How long is a reasonable time to be on hold for ?

[simongr]

Shouldn't it be "For how long is it reasonable to be on hold?"

 

[samh004]

Good golly gosh, you would want to hope its in THB

Check this one out, random dates in June 2011:

Well it does say, "Internet discounted fares are per adult and quoted in THB including..." That's what I was drawn to first, because THB was in CAPS, so it stood out.

I do guess some people wouldn’t read, so might not book. Can’t be too hard to add a ฿.

 

[MrJetset]

The final page for payment indicates THB.

 

[cliff]

Shouldn't it be "For how long is it reasonable to be on hold?"

Agreed , but I was on hold while writing it , and a bit annoyed so forgive me if I dangled participles. Having said that , most people understood the point of the message.
However, I am guessing that you work for V Australia , as you are technically correct , following the rules to the N th degree, not taking into account the customer or what they want , and leaving them frustrated

 

[cliff]

cliff,
if R=Rand it would indicate your booking originates in South Africa and is with V Australia rather than Virgin Blue. Unfortunately V Australia bookings cannot be changed online - only Virgin Blue, Pacific Blue and Polynesian Blue (V Australia uses a different reservations system). I agree that being slugged with R300 if not notified in advance and not having any other way to make the change seems unreasonable at face value and will have it looked at.
regards
CrazyDave98

Hi Dave,
Any luck ?

 

[simongr]

Agreed , but I was on hold while writing it , and a bit annoyed so forgive me if I dangled participles. Having said that , most people understood the point of the message.
However, I am guessing that you work for V Australia , as you are technically correct , following the rules to the N th degree, not taking into account the customer or what they want , and leaving them frustrated

I dont work for V Australia - I have just had 18 months working for a very pedantic boss and I am also very pedantic so little things bug me.

Personally if I was you I'd be taking my business elsewhere.

 

[cliff]

I hear what you are saying
The only issue is that I have had major problems with Qantas before (had I been a member of this web site earlier , I would have posted them here), and V Australia is the only airline that flies direct to South Africa

 

[samh004]

I hear what you are saying
The only issue is that I have had major problems with Qantas before (had I been a member of this web site earlier , I would have posted them here), and V Australia is the only airline that flies direct to South Africa

Qantas flies direct, I think they recently added a few more flights, and there are other non-Australian airlines that fly there, like SAA.

 

[cliff]

Sorry I should have been more clear. I meant direct to Melbourne. My bad
The others fly into Sydney , and then on to Melbourne

 

[crazydave98]

Hi Dave,
Any luck ?

Cliff, I have a part answer.

The V Australia website under "bookings" tab and "fees and surcharges" states that there is a R300 fee for calling the Guest Contact Centre to make, change or cancel a booking. V Australia won't charge you for making, changing or cancelling a booking through a travel agent (although the agent may charge) and doesn't charge for bookings made on V Australia website.

http://www.vaustralia.com.au/bookings/taxes-fees-and-surcharges/index.htm

I think the thing that is missing is a statement upfront that if you make a booking direct with VA (whether internet or Guest Contact Centre) and then make a change, you will be charged R1300 as there is no way to avoid the R300 Guest Contact Centre fee. Am working on getting that changed on the website. Unfortunately it may be some time before we are able to provide a change online facility which would avoid the R300 fee sorry, but it is on the "to do" list.

Your other points were that the R300 fee and wait times were excessive. I won't comment on the R300 fee other than to again acknowledge I believe that there should be away for "self service" to avoid it. Yes the wait time was excessive - sorry, we have just been snowed under with major schedule/network changes and the VA aircraft that was towed into a blast fence at LAX. We do our best to manage wait times to an acceptable standard but sometimes things don't go according to plan - the cost of having a hundred staff trained up to answer calls and spending 99% of their time waiting for things to go pear shaped is not worth it.

Sorry this is probably not the answer you were looking for.
http://www.vaustralia.com.au/bookings/taxes-fees-and-surcharges/index.htm
cheers
Dave

 

[jsoprano]

Good golly gosh, you would want to hope its in THB

Check this one out, random dates in June 2011:

View attachment 1122



:shock:

Josh

I didn't have a problem when booking a oneway HKT-MEL earlier this year:



However, back at this time the DJ booking engine diverted you to the VA booking engine direct after selecting route and dates, this has obviously changed. Also, I am pretty sure the VA booking engine showed correct A$ prices.

 

[bcworld]

However, back at this time the DJ booking engine diverted you to the VA booking engine direct after selecting route and dates, this has obviously changed. Also, I am pretty sure the VA booking engine showed correct A$ prices.

It does say Air Fare AUD6655 though!

 

[jsoprano]

It does say Air Fare AUD6655 though!

I think I would have noticed this on my credit card statement if they would have actually charged something in this region.

No, the $332.something on the bottomline is what they charged, and this is also all you saw when booking. (You wouldn't have seen this Air Fare before the booking was confirmed and you received this itinerary by e-mail, so for me there was no reason to worry.)

 

[cliff]

Cliff, I have a part answer.

The V Australia website under "bookings" tab and "fees and surcharges" states that there is a R300 fee for calling the Guest Contact Centre to make, change or cancel a booking. V Australia won't charge you for making, changing or cancelling a booking through a travel agent (although the agent may charge) and doesn't charge for bookings made on V Australia website.



I think the thing that is missing is a statement upfront that if you make a booking direct with VA (whether internet or Guest Contact Centre) and then make a change, you will be charged R1300 as there is no way to avoid the R300 Guest Contact Centre fee. Am working on getting that changed on the website. Unfortunately it may be some time before we are able to provide a change online facility which would avoid the R300 fee sorry, but it is on the "to do" list.

Your other points were that the R300 fee and wait times were excessive. I won't comment on the R300 fee other than to again acknowledge I believe that there should be away for "self service" to avoid it. Yes the wait time was excessive - sorry, we have just been snowed under with major schedule/network changes and the VA aircraft that was towed into a blast fence at LAX. We do our best to manage wait times to an acceptable standard but sometimes things don't go according to plan - the cost of having a hundred staff trained up to answer calls and spending 99% of their time waiting for things to go pear shaped is not worth it.

Sorry this is probably not the answer you were looking for.

Thanks for the feedback anyway , I have another two questions with regard to Virgin , one relates to the fact that they are cancelling the South African flight ,and my fionce has a return ticket , do you know what will happen qith her ticket
, and the other relates to my mom missing her flight from South Africa due to ill health , and wanting to fly now , (I have a reference number for that one but it is an automated response and my mom TG is better and can fly now ) , Will you be able to help with either ?
I know I am just one person , I dont mean to be so complicated

 

[crazydave98]

Thanks for the feedback anyway , I have another two questions with regard to Virgin , one relates to the fact that they are cancelling the South African flight ,and my fionce has a return ticket , do you know what will happen qith her ticket
, and the other relates to my mom missing her flight from South Africa due to ill health , and wanting to fly now , (I have a reference number for that one but it is an automated response and my mom TG is better and can fly now ) , Will you be able to help with either ?
I know I am just one person , I dont mean to be so complicated

Cliff, if your fiance holds a ticket she will be booked on a one-stop alternative routing with another airline - please call the guest contact centre for details although they may not have finalised arrangements for everyone yet given it is quite recent.

To make any changes to your mum's ticket please contact either the VAustralia guest contact centre or travel agency from which you purchased the ticket.

regards
David

 

[ozmille]

If you want to be bored to death try calling Malaysia Airlines. The same 30 second loop for 32 minutes and I had to hang up...