Why I am a Virgin Atlantic fan
Alison Bolton
www.virginatlantic.com
I fly a lot on business and whenever I can, I fly with Virgin Atlantic. I can trace back when I first became aware that there was something different about flying with them to the late 1990’s when I was offered a choc ice while watching a film (on one of those new back of seat screens). It was completely unexpected and delicious.
But this story is actually about service recovery ….
I’ve kept my maiden name and when we travel as a family I take great care to ask the agent to link our names in the system, so that we can sit together. When this didn’t happen on a trip to New York, I felt disappointed and frustrated by Virgin.
It started at check-in with the Virgin rep telling me that I’d been upgraded to Upper Class. But as I turned to tell my family the good news I could see the smile on her face disappearing. I quickly worked out what had happened. Of course it was actually only me as a flying club gold card member that had been upgraded.
I shared my frustration with the rep, explaining the surnames situation, and how I now felt having had our expectations raised to then have them dashed.
I couldn’t help but admire how she handled the situation. Having empathised with me and apologised for our names not being linked, she promised to personally get in touch with customer service and operations (which she did – I get a letter on my return). She then said she would see what she could do to help us feel better about our journey. Not really expecting there to be three upgrade seats available, I was expecting her to simply arrange for us to sit together and to perhaps arrange for a complimentary glass or two of champagne.
When we came to the gate we were delighted to fine that not only had she managed to upgrade all three of us, but she’d arranged for several passengers to change seats so that the three of us could sit together. I was bowled over.
This Customer Experience lessons?
Make it easy for employees to identify high value customers
Empower employees to do what they feel is right to retain high value customers
Post Script:
I continue to fly with Virgin on a frequent basis and to recommend them over other airlines. Why? Not just because of this one service recovery experience, but because they always seem to be looking for new ways to make my end-to-end journey as a business traveller as relaxing and stress free as possible. I personally like the complimentary limousine service, the seat configuration which means I don’t have to step over anyone, and the lovely thick duvets that help me to go to sleep!
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