Velocity/Virgin websites are RUBBISH

[777]

Yes, would be very happy to participate in a focus group here!

 

[rtyuiop]

+1 to being really happy to give direct feedback to VA, in focus group form or whatever other method they're likely to listen to!

 

[day-heg]

Hi LW... would be very interested in participating... circa 85 VA sectors per annum so just about qualify as frequent!

Cheers,
D-H

 

[Meggsy]

If I can organise it (and I suggested this upfront to the BDM); would anybody be prepared to attend "focus group meetings" with VA [so they have direct content-rich feedback from frequent flyers] ??

Count me as a volunteer to attend also if required. Maybe I can express better face to face the message that I have been putting in writing on the feedback pages.

 

[eastwest101]

Count me as a volunteer to attend also if required. Maybe I can express better face to face the message that I have been putting in writing on the feedback pages.

Whoever does communicate with Sabre – please take the following list of problems with them – gathered from trolling the numerous AFF complaint threads. Feel free to add any more that I may have omitted.

Corporate Communication:

• Whilst having done a sterling job of hiding/burying all the Website/Sabre/IT problems so that its not in the mainstream press, the official company rep has gone totally AWOL
• Complaints to Virgin about a lot of the following issues are never answered by phone, email, mail etc or if they are - they are answered on an "ad hoc" basis.

Virgin Website:

• “double charging” of peoples credit cards seems to have been fixed (mostly)
• Repetitious data entry/multiple prompts to log in again
• Is it possible to book JASA or YASA using velocity points (genuine question as I have not tried yet)
• Sale fares advertised but unable to be booked on website (potential bait & switch legal issue)
• Seat selection and allocation only at time of booking (hey 1986 called – they want their seat selection process back)
• Manage my booking broken (FF# and VA ref nos cannot locate confirmed bookings)
• In bookings with the flight calendar view prices bear no relation to actual prices (potential bait & switch legal issue)
• Online seat selection disabled
• Web check-in OLCI works at T-48hrs for most passengers but not some
• Award flight booking process unreliable/unavailable online, especially partner and mulitsector awards
• Fare rules links are broken so customers cannot see fare rules (may be fixed now)
• Many overseas destination not loaded at all and unable to be booked
• Seat selection issue with Velocity Plats/Golds when travelling with no/low status companions
• Seat selection issue with reports of Gold & Plats being unable to select seats
• Seat selection issue with no status passengers placed in 3B & 3E destroying Plat shadows
• Manual intervention of seat allocation results in aircraft with all Y pax jammed into the centre of the aircraft
• Seat selection and seat allocations on A332 and E190 flights unreliable
• External websites able to see & book nearly all VA sectors but not the VA web site
• The Ethiad website that was transitioned to Sabre after the Virgin transition is already more reliable and useable than the Virgin website

Velocity Website

• As per the Virgin Website but with the following additions
• Multiple prompts and re-prompts to login/book/redeem points
• Incorrect/inaccurate SC balances and point earning – points credited not matching fare class
• SC and points all being credited manually
• Retro points claim tool totally unserviceable/unreliable
• Family pooling function unreliable/broken
• Some airline partner flight SC and points earning & crediting faster and more correctly than Virgin flights
• Earning fare classes booked through external sites are not crediting to Velocity

At the Airport:

• Self check in kiosks unable to find confirmed reservations by either VFF or Booking nos
• Check-in staff unable to see accurate actual flight departure and arrival times
• Confirmed seat selection at time of booking not honoured at the airport
• Rare operational upgrades from Y to J given and then revoked at the gate

Call Centres:

• Totally overwhelmed and unable to assist customers due to IT/Sabre problems and previously online functions now being broken/unavailable
• Insufficient training or familiarity with Sabre
• Call centre staff going through security questions before telling customers that they are unable to select seats
• Call centre staff unable to make multi-sector award bookings in some cases
• Wages bill for call centres must have risen sharply to deal with all issues

Maybe give some general positive feedback about the Lounge staff helping out where they can, priority boarding still executed properly most of the time and the on-board service getting a bit more stretched than before the Sabre transition. We already have comments that the transition was rushed/implemented before they were ready and under resourced. I suspect that quite a few of these problems are really that the current web sites are not talking to Sabre at all or properly.

