Virgin blue humiliates then ignores

[QF WP]

Excellent to hear the positive outcome sarah.stocks and well may we all heed the import of straitman's last post

 

[pauly7]

Re: Thank you Virgin

I posted a thread on the 20 Dec 2007 titled "Virgin Blue humiliates then ignores".
I would like to take the opportunity to inform everyone that I have received a response and Virgin has looked into my complaint and come to a decision.

I am very happy with the outcome of the investigation, it sounds as though there are going to be some real attempts at improving the situation.

I applaud this action Virgin is taking on their own back without any outside intervention. Although there is increasingly media coverage and stronger pressure being put on airlines to make travel for disabled more equitable and accessible, it is great to see an airline take the initiative.

I'm glad to hear you finally got an apology and response for the poor service you recieved from DJ

I was going to give you a contact @ Channel 7 if you didn't make any headway with them, a nice piece on TT can sometimes publicise the unfair treatment and help get a resolution

Happy it worked out for you.

 

[danwarne]

This is why I prefer to fly Qantas even if it costs a little more on the booking.

There seems to be a problem with Virgin Blue's flight crew training -- the customer service staff are overly efficious and up themselves about the fact that they have a level of executive authority on the plane -- as evidenced by the uninformed staff member insisting on her authority over you as a passenger with special medical needs.

I've had one flight attendant snap her fingers in front of my face because I wasn't paying attention to the safety demonstration, which, let's face it, IS the same on every Virgin Blue flight. I do know how to do up the seatbelt, pull down firmly on the oxygen mask and retrieve the lifejacket from under my seat in the case of emergency.

And the jokes. The tired, recycled jokes told by the flight crew in their announcements. How many times do we have to endure the joke about people wanting to smoke will be asked to step outside the aircraft? GROAN.

Qantas, on the other hand, has polite, humble and professional staff on the whole -- it's a very rare example of an incumbent monopoly offering very good service with competitive prices.

 

[justin23]

I think its awful what happened, however one thing confuses me. The OP uses the word consultant and that they are higher than a Doctor or Specialist. I've never heard of such a thing in Australia, so I'm guessing the virgin blue staff haven't either. Not trying to defend them of course its just one of those cases were security is not just an incovenience and someone has made the wrong decision they thought was right.

 

[nlagalle]

I think its awful what happened, however one thing confuses me. The OP uses the word consultant and that they are higher than a Doctor or Specialist. I've never heard of such a thing in Australia, so I'm guessing the virgin blue staff haven't either. Not trying to defend them of course its just one of those cases were security is not just an incovenience and someone has made the wrong decision they thought was right.

There are a few different terms. When Dad was being treated for cancer his surgeon was a Mister not a doctor. I said to him as joke about not getting a doctor and he told me that a Mister was higher than a doctor!

 

[NYCguy]

When Dad was being treated for cancer his surgeon was a Mister not a doctor. I said to him as joke about not getting a doctor and he told me that a Mister was higher than a doctor!

Conceited wanker. My brother is a cardiac surgeon, and not only a 'Mister', but also a conceited wanker.

Q: What's the difference between God and a cardiac surgeon?

A: God knows he's not a cardiac surgeon...

In Australia and the UK, a "consultant" is a specialist under whose care patients are admitted to hospital, and who manages and directs the care given by junior medical staff. You might also see a consultant privately, or for a medicolegal opinion.

In the USA (and other places), a consultant is known as the "attending" physician.

 

[JohnK]

I think its awful what happened, however one thing confuses me. The OP uses the word consultant and that they are higher than a Doctor or Specialist. I've never heard of such a thing in Australia....

There are consultant physicians in Australia. They specialise in a number of medical areas in the general fields of internal medicine and paediatrics.

Consultant Physician

 

[justin23]

Thanks for the info everyone. I'm aware of consultants in my own industry, but never heard of them in the medical industry. They'd have higher or the same medical qualifications as a specialist too?

I'm glad it is being resolved, I've never flown virgin myself.
I was worried recently when i flew to Central America with some prescription drugs i need to take daily. I had a letter from my GP, but of course as shown by this thread, it only takes one or two people for things to go wrong.

 

[straitman]

I've had one flight attendant snap her fingers in front of my face because I wasn't paying attention to the safety demonstration, which, let's face it, IS the same on every Virgin Blue flight. I do know how to do up the seatbelt, pull down firmly on the oxygen mask and retrieve the lifejacket from under my seat in the case of emergency.

danwarne,

Welcome to AFF.

Let's not go down that road again of I know all about the briefing. I'm sure I could ask you a few simple questions and prove otherwise. With your attitude I'd like to ensure you sat as far as possible from an exit because in an emergency you would probably be a liability. I see it regularly :!:
... end of rant and nothing personal

 

[NYCguy]

They'd have higher or the same medical qualifications as a specialist too?

They are specialists, just by another name. Whether they refer to themselves as a 'specialist' or a 'consultant', they all have much the same qualifications, which in medicine is specialist training supervised by the appropriate professional organisation. For instance, surgical training in Australia is supervised by the College of Surgeons. Once a trainee has completed the training and passed the exams, they are admitted to Fellowship of the College. This means they can put the initials FRACS after their name on their brass plate and their business card, and set themselves up as a specialist/consultant surgeon. Their qualifications are also recognised by Medicare, et al, for billing purposes.

