Virgin East Coast Twitter

[skyhigh]

I've seen this mentioned in several places, so thought it might be a good idea to start a dedicated thread. It definitely seems that recently the twitter account has become much more rude.

Take, for example, this which was at the top when I looked:

(Image shows twitter conversation, passenger asks why blinds aren't fitted and is told that they are available in First Class - the passenger replies asking why they don't have them like other operators, and is told 'who complains about sunshine being too bright?' - link here)

I know the passenger wasn't being entirely polite either, but still... The advice being given out isn't exactly great either:

(Image shows another twitter conversation, passenger asks if they can reserve two seats by buying two tickets as they don't want to sit next to someone. They are told 'If you want to do this, we can't stop you' - link here)

Has the twitter team recently been outsourced?

 

[Scotrail84]

I see nothing wrong with that. Users are quick to throw abuse at TC's on social media, can't see why people get offended when they ask relatively stupid questions and get blunt answers.

 

[Ianno87]

In the second example, what the VTEC Twitter person has said contradicts the National Conditions of Carriage, doesn't it? Buying an extra ticket does not entitle you to an extra seat to give yourself more space...

 

[Darandio]

Well, I suppose it isn't really that incorrect if you consider the question asked was to buy another adult ticket, they certainly cannot stop her doing that! They should probably have elaborated a bit more though.

 

[Scotrail84]

In the second example, what the VTEC Twitter person has said contradicts the National Conditions of Carriage, doesn't it? Buying an extra ticket does not entitle you to an extra seat to give yourself more space...

Its happens more often than you think. If someones daft enough to pay double the money for a journey when they are the only person travelling then more fool them.

 

[goblinuser]

The twitter person does seem slightly annoyed, but it's probably warranted if you are called an "imbisile"

In the second example, what the VTEC Twitter person has said contradicts the National Conditions of Carriage, doesn't it? Buying an extra ticket does not entitle you to an extra seat to give yourself more space...

Still, probably the most reliable way of ensuring it even if the rules are something different.

 

[ainsworth74]

Its happens more often than you think. If someones daft enough to pay double the money for a journey when they are the only person travelling then more fool them.

I still feel it might be nice if a TOC's Twitter team pointed out that that won't work however! Their reply does give the impression that this will work when, of course, it won't and could well end in a argument on the train.

 

[ooo]

The Virgin Twitter teams seem to me to be the least professional out of them all with their constant posting of GIFs etc rather than actually answering people's questions correctly

 

[RacingGreen]

It's a difficult one. You wouldn't get away with it at most places but it's been a USP for them for a while. A lot of customers seem to respond to their "way" of doing twitter. Not for me personally though...

 

[skyhigh]

Apologies - missed out captions to make the images accessible but added them in now.

I don't mind their style, it just seems as if they don't really know what they're talking about sometimes! If the person who got two tickets to have an empty seat was travelling on a full and standing service and someone insisted on sitting next to them (as is their right), I think they may feel as if they've been conned out of a double fare

 

[Mojo]

Slightly off topic, but most of the tweets that appear on my timeline of the "real" Virgin Trains twitter account seem to be VT telling customers that they have sent a message to the "wrong" Virgin Trains...

Amusingly I once saw someone send a tweet to the generic @virgin account about a train journey, which had some kind of auto reply system (must pick up key words or something) and told them to tweet @VirginTrains, the staff at "real" Virgin Trains then told them to tweet East Coast Virgin Trains.

 

[Chrism20]

I don’t think they have outsourced it but I do think they have lost control of it at times and there seems to be very little supervision. At times it’s like a first year computing class and the twelve year olds have just learned gifs and memes.

They do not seem to be able to able to gauge the mood of the person contacting them and think “one size fits all”.

There was a tweet about a month ago where a man had tweeted something about the booking experience with the new website and they came back with something smart and bitchy, the man replied saying all he was trying to do was book a ticket so he could go and bury his sister - mood completely misread.

 

[AlterEgo]

A bit of sass is fine on Twitter. But you can’t really do that against a backdrop of declining service across the board, which is what’s happening on Virgin EC. They need to wind it down a bit and just focus on delivering good service instead of posting memes and GIFs.

 

[tiptoptaff]

I have always found both Virgin accounts to be unprofessional, sarcastic and rude. They seem more interested in tweeting each other with sassy comments and "clever" gifs and memes than actually taking their job seriously - which is to provide real time live customer service.

The comment they made about "who complains the sun is too bright?" is stupid. Hands up if you own any of the following:
Sunglasses
Blinds
Curtains
And its evidently a problem for travellers - as they put them in 1st Class!!!!

 

[MonsooN]

I think that they are trying to communicate on the same level as they perceive the majority of their customers to be on. They probably think that most Twitter users are in the younger demographic and enjoy a personal touch (which they quite often give). Now not all Twitter users fall into this category, but I'd imagine that the majority of them do. I don't mind. They do give out info and are usually very helpful whenever I've had to contact them.

 

[ainsworth74]

Mr Mountain meet Mr Molehill

It's okay for them to be giving out incorrect information? That's not a concern?

