Ok, I was *REALLY* unhappy at Velocity (re: Partner Gold issues)

[777]

Further to my companion Gold saga outlined in an earlier thread. I just got a phone call from Velocity to advise me that not only has there been a delay in my partner gold but that i am not eligible for it at all!


According to the rules as explained by Velocity in order to get partner gold or partner platinum you need to earn an *additional* 1500 SCs *after* you have turned platinum and not simply 1500 SCs in 12 months or 1500 SCs in what was my 12 month qualifying period (which would have ended at the end of October if it had been allowed to run its course). According to the logic as explained the counter was reset when Platinum was introduced and only people who could have earned Partner Gold or Partner Platinum are people who have flown 1500 SC's since the tier was introduced. I currently have about 1600 SCs YTD but apparently for the purposes of calculating partner gold or partner platinum this means nothing.


A few complaints about this:


1. It doesn't seem true. There are some reports of AFF over people having received their partner benefits already - how could they possibly have flown 1500 SC's in less than a week?
2. It is not what i was told (see earlier thread). I was told very clearly by the call centre that not only was i eligible but that it was being processed.
3. It seems counter intuitive and not very clearly advertised as it is calculated entirely differently to the way everything else is (see notes below).
4. I particularly appreciated that this is one of the few benefits that rewards my loyalty over and above that of people that have been status matched -- i.e. it gives some advantage to the fact that i have already flown a stack of flights with Virgin in the last year -- but if that is not being taken into account i am in exactly the same position as everyone who has walked in off the street with a Mongolian airlines platinum card and been status matched. Like them i need to start from scratch to earn this benefit despite having flown with VA a zillion times.
5. There is no accounting for the fact that i could not have qualified for platinum earlier because it didn't exist or the fact that they arbritrarily reset my credits on the very day when i would have gone over 1500.


And last, but definitely not least ...


6. My wife is going to kill me! I had promised her what i thought VA had promised me and it turns out it wasn't true.

More to follow on calculaitons but suffice to say i'm pretty angry right now.

 

[oz_mark]

Hmm, so this is what the Velocity site says:

Platinum members who earn 1,500 Status Credits in their member benefit period can gift Gold membership to a companion of their choice

As a strict interpretation, I guess that means from the date you are elevated to the lofty status of Platinum. But realistically, if you did get 1500 points from the date, you would also have requalified for platinum.

It does seem a pretty tough, and not well explained, interpretation of the rules.

I am not surprised you are angry, as I don't recall anyone interpeting it that way before!

 

[Justchecking]

Well I'm really surprised because I seem to recall others posting on here that they got partner gold which does support your claim they could not possibly have earned it according to these rules. But I'm also surprised they took so long to come back to you with the bad news.

 

[connieguy]

Hmm, so this is what the Velocity site says:

As a strict interpretation, I guess that means from the date you are elevated to the lofty status of Platinum. But realistically, if you did get 1500 points from the date, you would also have requalified for platinum.

It does seem a pretty tough, and not well explained, interpretation of the rules.

I am not surprised you are angry, as I don't recall anyone interpeting it that way before!

This does not seem correct or right. I mean under SC and points family pooling, as it was explained to me in the Mel VA lounge, you could have those SCs in the family pool. You then decided to take 800 out to retain your WP. Your wife then decided to take another 500 out to gain her first time VA SG.

The way it has been explained here, the QF PG system is vastly superior and I'm sure that is not what VA intends to happen.

Maybe what VA are saying is this involves NEW SCs, earned after the WP program started and not based on carry over SCs from the past program. Either way it is not right.

Hey VR we need your help.

 

[777]

Re: the rules


I have gone through the rules since the phone conversation and they say the following:

Companion Gold membership and Platinum membership

• Platinum members who earn 1,500 Status Credits in their member benefit period can gift Gold membership to a companion of their choice
• Platinum members who qualify will be contacted by a Velocity consultant to request companion details
• If Platinum members earn 2,000 Status Credits in their member benefit period, your companion will automatically upgrade to Platinum membership

Total Benefit Period means the 12 month period from the Review Date.

As best as i can understand it the reason i have been stung is all based on the definition of "member benefit period." Under my gold status my total benefit period ran from roughly the 1st of November to the last day of October the following year. So on the day they introduced platinum i was less than 10 months into my member year and i had 1490 status credits.

I took a flight that very night (while my boarding pass still showed gold) and it tipped me over the magical 1500 SCs and i have continued racking up SCs since. I'm currently on 1590 and when the travel plans i've already made/ trips i've taken finally credit i will probably end up on about 1800-2200 SCs for what would have been my "benefit period" (i.e. the 12 months since my gold was last renewed).

