Flight delay and cancellation compensation, Virgin Atlantic ONLY

twinslog

Hi everyone and thank you for your previous responses to my post.

To recap - our flight from London to Jo'berg on 15/11/2007 was delayed by more than 12 hours. At the time we were told it was due to a technical fault and we had to wait for the part to be flown in.

Here is my problem: I sent off the claim forms for my husband and I on 18 January 2013. Got the standard reply saying we would have a response in 6-12 weeks. I phoned after 14 weeks to be told it was now 16 weeks. I then wrote to them three weeks ago asking for an update and threatening to send an NBA letter. I still haven't received anything - acknowledgement or otherwise.

Can I still send an NBA letter without having had an "explanation" from Virgin Atlantic? Is the delay in responding grounds alone for a small claim? I expect they are stringing this out but getting a little ridiculous now and five months for a response is unreasonable. But I feel I would be submitting a "blind" claim.

Thanks for your help!

Lil_Me_2

twinslog wrote: »

Hi everyone and thank you for your previous responses to my post.

To recap - our flight from London to Jo'berg on 15/11/2007 was delayed by more than 12 hours. At the time we were told it was due to a technical fault and we had to wait for the part to be flown in.

Here is my problem: I sent off the claim forms for my husband and I on 18 January 2013. Got the standard reply saying we would have a response in 6-12 weeks. I phoned after 14 weeks to be told it was now 16 weeks. I then wrote to them three weeks ago asking for an update and threatening to send an NBA letter. I still haven't received anything - acknowledgement or otherwise.

Can I still send an NBA letter without having had an "explanation" from Virgin Atlantic? Is the delay in responding grounds alone for a small claim? I expect they are stringing this out but getting a little ridiculous now and five months for a response is unreasonable. But I feel I would be submitting a "blind" claim.

Thanks for your help!

Yes, send a NBA letter. I waited 17 weeks before sending my NBA and I then got a response with the details of what they considered to be their extraordinary circumstances.

twinslog

Great, thank you for that.

One more point -I have been trying to find whether there is a specific address to send the NBA to at Virgin Atlantic as all I have is the EU Claims address.

Again, thanks for help!

Lil_Me_2

I used the EU claims addy -

Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd
EU Application
PO Box 4525
Dunstable
LU6 9QT

I was also kind enough to email them a copy to Customer.relations@fly.virgin.com (getting an automated received email back )

twinslog

Thanks, I have also emailed them a copy of the letter as per your suggestion. Let's see what happens but am not holding my breath!

Joolz2308

twinslog wrote: »

Hi everyone and thank you for your previous responses to my post.

To recap - our flight from London to Jo'berg on 15/11/2007 was delayed by more than 12 hours. At the time we were told it was due to a technical fault and we had to wait for the part to be flown in.

Here is my problem: I sent off the claim forms for my husband and I on 18 January 2013. Got the standard reply saying we would have a response in 6-12 weeks. I phoned after 14 weeks to be told it was now 16 weeks. I then wrote to them three weeks ago asking for an update and threatening to send an NBA letter. I still haven't received anything - acknowledgement or otherwise.

Can I still send an NBA letter without having had an "explanation" from Virgin Atlantic? Is the delay in responding grounds alone for a small claim? I expect they are stringing this out but getting a little ridiculous now and five months for a response is unreasonable. But I feel I would be submitting a "blind" claim.

Thanks for your help!

I sent my NBA without getting a reply to the claim forms. I then commenced court proceedings without getting a reply to my NBA. The first response I got from Virgin was acknowledging service and stating they were going to defend my claim in full.

Then, 2 weeks later, I got a cheque for the full amount claimed! Still no explanation on why the plane was delayed though!

Joolz

Kevtamuk

Centipede100 wrote: »

You are correct it doesn't form a valid defence. The claim would be for 300 euros per passenger in your case.

Thanks for confirming - we will proceed and see what happens

Daisysmom

Ive just submitted our forms online to MCOL so watch out Virgin Im coming to get ya!!!!

Fingers crossed that I don't have to go to court!!! xxxxxx

Thanks to all you lovely people that have provided us with help, advice and support ... its much appreciated xxxxxx

Will keep u all posted xxxxx

iforem01

Quick update on my case......Virgin have filed a defence with the Court. Virgin's defence states that burning was smelt in the cabin, so they diverted to Nova Scotia.
During diversion the plane was hit by lightning, which would also require investigation for damage.
Air Canada's engineers investigated the fault, but could not determine cause of the burning smell.
Virgin had to fly out their staff and enginners from JFK to assist with repairs.
Crew had to work within their legal flying hours and the time it took to resolve the issue was longer than their hours (Virgin staff were off the plane and in buses to hotels as soon as the plane reached the gate, so an overnight stay had already been decided upon).
Cause of the smell was a defective fluorescent light above the toilet door.

Judging by replies above, Virgin seem to be defending a number of cases now.

Would appreciate furthers views on validity of our case.
I assume you can go for mediation, without charge, before deciding to go to court?

David_e

twinkletoes00 wrote: »

reply from virgin. ... We regret to advise that we have declined your claim on the grounds that the cause of delay was extraordinary circumstances beyond our control and could not have been avoided even though all reasonable measures had been taken. In our case the aircraft that was scheduled to operate your flight encountered an unexpected technical problem with the main landing gear prior to departure. Our engineers worked proactively to rectify the problem but the fix proved to be quite complex and lengthy. In order to minimise the disruption to your journey we arranged for an alternative aircraft to operate instead. However the replacement aircraft was undergoing its routine and regulatory maintenance checks so we had no choice but to operate your flight the following day when the replacement aircraft became available.

None of that looks "extraordinary" to me.

twinkletoes00 wrote: »

I decided that I would do the no win no fee as I do not have a clue how to take on virgin myself but euclaims say that they will not take on due to Fog visabilty was less than a certain level that day. (we know that this was nothing to do with it as virgin had already confirmed reason in their letter)

Did you point this out to euclaims? Have you tried others? For 600 Euros a person, I would persist,