Virgin Australia Airlines
Reviews and Complaints

My two brothers and auntie were not able to drop off their checked in bags on time and missed their original flight yesterday morning due to the self-serve check in problems of my brother, Jericho Tabu. Their actual flight was VA 211 from Melbourne to Adelaide, 7:05AM to 8:00AM, October 8, 2018, Monday.

My husband and I dropped them to the airport around 6:10AM. Jericho told me that he was having problems with his check in luggage kiosk, that apparently, he needs to pay an additional $35 for another checked in bag and then this "A virgin Australia staff member will be with you shortly" popped up on the screen. He went to another kiosk and try again to check in but to no avail, the same problem popped up again. I was the one who booked their flights and there is no additional bag for him, just the usual 23kg.

My auntie approached a Virgin Australia airline staff in the computer assisting other passengers to seek an urgent help and my auntie was given an implication that he was busy, he made a wait or stop hand sign to my auntie. They waited for around 20 more minutes BUT NO ONE from the staff came to assist them. Jericho approached the male staff (same staff my auntie approached earlier) in the computer, then finally helped my brother. He asked if my brother has no additional bags then sorted out his problem.

They were ushered in the priority lane for the bag drop area but there was a line that took for a few minutes before they were assisted. The staff in-charge told them that the cut-off time for bag drop has passed. They have to go to the customer service to sort out their problem. It was around 6:35 to 6:40AM then.

There were around 2 or 3 customers ahead of them in the customer service line so they waited again to be served. My brother informed the customer service staff, Olga (he's not sure of the staff name) that they were delayed for the bag drop so what can they do? Olga informed that they were already late for their flight. That they need to pay $150 each (total of $450) to board the next flight. They paid the amount and was able to fly one hour after their original flight.

I am very disappointed with the way they were held up in the self-serve check in for 20 or more minutes with no staff to assist them. I am also wondering why did Jericho experienced that additional bag payment problem in the kiosk? With the inconvenience that my brothers and auntie had to endure and on top of thay, paid for an additional $450 for their missed flight, may I know what can be done to correct this?

I expected a sense of urgency from the staff. My brothers and auntie are first timers in Melbourne, they stayed for vacation with us and it was their first time in Melbourne airport.

I am hoping that I can hear from you and this will be resolved soonest possible time.

To Customer Service Department Virgin Australia.

I am writing on behalf of my partner Annette Shone who along with five other family members traveled on the following flights from Canberra, Australia to Queenstown, New Zealand on 04 October 2018:

VA633 - CBR to SYD
VA163 SYD to ZQN

All family members travelled to attend our daughter's wedding. Annette, being the mother of the bride. The reason I am writing this is because at 12:30am on 06 October (NZ time) I received a phone call from Annette who was almost in hysterics. To back track a bit, Annette and other family members arrived in Queenstown at 5:10pm, 04 October minus their checked-in luggage. Immediately after exiting Queenstown airport, all party members had to go and purchase toiletries, underwear and other essential items as these were all contained within the checked-in luggage and there was no indication from Virgin staff at Queenstown airport as to when all luggage would arrive.

Just before 12:30am on 06 October, all luggage arrived by courier. Some of the suitcases are made of a soft material and those suitcases were all soaking wet. I am not speaking on behalf of other members of the party, however I have been advised they are all in the same situation that my partner is in. Upon Annette opening the suitcase it was apparent that water (perhaps rain) had seeped through the suitcase. Every item of clothing in that suitcase which included a brand new wedding outfit/shoes/clutch bag etc. has been soaked and damaged. Not only that, the smell of wet clothes that have probably been wet and contained within the case for up to 30 hours is unbelievable.

To say Annette is inconsolable is to put it mildly. She is ropeable. A brand new wedding outfit and wedding attire along with everything else in the case is ruined. This incident has already added to the stress she is under with trying to assist with our daughter's wedding, which is today 06 October. It is not possible for her to purchase new wedding attire in the time-frame prior to the wedding. The best she can hope for is that the wedding dress is able to be dry-cleaned first thing in the morning. However, her new shoes and other wedding accessories are ruined.