My advice to them would be, try to replicate and confirm all of the bugs first, then take anything that isn’t working properly off the web sites right now, then see what you are left with. Then draw up and prioritise an action plan of rebuilds/fixes. Then test all these fixes in a sandbox before letting them loose on the public. And communicate this process to all your passengers and your own staff.

 

[totd]

If I can organise it (and I suggested this upfront to the BDM); would anybody be prepared to attend "focus group meetings" with VA [so they have direct content-rich feedback from frequent flyers] ??

I'm also happy to be involved, but I'm not sure I really qualify as a frequent traveller. I've only logged 12 sectors so far this year and I'm not even going to hit PS until next week.

 

[QF WP]

eastwest101, that is a phenominal list - please, can I please use it (with kudos to you for pulling it all together, that would have taken some time - so I can see you are passionate).

If I can get focus groups off the ground, suggest they are likely to be in the major cities and probably after hours - if I can get them to do weekend work, then perhaps additional people might be able and willing to attend (as I note that eastwest101 is based in TSV and totd is ABX, for example). I think it's important for regionals to also be involved (as you have direct knowledge of those airports as well).

 

[nlagalle]

I'll be interested Lindsay, I gave them a spray on Wednesday again.. Haven't gone near virgin since my upgrade/downgrade last month..

 

[QF WP]

Just got off the phone from the newly appointed Business Development Manager for Qld. They had received my email from John B today (having only met him for the first time yesterday ). We had a very full and frank discussion (less on my issue, more on the AFF and VA relationship). I think we are getting somewhere. They are coming back to me tomorrow (having found out who is the Social Media Manager and who "operates" the Authenticated Rep personas). She is going to organise a meeting with them and me (plus I hope, markis10 and any other Mod who can attend at short notice). She'll pop her head in to say hi. Maybe I'll get to eyeball my contact and John B at the same time .

If I can organise it (and I suggested this upfront to the BDM); would anybody be prepared to attend "focus group meetings" with VA [so they have direct content-rich feedback from frequent flyers] ??

Okay, update number 2.

Had two emails from the BDM this morning (missed their calls, I was on the phone to clients both times). To cut and paste the important bits:

we are in the process of appointing a new contact with whom you will be able to engage in regards to the Australian Frequent Flyer Site and the other aspects of the social media feedback you mentioned.

and

I will connect you as soon as I have confirmed the right contact for you moving forward, then we can organise a coffee meeting and I will be sure to introduce myself to you.

Then in a second email a couple of minutes later, they advised that they had been in contact with a colleague in Marketing (Sydney based) and I'll be hopefully talking to that person on Monday.

So should have another update by Monday afternoon.

 

[eastwest101]

eastwest101, that is a phenominal list - please, can I please use it (with kudos to you for pulling it all together, that would have taken some time - so I can see you are passionate).

If I can get focus groups off the ground, suggest they are likely to be in the major cities and probably after hours - if I can get them to do weekend work, then perhaps additional people might be able and willing to attend (as I note that eastwest101 is based in TSV and totd is ABX, for example). I think it's important for regionals to also be involved (as you have direct knowledge of those airports as well).

Feel free to copy/circulate that "laundry list" as you see fit Lindsay Wilson - I won't claim any special ownership over it or anything. I am sure that other people will make additions to it as there is no way that list could be complete yet. All I am interested in is making sure that someone raises them as issues to be fixed. I can only speak for myself but I think that the main priority is to get focus on the Sabre & web sites issues raised, as they affect everyone from the NB's right through to the Plats, and must surely be affecting VA's business you would think.

Even an IT "disaster" like this should be taken as an opportunity to regain/obtain some official VA rep participation for AFF.

