FabSwingers.com forum: VA WEBSITE

By *oomils OP Couple
over a year ago

kettering

I’ve been a regular member of va for many years but recently I feel the club has not maintained its fantastic customer service it always has in the past. The website has been down for weeks with not even a pop up to advise customers it’s being worked on! The phones are never answered and it seems this year they decided to close early for Christmas so very disappointing to turn up to locked doors. I have a very busy life and recently va have started doing events that haven’t always been my scene so it’s important for us to know what events are being held on what days or even if the club will be open or not!! Also I was not at all happy on our last visit when we had to hand over a credit card rather than cash for our locker! Given the data protection rules, popping my debit card in a wallet under the counter made me very uneasy. This said VA IS MY MOST FAVORITE CLUB ever and nothing I have been to compares to it. Just hope it’s gets back on track soon and brings back that sparkle we have been so used to.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Yep - we noticed the website issue too. Could do with being sorted really.

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By *teed99Man
over a year ago

Kettering

"I’ve been a regular member of va for many years but recently I feel the club has not maintained its fantastic customer service it always has in the past. The website has been down for weeks with not even a pop up to advise customers it’s being worked on! The phones are never answered and it seems this year they decided to close early for Christmas so very disappointing to turn up to locked doors. I have a very busy life and recently va have started doing events that haven’t always been my scene so it’s important for us to know what events are being held on what days or even if the club will be open or not!! Also I was not at all happy on our last visit when we had to hand over a credit card rather than cash for our locker! Given the data protection rules, popping my debit card in a wallet under the counter made me very uneasy. This said VA IS MY MOST FAVORITE CLUB ever and nothing I have been to compares to it. Just hope it’s gets back on track soon and brings back that sparkle we have been so used to."

As part of the team at The Vanilla Alternative, I fully understand your frustration, especially regarding the website. Without going into any details here, the club owner is fully aware of the current problems and is working on a solution. In the meantime, I have posted a correct list of events for January in the CLUB EVENTS part of this forum.

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By *oomils OP Couple
over a year ago

kettering

Thank you for taking the time to respond. I do hope a resolve can be found quickly ?? we are lost without the VA we love

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By *oomils OP Couple
over a year ago

kettering

Thank you for taking the time to respond. I do hope a resolve can be found quickly ?? we are lost without the VA we love

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Have to agree OP...

I was convinced I had checked the club was open when I booked a hotel, months ago, for a recent xmas event...only to find on here the club was shut. We went to an alternative club and had a great night so they did us a favour.

VA is a great club run by lovely people but the comms are the worst of any business I have ever encountered... this is not a recent thing.

eg after about 10 attempts, on numerous days, to get through via phone to pay for festival tickets I wanted written confirmation that they had taken my order (via credit card)... I tried... txt, email, their website, facebook messenger.... and got absolutely zero reply. It worked out fine but the lack of contact was a bad reflection on them tbh.

They need to get a grip of this tbh and I hope they do.

Hope it works out for the team... good luck

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Dosent sound very promising looking from the outside in does it ...

Must have huge overheads and only open 2 sometimes 3 times a week let's hope it's not following suit of many others recently.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Well that’s just made our minds up. We loved VA when we visited and stayed over a few months ago, but it’s all looking a bit shaky now. We’ve got a hotel booked for the 2nd and 3rd of Feb and were undecided on whether we’d go to VA or Jaydees. Looks like our mind has been made up for us.

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By *carlettxWoman
over a year ago

Essex

I visited VA recently and stayed over (BelleAmour parties) and have to say was the best night I had ever been to there - been half a dozen times before

I would hold fire changing any views because I think it’s just a little glitch at present

Certainly looking forward to many more parties there

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

communication and customer service is lacking from most clubs, just because people own a club doesn’t mean they are experts in websites, customer service, employing staff etc etc most have to rely on staff and IT people to maintain it all and frankly in areas of high employment how do owners get good staff with the right experience? They struggle, so cut them a break, swinging is a community so chip in eh.

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By *ewantfun14Couple
over a year ago

Norfolk

We have been informed by the owner that the club is in the process of changing it's web hosting company and that the issues with the website will be resolved in the new year and the issues with it were out of their control

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By *entleman Blue EyesMan
over a year ago

Saffron Walden

"We have been informed by the owner that the club is in the process of changing it's web hosting company and that the issues with the website will be resolved in the new year and the issues with it were out of their control"

Having just changed Web hosting for my own business I can imagine the stress and agro. We spent over a month going through the various url and the like line by line to ensure our transfer went smoothly. Fortunately we did this in house, I'd have hated to be reliant upon a tech company so if this is the case I feel for VAS and wish them luck in getting it sorted. The customer service and other communication really shouldnt be an issue with a little thought and planning. I've heard so much about the club I look forward to experiencing it for myself in 2019.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

I know the club are aware of the problems and are doing everything they can to get things rectified as quickly as possible. Sometimes these things happen and they have had some technical issues with the new website designers and some staffing adjustments. Anyone that knows the club and owners will appreciate how professional and customer focused they are and how frustrated they are with the situation. They have made arrangements to update the forum with the forthcoming events and I’m sure it won’t be long before everything is back to normal! The staff work tirelessly to make sure everyone has the best night possible, so please carry on supporting them!

Looking forward to a great NYE party there tomorrow!

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By *horty4Man
over a year ago

london

Looks like it was re-registered on the 22nd November. Did VA forget to renew their ownership and some other bugger had nabbed it? If so thats a schoolboy error.

Also, why dont the VA owners use FAB to promote their events, times, prices? Rather than wait for kind patrons to do their best giving second hand updates? Lack of promotion can kill a club, look at Hellfire.

I say this as a fan of VA, id go more often if it were not so far from me.

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By *oomils OP Couple
over a year ago

kettering

As I have previously stated it’s out of frustration!!! VA is my favorite place and I can assure you we have visited other places and they do not compare.(jaydees excluded) Whilst we all appreciate things happen! The key to this becoming acceptable is communication with all customers old and new. This is by no means a witch hunt just honest feedback that all business thrive on to get things right. HAPPY NEW YEAR to all and super swinging in 2019 xx

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By *horty4Man
over a year ago

london

Website seems to work ok now on phone/tablet

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By *ngel_screwballCouple
over a year ago

Birmingham

We definitely would not leave bank card behind counter, personally we do not find that acceptable customer service at all.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

I'd like to ask the owner if i could operate a drive thru hand car wash on there land ..i would always leave it tidy and maintain the area , and close and be gone before opening hours .

no access required.

just some mains electric for the jet washer and water......

Rent paid on a weekly basis .

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