Virgin - Disappointing service...

[prozac]

I had been looking forward to my first flight courtesy of American Express Plat Edge free annual flight. Arranged this on the cusp so that both my wife and I received the free flight. We booked the flight back in February to travel on 2nd September for a 5 day holiday to Hervey Bay, 3 of those on Lady Elliot Island. It was our wedding anniversary.

The shuttle drops us off at SYD in plenty of time for check-in. The queues are long and there is no-one manning the check-in counters. Never mind we have time up our sleeve. After 5-6 minutes 2 staff commence checking in passengers. The process is taking so long that it took all of 45 minutes to get to the counter. The calls commence after a while for passengers on closing flights to come to the head of the queue. Good organisation. So we check in and proceed direct to boarding area where we wait to be called. So far so good. We are directed to board not to the right via the boarding bridge but to the left, down the stairs and out onto the tarmac. We are alone and when we step out onto the tarmac there is no indication of where to go. We could wander anywhere if we wanted. Back up the stairs we ask the cabin attendant if she has directed us the right way as there is no process in place to board via the rear door. Aggitated with us she is adamant we return back down the stairs. Back on the tarmac we proceed toward the tail of the a/c. We are confronted by ground crew who asks what we are doing and directs us back up the stairs. Arriving at the top of the stairs the door is locked and no-one in sight. I bang on the door and call out. There is no one around and boarding has finished. Finally a CA arrives and roundly abuses us for creating a noise. I am about to give it back but decide I would rather board the flight than be detained.

Flight was uneventful.

We arrive in Hervey Bay and wait for the carousel to spit out our one piece of luggage. As everyone departs we realise there isn't anymore luggage. Over to check-in we are told that the bag was not loaded in Sydney. They can get it up to us at midday tomorrow. We fly out Lady Elliot in the morning. What are we going to do today, tonight, and for a day on Lady Elliot without any gear? We have only booked Lady Elliot for 3 nights and it is not cheap. This is turning into a nightmare holiday.

The manager of LEI happens past and is supportive and helpful but tells us we cannot swim nude on the island.

Utimately Virgin agree to tranship our bag up on Qantas, if we are willing to take the risk. Risk? Virgin have aleady mishandled the bag, it can't get much worse. Qantas will arrive around 1800 and our shuttle driver has said he will deliver it to our motel. That night the bag arrived at our motel in time for us to get cleaned and changed so that we could go out for dinner. It was frustrating not able to hit the water that day and to be stuck wandering around in travelling clobber but it could have been worse. It was great the people in Hervey Bay were so helpful.

As far as flights go the whole Virgin experience was a disaster. It is a pity Amex changed it's carrier.

 

[medhead]

Sounds terrible. I would have taken the right lane the second time.

 

[lovestotravel]

If you didn't actually want/need to be anywhere, I would have wandered around the tarmac until you were spotted..

Of course it would be a bit messy for a while, but I would have played the "we got lost routine" and VA and contractors would have been in some strife

Plus you'd even make the news!

 

[marki]

Yes this is virgin first class treatment familiar to me.

Sorry to hear it.

 

[UP4014]

If you didn't actually want/need to be anywhere, I would have wandered around the tarmac until you were spotted..

Of course it would be a bit messy for a while, but I would have played the "we got lost routine" and VA and contractors would have been in some strife

Plus you'd even make the news!

And snap a few plane shots for us back at AFF.

 

[prozac]

Sounds terrible. I would have taken the right lane the second time.

It never occured to me at the time. I am a pretty low maintenance passenger, however I am a quick learner and will stick to my guns next time. The hostie was pretty forceful...

If you didn't actually want/need to be anywhere, I would have wandered around the tarmac until you were spotted..

Of course it would be a bit messy for a while, but I would have played the "we got lost routine" and VA and contractors would have been in some strife

Plus you'd even make the news!

