My wife and I were recently booked on a flight from Albury to Brisbane that had a stopover of an hour or so in Sydney. However at the Albury airport we were all told that the flight had been cancelled and we would be redirected to Melbourne and would be able to get the 2pm flight to Sydney.

We were unable to find out then why the flight was cancelled and after two emails to Virgin I still do not know. We were thinking it would be a bit of a nuisance flying to Melbourne and then Sydney but would put up with it – only to be told we were all going to Melbourne on a bus.

I have been shunted onto a bus by the railways on many occasions, getting a refund in the cost difference.

However there is a far greater cost difference in an aeroplane ticket than a bus ticket – and unfortunately no refund available. We were assured by the local staff (by the way nobody of seniority or authority came to speak to us, hidden behind closed doors I suspect) that we would be met at the airport and given priority treatment when we arrived in Melbourne.

The bus had no toilet and the driver was told not to stop. Under duress and the mention it may be illegal to go 3½ hours without a toilet break, we did stop for 10 minutes. 

There was no one to meet us at the Melbourne airport, so we had to haul our bags across a couple of roads of traffic and upstairs to book in. Following instructions we headed for the priority line only to be abused by Virgin staff as we were not priority customers and the bus load of us were making it inconvenient for their real precious priority customers.

Three-and-a-half hours in a bus because of a Virgin failure and nobody knew about us or wanted to help. It was too late as boarding had finished for the 2pm flight.

Once again no one of any seniority came to see us, help us or tell us what we could do. Should you ever have a management training course at Virgin I suggest you get a large photo of a bus put up on the whiteboard decked out in the Virgin livery with the letters P.P.P. after it.