As for us regionals - I was focused on the Website and Sabre issues so wasn't going to go down the "Where is the <insert your town here> Lounge?" path yet. Besides which - most of the problems I have seen have been repeated on most flights I have seen recently and are obviously complex systematic problems and are certainly not local!

I will have this Sunday off work if you want to organize online meetings or just PM me if you need any further help/input. I think online collaboration may be the best way to go with this given our different locations, timezones etc. Eventually it sounds like you have managed to get the attention of someone important in VA to deliver a message (presumably in Brisbane) so go ahead and use my input if you think its useful.

 

[rtyuiop]

If we're working on a list of issues, the one that has bugged me the most is the award flights booking process for partner flights, and the lack of communication about it.

The one I've been having direct experience with is flights to Europe with EY - since the Sabre transition I've seen availability come and go, price rises and drops, the call centre tell me that multiple sector rewards bookings can no longer go on a single PNR, and now a (mostly) non-functional website - all apparently random as (presumably) issues are worked on with no communication. And the basic problem that the only call centre team who can deal with these issues is the international one, who just aren't necessarily all that good...

 

[QF WP]

Feel free to copy/circulate that "laundry list" as you see fit Lindsay Wilson - I won't claim any special ownership over it or anything. I am sure that other people will make additions to it as there is no way that list could be complete yet. All I am interested in is making sure that someone raises them as issues to be fixed. I can only speak for myself but I think that the main priority is to get focus on the Sabre & web sites issues raised, as they affect everyone from the NB's right through to the Plats, and must surely be affecting VA's business you would think.

I appreciate the time you took to compile it - that goes a long way in my book. I agree - the website should be the number 1 focus. I'm happy to get further input that we can take to Virgin.

Even an IT "disaster" like this should be taken as an opportunity to regain/obtain some official VA rep participation for AFF.

Completely agree, they could have been updating Twitter/FB/LinkedIn et al with a list and expected fix dates - even if they push out, we know they are working on them and will give them the space to fix it.

I will have this Sunday off work if you want to organize online meetings or just PM me if you need any further help/input. I think online collaboration may be the best way to go with this given our different locations, timezones etc.

Even meetings with phone calls to you and other regionals if required. Perhaps an AFF "connect and chat" with VA (I'm no IT guru).

Eventually it sounds like you have managed to get the attention of someone important in VA to deliver a message (presumably in Brisbane) so go ahead and use my input if you think its useful.

I was fortunate to have known Brett Godfrey when he was CEO as well as crazydave98 (I organised a focus group of AFF'ers to meet with them when they were first setting up Velocity); then we (markis10 and I) had meetings with the previous Social Media Manager and everything was going really smoothly. Lost those contacts when they each left VA. Another AFF'er gave me the name of somebody high up recently, so he is now my contact (and now the BDM and hopefully the person in SYD from Monday). Whilst I have met John B (in his previous role at QF), he won't know/remember me. But I want him to sit up and notice the vast array of knowledge and ideas that our community can give them. It was time to grasp the bull by the horns. We want a strong alternative to QF, otherwise we are all losing as QF will gain too much market share and prices will go up as there is no market pressure for them to hold them down if they think they can increase revenue due to increased demand.

 

[day-heg]

But I want him to sit up and notice the vast array of knowledge and ideas that our community can give them. It was time to grasp the bull by the horns. We want a strong alternative to QF, otherwise we are all losing as QF will gain too much market share and prices will go up as there is no market pressure for them to hold them down if they think they can increase revenue due to increased demand.

Excellent sentiments... I'm sure many of the participants on these forums will be right behind your efforts and more than willing to assist, of which I am one.

Thanks for your hard work!

 

[eastwest101]

If we're working on a list of issues, the one that has bugged me the most is the award flights booking process for partner flights, and the lack of communication about it.

The one I've been having direct experience with is flights to Europe with EY - since the Sabre transition I've seen availability come and go, price rises and drops, the call centre tell me that multiple sector rewards bookings can no longer go on a single PNR, and now a (mostly) non-functional website - all apparently random as (presumably) issues are worked on with no communication. And the basic problem that the only call centre team who can deal with these issues is the international one, who just aren't necessarily all that good...

