Virgin Blue has apologised for a systems blunder on November 13 which saw many members of its Velocity loyalty program receive an email which mistakenly advised that they had been upgraded to Gold status.
Many Velocity members received the email advising them of an upgrade to Gold status, which carries a number of benefits such as free access to The Lounge, priority check-in and a free 32kg baggage allowance. Virgin Blue later sent an email notifying ineligible members to disregard the email.
“We can confirm Friday’s email send was the result of a processing error,” Virgin Blue spokesman Colin Lippiat told Fairfax newspapers. “Of course, we are very sorry for any disappointment caused and are relieved that many of our members realised it must have been an error even before we sent out the correction notice.”
The event has attracted some bad publicity for Virgin Blue, with some members reacting negatively to the error using social networking services, with some believing it to be a marketing gimmick. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has said that it will not investigate the incident.
