[Anonymous]

[Tim2soza]

Flew LGW – DLM on Friday 9th Oct (scheduled flight). Delay of 9.5 hours. No reason given. We were not allowed to go airside at Gatwick until 8pm (I however, got through at 11:45am!) We were told to go and wait in Starbucks for 9.5 hours.

No apology given when the flight eventually departed at 10:30pm.

Another nasty trick was the flight was not show up as 9.5 hours late on the airport info screens, but rescheduled to 9:30pm so that it was only 1 hour late.

My thanks to the folks at the Serviceair lounge who provided a great family area for my kids and went beyond the call of duty to look after us. My PriorityPass membership paid off big time.

My disrespect to the Virgin Kiddy lounge at Gatwick who did not want to help in any way at all (was willing to pay). Have cancelled my Virgin media account, cut up my VA Silver card and my VA Amex black card. My wife has stopped using Virgin Vie and Virgin gym, and it is East Midlands trains not Virgin Trains for me in future. I feel better!

(Return flight yesterday was on time.)

[Gin&Tonic]

Credit to Servisair, I also once had a 11 hour delay and used Prioritypass at Servisair Manchester who were brilliant. With such a delay its just nice to be able to get away from the crowds and frustration.

[Airpocket]

What a horror story, especially if you’re a parent and might have tired and hungry kids to look after. Certainly looks like while some people were the epitome of compassion, other were bordering on scum. I’ve always had a low regard for VS’s crew, in the air and on the ground, and this just further substantiates matters.
Good for you for taking a strong stance in response to VS’s dastardly behaviour.

[Tim2soza]

Thanks for the comment. It is such a shame, as VA have always provided good flights for me. But I firmly believe that if marketeers want customers to value a brand across product lines, e.g. Planes / Trains / Internet / Credit cards etc.. then a bad brand experience also cuts across the entire customer relationship.

The compassion I was asking for was not an attempt at a freebie, I was willing to pay. The lounge was not full, so this was revenue to the bottom line, something shareholders would want? (I still love VA really!)

[teribaby]

I have always found that there are 3 sides to any story,( their side, your side and the truth). You had an issue with Turkish Cyprus Airlines and yet you try to malign VS. You were never on a VS flight, but you expected their compassion.
You further stated ” The compassion I was asking for was not an attempt at a freebie, I was willing to pay. The lounge was not full, so this was revenue to the bottom line, something shareholders would want? (I still love VA really!)””

As a frequent flyer, I find your story to be unbelievable. You say you didnt want a freebie, you were willing to pay. What you were WILLING to pay may heve been the issue as I doubt that if you were going to pay the normal rate they would turn you away. Since you also make the point that the lounge was not full tells me that you were using that as a negotiating ploy for a reduced rate.
Even more incredible is the response to your dribble by Airpocket, including remarks about VS crew. I seriously doubt that you have cancelled all your virgin branded items/services just because you didnt get into a kiddy lounge, but if you did I can only imagine what your maturity level is. We have heard “your” side of the story so now I WILL WAIT FOR THE VIRGIN VERSION.

[Senator]

Dear all,
As we have previously stated, let us keep the personal attacks off the forum, and be factual in postings.

The ticket is purchased from Turkish Cyprus Airlines. This is also the operating carrier. This carrier has performance issues, and the passenger is stranded for considerable time at airport with nowhere to go.

The passenger turns to a completely different airline, and offers to pay for use of some of their services during the delay. While the passenger has some loyalty to this airline as a silver card holder, and the passenger is willing to pay for the service, this airline decides that selling partial service (lounge but no airfare) is not within policy and therefore declines the request.

Where I struggle with this is that there is an expectation even that Virgin “should” provide this service, even for a fee. Specially, when not travelling with them on a flight that day. The passenger has “no rights” and the Virgin has no “obligation” to provide this. While I can appreciate spending nine hours at the airports with children is no, fun I think we need to dial back the expectations a bit.

