Sent this to VS Customer Service this afternoon:
Dear Virgin Atlantic Customer Service,
I would like to take a couple minutes and give you some feedback regarding a recent trip we made with your airline. We have been flying with Virgin since the 1980’s and chose to make our most recent trip with you, despite the fact that I now work for Delta Air Lines, with non-revenue flight benefits from that airline. We chose to make our trip with your airline due to the superior service my family and I have received from you in the past- service that in time, has proven to not exist at most of the world’s airlines.
Following an invitation to my cousin’s wedding in the UK, we purchased two round trip tickets from Newark to London, leaving on the 13th of July, for $780.80 USD each. Having heard from another family member how excellent your Premium Economy service was, we decided that having never tried it before we would see how much an upgrade would cost. I contacted Virgin Atlantic customer service and was told by a very helpful, very kind customer service agent, that an upgrade to Premium Economy would cost the difference in base fare between our X class ticket and an S class ticket, plus a $200 USD change fee per passenger. The agent then gave me a total quote of $1,474.40 USD including all fees, for the complete record. I asked if I could call my father to confirm he wanted to do the upgrade, and was told by the agent that he would comment the record with the quote so that I could just call back and do the transaction.
When I called back, I spoke to another agent, who redid the quote, and came up with an amount approximately $300 more. When I asked why it was more, only 30 minutes later, he very politely asked me to hold for a moment while he spoke to his supervisor. My call was then answered again, this time by a gentleman who introduced himself as a supervisor. He informed me that the first agent I had spoken to had done the quote incorrectly, and that the actual rate was $300 more. He then informed me that because the agent had entered the quote into the record, he would honor the price and charge us a total of $1,474.40 USD to upgrade the record. He asked me to hold, and he would charge it to the same card the tickets were purchased with, and assign us seats. After approximately 5 minutes of holding, he returned, apologized for the wait, told me everything was all set, and thanked me for choosing to fly with Virgin Atlantic.
Throughout my telephone contact with your customer service agents I found them to be extremely polite and professional. When I commented to one of them on the quality of the service, I was told, “No need to thank me, we strive for excellent customer service, it’s part of my job”. All I can remember thinking was that I wish the world’s companies, including the airline I work for would adopt that philosophy.
On July 13th my father and I began the 3 hour drive from the town we live in to Newark International Airport, very excited to be trying out your Premium Economy service. Unfortunately when we checked in, the very positive telephone experience I’d had was erased by an agent telling us that yes, we were booked in S class, but it hadn’t been charged, and that it was going to cost us $2,948.80 USD to get on the plane (twice the quote price written in the record). I explained what had happened, and that the $1,474.40 was for the whole record, not per person. My explanation was basically ignored by the agent who just proceeded to charge us $2,948.80 USD, without listening to what I had to say, offering to get a supervisor or confirm the price. After completing a form the agent handed us a receipt and boarding pass and told us the flight would board at 8:10.
I was very surprised to receive the terrible customer service at Newark, given my personal past experience with your airline, and your commitment to customer service. I was surprised that the agent really wasn’t interested in hearing what I had to say. It seemed as if they were more concerned with just getting us away from the counter, which unfortunately resulted in us being overcharged, by quite a bit.
On the positive side, I would like to commend you on an excellent Premium Economy product. The onboard experience was top-notch, from the food to the staff, priority boarding and check-in. As with past Virgin Atlantic flights, I was very impressed with how you seem to be able to go above and beyond in terms of in-flight service- with the friendliest crews and what has to be the best entertainment in the sky. Check-in at Heathrow for our return flight was also excellent- very quick, friendly, and very professional. Unfortunately, our check-in experience at Newark was terrible, the cloud over our travel, and resulted in our tickets costing a total of $2,255.20 each, instead of $1,518.00- a fare quite expensive after learning that another family member purchased round trip Premium Economy tickets on the same route for approximately $1,600 USD. I have always commended your airline on its service, and I know I will continue to fly with Virgin, but in all honesty, looking back I still can’t believe how bad the service in Newark was- as this is certainly not true Virgin Atlantic. I feel sorry for customers originating at Newark who have never flown with you before, as they are truly not experiencing the Virgin Atlantic service I have grown to love- the service that makes flying easy and stress free.
The wedding was excellent, and we enjoyed our two weeks in the UK. Ideally, I would expect a partial refund from the $2,948.80 USD we were charged in Newark, as it was twice what it should have been. Working for an airline I understand how complex reservation systems are. The supervisor I spoke to on the phone must have not completed the charge correctly but he did book us in S class, so his initials must be in the history of the record- although I do understand that with the volume of calls you receive, it would just be unrealistic to expect him to remember my call. I will leave it to you to determine what type of compensation may be warranted for our experience.
I have included our itinerary and passenger details below.
