Advice please re a Virgin Package holiday claim

Wendye17

Sorry, this is a bit long! Booked a once in a lifetime trip to Orlando Disney through Virgin Holidays. Flights, one week on-site at a Disney resort, one week off-site with car rental. Flights were via Atlanta both ways. 2 outbound were on Delta, inbound Orlando to Atlanta was Delta & Atlanta to Heathrow was Virgin. 20 minutes before landing in Atlanta (outbound) we saw on the Delta app that the connecting flight had been canceled. The flight before ours was still going, albeit delayed and the later flight (10.35pm) was also going. This was Saturday.

On landing, we went straight to a Delta desk and were put on standby for the earlier (delayed) flight. Got to the gate and saw we were about number 12 on the standby list. As we waited we saw the list grow and grow. But each time, someone was added, we were pushed further down the list and ended up at 197. Needless to say, we didn't get on. Back to Delta, hour queue to speak to someone put on standby for the later flight. The same thing happened. Back to Delta another long queue only to be told they couldn't do anything, had no vouchers left for food or hotel. Basically left stranded late at night. I'm 67 and was expected to sleep on the airport floor. Tried to get our luggage back (another long queue) but were told would take 6 hours to find so put in a request to collect the next morning. Managed to find a hotel through Expedia & took a taxi from the airport. We also had several calls to Virgin but they were no help at all. The next morning, Uber back to the airport, another long queue, only to be told they hadn't found our luggage. Advised it would be easier to send it to Orlando & get it there but we said no we need clothes/toiletries etc. Loads of phone calls to Virgin who eventually said they would arrange a hotel for the second night & reimburse us for the first night (since received that). Back to luggage reclaim, another hour queue, only to be told one of our cases was already in Orlando and the other 2 might be on the way or could be anywhere. Decided to let the cases all go and find them in Orlando. Another queue for Delta Customer Service who put us on a late-night flight out Monday but also advised it was overbooked. More calls to Virgin who said to get essentials and they would cover it along with our taxi costs to & fro plus food costs. Another Uber to the next hotel, which was nowhere near any shops or restaurants. Uber to shops & back. Uber to restaurant & back. 

By this point, we were ready to abandon the holiday and go home. We had no faith in being able to get on the Monday night flight and if we didn't would then be stuck (again) at the airport late at night. But we decided to keep trying to salvage something and we tried one-way car rental, thinking we would drive down on the Monday. Booked a car for pickup in Atlanta (all airport ones fully booked). Uber to car rental pick up Monday morning, only to find the company system had screwed up and overbooked so no car available. At this point, both I and my son's girlfriend were in tears. The driver took us back to the airport as we had nowhere else to go. Humanity then kicked in and the Uber driver offered to take us for "cash". We decided to go and worry about everything else later. Got to Orlando airport about 5pm, went straight to Virgin who then did their thing, found our cases, and got us on a coach to the resort. The rest of the holiday went without further problems.

We've now put in a claim to Virgin for the essentials they advised us to get, food costs they said they would cover, taxis they said they would cover, we included the Uber to Orlando. Also included the costs of the flight not used, 2 nights lost at the Disney resort, 3 days of park passes unused, plus a request for compensation. (Just as an aside, I suffer from Alopecia and the stress has caused a flare-up and I now have another bald patch appearing.) Virgin has now come back and rejected our claim. Advised that we should maybe try Delta but as the cancelation was weather-related it was doubtful we'd get anything. We don't accept the weather excuse as why did the flight before ours and the flight after ours both depart. The only thing they will do is ask Delta for a refund on the unused flights.

As I understand it (I have read all the Money Saving guides), as it was a package holiday our claim should be through Virgin and nothing to do with Delta. The only thing I can't find any info on is because the connecting flight was an internal US flight are we still covered by the UK law? And although we have gone back to Virgin to argue the case, does anyone have any advice on where we stand legally? We are about $1200 out of pocket in expenses, paid Virgin for things we didn't get (2 nights hotel & 3 days park passes), and really had our holiday ruined by the total lack of care and assistance over the 3 days we were stranded in Atlanta. It really doesn't seem right or fair that having promised they would cover certain things, they've now gone back on their word and that they've taken money for services they didn't provide in full.

Any help & advice would be very gratefully received. 

bagand96

Sounds like a nightmare, I hope you managed to salvage the rest of the holiday and have an enjoyable time. There's a lot going on there and probably a few different things you might want to look into.

First suggestion is EC261 flight compensation rules (now adopted into UK law "UK261").  Have a read here as a start Flight delay compensation: get up to £520/person for free – MSE (moneysavingexpert.com)  Even though Delta are not an EU/UK carrier, your journey started in the UK so I think the rules apply.   I wouldn't say for certain if you're due the compensation element because you say the weather was involved in the cancellation.  The rules state airlines aren't liable for compensation in extraordinary circumstances, and this is open to interpretation.  However  they are liable for duty of care expenses like hotel/taxi/food - they will require proper receipts for this though so unfortunately your "cash" Uber to Florida might be a problem.  You may have to argue with Delta, in the US passenger protections are nowhere near as good so you may need to remind them of their obligations.  For this it is Delta you should be dealing with and not Virgin.  It is the obligation of the operating airline, no matter who you booked with.

In terms of things you didn't get from Virgin which were paid for, hotels and park tickets, get back in touch with them and make a complaint to see if you can get any goodwill gesture.  Especially if they did promise things to you.  

A final suggestion is Travel Insurance - given that the weather caused the issue you may be covered for a claim on that.

CKhalvashi

As this was a regulated package, the advice Bagand has posted above will be sufficient for the flight element.

In addition, it may be worth a look at the Package Travel Directive (click here), particularly parts 15, 16 and 29.

If you have any questions on these points of legislation (or those mentioned by Bagand above), please post back and we can help you with a template letter to Virgin detailing each part of the issue.

Wendye17

Thank you both, that is fantastic information. I will digest fully and see what we do next. I have put in a travel insurance claim in the meantime, so will see what they have to say. The weather element I believe is arguable, based on the fact that the flight before ours and the flight after ours both went. And I firmly believe that Virgin owe us for the services we paid for but were unable to use as we were stuck in bloody Atlanta lol. (I'm sure it's a lovely city but based upon what we went through we never want to see it again!) Plus, they told us on several of the many phone calls we had that they would cover our expenses whilst there (clothes, toiletries, food, transport). I think that's what wound me up the most. They refused to pay us anything other than saying they would ask Delta for a refund of the flight not taken. 

CKhalvashi

I believe that this may be the case, but when you have questions further information may be required to ascertain exactly what.

The issue with flights not taken may be that the itinerary needs to be re-priced, making it more expensive. You should not, however, be out of pocket and at this stage (without probing this fully) your requests seem reasonable.