“Impossible to contact Virgin Holidays, I have spent a huge amount of money with them in past, my frequent number is four figures. Due to be in Florida Easter, spent hours on hold at beginning of lockdown 27 hours in Total, only to find out
For over a week at beginning of lockdown they were not taking calls, I tried emails text WhatsApp all to no avail , in desperation I tried emailing board of Directors, all on leave until May 1st , even secretaries. Now it is not possible to email to complaint, crazy thing if only they would speak with me my issue could have been resolved and I was prepared to spend more money, now I will never book a Virgin Holiday again. Walt Disney Travel company spoke with customers and refunded monies within 2 days, also Walt Disney Cruises also were excellent. I would recommend
these companies not Virgin Holidays.”
“Hi am looking for some help! We have a holiday booked for sept to Barbados but this probably wont happen at present. We have paid a deposit of £375 and the bal is due mid June. We have tried all methods to get in contact but as we are not due to fly in the next 72 hrs and we have to give them our ref no we cant get to speak to try and sort an alternative date or cancellation. In 45 days we are liable for a 30% cancelation fee but we cant speak/ email anyone to discuss? Can someone provide some help in this situation . Thanks in advance”
“I have to say that I am disappointed with Virgin holidays. I was expecting something really good, but unfortunately, it didn’t work out. In my opinion, holidays were overpriced for what we received.
Flights – we flew with the Air France and only, because we had flights booked by Virgin we were not allowed to choose our sits or even pay extra for them (unless we would pay a few hundred pounds more for business class), but with premium economy it wasn’t possible. Additionally, we had our sits in the middle and nobody wanted to swap with us. It’s a very long flight from UK to Miami, so I think it’s understandable that we wanted to sit together during the flight on our dream holidays? Unfortunately, we had separate sits in the middle on our both flights (back and forth)!
The hotel was one big misunderstanding and I wrote a separate opinion about it. I just have to mention that I would never say it was 4* hotel because cleanliness and general standards were very, very low.
The only thing which was without any problems was Car Rental, however if we would go without any travel agency, we would save money as we didn’t need a car for full stay, but as we had one, we had to pay around $350 extra for the parking during the night and days when we didn’t use a car.
I have to say, that Virgin Holidays might be proud of themselves as after holidays with them, I will never go with travel agencies for any future holidays ever again. I would organise everything better I have absolutely no doubts about it.
I was also disappointed that we were left with everything, and there was no Virgin representative, who could help us with our problems during the holidays.”
“Spoke with Becky yesterday and she was very helpful, I was told I would get a full refund for our trip to Barbados which unfortunately has been cancelled due to covid 19. Hopefully all staff will keep their jobs and things will get back to some sort of normality,looking forward to flying with you again in the future.”
“we were due to fly to Barbados last Saturday. Virgin phoned me and offered me a couple of options but when I asked for refund was told to contact my insurance and claim off them, this I did and was sent a copy of there policy cover which states your holiday provider should refund you as of FCO rules. Sent copy to Virgin and within 8 mins was told a refund was being actioned.”
“Booked a holiday to the Grenadines in December, requiring flight to Barbados and connecting flight. Both flight and hotel through Virgin holidays as a package. Have recently received an email stating that the flight is now moved back by an hour, meaning that we miss the connecting island flight. This requires an overnight stay in Barbados and connecting flight next day. We are only going for 7 days and the idea of missing a day at our end destination does not appeal. Virgin holidays stated that it is not their fault as Virgin Airlines are a different company. In which case, why offer the holiday as a package?
Virgin Holidays offered to provide accommodation for the overnight stay in Barbados but given that I booked as a package this is not really sufficient recompense as we will effectively be taking an extra day to get t9 our destination, through no fault of our own. They were unwilling to fulfil the 7 day stay and so I have had to cancel.
Please be aware if you are booking with Virgin Holidays that they will not be responsible for the flights, despite the fact that they offer a full package of flights and hotels.
I booked the holiday during their sale period and can’t help wondering whether this apparent flight change is really just a way of squeezing me out to allow a more profitable booking.”
