Virgin East Coast Twitter

backontrack · 7 Apr 2018

ainsworth74 said:
Yes, I would agree with that. It was quite a good article but it was disappointing that she chose that Tweet as an example when I also consider it to have been very good.

Seconded (or thirded).

RailUK Forums

takno · 7 Apr 2018

Chrism20 said:
I think that part of the article could have been written better and there are numerous other examples that could have been used, however I also think the tweet could have been better written.

The over-personalisation of things is one of the big problems with virgin twitter. Something reading along the lines of what pops up at the end of a TV programme saying you can contact X, Y or Z is what should have been written along with a link to the Samaritans.

That might sound harsh and I apologise now if anyone feels it is but it’s the adhoc actions like that which help create articles like that. Something more professional and to the point rather than a ramble about broken hearts and pain would probably have struck a better chord with the writer.

In short for things like that there should be a set script in place.

The fact that the author was moved enough to deviate from the standard script and make a personal statement about it was what made it powerful. I understand and respect the general approach of minimizing reaction in order to avoid encouraging others to repeat the action, but there is value in the occasional reminder that we are talking about human beings, both directly involved and dealing with the aftermath. There were also aspects of that particular event which meant it directly affected more people and made it even more difficult to deal with.

The world you are arguing for seems a rather cold one to me, which I don't think would be widely welcomed.

backontrack · 8 Apr 2018

takno said:
The fact that the author was moved enough to deviate from the standard script and make a personal statement about it was what made it powerful. I understand and respect the general approach of minimizing reaction in order to avoid encouraging others to repeat the action, but there is value in the occasional reminder that we are talking about human beings, both directly involved and dealing with the aftermath. There were also aspects of that particular event which meant it directly affected more people and made it even more difficult to deal with.

What happened?

AlterEgo · 8 Apr 2018

backontrack said:
What happened?

Someone got hit by a train and Virgin EC tweeted:

“My heart is broken for all involved in this tragic incident. Services are returning to normal but so much pain will remain. If you’ve been affected by tonight’s events, please talk to the Samaritans. #ItsOkayToTalk.“

Nothing wrong with that morally but it does have a corporate tone of voice issue. There are a couple of reasons I wouldn’t dream of putting out a tweet like that but I won’t dissect them here.

Of course rail enthusiasts and staff applaud this (genuine and heartfelt) tweet but a lot of ordinary punters would shrug their shoulders and find it strange.

Chrism20 · 8 Apr 2018

takno said:
The fact that the author was moved enough to deviate from the standard script and make a personal statement about it was what made it powerful. I understand and respect the general approach of minimizing reaction in order to avoid encouraging others to repeat the action, but there is value in the occasional reminder that we are talking about human beings, both directly involved and dealing with the aftermath. There were also aspects of that particular event which meant it directly affected more people and made it even more difficult to deal with.

The world you are arguing for seems a rather cold one to me, which I don't think would be widely welcomed.

Again I apologise if it comes across as harsh.

Chrism20 · 8 Apr 2018

backontrack said:
What happened?

It was the one at Doncaster where two people jumped in front of the train whilst hugging each other IIRC so it wasn’t the standard one person is hit by a train event.

neontrix · 8 Apr 2018

The tweet regarding the fatality at Doncaster May have been a little over-emotional but I don’t think it would solely be appreciated by rail enthusiasts. Whenever I’ve encountered delays because of fatalities people seem a little affected. Responding in a way that acknowledges the human aspect of such an incident is definitely not in the same league as the sarcasm that often comes out of the VTEC Twitter.

^BG · 8 Apr 2018

Good Morning,

It was me that wrote that tweet so I'd like to explain my reasoning and rationality. Something unfortunately the writer of the article did not give me the opportunity to do before insinuating I'm unhinged.

The Rail Industry in general is trying to make awareness of Mental Health however there are elements that are still firmly stuck in the dark ages. I do not believe that "due to person hit by a train" is an acceptable way to report a tradegy anymore. To lump it into coporate, standard responses in the same fashion as "due to a points failure" or "due to a signalling issue" completely dehumanises the event and makes it seem as something par for the course on the railways. Which is absolutely isn't and should not be seen as such, we should be an industry that does actually care, that really wants to make a difference and is affected by these events.

People do not talk about Mental Health issues enough, I posted a tweet a few months ago regarding my own experience with depression and the response was absolutely phenomenal, but it goes to show that if these tweets generated hundreds of positive responses then there is still much work to be done. If Mental Health was acknowledged, talked about and dealt with enough there wouldn't be any need to post positive responses as public thought on the matter would be commonplace.

