judithflies

I got a business class ticket on Virgin from Sydney to San Francisco, and had a nasty experience that was anything but business class
1. berated by lounge staff for wanting a quick cup of tea as flight was called and wanting to swipe boarding pass on the way out rather than go back to the front immediately - another member of staff having seen my boarding pass, so knowing I was legit
2. uncomfortable seats
3. having to clamber over the neighbour to get out - I was at window, he was at isle - not proper business seats or layout
4. Substandard food - bread roll raw one end, burned on the other, salad bad etc
5. despite being told I had no breakfast and was hungry, food served teasingly and two hours late
6. bar with no clean glasses but lots of dirty ones, no food but a dish of pips I mistook for an olive - quickly spat it out, but was sick for days
7. refused entry to lounge in lax as I bought ticket on points
8. luggage lost, not allowed to report/enquire at LAX
9. framed picture turned up in SFO, badly packed, glass and frame broken, famous artist's work damaged.

I would like the reframing and glassing of the artwork paid for and compensation for damage to artwork. I'd also like what I paid for - a business class ticket for the journey to use on another occasion. The airline is thinking of the artwork and has offered 10,000 point for the substandard experience. They do not want to do more. I think the points are a pittance and an insult.

Can someone advise me - How can I get what I paid for - ie a business class ticket and a proper business class experience, as well as compensation for the damage?

JY1024

As this seems to pertain to Virgin Australia, we'll move this over to more appropriate forum for further discussion. Thanks. /JY1024, TravelBuzz co-moderator

Kagehitokiri

perhaps someone on FT can recommend a higher level point of contact

front line entry level customer service staff can not do much

Tchiowa

Don't understand point 1. Where you trying to leave the gate area and come back after you had already swiped your boarding pass to board?

2) A lot of airlines still use the old barcalounger type seats (ANA, for one) and they are uncomfortable. But it's what they use so you aren't entitled to anything for that. Use a different airline for better seats.
3) Most airlines don't have aisle access for all business seats. Most are moving that direction but, again, it's the seat that is standard for them.
4) You should get decent food. Hope you took a picture of the burned roll.
5) Just because you're hungry doesn't mean that they can move up meal service just for you.
6) No clean glasses? I can see no glasses, but dirty glasses? Odd.
7) Which lounge at LAX? I don't see you getting refused because it's points. How did you get to LAX on a Sydney to SFO ticket? Layover?
8) Luggage missing on a connection you should be able to report immediately.
9) Picture badly packed? Who packed it? The airline doesn't pack luggage for you?

Missing or damaged luggage you should be able to get compensation. But that seems about it. No way are you going to get a free ticket.

serfty

I would suggest it was SYD-xLAX-SFO.

Point 7 is strange.

vbroucek

What a great first post RANT. I wonder if OP will ever come back...

trooper

If you can't say something nice.....

So i'll shut up right now.

Except to add the comment I always make when someone says "not PROPER Business class"...

Please provide a link/reference to the International regulations (accepted by ALL airlines) that defines what "Business class" is.....

It DOESN'T EXIST. It is a marketing description for gods sake... covering everything from Scoot/Jetstar products to SQ's enormous flat beds...
Do your research!

vbroucek

Cannot help myself:
Re 2. there are varied views on what is comfortable and what is not - I, for example, find SQ's business class seats less comfortable than LH, others will disagree
Re 3. still pretty normal on most airlines that have 2-2-2 seating in business class, at least in the bed position - just to name few I did recently: LH, OS, TG, SQ, UA. If you don't like it take the middle aisle seat...
Re 6. are you serious suggesting you do not recognise olive from pip?
Re 9. I think that there are certain provisions for carriage of "fragile items". Was it marked and checked in like that? And finally, did you hear about travel insurance? That's what it is for...

LondonElite

I fear you have set yourself up for a lot of grief, possibly based unrealistic expectations from a limited selection of business class travel.

1. You didn't follow the rules. Berated may be one word to describe it.
2. In what way? Can't make everyone happy.
3. Pretty standard, you should have known this before you bought the ticket.
4. Very possible.
5. You were told you had no breakfast??? Anyway, the schedule is not there to accommodate you personally.
6. You thought a pip was an olive???
7. Service failure
8. Not allowed to report? Lost luggage is not unique!
9. Badly packed is clearly your fault. Can't blame the airline for badly packing fragile items that then break!

