Virgin Seat Selection Quirky / Virgin Feedback Process Even Quirkier...

[Homer]

I've got a flight on Friday 13 January from SYD-BNE departing at 10am AEDT. So at 10am this morning I tried selecting my seats on the VA web site. Aside from the fact that I had to login to "Manage" my booking twice - once on the new-look skin and, once I'd done that, again on the older look - the page advised that advanced seat selection was only available 14 days prior to the flight. As 10am AEDT today is 14 days prior to my flight I called the Velocity Platinum number to query it.

The agent was friendly, however in that "I know more than you do about everything" condescending sort of way, and confidently told me that the reason I was unable to select a seat was that Friday 13 January is actually 15 days away. I said it wasn't. She said it was. I asked her how many days away tomorrow was and she answered "1". I asked her how many days away Sunday was and she answered "2". I explained that if we kept going like this we'd eventually get to Friday 13 January and we'd be at number 14. She stood her ground and told me to try again tomorrow.

I got off the phone and thought about it a bit more and realised that, like all Queenslanders, the VA boffins probably think that Brisbane is the centre of the universe and that 10am AEDT is the same as 10am AEST. So at 11am AEDT I tried again and, sure enough, was able to grab three seats in row 3.

Feeling happy with myself I decided to call VA back and tell them the solution so that the next person with the same question can get the real answer (or at least what I think is the real answer). I also thought the feedback might be useful to them and, mistakenly as it turns out, that they'd take the opportunity to receive it gratefully and courteously. I got a different person this time and she wasn't able to find the name of the person I spoke to earlier. She agreed with me that 13 January is 14 days away and that the problem was likely due to daylight saving. So far, so good. But then she gave me a crazy justification: "When daylight saving is over in NSW the whole country will be on the same time so we need to make it work for everyone." :!: Wow. I pointed out that most of the population observes daylight saving; that when daylight saving is over we are not "all on the same time" anyway; that online check-in seems to respect the timezone differences; that QF can get this right. All seemed to fall on patronising ears. I had the impression that she was trying to make me feel listened to but that she had absolutely no intention of doing anything whatsoever with the feedback.

To top it all off, she told me that while I had managed to select "great seats" that we would need to take our infant all the way to the back of the plane to change her nappy and that we might be more comfortable down the back and that "as you travel with your children more you might realise that"! (My 5 year old is a VA and QF SG). I won't burden anyone with the rest of my conversation after this suggestion (suffice to say it was robust) but my previously extremely positive view of VA is no longer as rosy.

 

[JohnK]

Good to see that it is all sorted now.

Sometimes you have to wonder what sort of training these customer service agents receive.

And yes I do not understand why I need to enter my Velocity FF number and password twice to get to manage my bookings.

 

[Homer]

Thanks. I don't want to blow it out of all proportion. It was just an ordinary customer service experience. But being told that we might be "more comfortable" at the back of the plane did make my blood boil, for a while.

 

[markis10]

Thanks. I don't want to blow it out of all proportion. It was just an ordinary customer service experience. But being told that we might be "more comfortable" at the back of the plane did make my blood boil, for a while.

Considering you might be able to get off first, it was a valid comment as often seats are less popular down the back as well.

 

[Homer]

Considering you might be able to get off first, it was a valid comment as often seats are less popular down the back as well.

I don't understand? I chose seats in row 3. How would sitting down the back be better?

 

[markis10]

Virgin de-boards from the rear and front, competition for the front rows is higher than the rear and you don't need to wait for J. Mind you Row 3 has good leg room, but so does the rear rows if there is no one in the middle seat.

 

[Homer]

Virgin de-boards from the rear and front, competition for the front rows is higher than the rear and you don't need to wait for J. Mind you Row 3 has good leg room, but so does the rear rows if there is no one in the middle seat.

Thanks, yes I know all that. I usually fly QF J but, as DJ status matched me to WP I've been giving them more business. I still can't bring myself to pay for DJ PE though... As a WP I found it easy to pre-select row 3 by choosing the seats 13 days and 23 hours out (or 14 days Brisbane time). My objection was to being told we would be more comfortable down the back due to flying with our infant daughter. My older daughter was a QF Plat before she turned 3 and is currently a QF and DJ Gold and even a Skywards Gold so I was a bit miffed, to put it bluntly, that a customer service agent who has probably done less flying than my child was trying to convince me to sit down the back next to the nappy change table!

 

[markis10]

Horses for courses, given the recent thread about those from the front rows using the J toilets, I think the agent had a point in the context of children! If you were flying the ATR the agent had a very good point LOL.

