Poor customer service at VH

Rang VH this morning to settle the balance for our forthcoming trip to SFO and LAS. I chose to phone as, for some reason, the VH web site doesn't allow AMEX payments but I paid the deposit using AMEX and was keen to use AMEX again since I get 1% cash back which goes some way to paying VH's 1.5% credit card levy! Anyway, after holding for 35 mins going down the proper route, i.e. selecting the "pay your balance" option I gave up and called the Upper Class Reservations number in the brochure (0870 990 4205)as we are flying UC on this trip. Got through straight away and paid the balance using AMEX. I then enquired about the possibility of booking a limo pick up and said I was happy to pay the extra for this. The response I got was "I'll have to transfer you to our service department...just putting you through.." . I then ended up listening to the same music as the original call and have again been kept waiting for an incredible 55 mins, I am still holding as I type! On my mobile I have also just tried the Frequent Virgin Club number (0870 990 4214) but all I get there is a recorded announcement "this department is now closed, our office hours are 09:30 - 17:30 Mon - Fri! I then tried the VH Ipper Class number which was answered straight away. They didn't want to know..."we are a separate company from VH, you need to go through them"

I am disgusted and will never use VH again. We've forked out nearly £5K for our nine day trip. We've booked a premium holiday, flying UC..etc but can't even talk to a human being who can remotely provide any assistance, I am extremely disappointed.

Have you tried going via the Flying Club?

Hi Alan, no haven't tried them as I figured if VA Upper Class said that my only route was through VH then Flying Club would say the same, as they are part of VA and nothing to do with VH. Nonetheless, I'll give them a try, thanks for the suggestion.

Recently had problems paying online and was given number 0871 226 0517 this turns out to be directly line to accounts department...only spent a minute or two at the most and surprise surprise when it comes to getting thier money VH like you to speak to someone in UK.

Ended up speaking to them several times. First I was told that they needed the security code.....but several hours later got the call the call "sorry sir your cards been decline" this was on a debit card on a reserve account link to the mortgage .... credit limit could not be a problem. So a call bank clears matters up...."sorry sir....security.....large amount" etc.

Final call to VH and we were all paid up and I was left thinking might have been easier to pay by cheque.

Thanks Duncan. You're right about them being keen to take the money - as I said there was no problem getting through on the Virhin Hol's Upper Class reservations line, answered straight away and paid with AMEX straight away. My gripe is not being able to talk to anyone about varying something on the original booking - in this case we would like to pay for a limo pick up. A few months back I wrote on the general discussion forum about the mega problems I had trying to get through to VH to amend my booking. On that occasion they threw 50 quid at me and apoliogised. No matter what route I try I just can't get through to anyone at VH. I've now tried the Flying Club Red line (08601 616059) and, after waiting for 25 mins in the call queue, ended up speaking to someone who yet again said she could not help..."you have to go through Virgin Holidays". I've well & truly run out of steam, having spent over 2 hours in call queues I guess it'll be a taxi for us! Not at all happy, especially as we're treating ourselves to Upper Class...to cap it all we now hear from the numerouus cabin crew postings that they're leaving in croves and most likely ther'll be a strike when the pay deal is rejected!

I had a bad experience with them earlier in the year. They cancelled my Easter holiday 3 days before we were due to leave and couldn't find any alternative accommodation. It took 6 weeks to get my money back from them, after lots of phonecalls (which took up to an hour at a time) I managed to get the minimum comp which was due anyway and they agreed to refund my phonecalls to them (over £18)I thought the customer service was appauling. I had people telling me we had been reallocated accommodation, when I heard nothing and phoned the next day, was told it was a mistake. This went on for 10 days before they finally admitted they couldn't find anything. Was not impressed

I guess it'll be a taxi for us

Try http://www.bostoncoach.com they are not cheap but they are always on time pro drivers who only speak if you ask them a question and the tips are included.

oh boy after nearly 2 hours on the phone trying to contact v.holidays being sent around in circles and being left waiting for over 1/2 an hour on 2 separate occasions and me putting the phone down with the hump i finally managed to speak to someone that could help me out regarding my June holiday next year.i phoned via the frequent virgin club in the end .When i was checking my itinerary virgin holidays had under booked my hotel by 1 night and booking my flight home the next day leaving me without a hotel for 1 night . the lady on the phone was most helpful but when she offered me a call back which i should have got last night from v.h but did not thought id better bit the bullet and keep on the line .I WAS WONDERING WHY IT IS SO HARD FOR PEOPLE TO GET IN CONTACT WITH V.HOLIDAYS without going round in circles IS IT LACK OF STAFF or just the way the call centres are staffed and calls routed around perhaps it was just my bad luck

I wonder if VH are contactable by email? Or, call me old-fashioned, a well written concise letter that ends by stating the conclusion you expect.

