• CBS MoneyWatch, Wednesday, November 9, 2011 10 AM

Virgin America customers were outraged by the airline's snafus when it switched to the Sabre system (touting the change with the message, "We're shaping up our back end”). Customers couldn't access the website, many of those who did were given the wrong boarding passes or incorrect information, and no one was told when any kind of normal service could be expected to resume.

There’s more: flight crew were given the wrong information about when to turn up for work. The phone system couldn't cope; one customer said he was on hold for four hours -- and then was hung up on. When he complained on VA's Facebook page, he was promptly kicked off. One poor woman was charged nine times for the same flight.

But they got even angrier with the airline's response. A VP of corporate communications at Virgin America claimed that customers and staff were happy with the change and they were experiencing minimal problems with the "smooth transition." Meanwhile, Twitter and Facebook were awash with howls of complaint.

Read the whole story at CBS MoneyWatch »