 

[Fishplate84]

Must be a mind-numbing and demoralising job manning one of these feeds. Taking abuse and ill-informed nonsense from anyone with an urge to make a knee jerk stab at the operator and vent their anger from the anonymity of a tweet. Not professional maybe, but must need the self discipline and control of a saint not to occasionally fire back an equally blunt reply.

As a non-twitter or Facebook user, these sorts of immediate communications don't seem to be particularly well suited to well considered customer communications.

 

[WelshBluebird]

As a non-twitter or Facebook user, these sorts of immediate communications don't seem to be particularly well suited to well considered customer communications.

Why not? If it is a quick question that should get a quick answer, then it seems perfect for things like Twitter!

 

[DarloRich]

It's okay for them to be giving out incorrect information? That's not a concern?

what incorrect information? Is there any in the quoted examples? Also great spelling of the word imbecile in that tweet

 

[sheff1]

Virgin seem to have complete disdain for people, like me, who don't fit their preferred customer profile. As a result, I have long since transferred my optional custom elsewhere ... at it would seem have many others, judging by the bleating we hear about lower than expected passenger numbers.

 

[skyhigh]

what incorrect information? Is there any in the quoted examples? Also great spelling of the word imbecile in that tweet

I think the incorrect bit comes from the second example, where it's implied the passenger can have two seats for themselves by buying two tickets.

 

[yorkie]

what incorrect information? Is there any in the quoted examples?

There are many examples of incorrect, misleading, or anti-consumer information.

For example look at their disgraceful response to Deerfold in his recent thread; this was a clear breach of consumer law and the Conditions of Travel. After giving appalling advice they then decided to ignore him.

Some of them are an utter disgrace to the rail industry; they appear more interested in posting memes than helping people. In another thread they were compared to 12-year-olds but I know several kids that age who are more interested in helping people than time wasting memes and who communicate in a more mature manner.

They wouldn't get away with their poor behaviour on this forum so it is shocking that a train company is not only willing to put up with it, but even encourage it.

I am glad to see a dedicated thread on this matter, as their poor behaviour has been discussed in numerous threads, at the risk of taking other threads off-topic.

 

[DenmarkRail]

I love VTWC/VTEC Twitter! Their GIFS make them seem more relatable, and their responses are usually hilarious while informative! Much better than the boring ones like Southern, or Scotrail!

People complaining, should lighten up a bit!

 

[ash39]

The world is becoming less corporate in general. Certain office workers that would have been obliged to wesr a suit a decade ago can now get away with just an open collared shirt. I personally prefer a less formal, relaxed approach to business and customer service, but as with everything in life, one man's relaxed is another man's unprofessional.

I don't see anything wrong with the examples at the top of the thread, other than the second one is possibly misleading, but it's certainly not false information. There's nothing to stop someone reserving two seats, just don't be surprised when someone sits in it when they find it vacant!

 

[Ianno87]

Must be a mind-numbing and demoralising job manning one of these feeds. Taking abuse and ill-informed nonsense from anyone with an urge to make a knee jerk stab at the operator and vent their anger from the anonymity of a tweet. Not professional maybe, but must need the self discipline and control of a saint not to occasionally fire back an equally blunt reply.

Agree. The amount of, frankly, vile and crude abuse a minority of smartarse know-nothing passengers/complainers send is appalling. Don't seem to get that there's only so much somebody behind a Twitter desk can realistically do...

 

[ooo]

Perhaps Virgin should follow the example of companies like Tesco Mobile who have a general account which is less serious than their Customer Support account.

 

[AlterEgo]

I love VTWC/VTEC Twitter! Their GIFS make them seem more relatable, and their responses are usually hilarious while informative! Much better than the boring ones like Southern, or Scotrail!

People complaining, should lighten up a bit!

The problem is the replies are often incorrect, putting the passenger at risk of, at best disappointment, and at worst, prosecution. That’s not funny.

Their GIF and meme thing isn’t really that funny - and even if you think it is, they shouldn’t be doing it during disruption, when thousands of their customers are having their day ruined.

 

[Alan2603]

Another problem is the things they don't announce on their Twitter feed (or their website for that matter).

Such as last week when the first indication that there was no catering at all on the train, was from the guard over the PA just after the train had pulled out of Kings Cross!.

I would much rather they laid off posting allegedly humorous pictures/film clips etc and posted meaningful tweets that in the case above would have given notice to passengers to pop into Waitrose etc to stock up before boarding the train, rather than make passengers travel all the way to Newcastle/Edinburgh etc without food/drink.

 

[Agent_Squash]

The main issue with the Virgin twitter accounts is that half of the questions go to the wrong one.

 

[Chrism20]

The main issue with the Virgin twitter accounts is that half of the questions go to the wrong one.

This is one of the many problems but they only have themselves to blame.

The twitter handles for both sides should be changed to “Virgin East Coast Trains” and “Virgin West Coast Trains”

It won’t solve it completely but it would probably make some people pause and think twice before posting something.