Considering the fuss CASA make about air and ground crew displaying their ASIC the right way round (they are one sided i.d. cards) I was just a little surprised that we could access the tarmac in this fashion. If we could do this, then how easily could someone (a terrorist) do it with some planning?

 

[medhead]

It never occured to me at the time. I am a pretty low maintenance passenger, however I am a quick learner and will stick to my guns next time. The hostie was pretty forceful...

I'm probably thinking more along the lines of ignoring the hostile and just taking the other route. As in "yeah ok" then walk in the opposite direction.

 

[AdMEL]

Pretty poor! Don't think I've experienced anything like that on any airline, let alone Virgin.

You do realise that Plat Edge includes insurance cover for delayed luggage? From their terms and conditions:

3. Luggage delay checked on Scheduled Flight
If during a Trip, Your accompanying luggage checked on the Scheduled Flight is not delivered within six
(6) hours of Your arrival at the scheduled destination point of Your flight, We will reimburse You for the
emergency purchase of essential clothing and toiletries up to $500 incurred at such scheduled destination.
4. Extended luggage delay checked on Scheduled Flight
If during a Trip, Your accompanying luggage checked on the Scheduled Flight is not delivered to You within
forty-eight (48) hours of Your arrival at the scheduled destination point (not being Your place of residence)
of Your flight, We will reimburse You for the emergency purchase of essential clothing and toiletries up to
an additional $500 incurred at such scheduled destination.

So you would have been able to purchase some replacement clothes in a worst case scenario.

 

[prozac]

I'm probably thinking more along the lines of ignoring the hostile and just taking the other route. As in "yeah ok" then walk in the opposite direction.

Next time. It is pretty daunting finding yourself locked in a stairwell after everyone else has boarded. Different if one was flying for work of-course.

 

[prozac]

Pretty poor! Don't think I've experienced anything like that on any airline, let alone Virgin.

You do realise that Plat Edge includes insurance cover for delayed luggage? From their terms and conditions:



So you would have been able to purchase some replacement clothes in a worst case scenario.

No I didn't but thank you for pointing that out. Whilst I do not expect this to happen again (I have never lost or had bags delayed even to ex Soviet states including multiple airline changes) it is handy to know. I could do with some new clobber too.

Not having our luggage was the icing on the cake of an overall very ordinary experience with Virgin. It was not like they fell down in just one area of service, it was across the board.

 

[AdMEL]

No I didn't but thank you for pointing that out. Whilst I do not expect this to happen again (I have never lost or had bags delayed even to ex Soviet states including multiple airline changes) it is handy to know. I could do with some new clobber too.

No worries. On this topic, other cards, including Westpac Black, include some domestic insurance for delayed flights and luggage, but from what I understand, Amex Plat Edge is the most generous, so if purchasing domestic flights on a card, might be worth using Plat Edge.

 

[grubbidok]

Sorry to hear your story, it is always frustrating having luggage hiccups. However, some kudos to VA for them for being flexible to arrange bringing it up on another airline. I've had a lot of luggage misplaced by QF and the best I've ever received was a 'tough luck, come back tomorrow', even when they've had a number of flights still to arrive (as well as others), and often refuse to bring it in the first few flights the next morning as well.

I realise this doesn't excuse them for losing it in the first place, but it does happen sometimes and at least they did all they could to rectify it, and a hell of a lot more than most airlines would.

 

[UP4014]

Sorry to hear your story, it is always frustrating having luggage hiccups. However, some kudos to VA for them for being flexible to arrange bringing it up on another airline. I've had a lot of luggage misplaced by QF and the best I've ever received was a 'tough luck, come back tomorrow', even when they've had a number of flights still to arrive (as well as others), and often refuse to bring it in the first few flights the next morning as well.

I realise this doesn't excuse them for losing it in the first place, but it does happen sometimes and at least they did all they could to rectify it, and a hell of a lot more than most airlines would.

Perhaps you could give some examples of your 'had a lot of luggage misplaced by QF'. They have a record of 99% returned within 48 hours for domestic. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, I'm just always interested in the facts behind these type of general comments such as an actual number rather than "lots".

