Frances Posted June 12, 2007 Share Posted June 12, 2007 I (+ the clerk - his wasted time must have wiped out much of the Rail company's profit) spent 50mins this lunchtime booking my next boat/rail ticket (not possible on the web as it requires the clerk to telephone the Racket to confirm a seat on the boat) - not only that but Virgin trains had an incorrect sailing time (luckily I'd checked beforehand and queried a supposed 12noon off Liverpool) and it required a kludge by the booking clerk to confirm the supposed open part of the return. Yet another example of non-interest in a tourist trade - I think they dread seeing me come in but complaints doen't seem to have any effect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manxman8180 Posted June 12, 2007 Share Posted June 12, 2007 I think a lot of travel agents ditched the Rail side of things as it was more hassle than money, if you knwo what I mean. 'Technically' you should be abel to book at any Rail station, or through the operator as Frances has done. Beware, however, as they often sell the product without confirming ferry bookings, and as Frances says above they often have a pile of shite for information, so may have wrong times etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gladys Posted June 12, 2007 Share Posted June 12, 2007 Where were you making the booking Frances? I tried, when living down south, to make bookings for the boat and/or rail at travel agents and at railways stations, all without success. I took to phoning the Steammie direct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frances Posted June 12, 2007 Share Posted June 12, 2007 Guildford - I can be very insistant - and having done the journey so many times I know not only what trains I need but the exact seat I want so I can work on the journey - Over winter it is generally ok but as it seems the Heysham boat seat can be allocated without a phone call but not the Liverpool boat seats - however as the clerk said why 50mins for Douglas whereas he does Belfast boat/rail tickets with just a single form and in less than 5mins. Over summer Virgin severely restricts its cheap tickets - 3 years ago they advertised the ticket but no clerk could actually book one, last year I forced the clerk to ring Virgin to actually check the allocation of tickets - turns out they hadn't allocated any (computer error!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frances Posted June 12, 2007 Share Posted June 12, 2007 they often sell the product without confirming ferry bookings, don't think this is possible as the computer wont issue the ticket without some form of Racket confirmation (at least for Liverpool) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gladys Posted June 12, 2007 Share Posted June 12, 2007 Given that travel agents no longer have the commission basis for remuneration from airlines, they will be looking at cost effective bookings across the board, and this has to be a loss situation for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Woo Posted June 12, 2007 Share Posted June 12, 2007 [Can I just remind you? WEBSITE forums caused 'unnecessary panic' over changes to 5,000 TT ferry bookings, the Steam Packet has claimed. It's not their fault - never...so stop it - right now! We know it's your fault! Step away from the computer! It's true, I never should have used the site and then I wouldn't have broken it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manxman8180 Posted June 12, 2007 Share Posted June 12, 2007 they often sell the product without confirming ferry bookings, don't think this is possible as the computer wont issue the ticket without some form of Racket confirmation (at least for Liverpool) You referred to it before when the rail company will issue an 'open' return, meaning they haven't confirmed a ferry crossing. It happens regularly and has led to people being placed on standby when boats are full. They used to hold an allocation on each crossing specifically for unbooked sail and rail tickets, but don't know whether they still do nowadays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frances Posted June 12, 2007 Share Posted June 12, 2007 they still do hold an allocation (at least on the Ben) - at one time I'd book footie return from Liverpool and train up/down but this only works for some days in peak season as the 7.30 off Douglas is not reachable in time by a bus from Peel (and a taxi adds another £20!) whereas I can make the 8.45 - the boat/rail ticket allows travel from Liverpool or Heysham so is the only convenient option Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grant Posted June 12, 2007 Share Posted June 12, 2007 I'm rather surprised by the number of posters on this thread, who do have a good word to say about the Steam Packet. Usually everyone slaggs them off mercillessly. I have used them over the last 2 years loads of times and whilst I don't think they're cheap, if you book in advance, I don't think they're a rip either. I've 3 times encountered problems (either of my own making, or traffic problems) and they have gone out of their way to help. Yes the food and drink is dear, you can take a pack up and thermos flask or go without if you wish. Overall, I'm happy with the service I've received. