Jedi_Angie
27 Nov 07, 11:54 AM
We flew with Virgin last month; my friend has recently been diagnosed with Coeliac disease and she pre-ordered a gluten-free vegetarian meal for the flights (yes, she's veggie as well!). Virgin told her this would be absolutely no problem, and my friend was on the phone for 45 minutes making sure of this - she didn't want to be on such a long flight with no food. She also asked for a kids meal guaranteed to have no oranges in it, as her daughter is very allergic to oranges. Again, Virgin said 'no problem'. Just in case, she packed some snacks to take on the flight.
Well, before we've even taken off an announcement is made stating one of the passengers on the flight is allergic to nuts, so could all passengers refrain from opening any nuts they have brought with them. Of course, the snacks my friend had brought were nuts - they're her main source of protein. Then meal time arrives and Virgin produced a gluten-free meal with chicken for her and an adult meal for her daughter. They only do gluten-free OR vegetarian, not both, and don't do special kids meals, the attendant tells us. She has no idea why the person on the phone told her this wasn't the case. Eventually she manages to produce a couple of wee salads and some fruit - and that's all my friend had to eat on the whole flight. Her daughter was so upset she couldn't eat at all. The attendant helped my friend fill out a complaint form and assured her that the same thing wouldn't happen on the return flight.
Lo and behold, the same thing happened on the return flight. :( No meal for her; but they did manage to come up with a kids meal for her daughter, not guaranteed orange-free, but we read the labels. The staff on this flight seemed a bit more with it, and raided first class to come up with a baked potato and some other food that my friend could eat.
I felt so embarrassed - I'd recommended Virgin to my friend as a company who coped well with special needs and I'd always found their food very palatable. She wrote a letter of complaint to the company and has so far received £100 off another flight.
Well, before we've even taken off an announcement is made stating one of the passengers on the flight is allergic to nuts, so could all passengers refrain from opening any nuts they have brought with them. Of course, the snacks my friend had brought were nuts - they're her main source of protein. Then meal time arrives and Virgin produced a gluten-free meal with chicken for her and an adult meal for her daughter. They only do gluten-free OR vegetarian, not both, and don't do special kids meals, the attendant tells us. She has no idea why the person on the phone told her this wasn't the case. Eventually she manages to produce a couple of wee salads and some fruit - and that's all my friend had to eat on the whole flight. Her daughter was so upset she couldn't eat at all. The attendant helped my friend fill out a complaint form and assured her that the same thing wouldn't happen on the return flight.
Lo and behold, the same thing happened on the return flight. :( No meal for her; but they did manage to come up with a kids meal for her daughter, not guaranteed orange-free, but we read the labels. The staff on this flight seemed a bit more with it, and raided first class to come up with a baked potato and some other food that my friend could eat.
I felt so embarrassed - I'd recommended Virgin to my friend as a company who coped well with special needs and I'd always found their food very palatable. She wrote a letter of complaint to the company and has so far received £100 off another flight.