 

[Homer]

When did DJ install J toilets? I don't see any link between that issue and this one. I hope DJ has a more sensible explanation for an errant customer service rep than merely "horses for courses".

 

[markis10]

When did DJ install J toilets? I don't see any link between that issue and this one. I hope DJ has a more sensible explanation for an errant customer service rep than merely "horses for courses".

When they put a J cabin in most of the fleet, from Jan 18 you can expect to be heading to the rear in terms of toilets! Being a frequent flier I am sure even your kids would be across this change.....otherwise it's sounds like a bit of a case of DYKWIA to be frank, from what you describe the agent was trying to be helpful, something to be encouraged IMHO, even if it's base don what you perceive to be misguided information.

 

[Homer]

They are selling the seats on my flight as PE, not J. I believe the full J rollout is to occur later this month. Were you unaware of that?

 

[markis10]

They are selling the seats on my flight as PE, not J. I believe the full J rollout is to occur later this month. Were you unaware of that?

Hence the Jan 18 mention in my post, but that's not to say you can expect the loos up front to be a no go for Y before then, it has been the case on a number of my DJ flights when PE is busy!

 

[Homer]

Hence the Jan 18 mention in my post, but that's not to say you can expect the loos up front to be a no go for Y before then, it has been the case on a number of my DJ flights when PE is busy!

You edited your post. The one I replied to didn't contain the detail it now does. It's deceptive to make a change like that, disguise the edit (is that a mod privilege?) and then try to make out in a subsequent post that you had covered the detail all along.

 

[markis10]

You edited your post. The one I replied to didn't contain the detail it now does. It's deceptive to make a change like that, disguise the edit (is that a mod privilege?) and then try to make out in a subsequent post that you had covered the detail all along.

Sorry but I cannot disguise edits, the detail was there all along, it's well known the J cabin etc is due Jan18 and has been published by DJ for some time. I still don't see your point, just because a DJ agent suggested you might be more comfortable sitting down the back is hardly a reason for a tirade, you may think you know better, experience has taught me that normally the airline systems know more that I do, even if they are still maturing as an airline!

 

[Homer]

it's sounds like a bit of a case of DYKWIA to be frank

How is that DYKWIA? I am a WP. I preselected the front row of Y. The agent tried to encourage me to move to the back because we have an infant daughter.

 

[Homer]

Sorry but I cannot disguise edits, the detail was there all along, it's well known the J cabin etc is due Jan18!

I know what I saw - a short, inflammatory comment. I think if you edit in under a minute, or so, then the post does not appear to be edited. Did you edit and add more detail to your post? Why would I reply in the way that I did if your post is as it appears now? I'm sorry but I can't accept the deceit. I will ask for this to be checked but, on the basis that you are one of the mods on this site, I have just lost respect for the curation.

 

[markis10]

I know what I saw - a short, inflammatory comment. I think if you edit in under a minute, or so, then the post does not appear to be edited. Did you edit and add more detail to your post? Why would I reply in the way that I did if your post is as it appears now? I'm sorry but I can't accept the deceit. I will ask for this to be checked but, on the basis that you are one of the mods on this site, I have just lost respect for the curation.

"When they put a J cabin in" is not inflammatory but a direct answer in reference to your question "when did they put J toilets in", I am confused by how you take an answer to your question to be an insult, which it's not intended to be, if you don't want possible answers then obviously you are in the wrong place :shock::shock:.


For what it's worth when I travel with my toddler I am down the back, simply because the carts can get in the way of an urgent toilet call, IMHO it was good advice you got!

 

[Homer]

just because a DJ agent suggested you might be more comfortable sitting down the back is hardly a reason for a tirade

I described their feedback process as "quirky" and that my view of them was "not as rosy". Subsequently I added that I didn't want to blow it out of all proportion. Take another look at my post - it's there in it's original, unedited form. You are the one who has called me names (a DYKWIA) and described my post as a "tirade". Are you sure you're a moderator???

 

[Homer]

"When they put a J cabin in" is not inflammatory but a direct answer in reference to your question.

That's the bit I replied to: "When they put a J cabin in". So, other issues aside, is that an admission that you edited and expanded upon your post?

 

[Homer]

For what it's worth when I travel with my toddler I am down the back, simply because the carts can get in the way of an urgent toilet call, IMHO it was good advice you got!

I accept that opinion, thank you. I've never had an issue with access to bathrooms so I don't happen to feel that way. In any case, as I attempted to explain at the beginning of this thread, I mostly have an issue with the way it was handled.