“I’m still in shock with his this company the way they speak to customers who are upset no regard for families upset on there holiday. If you complain your shot down and told not to book with them. They twist everything to suit them. Please we need a clear and transparent ombudsman to oversee all UK complaints with this company. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON VIRGIN HOLIDAYS BOOK UOYR HOLIDAY YOURSELF DIRECT YOYRLL RECEIVE BETTER SERVICE !!!”
“We stayed in a villa on Highland Reserve, Orlando in early August for two weeks as part of a Virgin package. There were 8 of us in total.
Pros:
•Great location - 25 mins from Disney and 40 mins from Universal.
•15 mins walk from a Publix supermarket and several other restaurants and bars.
•The sofas in the villa were very comfortable.
•The oven, washing machine and tumble dryer looked new and modern.
•The showers were powerful.
•The pool was clean.
Cons:
On arrival at the villa we felt distinctly underwhelmed and disappointed. We are not accustomed to high levels of luxury and neither are we overly fussy but we certainly expected something a little better having booked with Virgin. The villa had a dated, slightly tatty feel. It was also quite grubby in places. There were plenty of towels but many of them were stained and old, the bed sheets were poor quality and bobbly, the skirting boards were dirty, there was splashes of dirt on the front of a cupboard, there was a grubby rubber mat in the bathroom and the toothbrush holder in the en suite was dirty. In fact, the bathrooms really needed a deep clean. The patio door would not open properly and felt quite unstable. There was also a cracked socket. There were no mirrors in the bedrooms - a trivial issue you might say but tricky with 4 teenage girls!
Our bedroom contained a small double bed which was strangely short in length and made squeaking and creaking noises if you so much as moved. After several nights struggling to sleep my husband moved to the sofa and ended up spending the rest of the holiday sleeping there. The outside area felt unloved and scruffy. The patio furniture needed a good wipe down and the metal sun-beds did not have cushions.
The property was managed by Home Beds who did respond quickly to some of our complaints. They fixed the patio door, removed some of the stained towels, replaced the cracked socket and repaired the air conditioning when it stopped working. They also secured the smoke alarm as it was dangling from the ceiling.
We were in regular contact with various Virgin reps but they would not concede that we might actually have had a point and the property was not up to standard. They said it had passed Virgin’s quality control which in itself is hard to believe. I would defy anyone not to have been disappointed on arrival. It was nowhere near as nice as the example villa featured in photos we were sent by Virgin.
We were offered £194.04 (the equivalent of one night’s accommodation in the villa) as a goodwill gesture. Less than £25 per person. This did very little to allay our disappointment or make up for the hours we spent sending emails whilst on holiday.
We have stayed in far cleaner accommodation in Spain and Turkey with travel companies regarded as being far more ‘budget’ than Virgin.
When you holiday in America and book with a reputable company such as Virgin you do expect your accommodation to be of a certain standard - clean, spacious and well-maintained. You also expect decent-sized beds. Sadly, we were badly let down by Virgin in this regard.”
“Dear Sir/ Ma’am
We wish to raise concerns in regards to a booking we made with Virgin Holidays, booking reference number 6545265. Whereas we stayed at the below location.
Date: 06/23/23 – 06/24/23
Grand Hyatt Hotel
2900 Bayport Drive
Tampa
Florida
33607
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First according to the booking which was purchased by Virgin Holiday’s was for a 1 x King Bed on the day of visit, we were not checked in to a King bed by the employee at the hotel, Ms Cheryl at Conciege. The bed was a double specifications with measurements and also based on my height to being 6 foot 3. Conciege did not notify us of any downgrading taking place at point of check-in and took a payment of $50.00USD. This was not notifed to us of deduction, and now had any communication on this merit regards to if we will get this back. The Hotel was in denial that the bed was not a double and alledge measured it, until put on the spot regards measurements they reverted their comments and offered to compensate.
Spoke to the Manager at the Hotel on 06/25/23, did not seem to have a care in the world – she advised that would have to investigate our concerns and call us back. This happened and a voicemail was left for me, advising would call back with a follow-up on Monday or Tuesday within the new week. This did not take place and have had to chase for following up which outlines unprofessionalism.
Amenities specified on the Grand Hyatt website were not delivered in line with the King Room specifications such as; Shower facilities, Robes, No Slippers.
According to the Grand King website advertising a King Room the bed matching the Image vs. what we had and were different.
We have spoken to the hotel management team over the phone, they seem to not be able to help as we did not book via them and was done between me and Virgin and to take up the concerns with you directly.
My partner, which stayed with me had concerns around the bed informing was extremely uncomfortable and felt like was made of plastic, which I share the same views. It was not a peaceful sleep to top this off with the comfort failing us, as our co-residence stays in room 324 was slamming doors all night which sounded like coming from the their toilet and the main door.
I am disapointed with the delivery from the hotel, being reviewed 4.5/5 stars and miselling to their customers.”
“Do not waste your money and book with Virgin Holidays. Absolutely rubbish. I paid for an overly expensive holiday to Dubai to stay at Atlantis the palm a 7 star hotel and the service we recieved was absolutely disgusting. When I notified virgin holidays they pulled a blind eye to everything I told them. They are only interested in your money and nothing else. It was a holiday from hell and when i asked for a refund of the hotel due to disturbance from others staying at the hotel for 4 nights in a row the answer Virgin gave me was the hotels can not control behaviors of others and can not refund me for the 4 nights of stay.
