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A Tale Of Two Airlines That Both Say Virgin America On The Plane

A Tale Of Two Airlines That Both Say Virgin America On The Plane

Old Jun 16, 2014, 10:32 pm
  #1  
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A Tale Of Two Airlines That Both Say Virgin America On The Plane

Over the past few days, I flew SFO/EWR and (today) JFK/SFO, both in F.

My outbound flight makes me remember why I like this airline. It was a flight where everything was just great - from civilized boarding, to enforced F lavs, to a bright early morning smile with a fizzy PDB, to a decent breakfast from the "new" premium transcon offerings, to an FA who kept checking on the cabin making sure beverages were kept to the passengers' liking, kept passing around the snack basket and kept it stocked in the galley, to a nice selection of things to watch and pass the time - just a lovely flight.

Contrast that with today's JFK/SFO. An absolute service disgrace. I was aghast at the utter disregard to service on the nearly 6 hours in the air. The gentleman sitting next to me said he usually travels on AA but wanted to try VX (he seemed like a businessman that pays full whatever the fare is whenever he travels). He told me that his wife said "the nuts are very good" on VX. Almost needless to say, he never had a nut.

Walking onboard, not greeted with a smile or anything. The FA did not smile at any F passenger during the flight. He barely looked at us in the face, and did not acknowledge the "thank you" that I gave him every time we had an interaction.

PDB - he asked what I wanted, and I asked for a mimosa, which was met with a scowl.

Shortly after take off, he took meal orders along with first beverage orders. This was the last time for the entirety of the flight that he asked any F passenger what he/she wanted. My seatmate asked for nuts with his drink order and was barked at, as the beverage now comes with some chips in a cup, but he still should have brought out some nuts if he wanted them. The guy was so off-put that he never asked for nuts again. Each course was rushed and in fact, the next one came out prior to clearing the prior plates, resulting in juggling and rearranging.

Water glass empty? Removed, not refilled, without even looking at the passenger.

When one of the cheery Y FAs passed through the cabin, we'd have to stop her for service, as we were not getting any from our FA at all. Finally, my seatmate rang his callbell for more ginger ale. He reluctantly got the guy some more ginger ale.

Between the time the FA spent in the rear galley or in the front jumpseat reading his Kindle, or behind the galley curtain, for the last approximately 4 and one half hours of the flight, did not ask a single one of us if we wanted or needed anything. Not once. About an hour out, when it was clear that he was never going to set up a galley snackbasket nor pass anything around, I got up and asked him for cookies and red wine. The look in his face was one of disgust that a passenger interrupted his daily activities.

I tried to assure the first time VX flyer that this was an aberration and was, by far, the worst VX flight I'd ever flown.

Dear Sir FA, you were an utter embarrassment to your company today, and had a great chance to make a great impression on a brand new high value flyer, and he couldn't even get a bag of nuts. I'd have had a better flight in Row 3, pushing the screen as need and want be, and have had the pleasure of a cheery Y crew.

At least my seat was comfortable, the lav was convenient, and I watched several hours of Orange Is The New Black.
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Old Jun 17, 2014, 9:40 am
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You obviously know this as a FF: The good FA wont be recognized, and the FA who was haing a really bad day wont be worked with if the head office doesnt know about your experience.

You are planning on copying this and pasting it to an email TO VX, right? I usually let them know whenever I have extreme service on either end of the spectrum.
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Old Jun 17, 2014, 9:54 am
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Originally Posted by SoCalZman
You obviously know this as a FF: The good FA wont be recognized, and the FA who was haing a really bad day wont be worked with if the head office doesnt know about your experience.

You are planning on copying this and pasting it to an email TO VX, right? I usually let them know whenever I have extreme service on either end of the spectrum.
Already done, with a few edits and additions, to Elevate Gold. It is the first complaint letter I've sent to an airline in ages. (I actually wrote this as a template for what I was going to send.)
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Old Jun 28, 2014, 2:57 pm
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I'm curious to hear the VX reply.
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Old Jun 28, 2014, 3:37 pm
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Originally Posted by ptownca
I'm curious to hear the VX reply.
Me too.
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Old Jun 28, 2014, 3:39 pm
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The second FA is proof that Smisek is ruining this airline.
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Old Jul 13, 2014, 11:04 pm
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Originally Posted by ptownca
I'm curious to hear the VX reply.
I am still curious to hear the VX reply.
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Old Jul 15, 2014, 9:40 am
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Originally Posted by Eastbay1K
I am still curious to hear the VX reply.
They did send a reply a couple of weeks ago that never made it to my inbox.
Yesterday, I received a re-send of the same reply, along with a phone call from a high higher up.

We had a pleasant and candid chat. I trust that the matter was addressed at a high level of attention. It is clear that someone at VX is reading this board. Finally, do not ask what, if any, the compensation was. I don't generally discuss these things on FT. What I will say is they certainly would know if you're a chronic kvetcher.

(I would think that in this day and age, chronic kvetchers of most businesses are going to end up in a 'if you chronically don't like us, why do you keep patronizing us" category, and have their complaints put in the "crying wolf" category.)
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Old Jul 15, 2014, 11:55 am
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They are monitoring this board huh? Thats interesting. I guess it makes sense to as the people on here are most likely FF with status. Delta has a company representative assigned to respond to their board.

At any rate, glad to hear it was sorted out!
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