Sincerely,
(name removed for online post)
Dear Virgin Atlantic Customer Service,
I would like to take a couple minutes and give you some feedback regarding a recent trip we made with your airline. We have been flying with Virgin since the 1980’s and chose to make our most recent trip with you, despite the fact that I now work for Delta Air Lines, with non-revenue flight benefits from that airline. We chose to make our trip with your airline due to the superior service my family and I have received from you in the past- service that in time, has proven to not exist at most of the world’s airlines.
Following an invitation to my cousin’s wedding in the UK, we purchased two round trip tickets from Newark to London, leaving on the 13th of July, for $780.80 USD each. Having heard from another family member how excellent your Premium Economy service was, we decided that having never tried it before we would see how much an upgrade would cost. I contacted Virgin Atlantic customer service and was told by a very helpful, very kind customer service agent, that an upgrade to Premium Economy would cost the difference in base fare between our X class ticket and an S class ticket, plus a $200 USD change fee per passenger. The agent then gave me a total quote of $1,474.40 USD including all fees, for the complete record. I asked if I could call my father to confirm he wanted to do the upgrade, and was told by the agent that he would comment the record with the quote so that I could just call back and do the transaction.
When I called back, I spoke to another agent, who redid the quote, and came up with an amount approximately $300 more. When I asked why it was more, only 30 minutes later, he very politely asked me to hold for a moment while he spoke to his supervisor. My call was then answered again, this time by a gentleman who introduced himself as a supervisor. He informed me that the first agent I had spoken to had done the quote incorrectly, and that the actual rate was $300 more. He then informed me that because the agent had entered the quote into the record, he would honor the price and charge us a total of $1,474.40 USD to upgrade the record. He asked me to hold, and he would charge it to the same card the tickets were purchased with, and assign us seats. After approximately 5 minutes of holding, he returned, apologized for the wait, told me everything was all set, and thanked me for choosing to fly with Virgin Atlantic.
Throughout my telephone contact with your customer service agents I found them to be extremely polite and professional. When I commented to one of them on the quality of the service, I was told, “No need to thank me, we strive for excellent customer service, it’s part of my job”. All I can remember thinking was that I wish the world’s companies, including the airline I work for would adopt that philosophy.
On July 13th my father and I began the 3 hour drive from the town we live in to Newark International Airport, very excited to be trying out your Premium Economy service. Unfortunately when we checked in, the very positive telephone experience I’d had was erased by an agent telling us that yes, we were booked in S class, but it hadn’t been charged, and that it was going to cost us $2,948.80 USD to get on the plane (twice the quote price written in the record). I explained what had happened, and that the $1,474.40 was for the whole record, not per person. My explanation was basically ignored by the agent who just proceeded to charge us $2,948.80 USD, without listening to what I had to say, offering to get a supervisor or confirm the price. After completing a form the agent handed us a receipt and boarding pass and told us the flight would board at 8:10.
I was very surprised to receive the terrible customer service at Newark, given my personal past experience with your airline, and your commitment to customer service. I was surprised that the agent really wasn’t interested in hearing what I had to say. It seemed as if they were more concerned with just getting us away from the counter, which unfortunately resulted in us being overcharged, by quite a bit.
On the positive side, I would like to commend you on an excellent Premium Economy product. The onboard experience was top-notch, from the food to the staff, priority boarding and check-in. As with past Virgin Atlantic flights, I was very impressed with how you seem to be able to go above and beyond in terms of in-flight service- with the friendliest crews and what has to be the best entertainment in the sky. Check-in at Heathrow for our return flight was also excellent- very quick, friendly, and very professional. Unfortunately, our check-in experience at Newark was terrible, the cloud over our travel, and resulted in our tickets costing a total of $2,255.20 each, instead of $1,518.00- a fare quite expensive after learning that another family member purchased round trip Premium Economy tickets on the same route for approximately $1,600 USD. I have always commended your airline on its service, and I know I will continue to fly with Virgin, but in all honesty, looking back I still can’t believe how bad the service in Newark was- as this is certainly not true Virgin Atlantic. I feel sorry for customers originating at Newark who have never flown with you before, as they are truly not experiencing the Virgin Atlantic service I have grown to love- the service that makes flying easy and stress free.
The wedding was excellent, and we enjoyed our two weeks in the UK. Ideally, I would expect a partial refund from the $2,948.80 USD we were charged in Newark, as it was twice what it should have been. Working for an airline I understand how complex reservation systems are. The supervisor I spoke to on the phone must have not completed the charge correctly but he did book us in S class, so his initials must be in the history of the record- although I do understand that with the volume of calls you receive, it would just be unrealistic to expect him to remember my call. I will leave it to you to determine what type of compensation may be warranted for our experience.
I have included our itinerary and passenger details below.
Sincerely,
(name removed for online post)