Simply posting a tweet linking to the samartians or other Mental Health organisations is good, yes..but it just still feels like corporate lip service and doing the bare minimum to address the issue. People will see it, yes...they may like it, yes...but do they REALLY notice it? I don't know, but what I can tell you is that by me sharing my soul, expressing my emotions at this tradegy and imploring people to speak we got people talking. The first step to acknowledging there is a problem is admitting there is one.

I don't doubt that people may not like the emotion shown in the tweet, I can't control how you feel. However one response from that tweet was a woman who suffers from deperession and stated that I "saved her life tonight". That is why I do this, because even if to save one person it makes a difference. Everyone who works at VTEC is a human. They are thinking, feeling human beings...this doesn't change because we're in uniform or behing a coporate logo and sometimes it is good to remind people of that.

You want me to tone down the emotion? That's fine, I'm open to all feedback...but I won't stop being part of VTEC raising awareness of Mental Health, and this is something the company is very supportive with.

^BG

SaveECRewards · 8 Apr 2018

^BG said:
It was me that wrote that tweet so I'd like to explain my reasoning and rationality. Something unfortunately the writer of the article did not give me the opportunity to do before insinuating I'm unhinged.

I *really* hope the reporter wasn't claiming that you were unhinged, but it's also possible I'm giving her too much benefit of the doubt. I'm quick to criticise, but I'm also quick to praise and what you did was the right thing and I'm sure you know it despite some detractors. Like many, I still find it difficult to talk about mental health, but you were so open to people on a Twitter account that's viewed by over 150k I have a lot of respect for that.

We need more people like ^BG on Twitter. I'd certainly buy him a mango flavour Diet Coke if I met him

(probably no one will get that reference)

When you talk you can open up others, the times I have talked to others you often find they've had mental health struggles of their own.

Chrism20 said:
It was the one at Doncaster where two people jumped in front of the train whilst hugging each other IIRC so it wasn’t the standard one person is hit by a train event.

I wasn't aware of this. Makes it even more upsetting to think two people who were obviously close decided that the only solution was to take their own lives.

backontrack · 8 Apr 2018

AlterEgo said:
Someone got hit by a train and Virgin EC tweeted:

“My heart is broken for all involved in this tragic incident. Services are returning to normal but so much pain will remain. If you’ve been affected by tonight’s events, please talk to the Samaritans. #ItsOkayToTalk.“

Nothing wrong with that morally but it does have a corporate tone of voice issue. There are a couple of reasons I wouldn’t dream of putting out a tweet like that but I won’t dissect them here.

Of course rail enthusiasts and staff applaud this (genuine and heartfelt) tweet but a lot of ordinary punters would shrug their shoulders and find it strange.

Thanks. I know that much, but I was wondering what made this particular incident stand out in some ways? @takno refers to 'particular aspects of that incident'. What were those, if it is not deemed incorrect to divulge them?

backontrack · 8 Apr 2018

^BG said:
Good Morning,

It was me that wrote that tweet so I'd like to explain my reasoning and rationality. Something unfortunately the writer of the article did not give me the opportunity to do before insinuating I'm unhinged.

The Rail Industry in general is trying to make awareness of Mental Health however there are elements that are still firmly stuck in the dark ages. I do not believe that "due to person hit by a train" is an acceptable way to report a tradegy anymore. To lump it into coporate, standard responses in the same fashion as "due to a points failure" or "due to a signalling issue" completely dehumanises the event and makes it seem as something par for the course on the railways. Which is absolutely isn't and should not be seen as such, we should be an industry that does actually care, that really wants to make a difference and is affected by these events.

People do not talk about Mental Health issues enough, I posted a tweet a few months ago regarding my own experience with depression and the response was absolutely phenomenal, but it goes to show that if these tweets generated hundreds of positive responses then there is still much work to be done. If Mental Health was acknowledged, talked about and dealt with enough there wouldn't be any need to post positive responses as public thought on the matter would be commonplace.

Simply posting a tweet linking to the samartians or other Mental Health organisations is good, yes..but it just still feels like corporate lip service and doing the bare minimum to address the issue. People will see it, yes...they may like it, yes...but do they REALLY notice it? I don't know, but what I can tell you is that by me sharing my soul, expressing my emotions at this tradegy and imploring people to speak we got people talking. The first step to acknowledging there is a problem is admitting there is one.

