Why won’t Sailor Services help me?

[ChrisLDN]

Hi everyone - long time reader, first time poster to this forum. 
 

Does anyone have a secret contact email or phone number where I can escalate an issue to? I need some help and I’m all out of options. 

 

Here’s my issue (it’s long…):

 

I’m booked on the November Singapore to Sydney voyage, which was paid for using a 200% FVC from last year’s cancelled Resilient Lady sailings and the balance topped up with cash. I’ve got my email receipt from August last year confirming it’s fully paid. A few months back, my account changed to show I now owe £1800 balance. My first email to Rockstar agent was replied to, and they confirmed I owed this money, but didn’t take into account any of my evidence as to it being fully paid. That was my last email response. 

Nine emails later, to both Rockstar and Sailor Services, I’ve had no response in writing. And it’s not like I’m rushing things, these emails are over the course of two months. 
 

I’ve spoken to Sailor Services twice and both times they’ve been fairly helpful, but haven’t been able to resolve anything other than to say “we see there’s been a glitch and it’ll be updated on your account in a few days”. It hasn’t been…

 

The latest issue is that I’ve received an email about a level upgrade that I haven’t submitted - I’ve been sent an email with my name attached to a totally separate booking, complete with someone else’s contact information and booking reference. Clearly a data problem, right?

 

So, I’m on the phone again, this time insisting that I’m put through to someone senior who can deal with this. The response was pretty much “meh, not an issue”. And then they proceeded to tell me I’ve got an outstanding balance of £1800 that needs paid. So cue the whole conversation again and now I’m told that the issue is because they applied a double FVC in error (except it was *meant* to be 200%, because that was the deal) and as a “gesture of goodwill”, they’ll discount £1000 but I still owe £800. 
 

Of course, I argued this and have asked to be called back by someone who can sort me out, but I’m not holding my breath. 
 

It’s quite the catalogue of errors. And it’s so frustrating, because I’ve been on four voyages so far and they’ve all been epic. I was a big supporter of Virgin but this has made me feel very differently about them. 
 

Hence my request on the forum - is there any other way of contacting Virgin where they might actually help me?

 

Thanks for any help you can offer.

Chris 

[jamesv92]

5 minutes ago, ChrisLDN said:

Hi everyone - long time reader, first time poster to this forum. 
 

Does anyone have a secret contact email or phone number where I can escalate an issue to? I need some help and I’m all out of options. 

 

Here’s my issue (it’s long…):

 

I’m booked on the November Singapore to Sydney voyage, which was paid for using a 200% FVC from last year’s cancelled Resilient Lady sailings and the balance topped up with cash. I’ve got my email receipt from August last year confirming it’s fully paid. A few months back, my account changed to show I now owe £1800 balance. My first email to Rockstar agent was replied to, and they confirmed I owed this money, but didn’t take into account any of my evidence as to it being fully paid. That was my last email response. 

Nine emails later, to both Rockstar and Sailor Services, I’ve had no response in writing. And it’s not like I’m rushing things, these emails are over the course of two months. 
 

I’ve spoken to Sailor Services twice and both times they’ve been fairly helpful, but haven’t been able to resolve anything other than to say “we see there’s been a glitch and it’ll be updated on your account in a few days”. It hasn’t been…

 

The latest issue is that I’ve received an email about a level upgrade that I haven’t submitted - I’ve been sent an email with my name attached to a totally separate booking, complete with someone else’s contact information and booking reference. Clearly a data problem, right?

 

So, I’m on the phone again, this time insisting that I’m put through to someone senior who can deal with this. The response was pretty much “meh, not an issue”. And then they proceeded to tell me I’ve got an outstanding balance of £1800 that needs paid. So cue the whole conversation again and now I’m told that the issue is because they applied a double FVC in error (except it was *meant* to be 200%, because that was the deal) and as a “gesture of goodwill”, they’ll discount £1000 but I still owe £800. 
 

Of course, I argued this and have asked to be called back by someone who can sort me out, but I’m not holding my breath. 
 

It’s quite the catalogue of errors. And it’s so frustrating, because I’ve been on four voyages so far and they’ve all been epic. I was a big supporter of Virgin but this has made me feel very differently about them. 
 

Hence my request on the forum - is there any other way of contacting Virgin where they might actually help me?

 

Thanks for any help you can offer.

Chris 

Have you tried social media? I've had low success rate speaking to virgin by phone/email but they always respond within a day on twitter.

[cantgetin]

Stories like this are why I use a TA.  Yes, if you post negatives on social media, they get to you within a day or two!  I had that happen once.

[CruisingWalter]

Always book through a TA in the future for this exact scenario. My TA literally has a dedicated business development manager they can call to make ship happen.  For now, tag VV's social team, nicely, and tell them you're having difficulty getting a situation resolved. They should respond to you pretty quickly on Twitter or Threads. But be nice about it, don't be deragatory or they will ignore you.