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Cheap ferry fares


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Everytime I use Aferry.com for a crossing from say Portsmouth to St Malo I see a cheap £78 (2 hour stay) return with car.

'Normal' fares appear in the £200+ range.

What is to stop you using the £78 one way and booking another £78 to return at a later date?
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This has been covered quite a few times on here. It seems that some have managed to get away with it, but the ferry companies are wise to the idea. Obviously you could try paying cash, which stops them debiting your card if they find out, but even then, they have your car details so in theory can trace and pursue you. I believe they all stipulate in their T&C's that they will do this, so you would need to judge the risk.
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I think that in the terms and conditions that it will say that if you only use 'one way', that they can charge you the full price. They will after all have your card details.

Whether they would bother is quite another thing, and I do not know whether they would or not, but there is still that  risk and it may cost you far more in the long run.

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What they say and what they do are different things, its just scare tactics to ensure compliance from the vast majority and to maximise profits through fear.

I have done it scores of times with all the Calais, Boulogne, Dunkirk, Dieppe operators including Eurotunnel and have saved probably thousands over the last 10 years, only once last year did I get backcharged by Myfurrypink and I had really been pushing it by using them in both directions, they hit me for £20 and €20, the latter I contested and my bank refunded me.

That said I have never travellled on the more Southern routes but as the T&C's are enforcable in law (Dover Trading Standards Office) I doubt that any of them apply them except perhaps when it is blatant, they dont need to.

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[quote user="PaulT"]Would have thought it would need no human intervention to charge. If the ANPR camera does not detect your car within the time frame the system automatically debits your card.[/quote]

And its surmised comments like that, although no doubt well intentioned that help them maximise their profits by scaring the majority with unenforcable and unsporting T&C's.

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Me too!!

Editted, maybe you meant that you would be backcharging customers, similar to making a Customer pay another €8 on top of the €3 price of his coffee when he leaves the café because he only drunk half of it!

"Me too" meant I would adopt the same pricing model and scare tactics that make people pay 4 times as much for a single ticket than a return.

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I would not consider them scare tactics, just part of the T&Cs which you tick a box when booking to say you have read and agree with them.

It would not be a case of not enforcing them - the person booking has agreed to the additional charge and should expect to be charged.
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