Big Aussie Stuffup..Free Velocity Upgrade!

[Lukas M]

Who else got this bogus email? They are giving us you a free upgrade to Gold for coming "so close" to make it. There are millions of members out there lol.

Now who pushed the send button!

[Benny Zheng]

Is that a fake one? I got that email too! Looks legitimate.

Now i wonder if Qantas will upgrade the member's status too!

[Kelvin R]

I got it, just in time for my first flight on Sunday with DJ. So the timing couldn't be better.

[Mick F]

What makes you think it's bogus Lukas?

Looks fairly legit to me. Not whinging if I'm Gold for a year, :). Just wish Qantas would do it too.

Mick

[Ryan N]

I got that e-mail too.

[Blair M]

It seems like an error.

What are the legal ramifications of offering an upgrade via email and not actually honouring it?

Would someone have a case to fight it?

[Daniel F]

I just got a 2nd email saying to ignore the upgrade email :(

[Mick F]

I want my upgrade, :mad:!!

[Lukas M]

They said on the 7pm Project on CH10 that it was claimed to be sent to almost 2 million people!

[Beau Chenery]

What a complete ***** up! Muppet Central!

[Ryan K]

Earlier today, I received an email from Virgin Blue advising that I'd been upgraded to Velocity Gold for a year - with all the trimmings. It told me I'd have free lounge access, priority check in etc..... After going to the Virgin Blue site later on there was a messgage there saying:

"Oops, due to an error, you may have received an email regarding a gold upgrade by mistake. Please disregard the free upgrade communication. We apologised for any inconvenience caused."

A lot of my friends also received this email, any word if this went out to every Velocity member and what may have casued it?

[Michael Mak]

I got one too, got me all excited for a little while.

[Ryan K]

Would love to know how it happened.... a disgruntled employee perhaps?? :D

[Dan Hammond]

I got one too. I also just got an email telling me it was an error, funny enough the title at the top of the email was "Friday the 13th strikes"

[Robert S]

Please do not post the immediate entire above post - thank you. mod.

Got the same thing. Had a fairly crappy day at work so thought the first e-mail was a nice Friday afternoon surprise. Now got home and saw the second e-mail... nice let down. :(

[Joe Frampton]

I reckon some angry types will be either escalating their demand for the gold membership as high as they can go, or going to the ACCC or considering a class action...

It might be a mistake, and most of us can understand that, but it's a pretty big mistake... especially when you have something, personalised, in writing outlining the benefits one will receive... however this happened, I'm sure some heads will roll

Some seriously ****ed off customers with Virgin Blue me thinks :) But no use fighting it really...

[Marty H]

Would love to know how it happened.... a disgruntled employee perhaps?? :D

No we had one of those emails internal last week though....... was quite humerous:)

[Arthur T]

I also received this e-mail and I am flying Virgin Blue to Canberra later.
I will see whether they treat me like a Gold member and may consider ACCC actions if applicable.

[Marty H]

I got the same email, Ive never swiped my Velocity card ever, so Im no where near Gold.

[Nathan Long]

Such a shame that we all missed out on a shmoke und a pancake. Almost toit like a toiger. Yesh Yesh Yesh.

[Guy W]

I am not here to stir the pot... but since when we are so much like the Americans? If we can't get it, the lawyers can. :D

A typical example of some genuine mistake turn sour. :rolleyes:

[Grant Smith]

Got both the emails too, and like you Robert, I too have just finished after a pretty ****ty day at work..

Got all excited for a second, as I know this year SQ is offering a similar offer, whereby if you hold status (Elite Gold or Elite Silver) and if you're within arms reach of re-qualifying they will requalify you on your next Star Alliance, SilkAir or Virgin Atlantic flight...

[Robert S]

A typical example of some genuine mistake turn sour. :rolleyes:

I basically agree... part of me would love some small token gesture like say one free pass to the lounge, but most of me realises that as that e-mail appears to have gone out to the entire membership base, such things would be totally unworkable.

It's just a screwup and I will content myself with being happy that I'm not the poor person who was responsible for it.

[Justin L]

Funny thing is, I never got the original upgrade email, only the second one telling me the ugrade email was a mistake.

[David M]

I got excited, because I actually DID come close to getting my upgrade and was annoyed that I missed out by a few hundred points. Oh well... :cool:

David.M.

[Ben Thiele]

Current Velocity Gold members also got the e-mail, so something was amiss right from the start.

[AdamB]

I also received this e-mail and I am flying Virgin Blue to Canberra later.
I will see whether they treat me like a Gold member and may consider ACCC actions if applicable.

