Flight delay and cancellation compensation, Virgin Atlantic ONLY

Lawe

noddy1976 wrote: »

Hi
New to the world of forums, but I was wondering if anyone has had the same waffle back from Virgin as our family in 2 separate responses.
Similar to post #3 by gadders we were told that our flight back from Orlando to Gatwick (VS0016 May 10th 2012) was delayed (6 hrs) due to an engine thrust reverser that would not stow, do not have the parts there, blah blah blah, "extraordinary circumstance", goodbye.
We found it odd that they could also mention in the reply that the fault happened on a previous service at one of their outstations, no plane turned up in Orlando close to the scheduled departure time and yet there is nothing to be accountable for.
With 2 young children in tow and being delayed into the next day with not enough supplies for the kids(luggage checked in) in an airport closing down for the night, $9 food vouchers each where the food court is closing too just is not good enough.
Has anyone had a similar reply or any success in getting compensation from Virgin?
Might have to go to the top rather than customer services.

Thanks
Noddy

Now we where on VS15 10/05/2012 that started this all off which landed 352 minutes late. Dep 18:24 vice 13:00 Arr 22:57 vice 17:05 (US time)
While I did not get specific answers like yours I did have a tweet from VA: I've asked my colleagues & it seems this is a knock-on delay from another flight that's stuck in Antigua.

Now I know they sent in a ex maintenance plane from France to cover VS15 & VS16 on the 10th May 2012.

So reading other posts seems a couple of forms to be filled in and see what happens next.

Caz3121

holidayhelp wrote: »

Not sure if this has just got overlooked or whether anyone can give us advice on this thread? Thank you

Unfortunately I agree with Virgin's response. Flight schedules can change when you book in advance and no compensation is due for this unless they give you less than 2 weeks notice.
This is the risk that is taken when you book separate elements rather than a package. Our flights for July to Faro have changed 3 times since I booked but seem fairly fixed now so I have now booked accommodation.
Have you spoken to your travel insurance?

Mark2spark

Give them 14 days notice to settle or you'll go to court. Don't jump through their hoops.

catlover69

Just heard from Virgin Atlantic that my claim has been denied because it is over six years. I applied as soon as I heard about the decision on 19th November 2012. Our flight was 27th October 2006 from America with over 24 hours delay. Five passengers. It seems harsh as the ruling was only made on 24th October 2012 so I'd have struggled to get it in on time. Going to appeal to CAA. Missed out by 3 weeks. Hey ho.

Lil_Me_2

Lil_Me wrote: »

I've got a claim in with Virgin at the moment. It's a fairly solid case based on what I've seen but they're certainly dragging their heels.

Form was sent off in October, letter acknowledging was dated 14th Nov saying they would take 6-10 weeks to respond, this Wednesday will be 14 weeks since that date.

I've called customer service twice now, 3 weeks ago, and again last week when I hadn't heard anything. There is nothing that they can say to me about the claim, they just pass on a message to the "legal team" handling all the claims who appear to ignore the messages.

It seems that others have heard back fairly quickly when they've been rejected, but wondering if there is anyone else who's been waiting as long as we have?

Just posted off my LBA, and also emailed a copy to them (asking them to confirm receipt). We're almost at 17 weeks now since they said they would respond in 6-10 weeks.

medical

Lil_Me wrote: »

Just posted off my LBA, and also emailed a copy to them (asking them to confirm receipt). We're almost at 17 weeks now since they said they would respond in 6-10 weeks.

Similar, my 6-10 week wait was up in Feb and i am trying to decide tonight whether to send another letter tomorrow or put a small court claim through via government gateway.
What do you all think
many thanks
Medical

Mark2spark

Consider this:
What will happen to Virgin, in a punitive way, if they do not reply to a further letter of yours.

or

What will happen to Virgin, in a punitive way, if they do not reply to a court claim.

Lil_Me_2

medical wrote: »

Similar, my 6-10 week wait was up in Feb and i am trying to decide tonight whether to send another letter tomorrow or put a small court claim through via government gateway.
What do you all think
many thanks
Medical

My 6-10 weeks was up at the end of Jan.

How many times have you contacted them? I telephoned them twice, gave them time to respond after each call, so have taken the next step of writing them a letter before I start with the small claims court. I wanted to make sure that any judge can see that I've been reasonable in how long I have waited for a response. It's been nearly 6 weeks since I first chased them!!

From the CAB -

Before applying to the court

You must try and settle a claim before taking court action. If you do not try to settle first, the court may penalise you. So, for example, if a television does not work, there is no point in applying to the court immediately for compensation - you must contact the shop which sold it first to try to solve the problem, and only use the court if you cannot get the problem solved by negotiation. The court will expect you to make your claim in writing, giving the other person a reasonable time to reply – a month is usual. You should also warn them that you will take court action if they fail to reply within the given time.

I adapted the LBA in the FAQs of this post detailing each of the times that I have contacted them and pointing out that other than the acknowledgement letter back in November I've not heard anything from them at all.

blondmark

Lil_Me wrote: »

My 6-10 weeks was up at the end of Jan.

How many times have you contacted them? I telephoned them twice, gave them time to respond after each call, so have taken the next step of writing them a letter before I start with the small claims court. I wanted to make sure that any judge can see that I've been reasonable in how long I have waited for a response. It's been nearly 6 weeks since I first chased them!!

From the CAB -



I adapted the LBA in the FAQs of this post detailing each of the times that I have contacted them and pointing out that other than the acknowledgement letter back in November I've not heard anything from them at all.

By the way if there's any doubt about how long you should leave it between warning of legal action and issuing proceedings, go straight to the original legal source - in this case the Practice Direction on Pre-action Conduct. 14 days is sufficient notice, and if the defendant indicates that it requires further time to locate evidence then a further 14 days is adequate.

noddy1976

Lawe wrote: »

Now we where on VS15 10/05/2012 that started this all off which landed 352 minutes late. Dep 18:24 vice 13:00 Arr 22:57 vice 17:05 (US time)
While I did not get specific answers like yours I did have a tweet from VA: I've asked my colleagues & it seems this is a knock-on delay from another flight that's stuck in Antigua.

Now I know they sent in a ex maintenance plane from France to cover VS15 & VS16 on the 10th May 2012.

So reading other posts seems a couple of forms to be filled in and see what happens next.

Thanks for the info. Helps to put the puzzle together.
We have tried all Virgin forms and tried to counter their refusals, however they are sticking to the exceptional circumstances defense. I have a Government Gateway account, seems like a good way to push the matter forward.
Have Virgin actually paid out when threatened with court action or more official routes?
Compared to some other airlines they seem to stick to their dismissive stance to Joe Bloggs and his arrogance to ask for compensation. Rather hoping to avoid court threats but we feel we have more than a valid claim.