Thanks, yep - there is another one that I personally have not had to tackle before, but I kind of assumed that the VA Partner Award bookings don't work or are so unreliable/buggy as to be considered as not working, so there is our confirmation. Certainly on the Velocity website it states that it is impossible to do award booking online with international partners like SQ, DL, VS, VX, HA, NZ etc etc and you are referred to use the phone. On the VA website after logging in multiple times I can see that I can see VA & VX redemption flights to some places in the USA and not others, and obviously buggy things like no available Y redemption seats at all in EY to AUH. As someone else here has said - "more bugs than a south american rainforest"

That was the only reason it wasn't in my 'laundry list", the more you explore, the more "anomalies" you find.

 

[eastwest101]

Well - we may be starting to make progress - look what happened to me this morning. I flew some VA sectors on Monday and was very surprised to see them posted this morning.

Note how quickly the sectors posted to Velocity, and also the missing flight. I definitely checked in at the airport for both the TSV-BNE and the BNE-ADL sectors and certainly flew them but somehow the BNE_ADL sector went AWOL. I have seen at least one other AFF member with very recent flights being credited very quickly but incorrect SC and points elsewhere on AFF. Just called the Velocity call centre to find out what is going on - of course they are closed on Saturday! :evil:

This also got me thinking - maybe they have "switched off" or stopped the manual claims process, which then got me thinking - I may even try to use the "claim missing points" tool in Velocity, and guess what? I got this:

So something has definitely been "switched on" or changed recently since the Sabre changeover, this is the first online claim on the Velocity website that has not been rejected out of hand. :shock:

Anyone else checking their Velocity missing SCs and points now?

 

[doctork]

I want him to sit up and notice the vast array of knowledge and ideas that our community can give them. It was time to grasp the bull by the horns. We want a strong alternative to QF, otherwise we are all losing as QF will gain too much market share and prices will go up as there is no market pressure for them to hold them down if they think they can increase revenue due to increased demand.

From this not-so-FF (and therefore having little to offer in way of advice), a big THANK YOU for taking this on. I class myself as an average (but educated) consumer: knowing not enough to find workarounds in bookings, nor enough status to get attention, yet enough knowledge and frequent-enough travel to be very frustrated and feel powerless to change anything. Since deciding to switch half my domestic travel to VA this year (on price - those $30 savings per sector add up over time), I was wondering if the saving was worth it. So, if you don't mind spending the time on behalf of us junior members/punters, you have an appreciative audience cheering you on. This goes for all of you who will be involved. Cheers.

 

[notzac]

Well - we may be starting to make progress - look what happened to me this morning. I flew some VA sectors on Monday and was very surprised to see them posted this morning.

I'm still waiting for one codeshare VA*DL flight (from early February) to credit to my account - three follow ups later and nada. Going to see how high I can escalate this one if I don't hear back something on Monday...

 

[RooFlyer]

Echoing the sentiments of doctork. VA is my domestic carrier oif choice, but I haven't done much with them for the past year or so as I've mainly been o/s - but enough to stay Gold.

I've been horrified seeing the issues post Sabre and want to thank Lindsay Wilson and others for the efforts they are making. Anything we, the great unwashed can do to assist as the process unfolds I'm sure will be contributed.

Cheers

 

[totd]

You can chalk up another mobile check-in failure. I've tried 3 times today to check in for my flight tomorrow and I keep getting told my booking cannot be found. The booking is there when I go in to manage my bookings. I've also tried copying and pasting the PNR from manage my bookings. I haven't been bitten by the magic changing prices bug (VA only offer one route out of ABX anyway), so this is the first major bug I've hit. Guess I'll just have to figure out how to check in the old fashioned way.

 

[rtyuiop]

Oh, one more issue I would like to see addressed - apparently the call centre (or at least the international awards section) isn't allowed to email customers, which given the issues with website bookings is absolutely infuriating, and seems designed to allow typos and other errors...