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Tatlock Posted June 13, 2007 Share Posted June 13, 2007 I thought the beauty of the interweb was that you can put information on it such as 'sailings affected', 'revised times' etc. etc. etc. This would save having to have 12 people working their nuts off in a call centre 24/7 because of an 'announcement' that 5000 people were going to be affected. 50% of the general population have the web at home. Or am I missing something obvious here? Plus press releases need to be clear about the action people need to take as they result in news pages such as this. Many people travelled from Europe and beyond, with connecting ferries, connecting flights and connecting rail journeys etc. so they need to know early just what other parts of their journey they are likely to have to rearrange, including hotels if they are going to be stuck at Heysham, Liverpool, Zeebrugge, Calais, or Hull etc. Waiting for some last minute phone call (that might not even arrive because you are not affected - but don't know it) is totally unacceptable in these circumstances. People need access to information, and add to all this the failure of Manx Radio's website to cope with demand - there was little information available. So what are people expected to do? IMO (and with over 200 trips in the past few years) the SP need to bring in an experienced senior manager to sort out all of their procedures, PR and information flow. But first they must survey their customers, though remembering that there is a distinct difference between 'listening' and 'hearing'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lonan3 Posted June 13, 2007 Share Posted June 13, 2007 I thought the beauty of the interweb was that you can put information on it such as 'sailings affected', 'revised times' etc. etc. etc. This would save having to have 12 people working their nuts off in a call centre 24/7 because of an 'announcement' that 5000 people were going to be affected. Or am I missing something obvious here? Internet use UK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Tatlock Posted June 13, 2007 Share Posted June 13, 2007 Just noticed the two SP telephone numbers on the BBC news website (an 01624 and an 0871 number). Note – In 2008 0871 numbers will be classified as Premium rate numbers. Another Article Happy to be corrected, but to me 20 minutes on some 0871 numbers looks to cost around £1 to £2. Thus every hour on the phone produces £3 to £6 ...and £6 probably covers the minimum wage for a call centre operator Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rallybug Posted June 13, 2007 Share Posted June 13, 2007 I said at the time to some friends that as they have a database of bookings, they should have been able to create a list of bookings that could be changed in order of priority. For example, anyone who's got an address outside the British Isles, no matter when they booked, keeps their original booking (or as close as possible), so that their inward/onward journeys aren't affected (other ferry tickets, hotels, etc). That would've helped the guy whose return sailing to the UK was changed, leaving him 15 minutes to get from Liverpool to Hull for his onward journey (I think they changed his sailing by something stupid like 12 hours!). Second in priority should be those from the British Isles who booked in 2005 when the TT2007.com website first came online, followed by the bookings from 2006 and finally the ones from this year. If you booked this year and you live in the British Isles, then I would say you were fair game for a change of booking for TT2007. That prioritisation, or something similar, would've stopped most of the issues raised by visitors. Going from the island, I've never had a problem with the Steam Packet, and the return crossing for a bike and rider outside TT has been cheaper than my Chunnel return crossing. I know that my parent's were thinking about coming over for a week or 10 days with my aunt and uncle, but the cost for a car and 4 passengers was prohibitive for them. Instead, on the three occasions that they've visited me over here, they've flown instead, as it was cheaper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Smelly Posted June 13, 2007 Author Share Posted June 13, 2007 Well we all know that vehicles on the ferry are what make them the money, i think the money from foot passengers basically pay's for the fuel to run the boat. What i cannot understand is the government spending money on advertising the island then when the people who have responded to the ad's come to booking the ferry get a shock on how much it costs. I see Stena Line are doing a car and 2 for £59.00 at the moment. And ireland is a longer crossing lol. The be able to get the trade they need to attract the customer, Just look at how the airlines have done it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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