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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Virgin Holidays have taken >£3k from account. Am at wits end

315 replies

chocoLit · 16/12/2015 15:26

So would I be unreasonable for accusing Virgin Holidays for ruining Christmas?!?

We booked online last night. £3200. Paid full price. Flights & car hire for whole family. Dates Oct 2016. Holiday of a lifetime and not undertaken lightly.

An error message came up on screen asking us to call which I did this morning as soon as I could.

They're now claiming those flights don't exist anymore unless we pay them £1500 more.

OR for only £1k more they'll send us a different way with two stops instead of one.

As for the money, they won't return that sooner that 7-10 working days.

I feel like am being blackmailed here and almost at wits end.

Girl dealing was very pleasant but new to company so wasn't able to help much or any further.

Someone called 'Dave' is to be phoning me back but she's not sure when or what he's going to be able to do!!?

So, AIBU to turn up at Branston's door with the 3DC and have him explain why they're not getting their holiday!!!

Has anyone had this before? Any advice gratefully received.

OP posts:
Original poster
chocoLit · 17/12/2015 18:52

Hi Hula, we can't do direct flights from where we live but thanks.

Virgin have come back with a counter offer.

Dh and I are going to discuss it when DCs are in bed.

To those who have offered help and send messages with suggestions, thank you.

OP posts:
Original poster
chocoLit · 17/12/2015 18:53

Oh and Dave finally emailed so at least we know he is no longer in the world's longest meeting Grin

OP posts:
Original poster
chocoLit · 17/12/2015 22:53

Virgin Holidays came back today offering us the same package (car and flights) for £150 more than our original booking. This was them removing ALL their profit, which they weren't able to do at all the day before.

Either that OR for the exact same price as our original package, we could go on several different other flights with more connections, one of which didn't allow us ANY time between landing and taking off again...............

I thanked them for the offer, asked them to email me the details and that DH and I would discuss this evening and get back to them.

We have since come to the conclusion that Virgin Holidays have left a rather nasty taste in our mouths and we don't really want to risk the booking. We've thanked them for the offer but politely declined and asked them to return the money to our account ASAP.

Sooooooooooooooooo lessons learnt from this whole sorry situation:

Only book with Credit card then pay off
Use trailfinders/expedia or phone some bloke called Gav (I think I'll need to check back on the thread) for any future holidays.
Don't get excited and giggly about a holiday until physical proof of booking in hands - not just going through the process online and having money taken from account.
Don't post in AIBU
Never book with Virgin Holidays Grin

Thanks again everyone.

OP posts:
tthisisgettingboring · 17/12/2015 23:01

Glad that you have come to a decision choco and hope you get to book something again really soon and that of course Virgin return your money asap!

I must say that I think they did make you a reasonable offer though today with just an extra £150 to pay.

I've never dared post in AIBU in 12 years on MN so well done you for being so brave! Grin

Sansoora · 18/12/2015 03:10

I also think it was a reasonable offer. And I understand a nasty taste has been left in your mouth by it all but I can't see why you would think the booking could still be at risk.

I think it would be more credible if you said 'we refused because we just wanted to say stuff you'.

You have a lot invested in this holiday on an emotional level after the said loss of your dad and the fact a part of your inheritance is financing it. Please be careful that you don't let this affect your holiday negatively. There will be things happen along the way that you'll have to take on the chin as being part and parcel of a holiday and if you always remember your dads money in relation to what's going on you'd be as well deciding not to go from now.

I speak from experience on this. I went away with family 2 years ago and my SIL had used part of her inheritance to pay for the really lovely holiday we were on but the least little 'normal hiccough' and it was 'to think I paid for this with my mums money.' She wanted it to be perfect because of how she'd paid for it and with travel/holidays thats just not possible.

You cannot come home and say the holiday was ruined, it wasn't as perfect as I think it should have been because my beloved dad paid for it.

There's a lot of conflicting emotion that can come to the surface in this situation but I really do wish nothing but a great holiday for you and yours. Smile

notafanofwinter · 18/12/2015 05:36

Don't look a gift horse. Id accept their offer of £150 more and then you'll be be back to having your holiday booked and sorted.
don't believe their no profit nonsense

lifesalongsong · 18/12/2015 07:21

I know it's been a bad start to the holiday process but I'd also be tempted to take their offer. It's going to be a lot of work from what you've said to find another holiday with all your requirements.

Dipankrispaneven · 18/12/2015 07:40

It seems to me very clear that Virgin are in breach of contract. They offered a holiday, OP accepted their offer, she paid the money and they took it. At that point they had a contractual obligation to deliver the holiday at that price.

Therefore they must pay damages covering:

(1) The money originally paid;
(2) Interest for the delay in repaying it;
(3) The difference in cost between the price they were offering and the price OP actually has to pay for the same holiday, if there is one.

As of people saying it's not Virgin's fault that the banks take so long to process the repayment - nonsense. It's Virgin's fault that they took the money when they weren't prepared to honour their contract. They have to take the hit.

MuttonWasAGoose · 18/12/2015 08:15

The fine print says there's no contract until the booking goes through. Allows for advertised price to be unavailable.

Original poster
chocoLit · 18/12/2015 08:17

Whilst I agree they have finally come back with a more reasonable offer we are still declining.

I wouldn't in all honestly sleep at night if we treated our customers that way.

Regardless of who is ultimately at fault re the money (VH OR Bank OR money laundering regs etc etc) the situation was stressful & upsetting.

I have no interest in being a customer of theirs anymore and if I found a good deal once I can find it again.......

I'll be off to trail finders or Expedia (with my credit card) just as soon as the money reappears.