Then if that gets ignored, a follow up addressed to "Complaints Department" (even if such a department doesn't exist, it should get someone's attention). Send it Recorded for extra impact (worth the 65p or so).

Friendly tip, equally applicable to forum postings, emails and letters: Breaking up a large block of text into paragraphs makes it easier to read and understand, and will therefore make it easier for others to help!

I've had simillar problems trying to contact VH spending ages on the phone then they hang up as soon as I'm through. When I complained i was told i must have got through to the travel agent line.

So what I did different this time was to pay the deposit by CC over the phone the outstanding balance by bank transfer and any other follow ups via email which seems to be answered quicker than the phone so far.

My holiday cost over £7000 and expected better but they said they would pass my comments on. I still havent received written confirmation that my full balance has been paid but it has disapeared from the online bit on their website.

[mitchja]

Originally posted by timsdm

My holiday cost over £7000 and expected better but they said they would pass my comments on. I still havent received written confirmation that my full balance has been paid but it has disapeared from the online bit on their website.

VH do seem to take a long time in sending out invoices. I even received an ammended invoice for the holiday I was already on, after I travelled, it was waiting for me on my return from NAS!!

Regards

Send a letter direct to Sir RB management office, your pretty much gauranteed some money back vouchers that way.

Also not impressed with VH Customer Service. We received an letter telling us that it was our opinion the hotel was bad (in Barbados - Escape Hotel), and they found it matched with their standards. This was after writting to them asking them what they thought of..... big list. Unfortunatly we were not the only ones who found the hotel needed a good re-think. We paid over £6000 for a two-week holiday where we could have got a better holiday for half the price in spain!
My opinion of the virgin brand has gone down so much after the holiday, especially after a letter putting the letter we wrote down to opinion. Whereas it was fact!!
We feel so badly about V.Hols we have cancelled our next holiday to SFO and have lost out deposit! Extreme, yet that is how we feel.
John

My g/f and I booked a "king of the road" tour last year to leave on 2nd September this year. Got everything booked fine with the Vegas Hotel upgraded to TheHotel Mandalay Bay. About 3 months passed and we then get a phone call from VH saying they had quoted us the wrong price for the hotel so had to charge us £250 per person extra and not to be alarmed when seeing out next credit card statement. To put it midely I hit the roof and way hold on, you can't just take the money and anyway, if you messed up the price thats your problem not mine. They wouldn't have it and between me and my g/f we were passed around between multiple managers and in total spent about 5hrs on hold over several days. We got to the point where we spoke to Trading Standards who confirmed we were correct and gave us a case number and several things to quote to VH. We rang VH back with all of this and go the response (Trading Standards have nothing to do with this!). We told them fine, please refund out money and inform your superior that we will be taking you to court under trade descriptions act(it wasn't this, I just can't remember of my head what it exactly was). They put us on hold and 5 mins later a person came on saying they were a superior and apologised for the problems and confirmed our hotel with no extra charges! What a nightmare!!

Now, 2 weeks before the holiday we receive our tickets and there are no maps as promised. VH don't have a clue when you phone them and eventually they said they would send them out but I am not holding any hope for them. Oh, and the directions they promised come with the package, pointless! If we hadn't been planning it for so long and already bought maps, the directions VH give you would be a royal pain to use!

Don't think I'll ever use VH again.

Goodness me, what you have been through sounds a total nightmare. I have to say though, I am not surprised. I deal with organisations every day, some of them large others small, but never in my 20 yr professional career have I encountered such a "don't care" & unpreofessional attitude as Virgin Hol's. My biggest bug bear is being unable to talk to anyone at VH, at least not without waiting on hold for 50-60 mins. On a positive note for you it seems you managed to actually talk to a supervisor All they did with me was throw £50 my way by means of an apology for the many hours of time I had spent on the phone trying to get through. Despite booking Upper Class and paying out £000's extra they don't even give you a fast track channel of communication, quite the contrary...they make a point of saying "you must remember Virgin Atlantic is separate from VH, the fact that you have booked UC gives you nothing extra with us"! So unlike Kuoni where you are treated like royalty the moment you upgrade to business class, they even give you a personal consultant with a direct phone line and direct email address - on top of that they lay on limo pick ups and limo "back home" at no extra charge regardless of whether or not the airline offers it when flying business class! Too late for me to cancel with VH and rebook, but definitely Kuoni next time.