I will be seeking compensation from Virgin and whether we have travel insurance or not, is not relevant. My partner's suitcase and all the contents was dry when she checked it in at Canberra airport and it is expected to be in the same condition when she receives the luggage upon arriving in Queenstown. Not only did the luggage arrive more than 31 hours after she arrived in Queenstown, there was no statement of apology from Virgin or airport baggage staff accompanying the luggage. I find this difficult to comprehend as it would have been impossible for anyone to not see that the suitcase and more than likely the contents of the suitcase was saturated.

We will be completing an itemised inventory of every damaged/destroyed item and furthermore, we are not willing to pay an insurance excess when the damage caused to our belongings was through no fault of Annette's, but the fault of airport baggage staff/Virgin for not keeping them dry. I work at airports and I know that the procedure with loading and unloading luggage when it's raining, is that it does not happen until the rain has ceased.

We are a long term loyal customer of Virgin Airlines. However, this incident has left a sour taste in our mouths especially given the importance of what was in the suitcase. Frankly I am puzzled that a company of your standing could allow this to happen, without so much as an acknowledgement or apology that the suitcase was potentially damaged due to being subject to rain. This has placed an undue stress on Annette and if compensation is not forthcoming once the compensation form is submitted we will have no choice but to take legal action.

I have attached images of the water damaged clothing. However, it is not possible to see from these images how wet and bad the clothing is, not too mention how bad they smell.

Regards

Mark Short on behalf of Annette Shone.

My husband and I recently flew Virgin from Sydney to Denpasar. On the outbound flight my husband had a window seat (he is a little claustrophobic) but there was no window! Just a plastic panel and the seats were very tight. I am 5'2" and 55kg and found it difficult. We spent the entire flight with the knees of the person behind us jammed into our backs. On the return flight passengers were admitted onto the plane (same tiny, shrunken plane) with several pieces of hand luggage each. As there is no way you can put things under the seat in front of you (unless you are a contortionist) overhead lockers were jammed full and it took a good 15 minutes for attendants to reshuffle and stow all the stuff. Further, a group of fairly inebriated people were let on board and they proceeded to vomit for the majority of the flight, leaving on one bathroom (in business class) useable for the entire plane! We then of course had to wait on the tarmac to be cleared by quarantine and wait a further 15 minutes while everyone located there (many) pieces of carry on luggage. If you are going to jam the maximum amount of people into the tiniest space perhaps consider enforcing carry on rules? Your flight attendant were (as always) fantastic and professional. However, I don't think my velocity card will be getting much of a work out in the future. That was the WORST plane I have ever been on, even the budget Asian airlines are more comfortable. Sorry, but it is not a pleasant way to end a holiday.

While checking in at Cairns airport for this flight I needed to check in a number of bags with my two children. We were told we could only check in one bag each so I had to move items around at the airport from bag to bag to make sure our carry on luggage wasn't over 7kg. The girl serving us called Rebekah was quite short and rude about it. As I was going through security I rechecked my email which said as a silver member I am allowed 2x23kg checked in luggage. This meant we were carrying way more luggage than necessary onto the flight which is more tricky when travelling with kids, My main complaint is that when tescelling with children things are more difficult and this young person made our first point of contact with virgin unpleasant with her rude deaneanor. Additionally as it turns out she was wrong as I could have checked in more luggage.

My husband and I recently flew home to Australia September 5th 2018 from Boston on flights VA6532 and VA2. On the 4th of September, we called Virgin Customer Service to organize extra leg room as my husband has had a recent knee replacement. Our credit card was charged FIVE TIMES for the extra legroom! We recognized the mistake that evening, where he spend ONE HOUR on the phone with someone trying to get the extra fees ( just over $1400 ) returned to our account. We were promised the money had been put back, that we would receive a confirmation email. Neither happened. We sent an email with all of the details to Virgin, and to this day, have still not received a reply, or our money back! We regularly fly Qantas and only tried Virgin on a recommendation from my Mother. To add insult to injury, I have food allergies and had no meal as they had forgotten to load it, as well as my bag did not come in on our flight to Melbourne and we had to wait nearly two hours for it to come in on another flight. This was after 36 hours of travel. Really? It will take a lot for us to ever fly with Virgin again.

