HKG_Flyer1

Did Virgin America get rid of the Gold Desk? In the past, when I called in for whatever reason, things were handled quickly/efficiently and politely by well-trained team members... now it seems like calls are just handed off to general reservation agents.

It is genuinely painful trying to get anything accomplished due to a combination of:

1) having to endure long, boiler-plate marketing spiels delivered in a monotone (stuff that every Gold member would already know);

2) unfamiliarity with Gold privileges (which nearly always now require being placed on hold as the call taker speaks with someone else); and

3) less familiarity with reservation system in general, which also results in longer call times.

As an example, my most recent call, to simply change a flight from one date to another, using a Plans Change Pass (fares were identical, meaning no need for add-collect), required being on the phone for 13 minutes. Painful.

sfozrhfco

There have been other threads about this from around the time of the acquisition announcement when VX reoutsourced the outsourced customer service agents. Many of them are poorly trained and not all that helpful. This seems to be the way it will be until AS fully takes control.

HKG_Flyer1

I remember reading those. The Gold desk still seemed pretty good... until recently. Sounds like they are just going to coast until Alaska comes in and puts a dagger through the heart of the operation.

cringle

There never was a "desk". Their system just shuffles the calls - gold is the priority, then silver, then red to the same agents. The agents have always been outsourced, so it's the luck of the draw if you get a newbie who doesn't know as much. You can imagine the turnover rate at what is very likely one of the worst jobs in customer service.

HKG_Flyer1

Interesting. Not sure I understand your comment: "You can imagine the turnover rate at what is very likely one of the worst jobs in customer service."

When I was Executive Platinum with AA, I used to deal with reps who had been with the airline for 10-20 years and really enjoyed their jobs.

sfozrhfco

The issue was that around the time the acquisition was announced, they outsourced their customer service to a new office in Denver. Before there were also Elevate people at HQ that could resolve issues which the regular outsourced agent didn't know how to resolve. HQ staff count continues to be reduced as people find new jobs and so you are left with the blind leading the blind.

The new people have no connection to VX other than answering their calls for a few months until AS takes over so they have little incentive to do anything but the minimum required.

cringle

[/QUOTE]The new people have no connection to VX other than answering their calls for a few months until AS takes over so they have little incentive to do anything but the minimum required.[/QUOTE]

Don't know if you realize Virgin has never had their own customer service department. It has always been outsourced. They recently closed a Seattle office, and now are down to one in Dallas and one in Denver.

sfozrhfco

The new people have no connection to VX other than answering their calls for a few months until AS takes over so they have little incentive to do anything but the minimum required.[/QUOTE]

Don't know if you realize Virgin has never had their own customer service department. It has always been outsourced. They recently closed a Seattle office, and now are down to one in Dallas and one in Denver.[/QUOTE]

Of course but like airlines that outsource check in, there is at least one "real" employee that can resolve issues the outsourced people can't solve. These problem solvers are now few and far between. Then when the outsourced Seattle people went, the call center was left with people who had likely never flown VX and had not had the years of experience to learn all of the policies and procedures. So you are in a blind leading the blind situation leaving passengers to resolve their own issues or simply taking their business elsewhere.

RedwoodA320

The problem was the launch of the Denver call center. Those people (with few exceptions) are incompetent beyond belief and don't have a clue.
Shutting down the Seattle center (with good agents) was a bad decision.

Snowdevil

Then you'll be happy to learn that after it closed, several of them applied for and were ultimately hired by AS to work in their SEA Reservations Center. ^

flyingcat

If memory serves ACS in Seattle was doing basic functions toward the end. DFW call center was doing most of the advanced stuff. I have no idea what Denver handles but based on feedback sounds like Seattle the return.

ptownca

My last few calls were answered in Dallas and I've not had any issues. Customer Service which is different from reservations is still handled in the Burlingame HQ. How do I know this? A couple of former FA's are now working there with recent transfers.

cringle

From the customer end of the phone, I'm not surprised. Most agents do their best to be helpful, but, for the most part, it's a horrible, thankless job with angry, entitled people calling in to yell and scream endlessly for no apparent reason, especially during the winter when weather disrupts travel plans.

Erasmus

FWIW, I have never had a positive experience with a VX phone agent, as a gold, silver, or without status. I avoid calling in at all costs. Will be interesting to see what happens after the merger, as the AS MVPG agents are a real joy to deal with.