Virgin Holidays - What's My Rights?

Cyberleader

We're booked to fly out on April 4th but this is no longer going to happen due to the current situation with COVID-19.  Virgin Holidays are refusing to refund the cost of the holiday and are saying that we can either rebook, cancel and have a credit on our account for 12 months or cancel and they will issue us with an invoice to claim back from our travel insurance company.

Any idea why we wouldn't be entitled to a refund?  Surely as this is guidance from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) this should entitle us to a refund.

Any advice would be greatly received in this very stressful time.

Thanks

Gadgetnutter

In exactly the same boat with Virgin Holidays.
Going to make some more enquiries this morning, but the 10.7 clause they are using to try to wriggle out of payment refers to "after departure" so shouldn't even apply prior to travel!!

Cyberleader

They are clearly breaking the terms and conditions that were agreed at the time of the booking.  I was also infomed on Saturday morning by a branch manager that should the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) advise against flying that I would be refunded.  This was before President Trump placed the UK and Ireland on the list with the UK doing the same.

When I went back to the branch last night I found the shutters down with the staff inside and a note on the shutter advising that customers would need to phone or email the store as they were following the government recommendations on social distancing.  Strange that no other store in the shopping centre was doing the same.

Lets keep this thread going with information for us and other Virgin Holday customers.  As soon as I get any updates I'll post them here.

ComicGeek

We were supposed to be flying out a couple of days ago. We didn't get a call from VH as they had promised, in the end I managed to speak to them on Tuesday 17th - they confirmed on the phone that they would cancel and refund in full. Just had a call from them this morning saying that the govt advice had changed and they wouldn't be providing any refund - after a long argument they agreed that as we had already been told that we would get a refund that they would honour this. Just had the cancellation email, but will have to wait up to 14 days to see if they do actually process the refund.

They're absolutely lying in saying that the FCO advice has changed in the last 2 days. The poor guy on the phone didn't believe a word he was saying himself! They are just desperately trying to stop paying out all their cash reserves, which I can understand but doesn't help the rest of us struggling for funds over the next few months.

Cyberleader

I've had no communication from Virgin Holidays, it's always been me doing the chasing by either visiting the store before they put the shutters down or phoning them.

I'm still awaiting information from my travel insurance insurance company but I'm expecting them to say that it's Virgins responsibly to issue the refund.

Let's see what today brings.

ElCarlosL

Has anyone had any luck getting through to Virgin Holidays for either rebooking or a refund? I should have departed on 2nd April, but instead I’m spending hours on hold and getting nowhere despite them originally stating they would contact me nearer the departure date. Appreciate the voucher expires in July, but with the 2021 dates we looked at already ‘unavailable’ on their site, I’m keen to get a refund started to be able to look elsewhere. Seems like holding onto everyone’s cash is their way of staying afloat 

Okydoky25

did you book on a credit card? I would contact them. We have booked Vegas for May on an AMEX and they have advised as soon as our booking is cancelled they will refund us in full. 

tc76

Due to the cov-19 , I was looking to move my holiday with virgin to next year, they told it's free transfers and admin I just have to reprice the holiday. I got a quote of 7225 00 for the same holiday for next year.. but when I went to book it as I already had a booking and was moving they are now charging me 8400, basically they have my money already so no discount or loyalty please beware of virgin I have travelled with them for years but never again once I get this sorted out . Just making everyone aware they are profiting from the customers unfortunate predictament 

Westin

tc76 said:

Due to the cov-19 , I was looking to move my holiday with virgin to next year, they told it's free transfers and admin I just have to reprice the holiday. I got a quote of 7225 00 for the same holiday for next year.. but when I went to book it as I already had a booking and was moving they are now charging me 8400, basically they have my money already so no discount or loyalty please beware of virgin I have travelled with them for years but never again once I get this sorted out . Just making everyone aware they are profiting from the customers unfortunate predictament 

So what was the explanation when you asked them about the difference between the quote (£7225) and what they wanted to charge (£8400)?

neilanthonyfitness

So, I'm due to go on a 14 day holiday to Disneyworld with Virgin Holidays, all paid for, on the 22nd May. 

Virgin have basically stopped any communication with any customer unless they are travelling within the next 72 hours. This means that 98% of their customer base are not able to speak to them through any format relating to their current trip. 

I'm just looking to rebook my holiday from May to the end of August, and I've been keeping an eye on prices over the past few days, thinking about what I currently have booked with them and not wanting to pay any extra. I've managed to find a deal on their website for the end of August which is like-for-like, and then lo-and-behold 24 hours later, that price has gone up £700 per person! Bear in mind there is no way to communicate with Virgin to amend my booking, so we are at the hands of Virgin and their inexcusable price hikes.

Surely they can't get away with shutting off all communication with their customers, and then massively increasing the cost of their holidays. Ridiculous, and they have lost a long term customer through all this.

bradders1983

All travel companies are prioritising customers based on original date of departure. How else do you propose they do it in a fair manner?