Virgin Airlines Review

May 16, 2008

Dear Customer,

I felt compelled to write this letter after the thirtieth birthday trip my partner and I planned was foiled by the apathetic attitudes we experienced when dealing with Virgin America Airlines. Initially we booked this flight because we were told this smaller trendy airline was fun and slightly more personable than the typical "box them up and shove them through" airlines most of us experience when we fly today. Initially we had some problems booking through the airlines web page so I called them directly and had a representative their book our trip. The day before our departure arrived and everything was set to get off the ground when we hoped it would. However things quickly took a turn for the worst after we realized they had made a scheduling mistake with our flight. Aware of $40.00 rescheduling fee I hastily called the Virgin America's customer service hotline to resolve the issue.

What ensued can only be described as the most painfully time consuming and frustrating experience I have ever had when dealing with an airline. Not only did Virgin America charge me the $40.00 rescheduling fee outlined on their webpage but they also added the difference in prices between the flights. A fee of $272.00 was accessed by the airline to change our departure from San Diego to San Francisco and an additional charge of $272.00 for our return flight as well. The customer services representatives were blatantly indifferent to our situation and staunchly insisted the $544.00 total fee difference was "my only option". I was disturbed that the representatives I dealt with (three separate individuals) seemed to deliberately and maliciously leave me on hold for fifteen minute increments for nearly two hours. I felt as if each time they picked up the phone they were only doing so to ensure they were operating with in company consumer holding protocol (assuming of course they even have such policies). At no point did they offer me options or give me professional feedback regarding the status of the issue while I was holding. I never felt as though they were operating to assist me with my problem in anyway. The representatives I dealt with were unbelievably disrespectful to me as a customer and highly unprofessional .The changes I did make were painfully time consuming, stressful and costly to our vacation budget.  When all was said and done I ended up with the exact same flights I had originally paid for. However a $125.00 charge was accessed on my credit card for good measure due to my changes and their time. Mind you the changes I initially tried to make were canceled and I reverted to my initial flight with in an excruciatingly long two hour period. The bargain we thought we were getting to fly on this airline was not at all worth it. Not only did I end up paying $323.00 for the exact same flight that I originally booked for a cost of $198.00 but my total losses due to other cancelations exceeded $500.00. I would highly recommend that all my friends, family members other consumers not wanting to suffer the same fate consider flying with another more service driven airline. Our best experiences to date have been with Southwest Airlines.

Sincerely,

Unimpressed San Diego