HD finally confirms that it is not coming back
Tuesday 17th February 2009, 11:30AM GMT.
HD FERRIES is not coming back.
It announced yesterday that it will not be returning for a third season operating between the Channel Islands and France.
The news had been more than half-expected.
‘We have been trying for some time to contact HD about whether they intended to resume their service,’ said Commerce and Employment’s director of marketing and tourism Chris Elliott.
‘Their lack of response until now means their confirmation doesn’t come as a surprise given the operating problems they encountered in 2008.’
The HD website blamed a lack of passengers and rival operator Condor getting preferential treatment – something Mr Elliott refuted.
‘Although customers have been overwhelmingly supportive of our service and our low fares have succeeded in expanding the market, the simple truth is that not enough people are able to travel as often as would be necessary to make the service viable,’ said HD.
‘With little prospect of generating a reasonable return on investment in the foreseeable future, we have taken the difficult decision not to resume services.’
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It wasn’t a reliable service but at least it was cheaper and a bit of competition for Condor.
I still think Emeraude was the best and was very sorry to see them go.
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Yes Condor did get preferential treatment from the public because they don’t break down!!! No-body is going to book their holiday travel with a company that doesn’t know from one day to the next if their boat is going to be operational!
There are enough passengers travelling out of Guernsey via boat – they just don’t choose to travel with a company that lets people down every week.
I am not saying Condor is the best service either but they certainly rank higher in my opinion then HD.
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HD are trying to blame everybody other than themselves — if they had been able to provide a reliable service I’m sure a lot more people would have used them, we need some competition on both UK and French ferry routes to keep fares at a reasonable level, its a shame HD were not able to provide a reliable service.
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Oh well. It just seems that HD were always bitter against Condor. Condor have not had any financial backing from the States. They have been around since 1964, what did HD expect? Just to be able to come along and run without any problems? Come on. Condor have their faults, but at least they run year round and are reliable! In fact, I’ve just joined their Frequent Traveller scheme!
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No suprises there then; HD’s comments with regard to Condor are unjustified. Condor is a long established operator with a good service, any new operator on any CI route going up against Condor will face a steep learning curve. Islanders will always prefer a known quantity. HD had allsorts of problems, some of their own making, like the wrong vessel for the route, some not, like mechanical breakdowns. The main problem HD had was the fact they left it late to announce any service, started a new route to Cherbourg then ditched it, quite honestly the travelling public in general got fed up with the hit and miss up and down nature of HDs’ service.
The bottom line is that a service will never become established if it cannot convince us that it is at least as reliable and as good a service if not better than the competition, having lower fares but rubbish service just won’t do it.
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That’s a shame they never got their act together; a series of bad luck events; some of them self inflicted, some of them not.
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Condor had “teething” problems too,but got it right in the end.I often wondor if this type of ship is the best for our weather variations?
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I heard that they couldn’t afford the new mooring fees?
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Its a shame that HD are not coming back. My family and I used the service to France last year without any problems and we found it be excellent. All new companies will have teething problems and Condor had more than their fair share when they introduced their “fast ferries”.
I just hope that Condor dont take the opportunity to increase their fares now that there is no competition…
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Good bye HD Ferries and make sure you stay away for good !! You let me down twice and in the end Condor Ferries delivered a reliable service. It’s a case of……you get what you pay for !
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I was served twice by HD to St.Malo and both trips went fine. I too miss Emeraude.
I hope they make a comeback or someone else offers an alternative service as Condor have got us by the short and curlies where the pricing is concerned. A 2h30m trip north or south of Guernsey shouldn’t cost us what it does.
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Condor are certainly a rip-off at times but I’d rather high prices that deliver a service than paying for nothing, something that seemed to happen on a frequent basis with HD…
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Competition is good news for customers, but the routes can only sustain two operators if there is enough volume and demand. Sadly that’s in short supply at present.
HD promised so much but failed to deliver because of ill-conceived plans combined with a run of bad luck.
An amalgamation of Manche Iles using Emeraude style vessels operating from Normandy ports would provide a good business model.
Our future success lies in retaining our independence whilst we encourage strong trading links with the eurozone.
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Another nail in your coffin Guernsey……..and you also own Aurigny…..Oh dear, when will you learn !!! You need competition. You are living in a the real world not the cosy bubble a lot of locals hide in, but i guess thats why they call you Donkeys.
But hey not all is bad you have Bernard Flouquet…….
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Whilst competion should be a good thing, and in theory would drive down prices, reliability and service count for a lot too.
With HD, and even good old Emmeraude, you could never be sure they were going to run.
Condor have always managed to get me where I want to go. When hit with weather or technical problems they have always rebooked on whatever service they could at no extra cost ( airlines take note again!!! ) Even having missed the boat I have been rebooked with a minimal charge ( airlines take note again!!! )
And as for cost – I have just travelled to France for a week with the car 2 adults and 2 kids for less than 300 quid – and that was booking fairly last minute. Again, let the airlines ( or any other RELIABLE ferry company ) try and beat that !!!!
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To lodgewood – The States don’t own Condor. i find your comments very rude! Condor is owned by a large company with a history of ferry operations.
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Lodgewood,
If you are going to come on here & ‘Guernsey Bash’ then may I suggest you do your homework?!
You are obviously as clueless as to what actually happens around here…
It is better to keep your mouth closed & be thought a fool, then to open it & remove all doubt….
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Never said Condor was owned by your government just Aurigny.
I think you wil find Guernsey a very different place in 3 years.
and, WH Bonney, keep living in your cosy bubble hopefully someone will pinch you when it bursts…and burst my friends it will.
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Personally, I’d like to welcome lodgewood, here is the embodiment of what can happen if we don’t adequately fund education.
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ah for sure eh la !
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