Dear Sir/Madam

It would be appreciated if my below complaint with Virgin Australia can be reviewed accordingly.

I purchased flight tickets with Virgin Australia for 2 Adults travelling from Brisbane to Townsville on flight VA367 Sunday 2nd September 2018 departing at 8.50am.

Booking number JKPQJW. For the amount of $415.40.

We had checked in online and obtained boarding & baggage tags. Upon checking in luggage and clearing security we were making our way to Gate 44 when my 75 year old mother needed to go to the bathroom urgently. As these facilities were located near Gate 41, I waited in this area until she was ready.

Whilst I was waiting I heard flights for Sydney, Canberra & Melbourne being broadcasted throughout the terminal and also Individual names stating that if you are in the Virgin terminal please make your way to gate xx for boarding.

Upon arriving at gate 44, we were extremely upset to learn that our flight had just departed and our tickets were subsequently cancelled & luggage removed from the flight.

As gate 44 was just around the corner from where I was sitting outside gate 41, I cannot understand why they never broadcasted the Townsville flight so all passengers can hear wherever they are within the Virgin Terminal.

Upon speaking to Virgin Australia we were advised that our tickets could not be transferred for a later flight and that we would need to purchase 2 replacement tickets for $452.72.

I had explained that our flight was not broadcasted within the Virgin Australia terminal and was informed that the flight was called from gate 44.

My question is why other flights were being broadcasted throughout the Virgin Australia terminal and not our Townsville flight and why we had to purchase replacment tickets when the plane was nearly half empty.

Obviously our intention was not to miss this flight and Virgin Australia knew that we were in the terminal as our baggage had been checked in. If the flight was broadcasted throughout the terminal we would have immediately gone to gate 44.

I would like Virgin Australia to give consideration for reimbursement of these replacement tickets due to them not broadcasting all flights within the terminal.

Kind Regards

Di Harris

I had reason to change a booking which had inadvertently made for 30 August instead of 30 September. I rang Virgin and spoke to a foreign accented person who said his name was "Ian" (unlikely). He gave me the run around for 90 mins on 29 August from 7.15 pm to 8.45 pm (I hope there is a recording of the call as it has to be heard to be believed). He booked me on three different flights which took about 30 mins of repeating myself and every question I asked he put me on hold. I finally got the website up myself to find a flight after being given the run around for about 50 mins at this stage. I finally asked him to put me on a flight and I would pay the extra. He said he had to book the two quests separately and then proceeded to ask me to spell my name (3 times) despite having it in front of him as well as my email address despite having it and my Velocity number in front of him. He took my credit card number a total of six times, each time repeating it after me and putting me on hold in between. He also asked my address two times (painstakingly spelt out) and my phone number two times each time putting me on hold. He didn't ask me to spell the other guests name strangely enough. I don't know whether he was just dim or being deliberately obtuse but it was the most horrendous phone interaction I have ever had, much worse even than Telstra and Centrelink. He had the grace to waive the change booking fee after all this but managed to charge my credit card three times instead of two. I rang Virgin back and got a girl who had my booking in front of her and a promise to fix the credit card accomplished sensibly in about two minutes. This account is only a snapshot of the actual experience. I would appreciate a follow-up contact from Virgin. My Velocity number if [protected]. Anne Thomson [protected]/[protected]

Vigin destroy my rose gold suitcase and replace it with a black one. I ask them when I was at the Vigin baggage to replace it to the colour it was as I purchase the whole set in rose gold and now I don't have my ties gold bag. This is the second time Vigin has destroy my luggage last time that took no responsibility as I didn't have the receipt for the bag. I always fly Vigin and this is how they treat people. They told me today that they didn't have to match the colour I find that is not looking after their costumes. I still want my rose gold bag. Any assistance would be grateful

We arrived to check in at 11.45am on Sunday 18th August 2018. We wanted to upgrade to Business class, however we were declined.
Intended departure was 13.15 on VA 422.
Flight was delayed until 15.00...no SMS notification.or loud speaker notification. Now delayed until 15.30.
Looking forward to an explanation for the delay and inconvenience caused in Adelaide due to delay.
Kindest regards
Sam Harding

Dear staff
We have a happy trip in Australia except the flight experience!
It was terrible!
We waited for over seven hours in two times! I came along with elderly family members, it was upset to let them wait in the airport!