You won't get a refund, and I suggest a letter of complaint is sanitised of hilarities like eating pips!

UKtravelbear

I agree with others OP had unrealistic expectations. Many of these 'issues' would have been discovered by doing some basic research before booking - like seat layout or lounge access.

4 - 'Salad bad' - OP makes a bland statement. Was it spoilt in some way or did she just not like it? Big difference between them. Burned roll - shoudl have asked for another there and then!

5 - LondonELite - I read it as the OP saying she told the CC that she had not had any breakfast and therefore expected to be fed on demand yet the crew maintained the likely service standard for serving the meal. 'Teasing Service' = serving one course at a time? No doubt she would have complained if it was all on one tray!

6. She ate something without knowing what it was? That's down to her. Sick for days? Highly unlikely it made her ill.

7. Puzzling. How did she get from LAX-SFO. It's not clear and that could determine why access was denied - different airline with different rules? Did she show the agent her BP for the SYD-LAX sector - if not they may not have known she had a TPAC which could have qualified her?

9. I'm puzzled by this. Surely she had to collect and then re-drop at LAX before the flight to SFO so should have checked it when picking it up. If it was damaged on the LAX-SFO leg then which airline was that with as they would be resonsible.

serfty

Depends who packed the items.

From the context it points to the airline or some other entity, not the OP, badly packing the bags.

Aside from that, under "Montreal", airlines can't necessarily avoid having to compensate for Fragile items, even if they try to do so with a clause in their CoC's (such clauses are invalid for international).

trooper

Seriously?

I can think of a number of items one could pack in a suitcase that are so fragile that even the best handling would lead to them breaking....sculptures in glass or other brittle material for example....

How airlines can be UNable to avoid responsibility for such items escapes me...

quakered

A one post whinger (OK the same post twice). I am sure we will never hear from her again.

I understand from her silly (but deleted) post of Trip Advisor, the flight was booked with air-miles, so she wants financial recompense for a free flight that was not to her liking.

If I was working in the lounge and the flight had been called and some silly person thought they would like a cup of tea first, I would surely have also lost my rag and verbally encouraged them to go away and board the aircraft.

JClasstraveller

I can't resist either I'm afraid.

Obviously you don't even know what airline you flew, why else post on the VS forum with the same post (leaving aside the cross-posting issue...).

1 - this doesn't make sense.

2 - that's subjective.

3 - Did you not do your research? You could have burned points on DL if direct aisle access was such an issue. No one forced you to fly VA. QF on the same SYD-LAX route has a 2-2-2 config on the A380 and on the 747, if you want a window you will always have an aisle companion except for very particular seats.

4 - did you ask for a new bread roll? Otherwise this may be a potentially legitimate complaint.

5 - You could count on 1 hand the number of airlines offering dine on demand in business class. None of them fly SYD-LAX/SFO. It's not the airline's fault you got on the aircraft hungry. You talked about the lounge in 1, why didn't you eat anything at the lounge if you were hungry and hadn't had breakfast?

6 - how is it the airline's fault that you mistook pips for olives? Re dirty glasses, did you ask them to be cleaned?

7 - Further and better particulars please. What did you do? What boarding pass did you show the lounge agent? Did you book LAX-SFO in economy and showed that pass? Failure to provide particulars means a rather suspect complaint.

8 - This doesn't make sense? Who prevented you from enquiring? Frankly, it's unbelievable.

9 - Claim the artwork on travel insurance. If you didn't have travel insurance and it was so valuable, why didn't you take out insurance? If you didn't take out insurance, with respect, that's lunacy.

Leaving aside the art work, with all due respect, take the 10,000 points. It sounds more than you probably deserve. If you ever read this, I don't think you're going to get any sympathy from people here when the circumstances appear to be at least 80% your doing and unreasonable expectations no fault of VA.

serfty

They have an out: " inherent defect, quality or vice of the baggage."; whatever that means. But the clauses are, per se, invalid.