedback praised our 1st UC experience.
They seemed to think that giving us 5000 miles each was enough to keep us happy.
Our only concern was the poor quaity of the food on our return journey from MCO to LGW. After we contacted VS again they assured us that our comments would be passed onto the caterers and that our comments regarding the reheating of our breakfast would be included in crew training.
We only gave the feedback because we want the food to improve. This is for purely selfish reasons as we will likely fly UC next year on our holiday. To us, the price of an UC ticket is a major cost and we want the best service possible.

Hope your feedback to VS and the fact that the caterers have now changed hasten the improvement of the UC food.

Originally posted by Tim

It may be 5000 each,

To me it seems like a total failure of customer service when your customers start debating on a public forum as to what the official tariff is for a particular service failure. To me it implies that service failure has become institutionalised and expected. It also seems to imply that your customer service department, who should be forcing improvement through the organisation, have decended to buying-back customer loyalty after all the failures they have come to expect.

VS lurkers should, IMHO, take very serious note.

99

Originally posted by sailor99
VS lurkers should, IMHO, take very serious note.

[y] Completely agree.

It seems we're beginning to see the "United Airlines Compensation Committee" for VS becoming established. UA's FT board constantly has threads of "how much for an IDB at ORD?" or "how much should I claim for no IFE for 6.5 hours?" (followed by "what about for 4 hours?"), and the list goes on.

If they fixed the problem, there'd be no need for a "tariff"! [V]

In all my years of flying, and believe me, there's many, on all the different airlines of the world, i've yet to find a decent meal. It just can't be done in those conditions! I've been in the best cabins on BA, SQ, MH, JL and EK and have never once thought 'Mmmm that was tasty'

Airline food is a cliche for good reason! Now i always take a bagel or something with me!

Ahh the problem with that VS Lover is that you'll find several FFs here who swear by

Square PiesLamb ShankBento Box

and even the Lobster and Crayfish salad, even though its ubiquitousness has lost it some fans.

And the Korma in Y!

They key to all airline food is not to be too adventurous, keep to the simple things that you know work and work well.

Foz xx