Velocity appear to be arguing that on the 25th of August my old "member benefit period" was ended by them unilaterally without any warning and i immediately began a new period where for the purposes of getting partner Gold i was on zero. Even ignoring the fact that two days later they credited an additional 20 SCs for the 25th of August, i think this is wrong. Surely they shouldn't be actively discriminating against loyal customers based on the rather random fact of when their old status year started and ended? At the very least for this transitional phase the *old* earning period should be taken into account.

I know i feel pretty p'ed off right now but surely there is something fundamentally unjust about how they are adding this up?

I am hoping they will review this. In the interim let this be a warning to you all if you are chasing Partner Gold or Platinum. Anything you earnt before the day platinum status was introduced DOESN'T COUNT.

 

[connieguy]

Just checked my VA WP account. It shows my previous SCs earned prior to the WP comp but not shown as reducing my 800 SCs needed to retain.

So it would appear that SCs earned prior to the Status Match are still there but in limbo land. This might fit into why VA will not give you the PG as it looks like your SCs earned prior to obtaining WP are not included.

Houston, we may have a problem.

 

[oz_mark]

This does not seem correct or right. I mean under SC and points family pooling, as it was explained to me in the Mel VA lounge, you could have those SCs in the family pool. You then decided to take 800 out to retain your WP. Your wife then decided to take another 500 out to gain her first time VA SG.

The way it has been explained here, the QF PG system is vastly superior and I'm sure that is not what VA intends to happen.

Maybe what VA are saying is this involves NEW SCs, earned after the WP program started and not based on carry over SCs from the past program. Either way it is not right.

I was under the impression, that basically you needed 1500SC somewhere in the rolling 12 month period. It seems, however, they have found a need to align the periods for partner qualification (or maybe some other reason, but it does sound like an implementation issue of some sort). Certainly a bit of sting in the tail, that hadn't been noticed before.

 

[connieguy]

20 SCs in limbo land.



For me it is only 20 SCs but for others such as the OP, OUCH THAT HURTS especially for potential partner Gold and partner Platinum VA WPs that get their SCs wiped to zero from the WP review date minus 1 year.

VA/VR you need to fix this as this will cause your exiting FFers a lot of pain. I'm sure this is just a unintended bug, that will be sorted out very quickly.

 

[777]

Just checked my VA WP account. It shows my previous SCs earned prior to the WP comp but not shown as reducing my 800 SCs needed to retain.

So it would appear that SCs earned prior to the Status Match are still there but in limbo land. This might fit into why VA will not give you the PG as it looks like your SCs earned prior to obtaining WP are not included.

There is an irony to all this in that i've been working with our friendly VA rep here (i mean that BTW - i'm angry at the company not him!) via email to try and clean that up. Neither of us could understand why once you turned platinum it didn't show how many SCs you needed by when to reach the next milestone (eg. Partner Gold or Partner Plat) as it does with silver > gold > platinum (when it tells you how many you will lose on a rolling basis).

Turns out the reason is because the rolling TYD SCs mean nothing after you hit platinum and not because there is an IT problem! I don't think he was aware of that either.

 

[777]

OUCH THAT HURTS

Where's the crying smiley when you need it?

 

[oz_mark]

This is what it says on the Velocity website:

Companion Gold and Platinum membership Platinum members can now share Velocity benefits and rewards with a friend or family member. You can gift a Companion Gold or Companion Platinum membership once you earn an additional 1,500 or 2,000 Status Credits respectively within your membership period*.

Maybe it is the way it's supposed to work :shock:

 

[connieguy]

There is an irony to all this in that i've been working with our friendly VA rep here (i mean that BTW - i'm angry at the company not him!) via email to try and clean that up. Neither of us could understand why once you turned platinum it didn't show how many SCs you needed by when to reach the next milestone (eg. Partner Gold or Partner Plat) as it does with silver > gold > platinum (when it tells you how many you will lose on a rolling basis).

Turns out the reason is because the rolling TYD SCs mean nothing after you hit platinum and not because there is an IT problem! I don't think he was aware of that either.

Well my screen shot clearly shows the rolling 12 month bit is not working with WPs. Should be easy for the VA IT guys to fix and to make the other "SCs to go" mileage sign posts to work as well. Sure looks like WP was shoved into the VA system, without a lot of checks or Beta testing.

I mean that is OK as long as VA fixes your and other PG issues. I do know where you are coming from on that issue as I had to sell SWMBO on me splitting my flying and her not getting QF PG via me anymore. Fixed that as she can do JASA with her and my points to maintain both her QF and VA SG. That made her happy and saved my cough.

