problem after a seat upgrade on virgin

steveo3002

recently paid to upgrade on the lax to london flight , £150 for an exit seat

got on the plane and entertainment system is broken , so a pretty lousy upgrade . i mentioned it to the stewardess and she said you can get a refund if you write in

well ive written in and they refuse to refund me on the basis that i still got my legroom , theyre offering up 4000 airmiles which isnt worth a poop

any thoughts ? would you want a refund ,£150 is a fair amount of money to me right now

would my credit card comapny accept it as a chargeback?

geordieracer

Your paying for the seat though are you not? Not the £150 for the entertainment.. Id take the extra miles as i cant see you getting much more if im honest

richardw

Did you sleep much on the flight?

Perhaps ask for more miles if more would be useful to you.

steveo3002

miles arent worth nothing to me really , the upgradable flights are so expensive its not worth doing

LEJC

We convert miles to virgin vouchers...I think 12000= £50 which we then use towards another holiday

I agree 4000 miles isn't a lot but I guess its something

I doubt you could use CC Charge back...afterall you did get the seat...its not as if they charged you and then gave the seat to someone else

ferf1223

sorry, but I have to agree with Virgin...the upgrade was to a seat with extra legroom which you did have...entertainment systems can fail in any seat (it's why we bring our own)...and miles can have some value - miles+money fares are sometimes reasonable value - not always, but sometimes you can get decent amount off the fare booking M+M.

photome

If they refund you the £150 how much should they refund people in economy whoes entertainment doesnt work?.

There would be a lot of refunds on every flight if they did


Why would a chargeback work? You got the seat you paid for, I am sure your CC company wont entertain a chargeback

_Andy_

They won't refund you and quite rightly shouldn't. The exit row charge is for the legroom.
4k miles for faulty IFE is pretty standard.
Not what you want to hear but there is no wrong-doing/cause for refund.

budgetflyer

I think id be a bit miffed too. Part of the point of choosing Virgin or any other long haul airline is the complete flying experience. Thats the seat, the food, the service and the in flight entertainment.
In fact Virgin have a whole webpage telling you EXACTLY what to expect when you take one of their long haul flights.
http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/en/gb/whatsonboard/economy/index.jsp

ECONOMY CLASS
Here at Virgin Atlantic we like to stand out from the crowd. That's why when you fly Economy you can expect not only great service from our dedicated cabin crew, but other nice things onboard too. So wherever you are off to, you can sit back and relax knowing that we will ensure you have a really enjoyable flight.

DELICIOUS FOOD AND DRINK
There is such a thing as a free lunch. All meals are complimentary and we offer a free bar service as well. On some flights we offer a movie treat as you sit back and enjoy your own seatback TV. We can even tailor our catering for some specific dietary requirements that you may have, such as Kosher or gluten free. We'll need a bit of notice, so let us know what you need via Manage Your Flights online.

SEATS AND ENTERTAINMENT

We think you'll find our seats pretty comfortable, with adjustable headrests and lumbar supports and moveable armrests. Every seat has its own seatback TV with a choice of channels to keep everyone entertained throughout the flight. We're dedicated to bringing you the very latest movies, comedy, sports, drama and kids shows. On many of our flights, the seats also come with their own video games console with up to 35 games.

Like, imagine paying for business class and getting a big fat seat and nothing else.No IFE, no drinks, ran out of food and the cabin crew chewed your head off. "its the big fat seat you are paying for only" just wouldn't cut it with me Im afraid

ferf1223

I would be miffed too, though it would be offset by the fact that I have had IFE fail enough times on several airlines that I just bring my own - but the OP didn't pay for an upgrade for in-flight entertainment (IFE is provided in standard economy seats too)...but my miffedness would be based on only that - not on the upgrade...he paid for an upgrade for legroom which he got. Was the IFE in his original seat working? Regardless, IFE fails on aircraft all the time...it's annoying, but it happens...sometimes one seat - sometimes a row or section, sometimes the entire plane.

And if you had paid for a business class seat and all of the things you list happened - you would very likely receive a refund of some sort...but it's not really the same sort of situation as this, is it? Paid for an exit row seat (only benefit - extra legroom)...got extra legroom.

Airline food is rarely part of the overall experience...at least not a positive part. To us in general it exists to relieve hunger and, to some extent, boredom...

joerugby

Most people sleep from LAX to LHR - take the miles!