I don't doubt that people may not like the emotion shown in the tweet, I can't control how you feel. However one response from that tweet was a woman who suffers from deperession and stated that I "saved her life tonight". That is why I do this, because even if to save one person it makes a difference. Everyone who works at VTEC is a human. They are thinking, feeling human beings...this doesn't change because we're in uniform or behing a coporate logo and sometimes it is good to remind people of that.

You want me to tone down the emotion? That's fine, I'm open to all feedback...but I won't stop being part of VTEC raising awareness of Mental Health, and this is something the company is very supportive with.

^BG

You did a good job, and you did the right thing too. There's no denying that. And, on Twitter, you're never going to please everyone all the time either! The point is that you got your message across well, and that the vast majority of people agreed with it.

And I'm no good at judging the size of crowds @^BG , but I'd say there's about seventeen million of them out there.

IanXC · 8 Apr 2018

^BG said:
Good Morning,

It was me that wrote that tweet so I'd like to explain my reasoning and rationality. Something unfortunately the writer of the article did not give me the opportunity to do before insinuating I'm unhinged.

The Rail Industry in general is trying to make awareness of Mental Health however there are elements that are still firmly stuck in the dark ages. I do not believe that "due to person hit by a train" is an acceptable way to report a tradegy anymore. To lump it into coporate, standard responses in the same fashion as "due to a points failure" or "due to a signalling issue" completely dehumanises the event and makes it seem as something par for the course on the railways. Which is absolutely isn't and should not be seen as such, we should be an industry that does actually care, that really wants to make a difference and is affected by these events.

People do not talk about Mental Health issues enough, I posted a tweet a few months ago regarding my own experience with depression and the response was absolutely phenomenal, but it goes to show that if these tweets generated hundreds of positive responses then there is still much work to be done. If Mental Health was acknowledged, talked about and dealt with enough there wouldn't be any need to post positive responses as public thought on the matter would be commonplace.

Simply posting a tweet linking to the samartians or other Mental Health organisations is good, yes..but it just still feels like corporate lip service and doing the bare minimum to address the issue. People will see it, yes...they may like it, yes...but do they REALLY notice it? I don't know, but what I can tell you is that by me sharing my soul, expressing my emotions at this tradegy and imploring people to speak we got people talking. The first step to acknowledging there is a problem is admitting there is one.

I don't doubt that people may not like the emotion shown in the tweet, I can't control how you feel. However one response from that tweet was a woman who suffers from deperession and stated that I "saved her life tonight". That is why I do this, because even if to save one person it makes a difference. Everyone who works at VTEC is a human. They are thinking, feeling human beings...this doesn't change because we're in uniform or behing a coporate logo and sometimes it is good to remind people of that.

You want me to tone down the emotion? That's fine, I'm open to all feedback...but I won't stop being part of VTEC raising awareness of Mental Health, and this is something the company is very supportive with.

^BG

This. All of this.

There is a wider issue regarding how the industry explains person hit by a train incidents.

The Samaritans recommend using the reason "emergency services dealing with an incident" rather than "due to a person hit by a train", I'm sure you will be aware that that VTEC typically use the latter in systems. That said, is the former any better? Does it allow for the discussion and the opportunities to talk that we need to find space for? Or is there an alternative term that would be more suitable?

FWIW as far as I'm concerned while these kinds of tweets are your feeling and emotion then go for it. It is so much more powerful in this circumstance. The day when it feels like a corporate instruction is the day to give it a miss. I have no doubt there are more people silently agreeing with you than thinking you should "tone it down".

backontrack · 8 Apr 2018

IanXC said:
This. All of this.

There is a wider issue regarding how the industry explains person hit by a train incidents.

The Samaritans recommend using the reason "emergency services dealing with an incident" rather than "due to a person hit by a train", I'm sure you will be aware that that VTEC typically use the latter in systems. That said, is the former any better? Does it allow for the discussion and the opportunities to talk that we need to find space for? Or is there an alternative term that would be more suitable?

FWIW as far as I'm concerned while these kinds of tweets are your feeling and emotion then go for it. It is so much more powerful in this circumstance. The day when it feels like a corporate instruction is the day to give it a miss. I have no doubt there are more people silently agreeing with you than thinking you should "tone it down".

Agreed. That final paragraph I particularly agree with. Those who thought that you should have 'given it a miss' are definitely in the minority.

alxndr · 9 Apr 2018

IanXC said:
The day when it feels like a corporate instruction is the day to give it a miss. I have no doubt there are more people silently agreeing with you than thinking you should "tone it down".