I informed and complained about the delayed flight and flight arrangements !
Besides, you arranged a transited flight at Sidney to Melbourne on 2/8/18,
It was impossible to catch up the flight, and no seats after, then we waited for 7 hours, you can search back such records!

When we back to Hong Kong, there was delayed problems!(photos)
May I have document in explanation with names for insurance!
we hope your company can compensate to show your responsibility!

Thank you

Regards
May

My friend and I booked a return flight from Melbourne to Sunshine Coast starting Friday 10th Aug VA 1511 departing 1225. Returning to Melbourne on the 12th Aug 1225. Flight VA 1508
The plane was delayed due to unforseen circumstances, no problem, we were not upset. We were approached by one of your employees, a young man, who asked if we were agreeable to getting on a later flight due to over booking or over weight. He offered us $150 to delay. Due to the fact that I had a 2hr 30 mins drive after arriving in Melb we declined. He was pleasant. When we arrived in Melbourne my companion Mrs Sylvia Chan received a text saying that her luggage had been left in the Sunshine Coast airport. It eventuated that both her and my luggage had been removed from the plane and put on another flight, I was not advised. So, we had to wait anyway until the luggage arrived. When we went to the luggage service they knew my bags had been removed, but didnt bother to advise me. Now considering that both of us are over 70 years old, it was more than an inconvenience. It seems like a rebuke that when we refused it was a " I will take their luggage off anyway" attitude. So all in all we did have to wait for the next flight anyway and had to drive 2.30 hours late at night at my age, I was furious at the total disregard for customer welfare.

VA117 - Brisbane to Queenstown 26/03/2018 departed 09.25 a.m. arrived in Queenstown New Zealand 15.55 p.m.

Passengers Francesca Wright & Jack Wakefield
Good Afternoon
My name is Jane Wright and after todays discussion with my daughter and her boyfriend regarding the rudeness of one of the Air Stewards on the above flight called Josh, I feel very strongly about putting forward this complaint.
I booked these flights for my daughter and her boyfriend as a belated Christmas present as myself and my husband have relocated to Queenstown for work commitments.
Jack had an isle seat and Josh on 3 occasions banged Jacks arm when he walked past, no apology or recognition.
Francesca tried to ask Josh the price of a coffee and food, Josh completely ignored them and spoke over their heads to the gentleman sat next to them on the window seat.
Josh told them he would come back which he didn't so they were unable to make any purchases on the flight.
I work in Queenstown airport in Aviation and certainly like to make our passengers experience a nice pleasant one being professional and helpful at all times. I am so disappointed at this service from Josh as what was supposed to be an exciting flight to visit family turned out to be very unpleasant. I would like this complaint to be put forward and await your response to this, with confirmation that Josh has been interviewed regarding his behaviour.
Francesca and Jack travel back to Brisbane this coming Friday and they are dreading the thought of having to deal with Josh if he is working on the flight.
Awaiting your reply
Jane Wright.

