Rod and Kay Lock, who were leaving the island, were two of the passengers affected by HD Ferries’ decision to cancel its scheduled services and run a replacement one instead. (Picture by Adrian Miller, 0615113)
PASSENGERS were delayed by four hours yesterday after HD Ferries again cancelled its sailings. The company left customers in suspense as they waited to hear whether they would make their St Malo destination.
Sailings at noon and 5.30pm were scrapped without warning and a new departure time of 4pm was scheduled, but only after protests. That meant that those sailing at 5.30 had to hastily rearrange their travel plans.
Passenger Kay Lock was frustrated with the change of sailing times. ‘We do need competition, but HD Ferries seems to cancel its ferries a lot, even when Condor run,’ said the 51-year-old. ‘They often do it at just the slightest change in weather conditions.’
Mrs Lock and her husband, Rod, 56, are emigrating from Guernsey and found the change in ferry times a great inconvenience to their travel plans.
‘We were rushing to get here on time and when we got here we found it was cancelled,’ said Mrs Lock. ‘It’s just so disappointing.
‘We were getting the noon ferry and we were then going to drive to the Spanish border tonight.
‘Because of this delay, we will now have to spend an extra night in St Malo when we expected to be in Spain.’
‘We’ve been having to get the house together in a hurry so we could get here on time and it was all for nothing,’ she said.
Max Carling, of handling company Ship & Fly, said passengers had every right to be annoyed considering the favourable weather conditions.
‘The HD ferry captain decided not to sail after a negative weather report,’ he said. ‘Ship & Fly, as HD’s handling agents, had been assessing local conditions and informed HD [that] the weather was acceptable to sail in.’
Captain Carling said the cancellation was extremely frustrating and he had encouraged HD to sail at the scheduled times.
‘We want to make sure HD provides a great service for local people,’ he said.
While HD Ferries tried to contact all passengers, some remained unaware of the changes.
Celia Wilkinson arrived for the noon sailing only to find it had been cancelled.
‘I had planned to travel on the noon ferry to St Malo,’ said the 57-year-old from St Peter Port who was travelling to France with her daughter and two children.
‘HD called up passengers and kept them informed.
‘I would rather they make sure they can sail safely than just push ahead.’
A spokesman for HD Ferries said its sailings to and from Guernsey had been changed due to a forecast of rough seas.
‘As the morning went on, the sea state started to calm down. Instead of leaving all the passengers stranded, HD Ferries showed its commitment by putting on a special sailing into Guernsey at 3.40pm and departing Guernsey at 4.10pm to St Malo then on to Jersey.’
Article posted on 2nd August, 2008 - 9.41am
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13 Article Comments
re. this report,i will contact you monday on further comments,i am awaiting a reply from h.d.ferries on the friday 5.30 sailing !!!
HD gets more and more like a joke!
The HD Ferry went on time at 5.30pm on Saturday (yesterday) according to the news in the Press it did not go.
I was due to get the midday hdferries ferry on Friday 1st August, but received no prior warning by phone. They had sent me an email the previous Thursday night which I course did not get until I got home to Paris.
This cancellation notice contained no indication whatsoever as to what to do, how to get any money back, nor any other way of crossing back to St Malo that day. We were also due to go on to Paris by rail - there was no way we could have been in time for our train at 5pm in St Malo, and of course, our tickets were no longer valid nor reimboursable once we missed the train.
As it was, I and my two children were able to catch the midday plane back to Paris at great additional expense. It was imperative for us to travel that day, as we also had other tickets to travel on from Paris for the next day.
As for Hdferries, I have already contacted them twice by email and have received no reply as to the possibility of being reimboursed. Although my lastminute flybe plane ticket was more expensive than the ferry and the train the flybe staff were very pleasant and the service great. This being in opposition to the hdferries service which frankly left alot to be desired, not mentioning the state of the toilets on the ferry over from St Malo!
I know how I will travel the next time I come to Guernsey!
This company is an absolute disgrace and brings Guernsey into disrepute with tourists. Their office today at the Harbour was unmanned and nobody was answering the out of hours number which was a mobile number.
They should be obliged to adhere to minimum service levels before being granted a licence to operate. Impressions are that its being run on an absolute shoestring and that it has no hope of survival. Customers simply cannot rely on it.
Come on guys, give HD a chance, surely any competition that could potentially keep sea travel prices at a reasonable level has got to be good and although HD do have occasional issues I would still choose to travel with them every time !!
Sorry Sharon but HD Ferries are a disgrace. They should buy a decent vessel which can sail when it gets a little bit choppy. Condor don’t seem to have problems like HD.
As for the office not being manned - surely it would have been good P.R to have someone taking the moans and groans from the disgrunted passengers ?
Sorry HD Ferries, I know you are trying, but I think you have a long way to come before reaching the heights of Condor Ferries !!
Agents in Guernsey joke, HD Ferries don’t reply to customers emails,
vessel disgrace.
Do they really think people are that stupid or desperate they would continue to use them!! HD Ferries are not trying otherwise they would be using professional agents not mickey mouse and they would bother to reply to customers concerns. Shame on you!!!
Sorry but the HD ferry did leave on time at 5.30pm on the Saturday. Unmanned phones sounds like Condor before the competition came along - I could never get hold of anyone to find out what was happening in times of rough weather - but it is all change now and so far Condor have been giving good service - give HD ferries a chance - they are struggling just as Emeraude Ferries struggled.
I have travelled with HD ferries twice in the past month. Yes they are a no-frills service with minimal staffing and facilities, but when they sail to St Malo their times are much more convenient than Condor and they are faster too. I am not a good sailor and to be honest I would much rather wait an extra day and sail in better sea conditions than have to put up with an uncomfortable journey although I guess I am lucky that I can be flexible with my travel arrangements. Those of you complaining about the cancellations are probably the same people who complain to Condor when you have endured a bumpy crossing, its seems like a lose lose situation to me.
Give HD a chance, we need competition, they are much cheaper and faster, I for one appreciate a direct to France route rather than always having to go via Jersey with Condor.
The press are always very quick to write negative stories about HD, why is that?
The two times the boat has been cancelled due to the weather I’ve had a phone call (in France at the time) and then a refund has been given within a couple of days. My thinking is that even if I get out to France and have to get slightly more expensive Condor back then at least it’s cheaper than going there and back on Condor! I think too many people are wanting them to be perfect next time. Also if they don’t reply to e-mails is it that difficult to use the phone and call them?
My family and I travel with HD Ferries without fail when we visit Jersey or France and have found their service to be nothing short of excellent. Has everyone forgotten how terrible Condor’s service was on the introduction of its fast ferry service - considerably worse than HD.
We really should remember that the Condor service was terrible when they first started their fast car service.
I agree with David that there should be minimum service levels for everyone. I’d love to see Condor manage to adhere to those as well…
In defence of the Condor staff. The boat service may be terrible, the fares far too high but at least the staff are always courteous…
Oh, and why is it that I have to pay extra to use my 4X4 when it’s shorter and narrower than a Mondeo?