I have had a bag miss a flight and QF certainly did not tell me tough luck come back tomorrow, it was delivered to my hotel.

Ta

 

[hydrogen1]

Sorry to hear about your disappointing experience prozac!

I also like to think of myself as a low maintenance passenger. I too had a disappointing experience (nothing like yours though). I was travelling for work, so my boss encouraged me to write to VA, as he considered my experience to be unacceptable. However I have not heard back from them yet (refer to the 'Guest Relations response time' thread). For those who are interested, my experience is below.

------------------------------

On a flight from SYD to BNE, I was one of the first people to board the aircraft. I managed to score seat 4F too, which meant that I could get off the aircraft quicker than I usually do and get to the hotel while there was some sunlight...or so I had thought. When I got to my seat, a lady and her son (I think) were already seated in 4D and 4E. The lady in 4D said that she could not get up as she required a wheelchair and mentioned that I had to climb over her and her son in order to get to 4F. I looked around for the cabin crew to see if there was a way around this, but they were busy doing other things. The queue was building up behind me and so I felt pressure to climb over them. I felt so guilty because they were both really nice people. Lucky I wasn't wearing a dress that day!

After the aircraft landed at BNE, all passengers disembarked and the lady and her son had to wait for someone to bring a wheelchair to help them disembark. I was obviously the last person to get off the aircraft. One cabin crew member apologised to me twice. I exited the aircraft via the mobile stairs at the front of the aircraft. However, there was no one available on the tarmac to direct me to the terminal. I was confused and didn’t know where to go. There was no one around to help, so I walked up the ramp closes to the aircraft to try and get inside the terminal. The two glass doors at the top of the ramp were locked. I had to knock on the door a couple of times to get someone's attention. A staff member heard the noise and opened the door with a surprised look on his face. He asked me why I was on the other side of the doors. I explained to him that I was seated next to people who required special assistance, that I was the last person to disembark the aircraft and that no one was available on the tarmac to help me get inside the terminal. So much for sitting in 4F...it was quite dark when I got to the hotel.

 

[eastwest101]

To the OP and hydrogen1 - agree that this stuff need feedback to VA. They seem to have an issue with boarding and deboarding aircraft creeping into their system. As far as the OP is concerned - I would certainly be giving them negative feedback about the check-in experience at SYD, positive feedback for getting your bags onto a QF flight (so that someone gets a pat on the back for fixing this) and negative feedback from both for being allowed to walk around the tarmac unescorted. I have almost been caught out as one of the last to leave a VA flight at BNE also.....

As many others have said - the exception seems to be everything usually runs alright with VA once you're on board or at the VA lounges, but some of their other areas have some issues with staff.

Its not just limited to VA though - I recently saw JQ try to board an A321 at MEL with a wheelchair passenger not boarded at the front door before general boarding commenced, with a huge queue forming at the front stairs awaiting this process to be completed, they tried to herd people through to the rear stairs but then the front door was available for boarding and chaos ensued inside the aircraft. It was very amateurish and meant that a flight that was boarded early resulted in leaving late due to poor planning and communication.

 

[grubbidok]

Perhaps you could give some examples of your 'had a lot of luggage misplaced by QF'. They have a record of 99% returned within 48 hours for domestic. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, I'm just always interested in the facts behind these type of general comments such as an actual number rather than "lots".

I have had a bag miss a flight and QF certainly did not tell me tough luck come back tomorrow, it was delivered to my hotel.

Ta

Fair enough. Most have occurred on connecting flights, most often the BNE-SYD-CBR route when the university decided in their wisdom that was a better option than flying me direct. That little hiccup occurred five times (out of about 20 sectors) and I fully acknowledge the attitude could simply be CBR ground staff rather than QF. 'Tough luck' was in fact a direct quote though. I have had similar problems in ROK and MKY as well. If you flick through my history you'll see the way QF has handled issues has been a bigger reason for me moving to VA rather than the issues themselves (baggage hiccups happen, but how the airline deals with hiccups is incredibly important). I've also had bags go missing on a number from international flights (LHR; EZE; LAX) and these were, to QFs credit, delivered within 48 hours (usually close to 48hrs rather than the 6hrs it took for the OP to be reunited). As it was returning home the 2 day wait wasn't an issue, but it really could have been if I depended on the luggage.