DO NOT BOOK WITH THEM”
“Buyer Beware!
My friend and I recently returned from holiday at the Royalton Antigua, which we booked via Virgin Holidays. When booking we deliberately chose a 5 star resort, however unfortunately we were not happy with a number of things, which we contacted Virgin Holidays about whilst we were away. Despite assurances that our concerns would be addressed, nothing was done whilst we were away. This is, despite us raising a long list of issues and concerns such as poor quality food and drinks (so bad that we had to pay to eat out on several occasions), health & safety standards (incl. the fire alarm going off in the middle of the night and no staff being around once we evacuated), cleanliness in public areas, inconsistent housekeeping, rude and unresponsive staff etc etc.
When we got home, I contact the customer care team and the office of the executive but have received a less than satisfactory response. It appears that Virgin Holidays refuses to take accountability for our sub-par holiday experience, despite theirs being the 'trusted' name we booked through. Safe to say, I will not be booking with them again.”
“Virgin your staff are treated better than customers. Staff bragging about getting an upgrade to first class is not good . Sort out your bad reviewers first. Don’t consider yourself above your customers . Don’t bother wasting your time with Virgin as they will not give you the time”
“This lot are a complete shower of poop. There T&Cs stat if you cancel your holiday in under a certain time frame you lose 30% or more of your hard earned cash paid for your holiday. Then they stat it could take upto 14 working day's to return your money. What it doesn't say is deadline's only apply one way. Still haven't received my 70% but I want the full 100% as they are later than I was and have broken their own T&Cs. Utter disgrace hope they go bust. At least Dick Turpin wore a Mask”
“This is the second time in three holidays we've had problems with Virgin
Last time we had our fire alarm going off overnight in the room - for two nights the hotel never fixed it the first time. so two days ruined through no sleep. When I complained I returned home to a reply offering me one free night in the hotel. As if I'm going t pay for flights to Barbados to stay one night in a hotel - could've been written for a comedy sketch.
This time I've spent several hours on the phone trying to cancel a holiday - again to Barbados (due to Covid Curfew). I've still not managed to get through, so fear I'm going to lose my deposit.
Never again!!!!”
“I booked a package holiday. By chance I logged into my account only to find my holiday had been reduced by one day bringing me back to London a day earlier then putting me on the shuttle to Manchester the next day !!. I received no email notification, and if I hadn't by chance gone into my account I would have been none the wiser. I have now been on the telephone 1hour 30mins trying to get through. EXTREMELY POOR SERVICE.”
“Customer service phone line, no chance of anyone answering in a reasonable time. Whatsapp chat with Customer Services even worse. My holiday is on red list and they won't cancel till the last minute. Appalling customer service.”
“my best friend book his wedding with virgin hoildays as he was told if he book we would all receive Thousand of pounds in room credits which we could use on tours and excursions so we all booked got our room credits booked excursion which i had a really bad accident on losing 2 fingers and damaging my hand this was 2017 i’ve been in and out of hospital since having 3 more surgery’s my last was thursday 15th april 2021 . i’ve had no apology or any contact expect them saying it was not part of my package holiday even tho they told us about the room credits i have an email from them saying this . before leaving to come i had a manger from virgin and the hotel and they both our companies will be in contact . these multi billion companies do not care about you do not book with virgin holidays”
“My Holiday was canceled in July I asked for refund on the 28/09/20 i received an email please see below.
We know you’ve been waiting longer than you expected to receive your refund, and we’re sorry. We’ve been working through refund requests in date order, and I’m pleased to confirm our team are currently processing your request. This means that your payment should be in your account within 14 days.
I am still waiting Virgin have been very poor during these difficult times.”
“Hi Guys i have just found out that when i finally recieve my refund i can claim the interest back from the day i should have recived it to the day i recived it as its stands today it 300 pound plus court cost so virgin if you drag your
feet it will cost you more and the interest is adding up in a daily basis”
“Holiday cancelled on 2nd May. Refund was confirmed by email but absolutely no contact since. Customer service contact lines now closed at weekends, complaints process doesn’t offer an option to complain for this reason.
We’ve had many holidays with Virgin over the past years and have always been delighted with the service but clearly, when the going gets tough, the leadership team at Virgin just hide.
I’m sad to think what this atrocious level of service will do for Virgin after things return to normal (whenever that may be) I certainly will never trust them with my holiday booking or my money again, they’re still holding nearly £6,000 of my hard earned and well needed cash!!
Mr Branson, you and your leadership team have let your customers down, you’ve let yourselves down and you’re letting your staff down, get your act together, start stepping up and acting responsibly!!”
“Will never use them again. Use them for business and pleasure, but there shocking customer service during this time shows them for the money grabbing swines that they are.”
“ring 03445719731 press no option got through straightaway asked for my refund said 120 days i said mo 14 days she said carnt work to that demand hope you go bust”
“Awful in every way. No contact throughout the Covid pandemic except an email to cancel my holiday, no refund, no contact through any channel. Avoid like the plague”