The difficulty is that different people interpret things differently. I'm afraid to say that without the background given here I would have interpretted that tweet as coming from a corporate standpoint and making something fit into their image (I can't quite put my finger on why, but perhaps it's knowing the reputation of Virgin and the use of a hashtag). Obviously I now realise that it wasn't the case and it was written for all the right reasons.

I seem to be in the minority though, so it may be an issue with me rather than the tweet itself.

AlexNL · 9 Apr 2018

I follow quite a number of TOCs on Twitter, both from the Netherlands and abroad. Usually I just have a look at the tweets and then continue with what I was doing, as the messages are cold and impersonal. ^BG's tweet stood out from the rest, it gave a personal touch to a tragic event. Well done.

lammergeier · 9 Apr 2018

I also thought it was a good message to send out and it was unfortunate that the journalist highlighted that one in the article.

However, the problem seems to be that the Virgin brand seems so tacky these days (audio adverts in Pendo toilets, arrive awesome etc) that even a genuine and well meaning tweet such as BG's is seen with an air of cynicism. I wonder whether had the tweet come from another operator it would have been highlighted in the press as a shining example of how to get it right.

Chrism20 · 9 Apr 2018

alxndr said:
The difficulty is that different people interpret things differently. I'm afraid to say that without the background given here I would have interpretted that tweet as coming from a corporate standpoint and making something fit into their image (I can't quite put my finger on why, but perhaps it's knowing the reputation of Virgin and the use of a hashtag). Obviously I now realise that it wasn't the case and it was written for all the right reasons.

I seem to be in the minority though, so it may be an issue with me rather than the tweet itself.

I understand what you’re saying - probably because my thoughts on it are along the same lines.

Having thought more about it yesterday (probably because my own thoughts were so far off most other people’s) I don’t have any issues with what’s written or how it’s written but I think if it was a one off out of the ordinary personal style tweet it would probably have had more impact on me.

I’ll be honest it’s the type of thing I’d maybe have expected someone who was standing on the platform and witnessed the incident to have written rather than someone in an office miles away. Maybe I’m just cold hearted bitch and detached from feelings, I don’t know.

VTECs Twitter feed is ran in same fashion as the one for the student union at my local university. It’s childish, at times bitchy and way too personal. If the author of the article has looked through any amount of it before penning their article it doesn’t surprise me they came to the conclusion that it’s unhinged, it’s just unfortunate they chose that tweet for the article.

backontrack · 9 Apr 2018

Chrism20 said:
It was the one at Doncaster where two people jumped in front of the train whilst hugging each other IIRC so it wasn’t the standard one person is hit by a train event.

Ah, I see, thanks.

How very sad (of course, all these incidents are).

SaveECRewards · 9 Apr 2018

I’ve just been blocked once again by VTEC for tweeting the following in reply to a Tweet they made about Azuma (they were talking about their Azuma pioneers programme and the logo they’re using for that features a grey unbranded set)

Odd that you’d use an unbranded set in that picture. You need to start setting expectations. Many expect a full fleet by December when it’s just going to be one train. Rollout not complete until Summer 2020

My point is valid. Virgin over promise and under deliver. Many people think the Azuma rollout will be done by December when it’s really only just beginning.

I’m going to be a customer tonight so nice timing VTEC!

You’d never get banned from a TOC like Southern that people constantly complain about for a Tweet like that.

I’m starting to think @^BG is the only star of the social media team now. The others are too touchy and quick to hit the block button.

Recently got blocked by David Horne too, as well as a few other balanced critics (that’s meant to read a few others that have been critical of VTEC have been blocked by DH, most of them being polite).

It never used to be this way. When ^NB joined back in June 2015 he knew engaging not ignoring was the way to go.

Now I have to say, we need to kick Virgin out. I was quite open to either possibility. If VTEC negotiated a management contract then presumably they’d not have to worry about cutbacks. But the VTEC culture seems a bad one, over promise and under deliver.

Let’s hope they get kicked out - but let’s keep the Hop on Board

BTW nothing personal to those on the social media team, it seems like they’re under orders to do this. They would be transferred to the new operators so their job would be safe.

^BG if you see this and want to explain their policy then DM me on here.

lammergeier · 9 Apr 2018

SaveECRewards said:
Now I have to say, we need to kick Virgin out. I was quite open to either possibility. If VTEC negotiated a management contract then presumably they’d not have to worry about cutbacks. But the VTEC culture seems a bad one, over promise and under deliver.