As for details: QF CNB did offer to send it to my hotel, but not until the next evening after I would have checked out. The whole purpose of the trip was to do fieldwork in rural NSW, so I was staying one night and leaving early in the morning. They refused to send the luggage to the hotels I booked to stay at in rural NSW (foggy memory, but I think Harden, Bombala, Temora, Gundagai... and some others) as these were no longer 'in the airport area'. 3 times this had to be sent back to BNE, 2 times I had to wait at the airport for >4hrs to be able to pick my stuff up before driving off (as they gave me the 'first three flights' as the most detailed description of what time the bag would come). FWIW VA also ballsed up baggage for me on a BNE-SYD-ABX route during my PhD too. But they had my bags at the Glendale Park Motel in Holbrook by that evening.

Bags go missing sometimes, that's a part of travel. I was simply saying that, although they shouldn't have made it in the first place, I thought VA handled their mistake with some class. Not only did they reunite the OP with their baggage within 6hrs, they did so through flexibility on their part by putting it on QF.

I have to disagree with you on one point though - using 'within 48 hours' as an acceptable benchmark for reuniting with luggage just doesn't cut it for domestic, no matter which airline you are. The OP would have had his whole trip ruined if that was deemed 'acceptable'.

 

[pauly7]

Sorry to hear about your disappointing experience prozac!

I also like to think of myself as a low maintenance passenger. I too had a disappointing experience (nothing like yours though). I was travelling for work, so my boss encouraged me to write to VA, as he considered my experience to be unacceptable. However I have not heard back from them yet (refer to the 'Guest Relations response time' thread). For those who are interested, my experience is below.

------------------------------

On a flight from SYD to BNE, I was one of the first people to board the aircraft. I managed to score seat 4F too, which meant that I could get off the aircraft quicker than I usually do and get to the hotel while there was some sunlight...or so I had thought. When I got to my seat, a lady and her son (I think) were already seated in 4D and 4E. The lady in 4D said that she could not get up as she required a wheelchair and mentioned that I had to climb over her and her son in order to get to 4F. I looked around for the cabin crew to see if there was a way around this, but they were busy doing other things. The queue was building up behind me and so I felt pressure to climb over them. I felt so guilty because they were both really nice people. Lucky I wasn't wearing a dress that day!

After the aircraft landed at BNE, all passengers disembarked and the lady and her son had to wait for someone to bring a wheelchair to help them disembark. I was obviously the last person to get off the aircraft. One cabin crew member apologised to me twice. I exited the aircraft via the mobile stairs at the front of the aircraft. However, there was no one available on the tarmac to direct me to the terminal. I was confused and didn’t know where to go. There was no one around to help, so I walked up the ramp closes to the aircraft to try and get inside the terminal. The two glass doors at the top of the ramp were locked. I had to knock on the door a couple of times to get someone's attention. A staff member heard the noise and opened the door with a surprised look on his face. He asked me why I was on the other side of the doors. I explained to him that I was seated next to people who required special assistance, that I was the last person to disembark the aircraft and that no one was available on the tarmac to help me get inside the terminal. So much for sitting in 4F...it was quite dark when I got to the hotel.

I'm sorry that story just had me on the floor laughing. What a comedy of errors.... How awkward to be locked out of the terminal!

Empathetically though I too would have been embarrassed and annoyed.... Pretty poor service (in both occasions) from VA again.

 

[hydrogen1]

It could have been a Seinfeld episode!

 

[JohnK]

Sorry to hear. That type of service is poor.

 

[Danger]

Has the Virgin rep on AFF been AWOL of late?