 

[bobbyjo_sing]

This is why I prefer to fly Qantas even if it costs a little more on the booking.

I have flown with lots of airlines for many years, I would choose Virgin Blue over Qantas any day, Obviously there is always a chance that any company can have the odd bad apple and they can in turn pass on their attitude to the people who work with them, but I have always found Virgin Blue staff to be friendly and helpful. On the other hand I have always found Qantas staff cold and supercilious.

Don't get me wrong I believe that what happened to the person with the sharps is awful and all the staff who humiliated her should be put on notice and retrained on basic pay until they can show that they get it! I would add that email is not the way to deal with these matters letters to the management with copies to the CEO that's the way to go, those are the people who get things done.

Virgin didn't get where they are today by having bad customer service, on the contrary they pride themselves on their customer service, they didn't get any government money poured into the company, did it by giving people what they want, that's good, no frills service at a price the man in the street (who doesn't have a company credit card) can afford.

Good on them for putting it right without intervention.

 

[[email protected]]

I am the person who started the thread, and thanks to everyone for clarifying the "consultant" issue for me. I used his title as I wanted to demonstrate that i had documentation from a specialist who was much higher up than a General Practitioner, which of whom they required documentation. However it was clearly evident that he is a doctor by the fact that his letterhead sates that he is DR. xx_X xx_. and the Armada of qualifications after his name were surely testimony to his experience and seniority in the medical field. Anyway, as i said, I have received a very good outcome, a promise of improvement, nothing could be better than that; after all, health is a fragile thing, and it could be any one of you that joins me as a disabled flyer one day (heaven forbid), because losing your full physical ability should not mean you have to give up your career, aspirations for success, or your love of travel. In an average year I take well over 50 flights legs annually, mostly international legs, and this is largely made possible by the open minded thinking and common courtesy shown by those in the airline industry.

 

[straitman]

bobbyjo_sing,

I understand your sentiments and reasoning however don't fully agree with your logic.

A lot of what you have said here has been chewed over at length one or more times and is available if you go through the history of the forum so I'm not about to cover it again at length.

I have flown with lots of airlines for many years, I would choose Virgin Blue over Qantas any day, Obviously there is always a chance that any company can have the odd bad apple and they can in turn pass on their attitude to the people who work with them, but I have always found Virgin Blue staff to be friendly and helpful. On the other hand I have always found Qantas staff cold and supercilious.

Peoples opinions are very subjective and what is 'friendly and helpful' or 'cold and supercilious' to one can be the opposite to someone else just as much as your perception is your reality and my perception is my reality.

Don't get me wrong I believe that what happened to the person with the sharps is awful and all the staff who humiliated her should be put on notice and retrained on basic pay until they can show that they get it! I would add that email is not the way to deal with these matters letters to the management with copies to the CEO that's the way to go, those are the people who get things done.

Whether email or snail mail is the way to go for a complaint is once again the same type of situation and maybe the real answer is a compaint method that starts out reasonably low key and is easily escalated when necessary. Email often works and just as often does not.

Virgin didn't get where they are today by having bad customer service, on the contrary they pride themselves on their customer service,

Maybe they did or did not get where they are be giving good customer service. It really doesn't matter. What matters is that they aim to give good customer service in the first instance and if they do give bad customer service that they sort it out when and as soon as there is a problem.

I'm not sure about your comment about

they didn't get any government money poured into the company, did it by giving people what they want, that's good, no frills service at a price the man in the street (who doesn't have a company credit card) can afford.

Are you implying that others have had government money poured into their companies? If you are then I'm not sure who .

DJ is no longer a traditional LCC for people without credit cards as they have moved up market. If you are looking in that direction you need to look at Tiger or Jetstar.

 

[Expon]

I'm not sure about your comment aboutAre you implying that others have had government money poured into their companies? If you are then I'm not sure who .

QANTAS is the only ariline to get defence and government contracts. Regional express gets goverment subsidies and is the highest earning airline per seat in Australia.

 

[Mal]

Regional express gets goverment subsidies and is the highest earning airline per seat in Australia.

Quite a few regional airlines get Govt subsidies - not just REX. Plus there are lucrative Govt flying contracts that do go up for grabs every now and again.

 

[Reggie]

Conceited wanker. My brother is a cardiac surgeon, and not only a 'Mister', but also a conceited wanker.

Q: What's the difference between God and a cardiac surgeon?

A: God knows he's not a cardiac surgeon...

NYCguy, I am begining to like you more and more. I might start the NYCguy fanclub, NYCguy for PM, oh sorry that jobs taken.

 

[NYCguy]

NYCguy, I am begining to like you more and more. I might start the NYCguy fanclub, NYCguy for PM, oh sorry that jobs taken.

Besides, that job doesn't pay well enough!

 

[QF WP]

Now that the original poster has had their issue resolved by Virgin Blue, I think it's time to close this thread. I have transferred the subsequent discussion about safety demonstrations to a new thead.