Virgin Airlines passenger lost $800 after apparently getting mistake email
The only thing that departed was his money.
A Virgin Australia passenger allegedly found himself $800 poorer after a communications mixup resulted in him missing his original flight.
“What Virgin has done to me is just so wrong,” Max Cameron, 64, told Yahoo News of the catastrophe, which occurred after he’d booked a night flight from Tasmania and Melbourne, Australia, for work in January.
The Aussie claimed he’d received a text from the airline informing him that his flight was delayed by 45 minutes and would now take off at 10:15 p.m. In the note, Virgin reportedly shared that the check-in desk would close 30 minutes before the new departure time, meaning he could postpone his arrival.
Cameron was initially thrilled over what he thought was a helpful heads-up.
“I thought, ‘Well done, Virgin. You’ve come through,'” gushed the grateful passenger, who claimed he arrived at check-in at 9:25 p.m., 20 minutes before the closing time indicated in the notice.
However, the traveler quickly realized something was awry after he showed up and discovered there was “not one person in the Virgin terminal,” according to Yahoo News.
It appeared as if the check-in had closed early.
With seemingly no other recourse, Cameron left the airport and bought a ticket for the following morning — which, when coupled with accommodation and transportation expenses, set him back a total of $800.
The frustrated flyer subsequently reached out to the airline’s service team to try and get to the bottom of the fiasco.
However, they reportedly claimed that he was supposed to arrive a half-hour before the original departure time — which didn’t match the instructions in the original message.
Virgin Australia reportedly declined to compensate the flyer and subsequently closed his inquiry.
“I got a note back saying, ‘Sorry, Mr Cameron, you didn’t arrive prior to the check-in time closing … We called for last cases and you didn’t present,’ ” Cameron said.
Not satisfied with the response, the beleaguered passenger approached a Virgin desk supervisor, who said that he was initially sent the “wrong email,” according to Cameron.
A Virgin Australia spokesperson has since confirmed in a statement to the Post that “the guest was unfortunately given incorrect information about the check-in deadline for a delayed flight.”
Needless to say, Cameron was incensed over the incident.
“It’s not the money but the lack of accountability … there is no service mentality anymore,” lamented the flyer, who is reportedly still attempting to get Virgin to reimburse him for the apparent error.
The Virgin Australia spokesperson said that the airline has “directly contacted the guest to apologize for their experience.”
“We are currently in the process of assessing the guest’s claim to reimburse out-of-pocket expenses,” they told the Post.
