Woman faced birthday trip to Disneyland by herself after Virgin refused to let her change name of booking when her boyfriend couldn’t go
Firm wouldn't let customer have his money back so faced losing cash or girlfriend going on birthday trip alone
A HOLIDAYMAKER faced having to go on a birthday trip by herself or lose £1,500 - after a travel firm refused to let her change the name on her booking when her boyfriend could no longer go with her.
Charlotte Clisby's boyfriend forked out £2,100 back in March for a package holiday to Orlando as a present for her birthday in April.
But when he found out three weeks ago that something urgent had come up at work and he couldn't go with her, the couple tried to amend the booking so she could go with someone else.
E-commerce worker Charlotte was stunned however when Virgin Holidays, who they'd booked the deal with, refused - telling them the only option was to cancel and lose 70 per cent of the cash they'd already paid out or travel alone.
The outraged 25-year-old told The Sun: "He bought the trip to Disney and Universal for me as a present back in March. We were supposed to stay at the Hard Rock Hotel and fly with Virgin.
"My partner had tried everything he could to be able to go but work could not permit it.
"We called Virgin straight away and told them what had happened and were shocked when they said there was no option but to cancel it.
"We called back again on Tuesday asking if my cousin Alice could go in his place and just change the name but they said no."
Related stories
Charlotte, who lives in Fulham, London, and has been with her boyfriend for three years, said the customer service rep told her Virgin Atlantic would not allow the name change - even though at that stage all the couple had supplied the company with was their names.
With the five-day trip due to begin next Wednesday time was running out.
They offered to put the request through to the aviation department and told her she would get a call back by 6pm that day, which she didn't. The next day she found out the request had been rejected.
The 25-year-old said the poor service was particularly galling as the couple have been loyal Virgin customers for several years - racking up a combined 70,000 air miles.
Charlotte added: "After they rejected our plea again we decided to look into their terms and conditions a bit further and as it turns out it states on Virgin Atlantic's website that you are allowed to transfer a flight to another person - as long as it is part of a package holiday, which this was, and you give reasonable notice (at least before the day of the flight).
"We wrote to them yesterday (Thursday) and then rang them up again telling them we'd found this clause.
"They said they'd 'make Virgin Atlantic aware that we were aware of the clause' and took my cousin's name down.
"If they change it that means they have always had to, and I want people to know about this because they could potentially be losing huge amounts of money after being told the wrong thing. If they don't then it means they have breached their own terms and conditions."
A spokesman for Virgin Holidays said: "Virgin Holidays operates independently from Virgin Atlantic and, like all tour operators, has standardised contracts with airlines.
"This includes clauses around cancellations and name change policies. We always want to do the right thing for our customers and are in contact with them directly to resolve this issue."
On Friday night Virgin told Charlotte it would change the name over after all.
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at [email protected] or call 0207 782 4368