Let’s hope they get kicked out - but let’s keep the Hop on Board

.

I strongly suspect you'll be disappointed. The Government will do everything in its power to avoid giving a huge political win to Labour (and others) by not doing anything which could be spun as renationalisation.

My hunch is that we will see a management contract in place and it wouldn't surprise me if existing branding is kept "to save cost" along with all the tackiness that inevitably comes with the Virgin name.

SaveECRewards · 9 Apr 2018

lammergeier said:
I strongly suspect you'll be disappointed. The Government will do everything in its power to avoid giving a huge political win to Labour (and others) by not doing anything which could be spun as renationalisation.

My hunch is that we will see a management contract in place and it wouldn't surprise me if existing branding is kept "to save cost" along with all the tackiness that inevitably comes with the Virgin name.

To be fair the livery is something I’d be sad to see go. I like it (but not as much as GNER) and found most modern liveries (e.g. Thameslink, SWR) dull. But the rest of it is just too much (the general attitude). The cheapest option would be to keep the coaches as is, with plain red power cars/DVT.

Part of me thinks the most likely option is Stagecoach gets the management contract but without Virgin. Otherwise the government will have to cover the costs of the Virgin brand licensing.

700007 · 9 Apr 2018

^BG said:
Good Morning,

It was me that wrote that tweet so I'd like to explain my reasoning and rationality. Something unfortunately the writer of the article did not give me the opportunity to do before insinuating I'm unhinged.

The Rail Industry in general is trying to make awareness of Mental Health however there are elements that are still firmly stuck in the dark ages. I do not believe that "due to person hit by a train" is an acceptable way to report a tradegy anymore. To lump it into coporate, standard responses in the same fashion as "due to a points failure" or "due to a signalling issue" completely dehumanises the event and makes it seem as something par for the course on the railways. Which is absolutely isn't and should not be seen as such, we should be an industry that does actually care, that really wants to make a difference and is affected by these events.

People do not talk about Mental Health issues enough, I posted a tweet a few months ago regarding my own experience with depression and the response was absolutely phenomenal, but it goes to show that if these tweets generated hundreds of positive responses then there is still much work to be done. If Mental Health was acknowledged, talked about and dealt with enough there wouldn't be any need to post positive responses as public thought on the matter would be commonplace.

Simply posting a tweet linking to the samartians or other Mental Health organisations is good, yes..but it just still feels like corporate lip service and doing the bare minimum to address the issue. People will see it, yes...they may like it, yes...but do they REALLY notice it? I don't know, but what I can tell you is that by me sharing my soul, expressing my emotions at this tradegy and imploring people to speak we got people talking. The first step to acknowledging there is a problem is admitting there is one.

I don't doubt that people may not like the emotion shown in the tweet, I can't control how you feel. However one response from that tweet was a woman who suffers from deperession and stated that I "saved her life tonight". That is why I do this, because even if to save one person it makes a difference. Everyone who works at VTEC is a human. They are thinking, feeling human beings...this doesn't change because we're in uniform or behing a coporate logo and sometimes it is good to remind people of that.

You want me to tone down the emotion? That's fine, I'm open to all feedback...but I won't stop being part of VTEC raising awareness of Mental Health, and this is something the company is very supportive with.

^BG

^BG

I think you're a legend. Your post was actually eye-opening.

Well done for adding a human touch to your tweets, which in turn saved a life and possibly many more. Well done for being brave enough to openly come out and relate to the general population that [has suffered or] suffers from depression. Thank you for raising awareness of mental health issues - there's such a negative stigma attached to it which is unnecessary, particularly when those who tend to discriminate and dehumanise those suffering from it don't live in a rosy world either and thank you for coming out bravely on this forum to explain that and allow people to get a better understanding of the situation.

I think you truly are a legend, and you should never be put off from promoting a worthwhile cause just because of a few narrow-minded news reporters. Keep doing what you are doing. You have my support, and hopefully loads of others too.

backontrack · 9 Apr 2018

700007 said:
^BG

I think you're a legend. Your post was actually eye-opening.

Well done for adding a human touch to your tweets, which in turn saved a life and possibly many more. Well done for being brave enough to openly come out and relate to the general population that [has suffered or] suffers from depression. Thank you for raising awareness of mental health issues - there's such a negative stigma attached to it which is unnecessary, particularly when those who tend to discriminate and dehumanise those suffering from it don't live in a rosy world either and thank you for coming out bravely on this forum to explain that and allow people to get a better understanding of the situation.