I am a velocity frequent flyer member but that has proved to be of no use whatsoever with the problems I have experienced:

Virgin australia accepted my booking and gave me a va prefixed flight number.
I received an email alerting me to their online check in facility
I followed the instructions only to be advised (by information box) that I could not check in as the flight was operated by another (un-named) operator and I would have to check in at the airport.
I telephoned virgin australia using the number on the complaint board website but after 20 minutes it was clear I was not going to be able to speak to a human being.
I await an apology, system change, and compensation
I discovered that air new zealand were operating the flight and called their customer services number and waited 17 minutes to reach a human being.
I was asked for my flight booking code only to be told it was not an air new zealand number and their system would not accept it.
I gave my e-ticket number from which I was identified but was told that I could not check in online because I had not booked directly with air new zealand
My wife and I arrived very early at the airport for both the outward and return flights - the latter before the air new zealand staff arrived to open the check in.
In each case we had to beg the staff to even sit us close together as there was absolutely no chance that we could sit together
The result - two ruined journeys for which we had paid virgin australia 8 months in advance. We were abandoned totally by virgin australia who demonstrated no customer care whatsoever
And finally - two weeks ago I complained directly to virgin australia about our problems on the outward flight with a request that they assisted with the return flight. To date I have heard nothing! Not even an acknowledgement from them.

VIRGIN AUSTRALIA Airlines (including TERRY COOPER and RICHARD GEORGE) are in the Business of Unethical conduct; Deliberate deception & severely lacking in Integrity whom provides Inaccurate flight operations planning; Deceptive flight Delay causes; Distorted 3rd party details; Misrepresents external stakeholders staffing information & Misleads advice to their Clients…..giving the airline industry an Untruthful image & brings Virgin Australia Airlines into Disrepute = which has already Resulted in Passengers changing their Loyalties to other airlines such as Qantas; Emirates; Qatar; Singapore.

Recommend Avoid VIRGIN AUSTRALIA as they are extremely Behind in Quality Standards compared to other more COMPETITIVE airlines - as Virgin Australia are only interested in Quantity/Turnover where Clients are Only treated as another Number & have absolutely No interest in Quality nor your Repeat business…..
If you want to save yourself from much Heartache including Virgin Australia's EXCESSIVE DELAYS - for your future Travels recommend you find an Airline whom actually treat you as a Person; are Quality driven in terms of customer service; and genuinely Care about their Clients return as a Repeat Customer…..

Virgin Australia airlines have demonstrated ‘Safety shortcuts' to reduce their costs at the expense of ‘Passenger safety' as well as non-profitable/losing Money every year in the last five years, hence, financially their days are Numbered…..Bye Bye Virgin Australia !

Hi,
last Sunday my Flight on Virgin Australia (VA617 - N Class/5.30pm) was cancelled due to an overbooking.
I understand that this happens from time to time however when I was waiting in the customer service line for Virgin to see if I could get on the 8pm flight as I could not fly in the morning as per rescheduled flight. I was told by the grumpy virgin attendant that there were no seats and there was absolutely no chance of getting a seat. I explained I had to be there tonight for early start work.She didnt care and basically told there is nothing she can do and my best bet is to try a one way flight with Jetstar and they would credit my flight.
I was appalled and how she treated me with no empathy. She just didnt care. I get that this happens but you must at least be helpful to the customer. was no offer to be on a waiting list or to check, she simply told me that while I am waiting in the queue.I wish I took her name down as I was so angry but didnt want to lose it in public. She had short brown hair and was dealing with people in the queue, not at the desk (between 4pm-5)I was later told by my colleagues who were bumped on the 8pm flight that there were seats available!
I fly virgin all the time interstate but after this experience, I don't think I will be flying again. I travel a lot for work.

VIRGIN AUSTRALIA Airlines gives the Travel industry an Appalling image & Incompetence whom implements Worst practice sourcing strategy bringing the Airline industry into Disrepute - THEY:

• Severely Discriminates against people’s background/race/religion;
• Misrepresents staffing information;
• Misleads advice to the general public;
• Ineffective in resolving complaints;
• Senior Management having zero Leadership attributes
• Insult people’s intelligence;
• Humiliates people in front of others;
• HR department Displays Inferior competence;
• Incompetent senior management = absolutely no idea what they are doing
• deliberate & Unethical conduct;
• severely lacking in Integrity;
• Inaccurate advertising; plus
• Flawed recruitment processes;

VIRGIN as a Group of Companies preaches its Values & Traits on their Website = it's all only just Lip Service as their employees & in particular its Executive Board & Senior Management do not walk the talk. Clients are Only treated as another Number & they have absolutely No interest in Quality nor care about how they treat people.

