Virgin "Business" from Bali to brisbane

[Saul Geffen]

Dear Sir / Madame


You really have no right to call the service you run from Bali a business class service


From your lounge partner in Denpasar charging me to access the Internet, to your coughpy seats with minimum recline AND NO FOOT REST, to the hair in my food. Your inflight entertainment with a screen smaller than my IPad, which froze midway through the movie which I had to listen to on 1.99$ earphones.


Just in case you think I'm anti virgin, I'm not havering flown around the world with virgin Atlantic upper class which I loved.


Jet star, star class is a way better trip and I won't use your service again it's not worth the money or points


Saul Geffen


Ps cutting one dried apricot into four pieces and putting it next to the cheese on a plate does not make a "cheese platter"

 

[straitman]

Dear Sir / Madame


You really have no right to call the service you run from Bali a business class service


From your lounge partner in Denpasar charging me to access the Internet, to your coughpy seats with minimum recline AND NO FOOT REST, to the hair in my food. Your inflight entertainment with a screen smaller than my IPad, which froze midway through the movie which I had to listen to on 1.99$ earphones.


Just in case you think I'm anti virgin, I'm not havering flown around the world with virgin Atlantic upper class which I loved.


Jet star, star class is a way better trip and I won't use your service again it's not worth the money or points


Saul Geffen


Ps cutting one dried apricot into four pieces and putting it next to the cheese on a plate does not make a "cheese platter"

Hi Saul Geffen,

Welcome to AFF.

Did you actually send this letter to Virgin or are you just having a vent here :?:

 

[yohy?!]

Not a great experience by any means - it's important to bear in mind though that Bali is a leisure destination and as such you're unlikely to find any carrier operating their best J product there simply because there is no market for it.

 

[Saul Geffen]

oh i sent it to their complaint line, posted it on fb, faxed it to their brisbane office and as soon as my secretary gets the CEO's email ill send it to him.
i was flabbergasted it was so ****

 

[pat25d]

To be fair it is Bali... I wouldn't be sending my best planes there for the bogans to vomit and sweat on.

 

[trooper]

Is that exactly how it was sent? Spelling and grammar as written here?

 

[mella2007]

Hi Saul

Did you actually read up about their J product before you flew? This sector is classed as International Short Haul and it is made quite clear on their website what the description of the seating is for this type of flight.

Sorry to hear of the problems with your food! I am not sure with partner lounge you used, however as I'm sure you know with previous lounge visits around the world, you are not necessarily guaranteed free internet access in lounges.

You cannot compare Virgin Australia to Virgin Atlantic Upper Class. They are two totally different airlines and offer very different products. If you were misled into believing you were getting Upper Class, check out both their websites which do clearly show the differences right across the board.

As for the headphones and IFE...yes sometimes the choices can be minimal, but a reset of the system normally fixes any glitches. Most business travelers do have their own headphones and wouldn't use the ones provided, as they are known to not be of a good quality.

While I am not a fan of Garuda, many people do like their J service, so perhaps you could try that next time around.

 

[MarkD]

:!:I love these guys signing up here, posting this cough, then dissappearing. Great intro to a forum, any way they can have the first 10 posts or something approved before going live?
I dont agree with the posts above though re "Its only Bali" blah blah blah, if its sold as Business Class, it should be Business class, however, given the complaint and attitude of the OP, I dont think anything would have done the job on this occasion:!:

 

[jetlagger]

Oh dear.. Doesn't sound too enticing.. Especially the apricot cheese platter

 

[Saul Geffen]

:!:I love these guys signing up here, posting this cough, then dissappearing. Great intro to a forum, any way they can have the first 10 posts or something approved before going live?
I dont agree with the posts above though re "Its only Bali" blah blah blah, if its sold as Business Class, it should be Business class, however, given the complaint and attitude of the OP, I dont think anything would have done the job on this occasion:!:

[Redacted ]. Do u think those seats are really business class?

 

[Saul Geffen]

I mentioned virgin upper class to show that I had previous good experience with the company. It in my opinion is not a business class service and shouldn't be sold as that. This forum is full of complaints about the seating in virgin planes.

 

[mella2007]

Saul, here is an explanation of the Business Seats for International Short Haul with Virgin Australia Virgin Australia's Business Class | Virgin Australia
It may not suffice your standards of a true J product, however it was they offer and what you need to expect when you book and pay

If you were flying to LAX it would be lie flat beds, similar to what you have experienced with Virgin Atlantic's Upper Class

 

[mella2007]

I mentioned virgin upper class to show that I had previous good experience with the company. It in my opinion is not a business class service and shouldn't be sold as that. This forum is full of complaints about the seating in virgin planes.

They are NOT the same company which is what I am trying to explain to you.

