Sir, - I refer to Jim Dunne's article (April 10th) "Deadline for £65m ferry's maiden voyage sails by again". Unfortunately, I was one of the many people to make the disastrous mistake of booking a return crossing on the Stena Explorer, HSS ("Having a Slow Start ).
Simply in terms of delays, I arrived approximately 4 1/2 hours later than planned in Holyhead on the outgoing trip, and on the return leg arrived 5 1/02 hours later than planned in Dun Laoghaire. Delays of this order are very significant in a weekend break, as was my case.
In my rage, I insisted on seeing the project manager responsible for the introduction of this laughing stock. I was handed a photocopied sheet on which the name of the customer service manager had been hand written. It was my wish to establish if this person had the slightest idea about project management, customer satisfaction etc.
Now, with the name of the CSM in hand, I will ask this person why Stena continued to take bookings for a service knowing that it was not ready to go to market, or to sea for that matter. I will ask why the launch date was scheduled "on a day today basis", as described by one of their representatives.
Was this greed on their behalf, or ineptitude? If greed was the deciding factor, I suggest to senior management of this group that it has been a costly mistake. I will ask why no national media announcement was made (apart from another photocopied announcement handed to passengers on arrival at the queue) explaining that the launch was cancelled.
One must also look at the enormous pressure the Stena system was subjected to recently, as a result of the repeated cancellations. It appears from what I could see that the remainder of the Stena fleet, namely the Sea Lynx and the two other conventional ferries, were in continuous operation. If this is the case, were maintenance procedures adhered to as scheduled (if scheduled)? Can passengers therefore be assured of a safe crossing, if the Stena Group is capable of mismanagement of this order? - Yours, etc..
Corbally, Claregalway.
Co Galway.