I think you truly are a legend, and you should never be put off from promoting a worthwhile cause just because of a few narrow-minded news reporters. Keep doing what you are doing. You have my support, and hopefully loads of others too.

Agreed.

AlterEgo · 20 Apr 2018

Virgin EC have been having a field day today, with bad-tempered, unhelpful, arrogant, offhand, and sarcastic responses all over the shop.

Have a look at some of these threads.

https://twitter.com/sciencekate1/status/987423451702054913?s=21

https://twitter.com/iainrowan/status/987401301427412998?s=21

https://twitter.com/linndav/status/987366238757285888?s=21

https://twitter.com/scottideson/status/987347673866006529?s=21

Finally, in the attachment, there’s a cracker, one of several deleted tweets today. They retweeted sarcastic praise and then tweeted a GIF of Vladimir Putin giving the thumbs up in response.

I am not sure what is going on today and I am not familiar with the people who run the account but surely the (often poorly written) responses aren’t from regular staffers?

It’s difficult to know where to begin with the numerous issues their Twitter account has. This is Not How You Do It.

skyhigh · 21 Apr 2018

AlterEgo said:
Virgin EC have been having a field day today, with bad-tempered, unhelpful, arrogant, offhand, and sarcastic responses all over the shop.

Have a look at some of these threads.

https://twitter.com/sciencekate1/status/987423451702054913?s=21

https://twitter.com/iainrowan/status/987401301427412998?s=21

https://twitter.com/linndav/status/987366238757285888?s=21

https://twitter.com/scottideson/status/987347673866006529?s=21

Finally, in the attachment, there’s a cracker, one of several deleted tweets today. They retweeted sarcastic praise and then tweeted a GIF of Vladimir Putin giving the thumbs up in response.

I am not sure what is going on today and I am not familiar with the people who run the account but surely the (often poorly written) responses aren’t from regular staffers?

It’s difficult to know where to begin with the numerous issues their Twitter account has. This is Not How You Do It.

That's really bad - especially the first one. A passenger hasn't got cash and the card machines aren't working, and she gets told 'Just use your charm'. Then they come back with "If you speak to the train manager on board and explain, i am sure there is something he can do for you, i am sorry that your in this situation ^HM." Just the fact that the grammar is poor really doesn't give a good impression.

The thing is, I was travelling yesterday on a train with some failed air-con and the onboard staff were being incredibly helpful. I couldn't really have asked for more, but public communications like this just undo their hard work!

stuart · 21 Apr 2018

Isn't it just the old problem of "crying wolf"? Most of what comes out of VTEC customer service is trite, superficial, fake and deflectional. When there is actually something personal and sincere being said, it's hard to spot in amongst all the corporate bluster.

robbeech · 21 Apr 2018

One would rather hope that given the job they are there to do, they’d have a good idea of spelling and grammar but it appears some of it is very poor. A simple mistake clearly made whilst typing fast shouldn’t be an issue but the your / you’re thing is quite dreadful.

jon0844 · 21 Apr 2018

robbeech said:
One would rather hope that given the job they are there to do, they’d have a good idea of spelling and grammar but it appears some of it is very poor. A simple mistake clearly made whilst typing fast shouldn’t be an issue but the your / you’re thing is quite dreadful.

I wonder if they're recently hired people with very little training, and the training consisted of being told that Virgin likes to be entertaining, sometimes a little controversial, irreverent and so on. As such, new starters go in thinking that it's a bit of fun to enjoy the 'bantz' with passengers, forgetting that many are having bad experiences and having their day affected by various issues.

You can by all means have a joke with those who are having a joke in the first place, but must surely be 100% professional with those who have problems.

Virgin Atlantic customer services always appeared (my experience goes way back) highly professional and lacking the Virgin humour. By the time you were in touch with them, chances are it wasn't the right place to joke.

But on social media, it seems the rules are somewhat unclear and I bet the people Tweeting think they're doing a fine job keeping 'on brand'.

robbeech · 21 Apr 2018

On the flip side they do have to deal with many customers that are unnecessarily arrogant, and very often just plain wrong in their requests and reasoning.

^BG · 21 Apr 2018

It's not a regular staffer, it is something we've noticed and it is also something that we'll be discussing with the individual concerned.

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