“I have recently booked a holiday to Orlando with Virgin Atlantic that has then been passed to Virgin Holidays. I have experienced truly awful customer service and the information given to me is so often incorrect I am unsure to what is true now. If cancelling the holiday and booking with another company was an option without loosing my deposit I would do it. Plus other companies were cheaper but we decided to pay the extra and book with Virgin but what a mistake. Definitely wont be doing it again.”
“***FALSE ADVERTISING*** BEWARE!!!
Very misleading advertising and poor customer service!
During the JANSALE the offer said '10% off holidays, with airport lounge included!'
For me, that meant I could get access to the lounge foc - (included)!
I was given all sorts of fob offs from Virgin however. Everything from, the lounge having 10% off; the lounge not being available for our flights; the lounge is included in your package 'if available'.
I know the word 'free' isn't used, but to say something is included is the same for me.
Complaints via email and telephone got me nowhere!”
“Completely dreadful, do not go near this company as they simply are not interested if there are issues with your holiday.
We booked for 3 of us to go to Orlando and then on to Barbados over Xmas and New years 2019. All hotels and flights were booked with Virgin Holidays and all payments made to Virgin Holidays.
We had horrendous flight delays in Orlando which meant that we were 30 hours late getting to out Barbados destination.
Having spoken with 3 people from Virgin Holidays and written a lengthy note explaining the circumstances the company have shown ZERO interest in supporting us. No one contacted while we were away to ask if were ok, nor has anyone since we returned.
When i asked about compensation for the lost nights of our holiday, i was told it was the airlines (that they booked for us) responsibility and not their issue.
In short i will never use them again.”
“I only wish I had viewed this website prior to booking, it might have prevented me spending money on, what I consider to be the worst value ever. The villa, or I should say the first villa was below standard, pool area neglected, dirty and dark with trees and bushes growing almost into the pool area. On complaining, we were moved to another villa, slightly less sub standard, however the road noise was terrible, not the relaxing time we had envisaged. The New Port Richey area is not a holiday destination. Please think carefully before booking these villas as to get anywhere you have to traverse the US 19 one of the most dangerous roads in Florida. Book with another company that gives much more detail about the surrounding area and uses a management company that are competent and keep the villas up to standard. We neglected to do our homework prior to booking and virgin gave us little or no info. Lesson learned never book with virgin.”
“STAFF ABRUPT AND RUDE. NO FEEDBACK FROM COMPLAINTS MADE DESPITE COMMUNICATION BY EMAIL AND VIA PHONE CALLS.
VERY UNHELPFUL CUSTOMER SERVICES. THIS SERVICE NEEDS A COMPLETE OVERHAUL AND REVIEW.”
“We were a party of 14, 4 x couples, 2 x teenage boys, 2 x 11 year old boys and 2 x infants (a boy and girl). Virgin gave us a villa with 7 double beds and we were told it was allocated on arrival. Total lies and unworkable.
The villa itself was poorly maintained- old carpet and rubbish in the front garden; weeds growing on driveway and around pool; security fence around pool ripped; broken furniture; black mould under toilet rims; toilet roll holder hanging off wall; insufficient cutlery or glasses for our party; home entertainment centre without controls or instructions; no inventory etc etc etc.
In addition the Virgin website LIED that this villa came with a heated pool but when we arrived we found that pool heating had to be paid for, and, as the spa was part of the pool, that wasn’t heated either (the website has been changed since my complaint to them. We sent photos of all this to Virgin in London who responded it was just wear and tear.
The resort team were next to useless And the Customer Services in GB almost as bad, taking ages to respond.
The Virgin Holidays MD - Joe Thompson - never responded to my email to him WHAT AN IGNORANT PIG but then I suppose they get so many complaints!!!!!!!!
Don’t book a Florida Villa holiday with Virgin - total rubbish and much cheaper to book flights and villa separately.”
“AWFUL ADVICE ON A HOTEL IN ORLANDO. WE BOOKED THE COCO KEYS AS ADVISED IT WAS GREAT, FOUND TO OUR COST IT WAS A MOTEL NOT HOTEL AND SHOCKING CLIENTELE AND SERVICE. HOLIDAY SO BAD WOULD NEVER VISIT AMERICA AGAIN OR USE VIRGIN. FAMILY HOTEL WITH SEX SHOP OPPOSITE AND MASSAGE PARLOUR A FEW DOORS DOWN. AVOID AT ALL COSTS”
“False advertising and a 4 day delay in customer services returning a call.