If you want to save yourself from much Heartache – find an Airline for whom will actually treat you as a Person; are Quality driven in terms of customer service; and genuinely Care about their People - as this definitely does NOT exist at all from VIRGIN AUSTRALIA.

VIRGIN AUSTRALIA Airlines has been losing Hundreds of $$$ Millions per year in DEBT for the last 5 Consecutive Years, hence, financially their days are Numbered = Bye Bye VIRGIN AUSTRALIA !

The management at the sydney baggage room is absolutely atrocious. The br manager shows no leadership, has no conviction and doesn't delegate as recquired. The leading hands in the baggage room are quite inept when it comes to managing rosters handling complaints and monitoring the workings in the workplace. Some of the leading hands breach confidentiality when a complaint is made by telling the offending party who made the complaint. Absolutely displicable and unprofessional behaviour.

Terry cooper and virgin australia airlines group executive team are in the business of unethical operations; deceptive advertising & severely lacking in honesty whom are ineffective in resolving complaints; has zero leadership attributes; displays inferior competence; & covers-up virgin australia’s deliberate misleading advice to clients…..
Gives the airline industry an untruthful image & brings virgin australia airlines into disrepute = which has already resulted in passengers changing their loyalties to other airlines such as qantas; emirates; qatar; singapore.
Recommend avoid virgin australia as they are extremely behind in quality standards compared to other more competitive airlines - as virgin australia are only interested in quantity/turnover where clients are only treated as another number & have absolutely no interest in quality nor your repeat business…..
If you want to save yourself from much heartache including virgin australia’s excessive delays – for your future travels recommend you find an airline whom actually treat you as a person; are quality driven in terms of customer service; and genuinely care about their clients return as a repeat customer…..
Virgin australia has been non-profitable & losing money every year in the last five years, hence, financially their days are numbered….. Bye bye virgin australia!

Virgin australia airlines and richard george are in the business of unethical conduct; deliberate deception & severely lacking in integrity whom provides inaccurate flight operations planning; deceptive flight delay causes; distorted 3rd party details; misrepresents external stakeholders staffing information & misleads advice to their clients…..
Richard george gives the airline industry an untruthful image & brings virgin australia airlines into disrepute = which has already resulted in passengers changing their loyalties to other airlines such as qantas; emirates; qatar; singapore.
Recommend avoid virgin australia as they are extremely behind in quality standards compared to other more competitive airlines - as virgin australia are only interested in quantity/turnover where clients are only treated as another number & have absolutely no interest in quality nor your repeat business…..
If you want to save yourself from much heartache including virgin australia’s excessive delays – for your future travels recommend you find an airline whom actually treat you as a person; are quality driven in terms of customer service; and genuinely care about their clients return as a repeat customer…..
Virgin australia has been non-profitable & losing money every year in the last five years, hence, financially their days are numbered….. Bye bye virgin australia!

Virgin australia group executive team and terry cooper are in the business of unethical operations; deceptive advertising & severely lacking in honesty whom are ineffective in resolving complaints; has zero leadership attributes; displays inferior competence; & covers-up virgin australia's deliberate misleading advice to clients…..
Terry cooper gives the airline industry an untruthful image & brings virgin australia airlines into disrepute = which has already resulted in passengers changing their loyalties to other airlines such as qantas; emirates; qatar; singapore.
Recommend avoid virgin australia as they are extremely behind in quality standards compared to other more competitive airlines - as virgin australia are only interested in quantity/turnover where clients are only treated as another number & have absolutely no interest in quality nor your repeat business…..
If you want to save yourself from much heartache including virgin australia's excessive delays – for your future travels recommend you find an airline whom actually treat you as a person; are quality driven in terms of customer service; and genuinely care about their clients return as a repeat customer…..
Virgin australia has been non-profitable & losing money every year in the last five years, hence, financially their days are numbered….. Bye bye virgin australia!