Rebooking a recent trip with Irish Ferries was an absolute breeze and a bargain to boot, writes CAROL COULTER

A ferry nice deal for travel to France

Have you ever wondered if dealing with a real human being in a travel company, rather than a computer, and one who was both pleasant and efficient to boot, had gone the way of the dodo? Not entirely.

Last February I booked to travel by car to France via Britain at the end of July with my family. The first leg of the journey was by Irish Ferries to Holyhead. Two weeks before my departure, I considered changing the return date and rang the two ferry companies. In both cases (the other was LD Lines in the UK), there was no problem. The pleasant woman in Irish Ferries even said there would be no charge, although there should have been.

While engaged in e-mail correspondence about the issuing of a new ticket, I noticed that the fares advertised seemed to be less than I had paid. I attempted to make a booking using the same dates, and indeed found that had I booked my journey in July instead of February, it would have cost about €80 less. I inquired by e-mail why this was so.

I received a prompt reply explaining that “in order to maximise our potential ferry crossings some special sale fares may be offered at intervals throughout the year”. This reply also made an unsolicited offer to rebook me at the current (July) fare, subject to an administration charge of €30, instead of the cancellation fee that would otherwise apply. The difference (€48) would go as a credit for use for travel up to the end of August 2010. I gladly accepted the offer, and a new ticket was issued.

It should be stressed that all transactions were via my personal e-mail, and none of the staff I dealt with were aware I was a journalist.

Irish Ferries’ head of passenger sales, Declan Mescall, says: “This is a strange year.” Normally, people who book early get the best fares, but this year the company found it had to discount fares late in the year, meaning that people who booked late did better than those who had booked earlier.

However, people who felt hard done by and contacted them were dealt with sympathetically “on a customer by customer” basis. This was not being advertised, as the company would take a “huge financial hit” if it was inundated with requests for change, but their policy was to give a good service, and all staff were trained to accommodate people as best they could. “Not like the airlines,” he added. “Travel should be enjoyed, not endured.” The most remarkable thing was that throughout the process, it was easy to establish and maintain personal contact with a staff member both by phone and e-mail.

The price of bread

Another reader by the name of James Connolly went into Kavanagh’s pub on the Malahide Road in Dublin recently and ordered vegetable soup, for €3.75. “I asked for an extra slice of bread and was charged €4.75.” We called the pub to find out if it was charging €1 for a slice of bread. We were told that while there is a charge for bread and butter, it is not the policy of the pub to charge customers eating soup more if they ask for extra bread. It says the charge must have been the result of an error or a misunderstanding.

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