My philosophy is simple: the cheapest thing in the world is a question. The question is free. It is how you handle the answer that is important. So I always ask; is there perhaps a need for operational upgrades today? Do you offer free room upgrades today? May I have an emergency exit seat today? In most cases, the answer is no. While I have Gold, Platinum, Silver cards of many airlines and hotels I always ask, but never assume. If the answer is no, I thank the staff in front of me for taking the time, and walk away with a smile.

Companies have policies in place for many reasons. In this case, Virgin followed their policy. Yes, there can always be compassionate reasons for helping a fellow human out. However, I think the issue in this case is that expectations are un-realistic, and now Virgin carries all the blame for an issue with a root cause completely out of their hands.

This issue has nothing to do with VS onboard staff or VS as a company. Lounge access is a privilege, not a right and it is based on your ticketed class, operating carrier of the day (in most cases), and status.

[Airpocket]

Teribaby, if you really think you’re going to get an honest response from VS, sans corporate spin wrapped around jargon (or, should that be corporate jargon wrapped around spin?), then you’re quite deluded. I’m still waiting, months after submitting it, for them to respond to my complaint about the way they treated my elderly, wheelchair-reliant father (yes,he was actually flying VS). As I implied earlier, VS are not known for their compassion,just their meretricious (look it up the dictionary if you don’t know what it means) and vapid approach to most things, especially passenger welfare .

[JonathanCohen09]

Hi everyone,

Terribaby, I believe you could have made your point without accusing the poster of being a liar. You were not there and so I am not sure why you are so certain that what was said is not true?

Airpocket, why are the VS staff ‘bordering on scum’ for apparently just doing their jobs. You may disagree and feel that they were unhelpful but that does not make them scum. Why do you find it necessary here and in some of your other posts to use that kind of inappropriate language?

Wise words Senator, direct and to the point. It is worth pointing out that some airlines do allow their high status FFP members access to the lounge even when they are not flying with that airline. For example BA Goldcard holders and Czech Airlines Platinum card holders can access their home carriers lounges even when they are not flying with them.

Perhaps if the poster above had been at the gold level he may have been allowed in. It seems somewhat unfair to blame VS for enforcing their lounge policy, particularly given that the problem arose from a carrier with no relationship with them whatsoever. (to the best of my knowledge)

As Senator rightly said, I think that expectations in this scenario were not realistic.

[Tim2soza]

teribaby –

Thank-you for your comments. To clarify, I offered to pay full price to Virgin, and did happily pay full price to Serviceair, and had a £20 tip turned down when I exited the Serviceair lounge.

I have travelled enough to know that no-one should expect to get something for nothing, and all companies need to generate revenue and make money.

I have been really well treated by Virgin in the past; they flew me back from EWR when Silverjet went bust. But on this occasion, they were not able to help.

I posted my experience to highlight the difference between two organisations responses to my problem. I should also mention that Cafe Rouge in North Terminal were very helpful to me, and they did accept my tip!

[Tim2soza]

Senator – You make very good comments, and I thank-you for them despite not agreeing with me.

VS did not cause my problem, and I had no right to expect them to help me. I did have some expectation that my loyalty to them and to the Virgin group might have been given some consideration, but it was not. I thought I was presenting profitable custom to them.

I do believe that I have a right to place my business elsewhere if I believe their brand values did not meet my expectations. (I am not suggesting that you have said otherwise.) Others may disagree with me, and that is their right, and I respect that.

The lounge in question is a combination of entitlement and payment, in so much as you have to :

a. Be booked on a Virgin Holiday.
b. Pay £17.50 per person to enter.

I did not satisfy a., but did satisfy b.

Serviceair did however accept my payment, and really helped me out.
I think better of Serviceair and worse of Virgin (the Group, not VA.)

[Tim2soza]

I would like to say that I accept the point that my expectations of VA were more than I should have reasonably expected, based on the views of the participants of this thread.

(I hope I have not offended anyone personally in this thread.)

[Senator]

Hi,

I would be surprised with your last postings that anyone would be offended 🙂 Yes, we may disagree, but respectfully.

Happy Travels!

[Author]

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