Help! Bad experience with Virgin Atlantic Mastercard

TimCypher

Hi All,

Just joined this forum looking for some advice.

I successfully applied for a Virgin Atlantic Rewards Plus Mastercard at the end of October this year . I quite like the Virgin brand. I fly with them quite often and hold gold status in their Flying Club, and having a Virgin Credit card has always been a great way to earn extra miles. I used to have their VISA / AMEX cards provided by MBNA, but, since that partnership ended around July, I found myself without any credit cards to earn miles on.

So, when I saw the Mastercard offer, I figured I'd sign up.

According to the advert, for £160 a year, you'd get:

1) 15,000 miles upon first purchase after sign-up;
2) 6,000 miles for each the first three months if you spend over £1,000.

In short, 33,000 miles...which made sense for my situation.

After I signed up, they sent me an e-Mail detailing my credit card package, but I noticed there was no mention of the 6,000 miles per month benefit, so I gave them a call. The lady I spoke to confirmed that I would qualify for this offer. I then called about 5 days later to ask them to adjust my statement billing cycle to align better with my monthly pay day, and they also confirmed that, as long as I spent £1,000 or more in the current billing cycle, I would qualify for the 6,000 miles bonus.

So, today (13th November), I got my first statement. All was looking well and I could see miles credited to my Flying Club account. Except no 6,000 mile bonus, despite having cleared the spending threshold.

I gave them a call and was basically told that my account had no record of me being eligible for the 6,000 bonus offer and that there was nothing they were prepared to do.

I protested that this was deeply unfair as the 6,000 mile offer was the key driver in me applying for the card in the first place, and no less than 2 members of their own staff had confirmed earlier that I qualified for it.

Luckily, these calls weren't too long ago, so my iPhone still hold records of when exactly I made these calls. They claimed that they could find no such calls attached to my account.

In short, they just refused to believe was I was telling them.

Surely they must know what offers they run at what time, and can check that I applied during that time? The offer stills pops up on my Facebook feed even today! And why would they think I would sign up for a lesser offer?

I'm really quite upset about this. I had even brought forward spending so as to be sure to reach the £1,000 in my first (shorter) billing cycle. I provided them with the time and date of the calls I made to confirm I qualified for the offer and they said they'd check the recordings. I may hear something back from them this Friday.

But, in the meantime, this all seems a bit of a swindle to me. I feel completely cheated.

Anyone got any advice? I'm prepared to take this further. I have proof of my contact with them and screenshots of the offer I signed up for. So was thinking of taking it to my MP. It doesn't seem right that companies can lure people in with the promise of these types of perks, then refuse to honour them.

Regards,

Tim

[Deleted User]

TimCypher wrote: »

Surely they must know what offers they run at what time, and can check that I applied during that time? The offer stills pops up on my Facebook feed even today! And why would they think I would sign up for a lesser offer?

The issue is that they run multiple offers at the same time, and your application trail indicates you came via a different path. Deals are automatically triggered by the application path, so there's no swindle. At best, an error.

I wouldn't waste time with your MP.

Ultimately, you're reliant on their goodwill. Send a formal complaint, but be nice. They may give you the offer retrospectively.

eskbanker

Before going anywhere near an MP, I'd suggest making a formal complaint through Virgin's published process and then, if not resolved to your satisfaction, escalate to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

noh

The first step is to send them a written complaint.
If there is no resolution then take the matter further.
https://uk.virginmoney.com/virgin/downloads/icpnew.pdf

TimCypher

Thanks guys - I've not had anything like this happen to me before (guess I'm lucky), so was looking for advice to pursue.

It's just so frustrating when you apply for something in good faith, you check and double-check with them via phone calls only to be told at the crunch moment that they have no record of any offer or any relevant conversations you had with them. It's just a really, really poor show, to say the least. And it's a horrible, disenchanting customer experience. I asked to speak to a manager, and got short shrift from them.

I think I'll send a written complaint, including the evidence I have accumulated to support my side of the story. I'm astonished at how Virgin is so distrusting of its own customers.

Regards,

Tim

eskbanker

I'd also respectfully suggest that in your complaint you keep things factual and businesslike, rather than getting carried away with all the emotive stuff - just make it clear that they haven't kept their promises and that you expect them to honour the offer.

TimCypher wrote: »

I'm really quite upset about this.

[...]

But, in the meantime, this all seems a bit of a swindle to me. I feel completely cheated.

TimCypher wrote: »

It's just a really, really poor show, to say the least. And it's a horrible, disenchanting customer experience.

[...]

I'm astonished at how Virgin is so distrusting of its own customers.

TimCypher

Noted, eskbanker - all of this only happened a short while ago, and I'm feeling a bit raw about the way I was treated.

Regards,

Tim

Shakin_Steve

Also, Tim, download ACR from the App Store. They would have had difficulty denying what their operators had said if you had a recording of the calls.

TimCypher

Okay-dokey - here's the letter I propose to send (postal) - any thoughts / suggestions?

Regards,

Tim

==================

CUSTOMER SERVICE COMPLAINT

Dear Sir / Madam,

I am writing to make a complaint regarding the Virgin Atlantic Rewards Plus Mastercard service that you provide.

I applied for the card online on October 21st 2018 and was approved. My reason for applying was that I was attracted by an offer you were running at the time which promised a 15,000 mile sign-up bonus on first purchase and also 6,000 bonus miles for the first three months if I spent £1,000 or more per month. I enclose screenshots of this offer taken from the Virgin Atlantic website.

Subsequent materials I received made mention of the sign-up offer, but not the 6,000 bonus offer. For that reason, I called the helpline number stated on your website (and also on the back on the card) to check that my application did in fact include this offer, and that I did not need to apply again. The agent I spoke to confirmed that it did include the offer. This call took place on October 24th at 4.30pm. I enclose a screenshot from my phone confirming that I made this call at that time.

On October 29th at 10.29am, I called the helpline again to ask if my billing cycle could be brought in greater alignment with my salary pay dates. This was done, which involved bringing my statement date forward by a week to November 12th. I asked the agent whether this meant that I needed to spend £1,000 before that date in order to realise the 6,000 mile bonus. He confirmed that it did. I enclose a screenshot from my phone confirming that I made this call at that time.

On November 13th, I checked my online statement. This was the first day that I was able to see it. I noticed that I had not been credited with the 6,000 miles bonus despite my spending on the card exceeding the £1,000 threshold.

I subsequently called your helpdesk to ask what had happened. I was told by the agent that you had no record of my account ever qualifying for the 6,000 mile bonus offer and no record of me contacting you on the dates that I did. The agent stated that the offer would not be honoured for that reason.

I am not satisfied with this. I applied for the card in good faith and I do not believe that Virgin is fulfilling its promises.

I would be grateful if you would look at the evidence I enclose and investigate the matter further.

Yours Faithfully,

newuser86

Was the 6,000 offer an email sent to you or did you come by the link? I believe the points are only given to those on the email list and they are done manually by Virgin

TimCypher

The original link came from my Facebook newsfeed, and directed me to the Virgin Atlantic website. The details there matched the offer that I thought I was applying for.

Regards,

Tim