Flight delay and cancellation compensation, Virgin Atlantic ONLY

David_e

matttray2007 wrote: »

myself and my family was also on the delayed flight vs073 on 24th april 2009 and wondered if anybody has been successful in getting compensation back from virgin:D

Have you searched the forum? Im any event, it's quite possible that they would still refuse a claim even if they had paid others.

Read the FAQs if you want to assess your case and understand the legal process. Alternatively, speak to a no win no fee firm.

Vauban

The excellent Facebook page "Monarch Complaints" is reporting that Virgin is now paying out on cases previously stayed by the Huzar judgement.

WillowFae

VA have confirmed today that they are paying us compensation - VA016 Orlando-Heathrow - Oct 2012

Morphology

manta2010 wrote: »

Our family was on flight VS066 from Montego Bay to Gatwick on the 1st June 2014. The flight was cancelled due to the second A/C unit breaking down , The Capitain told us the first one broke when flying from Gatwick, So a problem was known. As there are only 3 A/C units he could not fly until it was repaired. We were put up in a hotel for 1 night along with all the other passengers.14:00 The following day buses turned up to take us back to the airport where we were told the plane was repaired and ready to go at 17:45. After we had checked in we were then told the plane was not repaired but they are still working on it. By 19:00 the air conditioning broke in the airport and they had run out of bottled water and telling us absolutley nothing of what was happening or even if the flight was going to be canceled again. With all the heat building up in the airport, angry passengers not knowing what was happening and a Virgin staff member grinning at people getting aggravated, Things got out of control. Police were called as peoples aggression was getting worse then a fight broke out between passengers. Absolute nightmare which Virgin Atlantic caused. The delay made my 16 year old Daughter miss a very important resit of her English GCSE Exam, Now she has been told she can't re-sit it. I am filling out a compensation form and I am wondering if my chances are good or will Virgin just ignore it.
Thanks

A similar thing happened to us in March 2013 (See Post number 162 in this thread, posted by me on 17 April 2013).

We went through the complaints procedure with Virgin, who gave us the stock reply of "This was due to Extraordinary Circumstances" it seems they can use this as a reason not to pay out compensation for delays.

They offered us air miles.

We refused and continued to insist that it wasn't Extraordinary Circumstances and that we should be compensated.

Virgin continued to refuse, so on 14th May 2013 we filed a complaint with the CAA.

By 1st Jan 2014 we had heard nothing back from the CAA so I chased them

On 24th Jan 2014 the CAA got back to me to say that they had reviewed the case and it was their opinion that Virgin couldn't use the "Extraordinary Circumstances" exception and the airline should pay compensation.

However, they said that "However, we are not an ombudsman scheme and we are unable to impose a solution on an airline." and that it was up to me to take further action in court.

I forwarded the CAA's opinion on to Virgin, but heard nothing back.

Then, out of the blue, towards the end of June 2014 a cheque arrived for the equivalent of €600 from Virgin, with a letter saying that "The CAA, with full support of Virgin Atlantic, assessed the circumstances that caused the delay to your flight. Their opinion is that, on this occasion, the situation did not represent 'Extraordinary Circumstances'. As such we have overturned our previous outcome..."

Now, I'm not sure whether any of the other passengers actually took Virgin to court to force that judgement. I certainly didn't, nor did I serve a Notice Before Action, though I did threaten that I would.

I'm not sure how many other passengers on the flight received compensation, but I suspect it was only those who went through a similar process to myself.

So. Definitely fill out the complaints form. That is the first step, and unless you do that you will be unlikely to get anywhere.

Bad news about your daughter's exam. My motorhome missed its MOT & Service, but that's nowhere near as serious.

jimbowen_2

***Currently on Mail Online***

Virgin Atlantic pays £47,000 compensation to passengers who set up Facebook group to complain about 26-HOUR flight delay
Holidaymakers were delayed on flight VS16 in October 2012

spikey001

spikey001 wrote: »

I had a letter from Virgin this morning some weeks after I sent them my letter of intentions regarding court action.

RE: Flight VS075 21 October 2010

Thank you for your recent correspondence. Please accept my apologies for our delayed response and be assured no discourtesy was intended.

Further to our letter dated 30 October 2013, we have given information regarding this flight to the civil aviation authority to establish their views in respect of the EU legislation EC261/2004. Their view is that, in this case only and under these specific circumstances only, the disruption was due to extraordinary circumstances. In view of this we will continue to decline your request for compensation.




Next stop MCOL I feel ! Original fault was a faulty valve in the de-icer on one engine that took nearly 5 hours to fix while we all sat in the plane like cattle, on the apron with hardly any acknowledgement that we existed.

The sad thing is, if Virgin had been brave enough to admit some sort of liability and also offered some small gesture to us in the form of a letter of apology and a small voucher. I wouldn't have even bothered going for compensation. I know of one other person on this flight who has been successful with their court action so it's only a matter of time and a matter of further expense for Virgin.

Just checked on MCOL and Virgin have elected to defend :rotfl:

David_e

spikey001 wrote: »

Just checked on MCOL and Virgin have elected to defend

I wouldn't worry. They posted a defence for mine but settled before it got to court.

spikey001

David_e wrote: »

I wouldn't worry. They posted a defence for mine but settled before it got to court.

I've just had their defence through - in a nutshell they are saying that I cannot claim for four people only for myself as I have no standing to bring a representative action. For the actual cause for the delay they are still maintaining EC due to a faulty anti ice valve in the engine.

Probably a good idea for me to set this all out in the taking airlines to court thread as I could do with some wisdom & experience on the response I need to supply.

Heres the thread; http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=65998114&postcount=412

lees6655

Hi just wondered if anybody has been successful in getting compensation for flight VSO74 on the 7 june 2013 which was delayed for 25 hours due to pilot illness

111KAB

Copy of letter (with personal details omitted) from Virgin to a claimant ...



Dear xxxxx

Re: Claim No xxxxxx

I write further to the General Form of Judgment or Order dated xx/xx/xxxx.

As you are aware, the claim is stayed pending the outcome of the Huzar v Jet2.com hearing at the Court of Appeal.

The Court of Appeal upheld the previous decision made at Manchester County Court and the appeal was unsuccessful.

Jet2.com have indicated that they will be appealing this decision to the Supreme Court, however, it is unlikely that the decision regarding whether Jet2.com have permission to appeal will be known for some weeks.

In view of the above, and in the absence of any concrete confirmation of a further appeal, we have decided, as a gesture of goodwill, to settle relevant claims that were stayed pending the Court of Appeal decision.

In this respect, I would be grateful if you would sign the enclosed Consent Order. This confirms acceptance of our offer of £xxxx.xx in full and final settlement of your claim. This is the amount as claimed in accordance with Regulation 261/2014 and includes your court costs. It covers claims for yourself and xxxx .

Once I have received the signed Order back, we can then arrange for a cheque to be sent to you and we will also write to the Court with a copy of the Consent Order confirming that the claim has been settled.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely

Linda Thorpe
Claims Manager