How quick some are to get the lawyers involved. Just let it go. A mistake was made. A mistake that resulted in zero deaths or injuries, just a few disappointed people who at the end of the day are no worse off than they were the day before. Move on & leave the legal nonsense behind. And yes, I am a member that won & lost.

[Ryan N]

Nothing in the media about this. Would have thought the media would have a field day with this, given all the attention on airlines thesedays.

[Adam G]

Please do not quote the entire post above as it is not necessary - mod.

Actually there was a thing on the 7pm project about it last night - they were just making light of the situation!

[Anthony T]

Nothing in the media about this.

Virgin has better social occassions, the media stay on Virgin's good side to ensure they are on the invite list:D

[Liz E]

Would somebody like to post the email, including full header details (delete anything personal). I'd like to check this out further.

[Jason Carruthers]

Here you go


I almost had a heart attack when it arrived in the inbox as I've only been on about 9 Virgin/Pacific Blue Flights in the past 12 months


Although on a side note at least DJ are happy to upgrade everyone :D I flew Lan in Business last month AKL-SYD and QF will not credit any points/sc's for that flight.

[Benny Zheng]

I flew Lan in Business last month AKL-SYD and QF will not credit any points/sc's for that flight.

I last flew LAN in Nov 2008 in economy and i got 40 status credit one way, so 80 in total for QF. Wondering why you didn't get any. In fact i got more credits on this short sector flight then my Sydney - Singapore on QF 31 which is only 30.

[Philip Argy]

Funny thing is, I never got the original upgrade email, only the second one telling me the ugrade email was a mistake.

Me too - I got the "Oops!" apology but never the original erroneous upgrade advice. I think the entire database ended up getting the "Oops!" email as it included an apology for spamming people who had a 'no email' flag in their profile.

[Sarah C]

Nothing in the media about this. Would have thought the media would have a field day with this, given all the attention on airlines thesedays.

Came two days late but finally made the news:

http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/virgin-blue-boo-boo-sees-gold-turn-to-dust-20091116-ignq.html

[Craig Sandford]

I flew Lan in Business last month AKL-SYD and QF will not credit any points/sc's for that flight.

Jason,

I've noticed there's been a few problems with I-class flight credits from LAN on QFF. Send copies of your ticket and boarding pass to QFF in Melbourne. They sorted mine out within 2 days.

[Philip Argy]

Now Brett Godfrey is including an apology with members' points balance statements:

Hi [name]

We'd like to apologise for a genuine mistake which occurred last week that left many Members confused, and us red-faced.

You may have received an email informing you that your Status had been upgraded to Gold. Unfortunately, that information was incorrect, and we're truly sorry for any disappointment the email caused.

After speaking with many of our Members, and listening to all their feedback, we'd like to clear the air and let you know what happened. The problem was caused by a process error, which was identified and fixed, and will not happen again. We'd like to assure you that our data security was never compromised, and your personal details were and are safe.

We remain committed to delivering you the best possible loyalty program in which all Members are rewarded, regardless of your Status.

We value your Membership and look forward to helping you enjoy many great rewards with Velocity in the future.

Sincerely

Brett Godfrey
Chief Executive Officer - Virgin Blue Airlines

[Brent L]

He could of at least credited us all with 2000 points or something as a goodwill gesture, but i guess goodwill and LCC dont match. :D

[Andrew P]

well my THai - Royal Orchard FF account has been credited with 15,361 miles for flights Vientiane-BKK-BNE return (oct 2009), and I never took the flights!!

will see if they are reversed in due coarse

[Anthony T]

As it seems we are going off thread a bit, I had a HNL-LHR-HNL award flight in 2007 on AA and arranged over the phone with AA, still waiting for taxes to be debited to the credit card. :D

[Joe Frampton]

Now back in the days (man I feel old!), when Continental flew from Brisbane to Honolulu & Los Angeles and onto London via Newark... my mum took a trip to London... CO were doing a special promotion with their frequent flyer points where you got another FREE trip back to London from just 1 journey (and in those days, there were NO taxes), and still enough points for another trip back to Honolulu too... Loved them big DC-10's at the old Brisbane International Terminal... now if you told the kids nowadays about that, they wouldn't believe you... :)

[Joe Frampton]

I got a Velocity Silver Card in the mail today... Not gold, but silver... What the? It can't be a practical joke or technical glitch this time as I actually have the piece of plastic in my hand. Is this another mistake from Virgin, or have I really become a silver Virgin frequent flyer :confused:

[Robert S]

What does it say if you log into your account on the web? Towards the top right there's a box that has your current status in it with an image of the relevant coloured card, or in the main section under account details it also says it.