Ruined Silver Wedding anniversary
I booked a holiday to the Sandridge Hotel in Barbados through Virgin in September 07. This was to celebrate our Silver wedding there in July 08. In January I received a letter from Virgin, to inform me that Virgins contract with the hotel was to end in June 08 and we were to be moved to the Escape Hotel & Spa. We had took along time to decide where to spend our anniversary and in choosing the right hotel and did not want to stay in this hotel.
After numerous e-mails and trying to contact Virgin by phone I finally got to speak to someone, who insisted that it was an upgrade and was unconcerned that it was my silver wedding and that I didnt want to stay there. I was not offered a refund of my deposit and was told that I would have to pay to move to another hotel.
I have since been on the Trip advisor forum and as far back as October people had commented on the Sandridge closing down, so I fail to believe that Virgin did not know when I booked the holiday, as it is a Virgin hotel. Virgin seem to make a habit of taking bookings for hotels that are not open. This holiday is costing a lot of money and we can't afford to lose the deposit and book with another tour operator. It is not going to be the dream holiday it was supposed to be.
Official Replies from Virgin Holidays
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I am authorized to speak on behalf of this company and would like to post an official response
kagsw
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Comments
It seems that Virgin Holidays are letting their customers down. Do they not realise that it is return custom that keeps their company going. I am a frequent Virgin member, but I will not be booking Virgin for my next holiday. Mr Branson needs to get a grip of this section of his empire!
From what I understand the same gentleman who owns the company with the Virgin contract owned Sandridge. He has a vested interest in a few properties Virgin uses he also owns many of the excursion companies, transfer vehicles and car rentals the virgin customers are sold.
The Hotel was sold to build condos so I guess money speaks screw the customer but hey its a monopoly and in those cases that is most often how it works anyhow
We went to the Sandridge two years ago. Virgin failed to notify us that buliding work, on a massive scale was in progress until six weeks before we were due to depart. They stated it was 'minimal disturbance'. As this was on one of the busiest periods of the high season little or no alternative accomodation was available. We could not cancel as we were attending a wedding.
The work was intrusive, noisy and the whole room constantly dusty. The balcony unusable as was the beach near the hotel. At the time it was obvious to us that due to the proximity of the new building next door the Sandridge could not remain a viable proposition. This did not stop Virgin booking people into this hotel for a further two years, many of whom were also unaware until too late of the true circumstances.
Only after the intervention of ABTA were we able to gain fair compensation for a ruined holiday.
Virgin's total disregard for their customers is also evidenced by the way they have been booking people into the Almond Causaurina for over two years when the hotel is not complete. They then offer one of the other two Almond properties on the Island, neither of which are acceptable to many people.
Agree Mr Branson should definitely get a grip on his empire!
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