Virgin Atlantic

shoe_addict

I flew with Virgin in September to Johannesburg - an 11hr flight. The chair in front of me was broke and kept collapsing, obviously dramaticly reducing any room I had. I reported it to the flight attendents after take off and they offered to move me, only to find the entire flight was full - not a spare seat anywhere. So I had to stay where I was. They kept trying to fix it, but within 15 minutes it would collapse again so in the end they stopped trying. It was so bad that I had to eat my meal off my lap as there wasn't room to unfold the tray. I paid over £500 for a return ticket, and to be left in such cramped conditions for 11hrs seems very unfair.
So I wrote and complained. The response -
A letter of appology and a voucher for £25 of my next flight.
£25!!!!!!! For 11 hours of discomfort!!!!!! >:( >:( >:(
They admit in the letter that the chair was broken, and they have now fixed it and appologise for "how uncomfortable this must have been". >:(
Initially I wasn't really after any money, but I feel so insulted and fobbed off by their letter, what I really want now is something more significant from them.
Any advice on what I can do?

Poppy9

Yes - return the vouchers rejecting their offer and tell them they were in breach of contract as when you booked you were told your seat leg room was xcm.  They had failed to properly inspect the plane prior to use, you were seriously impeded and if there had been an emergency your exit would have been partially blocked.  Tell them unless they refund you the cost of the flight you will place the matter in the hands of your solicitor.  Also copy the letter to ABTA (and make sure they know that).

Good luck

scotnan

Abta would only take it on board if you booked your ticket through a travel agency.

Agree with Poppy, refuse and return the voucher. Address your next letter to Mr Branson himself telling him about the problem you had and what an insult £25 compo is. Would he have let any of his family to sit in such conditions for that length of time. Methinks not!

shoe_addict

Thanks for the advice, I'm going to sit down tommorrow and write the letter. Should I send it recorded delivery or just normal first class? Any ideas?
It still makes me so angry when I think about the letter, it seemed like such a brush off, which is shame because before I wasn't too bothered but now I'm actually angry about the whole thing >:(

aeuerby

I'd send the letter recorded delivery. If the post office manage to do the job right then at least you will know it's arrived and Virgin can't claim they never received it!

Angela.

Poppy9

There is a website called how to complain. they might have a letter you could crib some good points from.


https://www.howtocomplain.com

When I complain I never use nice friendly begging words that they know i.e. never use 'I should be pleased' always ' I should be obliged' most readers don't know what obliged mean and are a bit intimidated by it. Make sure you use words like 'apalled' and 'distressed' too.

shoe_addict

This is the letter, and I will be sending it tommorrow (unfortunatly the first day I'll have been able to get to the post office). As there's another day until I'm sending it, any advice or comments will be gladly recieved.
Here it is:
Dear Sir/Madam
I am writing in response to a letter I received from Maggie Evans Virgin Atlantic Customer Relations Executive, dated 18/10/04 (reference no. 782019/MCC). The letter I have just received offers me a £25 voucher for a problem with a flight costing over £500!
On 17/09/04 I flew on flight VS601 to Johannesburg. I was sitting in seat 44G, and the seat in front of me was broken. The broken seat repeatedly collapsed onto me, and after a brief effort the cabin crew stopped trying to fix it, leaving it collapsed and pressing against me. I alerted the crew to the problem immediately after take off (when the problem became apparent) and they offered to move me, only to find the entire flight was full. This left me in extreme discomfort with virtually no room, for 11 hours, causing great distress. The situation was so extreme that I had to eat my meals off my lap, as there was not enough room to unfold the tray.
The letter from Maggie Evans admits that the chair was broken and states “While of small consolation to you now, I can confirm that the seat has been repaired”. The letter also states “I can appreciate how uncomfortable this must have been for you”. So if Virgin Atlantic is prepared to admit the chair was broken and I suffered extreme discomfort for 11 hours as a result, why was I sent a frankly insulting £25 voucher? I am not prepared to accept the voucher and return it with this letter. Obviously the plane had not been fully inspected before use, and this must be a failing on the part of Virgin Atlantic. Should there have been an emergency, I would have been seriously impeded, putting me in greater danger. I am appalled at the way this was handled and felt that the letter from Maggie Evans was rude and quite flippant. An appropriate compensation for this situation would be a refund of the cost of the flight. If you will not refund my money I will be contacting the AUC (Air Transport Users Council) and my solicitor. However I hope we can find a mutually agreeable solution to this problem with speed and without involving third parties.


Well, I hope it is reasonable and I hope I don't seem to be too angry in the letter. Thanks for your help, and I'll let you know how I get on

Poppy9

I would be much stronger in my wording:

Dear Sir/Madam
I write in response to the letter I received from Maggie Evans Virgin Atlantic Customer Relations Executive, dated 18/10/04 (reference no. 782019/MCC). I am appalled that after I clearly set out the extreme discomfort and danger I experienced you feel it appropriate to send me a £25 voucher for a flight that cost me over £500!

To recap; On 17/09/04 I flew on flight VS601 to Johannesburg. I was sitting in seat 44G, and the seat in front of me was broken. The broken seat repeatedly collapsed onto me. I alerted the crew to the problem immediately after take off (when the problem became apparent) and they offered to move me, only to find the entire flight was full. The cabin crew briefly tried to fix it the seat before admitting defeat. This left me with a collapsed seat pressing against me for 11 hours. As you will appreciate this was totally unacceptable and left me in extreme discomfort for a prolonged period. Eating meals during the flight was a precarious event as I had to try to balance a tray on my lap and hold back a broken seat at the same time. There was not enough room to unfold the tray.

The letter from Maggie Evans admits that the chair was broken and states “While of small consolation to you now, I can confirm that the seat has been repaired”. Why wasn’t the plane properly inspected before boarding? Surely you have an obligation under Health and Safety law to ensure that all seats are secure and that emergency exit is for passengers is not compromised. Further, with all the publicity and safety advice given to passengers regarding exercising and retaining mobility during the flight to avoid DVT this was clearly impossible for me.

I feel the failure on your part to fully inspect the plane is so serious that I have no option but to copy this letter to the AUC. I am not prepared to accept the voucher and return it with this letter. I am appalled at the way this was handled and felt that the letter from Maggie Evans was rude and quite flippant. I expect to receive a full refund of the cost of this flight.

shoe_addict

Thanks, that sounds much better than my letter. I'll pop it into the post office tommorrow and let you know when I get a response.

MarkyMarkD

I agree that the £25 is a fob off.

But the obvious conclusion from the wording of that letter is that they should have refused to allow you to board (well, you or the last customer to check in) rather than allowing you to fly with a bad seat. Would you really have rather been left behind?

Poppy9

The worrying conclusion from the letter is that the plane was not fully checked before take off. If they compromised the check on seating what other checks did they compromise on.

If someone had to be bumped off the flight it should be people on standby or failing all else - last to check in.

Apologies for the bits of gobbledygook in the letter I pasted yours to word and back again - it obviously lost something in translation LOL