I got this at 9:30 pm on Saturday.
I’m so angry with bluebridge!
Next steps: reschedule
So I immediately got on the phone only to learn that “I had called them outside office hours”, meaning the only way I could reschedule was to actually pony-up at their terminal. So, at 10:30pm, Rebecca and I jumped in the ute together with all of my kit to find out what’s the story.
So we get to the terminal and there’s cars, campervans, motorbikes and everything for Africa. There were so many angry people, together with confused tourists who thought New Zealand was a first world country. Some people were prepared to sleep on the floor (remember, the sailing got canceled at 9:30pm – good luck finding accommodation at that time on a weekend).
Excuses and suspect reasoning
The nice lady behind the counter (Maddie) was doing her best to solve people’s problems, given the hand her company had dealt her.
She got me on the 8:15am sailing (fingers crossed) but I raised the issue of compensation. The previous two times I’ve transferred my travel, I paid them $20 each time. This is the second time they transferred me, so I wanted $40.
She gave me a credit.
So tonight’s crossing was canceled because:
Due to last minute crew shortages, we have had to cancel the 2:00 am sailing from Wellington. We’re really sorry that we’ve cancelled this sailing at short notice, and we understand this will be disruptive to your travel plans.
We’re really sorry that we’ve had to cancel this sailing, and we understand this will be disruptive to your travel plans.
I asked Maddie on the counter what crew shortages did this – was it the kitchen staff (i.e. something that doesn’t matter), or are we missing the Captain? She said the email they received said the trip was canceled because crews had to comply with maximum work hours “to stay safe”.
The interesting thing was that on Friday, I spent 45 minutes on hold checking where any sailings might have resumed since, on Wednesday, all sailings were canceled (because of weather conditions) until the 2:00am on Sunday 2 April, despite the weather having settled. And Bluebridge assured me that 2:00am Sunday was the next ferry sailing.
So… if all ferrys have been canceled since Wednesday… how can the crew be over there maximum permitted hours?
Bluebridge’s excuses are smelling whiffy.
Flow on effects
So I’ve emailed Beachcomber canceling my 8:00am travel to Ships Cove. Hopefully, I’ll be able to reschedule, but if there’s any cost implications, I’ll be sending the reschedule costs to Bluebridge.
Talk about screwing up carefully made plans…
Grump grump grump …