 

[Saul Geffen]

[Redacted] There was "no luxury headsets available " as advertised on the page you kindly provided for me. Honestly jet star, air Asia etc have a much better service. The only reason I flew this flight was it was direct and economy on way over was so crowded couldn't get to the toilet easily.

 

[mella2007]

No I don't work in the airline industry whatsoever, but I know Virgin's products very very well from extensive travel across all classes and planes.

Oh and by the way...the exact wording on their page is "Premium Headset" not luxury...what do you expect Bose Headphones to keep for free?

It was your choice to take that flight...as I said, Garuda also fly to Bali...you could try them

As for JetStar and Air Asia. Air Asia in particular is very similar pricing to a one way J with Virgin, and as you said..it's not direct, so you do need to trade off somewhere.

As for the toilet situation...what are expecting..one per row?? It is a plane, not a private hotel suite...and Upper Class on VA only has 1 toilet in J class also!!!

 

[Saul Geffen]

No I don't work in the airline industry whatsoever, but I know Virgin's products very very well from extensive travel across all classes and planes.

Oh and by the way...the exact wording on their page is "Premium Headset" not luxury...what do you expect Bose Headphones to keep for free?

It was your choice to take that flight...as I said, Garuda also fly to Bali...you could try them

As for JetStar and Air Asia. Air Asia in particular is very similar pricing to a one way J with Virgin, and as you said..it's not direct, so you do need to trade off somewhere.

As for the toilet situation...what are expecting..one per row?? It is a plane, not a private hotel suite...and Upper Class on VA only has 1 toilet in J class also!!!

I can see your not going to concede that my experience was poor. You werent there. I had bad service, that failed to match either my expectations or their claims on the web. I think my complaint is valid and I wouldn't recommend this product. As for different companies virgin Australia vs virgin other companies is hair splitting, same velocity card, same logo, same owner etc.

 

[mella2007]

And I can see you're not going to concede what you are claiming re the two airlines!! For your information...Velocity is Virgin Australia, Flying Club is Virgin Atlantic...their products are VERY different. Get your own facts right before you compare apples to oranges, which is what you're doing between VA Upper Class and DJ Business.

And if you re read my initial post to you, I told you I was sorry you had a bad experience with the food. You didn't mention bad service. Your complaint is about the food, the seat, the toilets and the headphones..
And i am even surprised you even read their website or what they offered on that run until I sent you the link.

Yes, you had a bad experience in your eyes. Did you tell the CSM you found a hair in your food? Are you sure it wasn't your own hair? Did you complain at the lounge re the internet access? Did you complain there was one toilet for you to use, or that you had to line up to use it in Economy?
You chose the direct flight, you chose to change from Economy to Business (did you even bother to look at the business seats on your way out?).

 

[markis10]

I can see your not going to concede that my experience was poor. You werent there. I had bad service, that failed to match either my expectations or their claims on the web. I think my complaint is valid and I wouldn't recommend this product. As for different companies virgin Australia vs virgin other companies is hair splitting, same velocity card, same logo, same owner etc.

The statement that Virgin Australia is the same as other companies, same owner etc, is a clear indication of your assumptions, which play a part in your experience being expressed here.

 

[munitalP]

Saul. Sorry to read of your experience. It is assumed by some that every person would know that all the Virgin groups are different companies therefore will jump down your throat or tear your jugular out at even a mention of poor service from any Virgin product. Poor form from some people to a new member to the forum.

I too struggle with this whole concept, it's like buying say a new SS Commodore and say a Vector at the same time, from the same seller only to have the Vector break down and then being told that sure its a Holden but built in our Brazil plant therefore, 1. You should have known that and 2. Don't expect the same quality as the SS. A sad but true analogy.

I also struggle that this whole you should have known better and the differing levels of standards and service concept accepted by some, particularly evident right across the forum.

 

[777]

I too struggle with this whole concept, it's like buying say a new SS Commodore and say a Vector at the same time, from the same seller only to have the Vector break down and then being told that sure its a Holden but built in our Brazil plant therefore, 1. You should have known that and 2. Don't expect the same quality as the SS. A sad but true analogy.

It's an absolutely rubbish analogy. What the hell's a Vector for a start?

Even if they were the one company is there a single airline on earth that offers the same product on short haul narrow body flights that they do on widebody long haul flights?

While i am sympathetic to the OP if he received sub standard service i find it really hard to understand how he was surprised by the hard product. From the chain of events above he flew over in economy and made a decision to upgrade on the way back. Surely he got at least a look at the business class seating?

Taking a deep breath, it appears the OP has a mixture of complaints about his assumptions (eg. the seats didn't match the Virgin Atlantic ones you get to London) and ones where he feels Virgin have failed to deliver what they have advertised (eg. hair in food, headphones, etc). If he is going make a serious complaint or beef up his argument a little he'd be wise to concentrate on those areas where Virgin have failed to deliver what they promise and not those where he made assumptions despite pretty obvious evidence to the contrary.