Virgin America | Today's Disappointment

I don't know what it is about me that attracts poor customer service. I try to be pleasant enough. I wait on hold and I make people laugh. Yet I'm still waiting on a Nevada Power refund that's two months old. And now my exciting time on Virgin America is being clouded with frustration.

 

I had so much trouble booking my flight, I had to call customer service. I had error message after error message that prevented me from booking once I had selected my flight and my seat. That was weeks ago. This morning I tried to check in, and got two different error messages. I tried 8 times to both check in and log in to my Elite account. It didn't work. I called customer service and the woman was abrupt and rude. She didn't offer to help me troubleshoot, and honestly I don't know if there was anything she could do. Still, I was not prepared for her to tell me to just check in at the airport.

 

So I wrote a letter. I had to shorten it for their character allotment:

 

I tried to check into my flight this morning, and received two different error messages. I first tried to check in through a link sent to me via email. That resulted in an error message saying I had been gone too long and that my session had expired. I then tried to check in on your website. I tried more than five times and received an error message each time. I then called customer service, and was not offered any help. The woman told me to check in at the airport.

 

I had the same problem with error messages in booking my flight. I called customer service and was helped.

 

I'm frustrated with your website and affronted by the customer service I received. The call did not last more than a minute. I was able to get through to a person quickly though, and I do appreciate that. I don't know if the woman on the phone was training, or if she did not have web experience. I don't even know if there was anything she could do. I felt rushed and as if I did not get the proper attention.

I have high expectations from Virgin America. First of all, I'm now a local. They're based here and I was hoping to get the most out of their rewards program. More importantly, I flew Virgin Atlantic years ago and loved it. I raved about it for years after and always said I couldn't wait to fly Virgin again. I was excited when Virgin America started, and even more excited when I actually had a reason to take one of their flights.

 

This flight better be good.