 

[777]

This is what it says on the Velocity website:

Maybe it is the way it's supposed to work :shock:

Seems to directly contradict this though:

Companion Gold membership and Platinum membership

• Platinum members who earn 1,500 Status Credits in their member benefit period can gift Gold membership to a companion of their choice
• Platinum members who qualify will be contacted by a Velocity consultant to request companion details
• If Platinum members earn 2,000 Status Credits in their member benefit period, your companion will automatically upgrade to Platinum membership

That comes from the summary of platinum benefits page.

 

[ozmille]

Seems dodgy to me... maybe someone else with the required SC's can call up to confirm?

or

paging Velocity Frequent Flyer

 

[drewbles]

This is what it says on the Velocity website:



Maybe it is the way it's supposed to work :shock:

Wow. That makes QF PG look good considering. QF only want you to get another 1200SC's!

 

[connieguy]

Terms & Conditions | Velocity Frequent Flyer

Companion Gold Membership and Companion Platinum Membership

14.20 When a Platinum Member earns 1,500 Status Credits in one Total Benefit Period, the Member is entitled to redeem a Membership upgrade to Gold Membership, for a family member or friend who is a Member (Companion Gold Membership).

14.21 When a Platinum Member earns 2,000 Status Credits in one Total Benefit Period, their nominated Companion Gold Member will automatically be upgraded to Platinum Membership (Companion Platinum Membership). If they haven’t nominated a Companion Gold Member, then they are entitled to nominate a Companion Platinum Member.

14.22 Virgin Australia may notify the Platinum Member and request your nomination of a companion for a Companion Gold Membership and Companion Platinum Membership.

14.23 Alternatively, a Platinum Member may nominate a Companion Gold Membership and a Companion Platinum Membership by calling the Velocity Frequent Flyer Membership Contact Centre at any time up until 12 months after the date you become entitled to redeem a Companion Gold Membership.

14.24 When a Member is upgraded to Companion Gold Membership or Companion Platinum Membership:

14.24.1 the nominated companion Member will be notified by email of the upgrade; and

14.24.2 the Platinum Member is unable to change the nominated companion Member, including when the Companion Gold Member is upgraded to Companion Platinum Membership, except when the nominated companion's Membership is closed due to extenuating circumstances such as death.

​

14.25 A Companion Gold Membership or Companion Platinum Membership is valid for a period of 12 months from the date of the upgrade to Companion Gold Membership or Companion Platinum Membership.

14.26 These terms and conditions apply to Companion Gold Membership and Companion Platinum Membership.

Total Benefit Period means the 12 month period from the Review Date.

Here is the stinger in the tail:

Review Date means the date 12 months after the date on which you earn sufficient Status Credits to:

(a) be upgraded to a new Membership Level; or
(b) maintain your current Membership Level.​

So a VA WP needs to earn 800 SC to requalify (which resets their Review Date) and THEN another 1,500 SCs to earn PG (2,300 SCs in total) and 2,000 SCs (2,800 SCs in total) to earn PP.

However if every retain event (when you earn 800 SCs) resets your Review Date (as above), it is then impossible to ever obtain PG or PP.

VA you have a problem.

 

[Travel Guru]

And last, but definitely not least ...


6. My wife is going to kill me! I had promised her what i thought VA had promised me and it turns out it wasn't true.

That's the one I'd be most worried about...good luck with smoothing that one over.

TG

 

[drewbles]

Terms & Conditions | Velocity Frequent Flyer






Here is the stinger in the tail:




[/INDENT]

​

Am I then right in understanding that you would only need the 'extra' 1500SC's in the first year? eg:

Review date: 25 August
Status at this date: Platinum
SC's on 26 August: 0
*earns 1500/2000SC's before next review date*
*companion gold/platinum obtained*
Come next review date, if you have 1500/2000SC's your companion will keep their Gold/Platinum

Still it's a big sting, but it's not so bad if it's just the first year...

 

[LiamR]

Absoutley not 1500SCs after you reach Platinum. This is 100% incorrect.

Many people I've spoken to that are on 1600ish points already have Partner Gold arranged for them, so whoever told you this is completely wrong.

 

[connieguy]

Absoutley not 1500SCs after you reach Platinum. This is 100% incorrect.

Many people I've spoken to that are on 1600ish points already have Partner Gold arranged for them, so whoever told you this is completely wrong.

That is not that the T&Cs say. VA have a problem as the T&C very clearly say the members Review Date is reset to the next 12 months whenever they earn enough SC to requalify. That way they can never earn PG or PP.

VA needs to reword their T&Cs as if their IT systems follows the T&Cs there will never be any PG or PPs.

My posted screen shot clearly shows the SCs I earned in the last 12 months are not being credited as against my WP requalify. This agrees with the T&Cs.

Had I earned WP via SCs, then my current total would now be zero as I have entered a new Review year.

What VA need to do is to alter the Review Date definition to say the review date does NOT reset when the member requalifies. That way then the member earns 1,500 SCs, in their current year, they will get PG.