Dover Hoverport closed

[Alan Zoff]

Was anyone else on the forum turned away from Dover this afternoon? Got there for our booked 2.20pm sailing with Speedferries but was told it was too dangerous mid-channel due to gale force winds so sailing cancelled and port would probably be closed for rest of the day. They were offering full refund or new tickets to use another day.

[Alan Zoff]

Although they claimed to be offering a "full refund", Speedferries seem reluctant to honour their promises.

I was told at the port that "It was all done and my card account would be recredited within 5 days".

10 days later, having seen no sign of the credit, I emailed Customer Services who tried at first to go back on what they had originally told me. After some further exchanges, they confirmed by email that they would refund the agreed sum but now said they would have to send me a cheque rather than credit my account. This would arrive "within 7 days".

6 weeks after the original assurance, and further emails from me, there is no sign of the promised cheque. Customer Services (a misnomer, I think) won't even respond.

I have written a letter to the nice man at the top who keeps sending chummy emails saying how valued I am as a customer when trying to sell me the latest special offer. Nothing but PR marketing bullshit, it seems.

I thought it was the competition who were supposed to be the pirates.

 

 

[Baz]

Outrageous, but they being a low cost ferry may be trying to emulate the low cost airlines.

Baz

[Chancer]

The Kent trading standards office were very receptive when I contacted them re the hidden fuel surcharge that I was made to pay when I had booked and paid the "total to pay" that very morning on the internet.

Their (hidden) terms were "we reserve the right to impose a fuel surcharge if the price of fuel has risen between the time of booking and time of travel".

Very soon afer all customers received an "apology from the chairman" which just sought to create good publicity out of a bad situation by rubbishing the other operators who continued to levy "non hidden" surcharges. His words were something like "personally I cannot understand this way of doing business" - talk about hypocritical!

You may have to first report the matter to your local trading standards but you can then also duplicate this to the Kent office as I said I found them to be champing at the bit to ghet their teeth into their local "Branson" wanabee!

They asked me if I wanted a refund but I said no, it was more a point of principle and also feeling sorry for the check in staff that had to demand payment from other (not me!) irate travellers, I also preferred to remain anonymous as despite my misfeelings they have to date been a very good deal compared to the other operators, but have you seen their current prices for this summer?

 

[Alan Zoff]

It's a matter of honesty/trust, as far as I am concerned.

If someone looks me in the eye and tells me he has just recredited my account, I expect him to have done that. I don't expect his superiors to say a couple of weeks later that it wasn't within his power and that he shouldn't have offered it me. And if they then put in writing that they are going to send me the money within 7 days, again I am entitled to expect that to happen.  

I assume they are hoping I will drop it eventually but, if so, they are mistaken.

Problems of trust with businesses are rarely limited to one part of the set-up. If there is a culture of dishonesty towards customers, how far does it go? When they have already repeatedly lied to you, can you believe them for example when they say things like: "Your safety is our main concern"?

Makes you look at the whole organisation in a different light.

[Alan Zoff]

7 weeks rather than 7 days but cheque has arrived!

No response from letter to Mr S - nor to the chasing emails. From speaking to perfectly pleasant staff, I now think problems are down to overwhelmed administration rather than deliberate attempt  not to pay. Low-cost means few staff and reliance on automated systems - just don't have the bodies to deal with things the computer can't handle. But damned annoying when you have been told they will credit your account or send cheque "within x days" and nothing happens for weeks and they won't even respond. As with any service, communication makes a massive difference.

But this apart, I have been generally happy with the actual ferry service for the price and will stick with them unless further problems arise.