Virgin Australia’s new booking system prompts social media outrage

“On hold for 40 mins now, after being abandoned by my first operator. Terrible, terrible service,” writes a frustrated Virgin Australia customer of the company’s Facebook page.

The airline’s new booking system has created delays and confusion for passengers booking online, waiting at airports and ringing for help.

“I have been waiting for over 2 hours on your contact number to just change a business flight to 2 hours earlier. I would prefer to cancel the entire flight without penalty instead of going through this. I’ll be expressing my frustration about this service to others. Why can’t you make changes to the website I will never know,” writes another.

Another sent evidence of his wait: a screenshot from his mobile revealing the two hours he had been waiting on hold.

Virgin has been regularly posting advice regarding the new booking system and responding to the Facebook frustrations, with messages such as: “Hi Leah, we do apologise for the added stress. If you would send your mother’s reservation details via Facebook private message, we will look into this further.”

Some customers have reported a smooth run: “No problems this morning getting through to online booking – have now selected and paid for my tickets. Thank you, Virgin Australia for your help during what must’ve been a torrid time yesterday. :)” –  but most of the posts are reporting an average two-hour delay in getting assistance, and as much as four hours.