OP posts:
CottonSock · 18/12/2015 08:34

Still £150 more than you booked, I think the offer is a cheek personally.

Dipankrispaneven · 18/12/2015 09:07

I'm not sure that the fine print clause would be valid under the Unfair Contract Terms Act.

glueandstick · 18/12/2015 09:17

Why not just book the hotel, car and flights separately. It is 9/10 far far cheaper AND you get to choose exactly what you want.

Original poster
chocoLit · 18/12/2015 09:24

That was what we were doing but just doing the fly drive option THEN looking at accommodation.

Will sort it all out once money returned

OP posts:
dingit · 18/12/2015 09:31

I've gone right off virgin when we arrived in San Francisco with 2 very tired dc to find they had cancelled our hotel booking even though the holiday had been booked nearly a year before. Luckily the hotel had a room and we had credit cards, but not what you need after 18 hours travelling at the. equivalent of 2 in the morning. Not even an apology.

Ohbehave1 · 18/12/2015 10:04

Dipank. It's standard across the industry and easily stands up - because VH cannot buy the seats without risking a cancellation fee if the end customers card is declined.

OP. I hope you have a great time. Do be aware that there is nothing stopping it happening with someone else, as the way airline seats are sold is the same for any company using scheduled flights. And hope you have a less stress free Christmas Grin

ihatevirginmobile · 18/12/2015 10:16

IME with Virgin (Mobile) - the fine print in their T&Cs is very dodgy, very definitely in their favour.

My problems started with them selling me a faulty handset - intermittent and not a big user it took me just over a month to realise.
I had skim read the terms...but not the fine detail. And I consider them to be misleading - eg in bold 'don't worry if you phone develops a fault, no problems - we'll sort it out for you - no hassle ' - the one that made my blood boil was 'we'll do all the legwork for you' - which translates to they send you prepaid packaging, you have to take it into a post office to send it to them for a repair which takes 5 working days plus postage times either side whilst leaving you phone less.
And in my case it was faulty from the start anyway....
I spoke to CAB/Trading standards -sent letters recorded delivery, using their templates and got generic computer generated replies, telling me to try their online phone fix and phone their tech dept - when I had said in the letter I had already done that -had spent hours on the phone to them. And ignoring they had sold me something not fit for purpose and were inconveniencing me...greatly.
You wouldn't believe a big company - especially one that plays on being customer friendly/customer service - could be so difficult, tricky. I guess they are now too big to worry about upsetting the odd customer...

(and believe it or not it got worse...it took them 9 months, two trips to their repair centre, further hours and hours on the phone being told eg I should - no I shouldn't -have antivirus Confused etc to actually get a fault free phone (they finally replaced the insides!).

And along with that I had a couple of other minor issues with them (put foreign mobile data on the wrong account etc). Then my DD ran up a huge bill, I increased the allowance but it apparently it took a month to come into effect by which time she had run up another huge bill Sad. (And yes she is not blameless and they did send her texts -but then I got random texts from them all the time -eg telling me they had received my phone at the repair centre - when I'd had it back (repaired) for a week by then. However they don't send you texts when they bar your phone though - you find out that when you try and call/text someone!)
I finally had enough and wanted to leave but that was a whole other nightmare...(and the fact that my phone now had a new IMEI and they had no record of that caused more grief). I complained to ofcom in the end.
They are truly shit - and sneaky twisty shits at that. I really hate them.

PestoFestivio · 18/12/2015 10:27

What has your rant about Virgin Mobile's terms & conditions got to do with the OP's post regarding booking a holiday with Virgin Holidays? Confused

You'll probably get a better response if you start your own thread about this.

Dipankrispaneven · 18/12/2015 10:30

It's standard across the industry and easily stands up - because VH cannot buy the seats without risking a cancellation fee if the end customers card is declined.

It is in no way unknown for terms that are standard across an industry to be found to be invalid. Virgin will know very quickly if a card is declined.

Branleuse · 18/12/2015 10:31

wow, I will never even consider using virgin again after reading this.
Shocking service.

MarshaBrady · 18/12/2015 10:39

How stressful. I don't blame you for feeling stressed and angry.

Completely rubbish if their system can allow two to go through at same time. Would be mayhem considering how many people book.

Ohbehave1 · 18/12/2015 10:46

Dipank. Of course virgin will know very quickly if a card has been declined. That doesn't stop the fact that they will have to pay a cancellation fee of the holiday is not processed by the end user.

Many companies ask you to pay up front for things. Or at least put a deposit down. And I guess that is the point here. If the OP had only paid the deposit they would have been OK because all they would be waiting for is the deposit to be returned.

At the end of the day, if the holiday companies had to soak up any cancellation charges they would simply put their prices up across the board to allow for it. And then everyone would suffer.

carrie74 · 18/12/2015 10:53

V v annoying.

FWIW, we've travelled to Florida quite a lot over the years, usually indirectly, and have found Skyscanner a great place to start. For next year though, we got an amazing fly drive deal with BA, and did same again for our 2016 summer holiday. Well worth a look (and apologies if you've looked at every site known to man, I know that feeling v well). And also worth looking at Tampa airport as well as Orlando, as it's a relatively short drive to Orlando (about 1.45 hrs). Good luck x

CallieTorres · 18/12/2015 11:11

you know that Virgin Holidays are not the same company as Virgin Mobile?

C&Ping your complaint on any thread that has Virgin as the subject is quite annoying - ihatevirginmobile - we get it, you dont like Virgin Mobile and you are quite cross

CallieTorres · 18/12/2015 11:16

ok - maybe its only on 2 threads ihatevirginmobile, i'm being a bit harsh, i think its just because i noticed you before

(but they are still different companies)