Booked to go to the grand Orlando hotel in Florida. Virgin gives this resort 4/5 rating. It’s a absolute hole... dirty, damp, drug use by ‘family pool’ and unsafe fittings in room. I immediately emailed virgin reps to request a move and had no response for 4 days. They then offered a 3/5 rating hotel and said if I didn’t like the situation I can break contract and find my own place.
Totally below standard customer services. They are absolute amateurs. I had to move for the safety of my family. They’ll honestly ruin your holiday.”
“Similar to previous posts if there was a '0' rating I would have used that. Virgin Holidays have categorically been the worst holiday company we have used for holiday bookings.
We had an issue with them some years ago regarding lost luggage and at they were shocking then and we had never used them since. However, we booked a holiday to Sri Lanka this year through Virgin, giving them the benefit of the doubt, and the service has been a disgrace.
Whilst I completely appreciate that the tragic events in Sri Lanka were completely outside of any travel company control they did not deal with the situation professionally or with any personal conduct. Despite being in constant communication with Virgin from April until the beginning of June (driven by ourselves) to determine whether our holiday would still go ahead, we were finally assured that given the Foreign Office had declared it safe to travel, we would be travelling as normal on 18 July. We then proceeded to arrange and pay for Visas, and organised consultations and vaccinations (all within relatively short timescales) in preparation for our trip.
Low and behold we received a voicemail last week to advise that Virgin were no longer sending travelers to Sri Lanka and our holiday was cancelled, with only 2 weeks before travel. No apology, no explanation, no alternative. Following a call, they still could not advise the rationale behind the cancellation only that there could be a Health and Safety risk or something wrong with the infrastructure, but the lady on the phone could not give a definitive answer. She did say she could look at an alternative and similar holiday; offering us a trip to Asia at an additional £4k on top of what we had already paid. As we declined she advised there was nothing further she could do to help and provided a full refund, which did not reach our account until c.4 days later.
I will be avoiding Virgin Holidays at all cost in future.”
“Absolutely the worst holiday company ever. Care only about the cash. We had a health problem before flight and couldn't travel that day. They were not interested in moving any of the holiday and wanted another 4k to book more seats.
They are not the same company as Virgin Atlantic. They are owned by a completely separate company.
You don't need to use this company. I have since booked a further two holidays to the Caribean. I book the flights direct with Virgin Atlantic and the holiday direct with Sandals. If they are not going to be bothered when things go wrong I may as well take the risks myself.
You have lost good revenue here my friends! Serves you right.”
“We had a fly drive holiday booked with virgin in may this year. The flight was horrendous we had been given seats next to two very very large people. The lady was sitting half of her bum over my seat. I complained and I had to move and spend the rest of the long flight not being able to sit with my husband. We picked up car and went straight to first hotel we had jet lag and needed sleep. 1st hotel comfort suites Kissimmee. Terrible hotel the room was not clean and the breakfast terrible kitchen unclean too. 1 night stay. On driving down to next hotel to Fort Lauderdale husband did not feel well so we swapped places and I drove down to next hotel on itinerary in Fort Lauderdale. Husband was in hotel room very ill for 2 days 5 6 may then hospital for 7 to 21 may. Transpires I was bitten by bedbugs and husband was bitten by a venomous brown recluse spider in 1st hotel. He was so bad he nearly died. We told the hotel comfort suites and virgin about my husbands sickness. The whole holiday ruined. No holiday just a nightmare. We think the comfort suites no virgin customers should be booked in to stay here as it not only is unclean it is dangerous to stay there!”
“Again, would be a 0 if it was a choice. Agree a holiday and a price then they change a lot of to and you just have to accept the changes with no recompense. Absolutely dire customer services and even worse Cheif Executive Office. As others have said, so many bad reviews can't all be wrong. Choose a different company if you want the holiday you booked and one you will enjoy.”
