Anger over ferry service 'free-for-all' as CalMac bookings cancelled

Joe Reade, chairman of the Mull and Iona Ferry Committee said that the communications over the issue "made a drama out of a crisis.".

It meant that while tickets were valid on Saturday they were not guaranteed to be on the sailing that they booked for - while some had to queue for hours to get a ferry later than intended.

Complaints were raised about cancelled bookings, and hours of waiting, as others abandoned efforts to go via Oban and made a 100-mile detour to reach the island via Lochaline.

One said that the detour to Lochaline took four hours and told CalMac: "Appalling service."

Users had already complained about services being in a state of "chaos" while the Scottish Government-controlled ferry operator CalMac was bombarded with complaints over the newly launched ticketing system being riddled with issues.

The user group warned that there was "not entirely unexpected" delays in the return of its key vessel the 35-year-old MV Isle of Mull because the dry-docking of MV Hebrides was taking longer than expected - a situation that has hit a string of vessels in the CalMac fleet in recent months. It was not due to return till Sunday afternoon.

MV Lord of the Isles was brought in on Sunday morning in the wake of the chaos - but due to technical problems, a warning was given that some services could be delayed.

While MV Isle of Mull was expected to come back online at 3.55pm on Sunday, CalMac warned of booking issues.

CalMac told users: "We are in the process of updating our reservation system, so some bookings may be unavailable. All bookings affected will be contacted by us in due course. We would like to thank our customers for their patience whilst these changes are completed."

And the ferry operator said that until further notice, due to the service running "with reduced capacity, we strongly recommend foot passengers book ahead where possible to be accommodated on your preferred sailing".

The MV Isle of Mull has been the victim of a CalMac shuffle of its ageing fleet to allow for it to serve South Uist.

Its potential replacement the 27-year-old MV Isle of Lewis had been undergoing scheduled repairs.

Because of the late arrival of the MV Isle of Mull, a far smaller vessel has had to pick up the slack.

Mull's two-ferry service has been running with MV Coruisk, which takes 40 cars and 200 passengers which carries a fifth of the number of passengers and nearly half the number of cars.

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Also out of action is 38-year-old MV Hebridean Isles which has been hit with issues since Boxing Day remains out of action having been removed from the firing line on February 16.

But CalMac told users that due to the "turn up and go" operation communications would be issued to those who could not be accommodated while all other customers were to be accepted on a standby basis.

They said that the two vessels "unexpectedly running" the service were "not big enough to carry all bookings so we have had to make the difficult decision to operate first come, first served".

In a message to users, CalMac stated: "We appreciate this is causing great inconvenience, but our port team are currently doing all that they can to transport traffic to and from Mull with significantly limited capacity due to the current vessel arrangement. "

But the ferry operator was bombarded with concerns from users over the move which hit users on Saturday.

One customer Joanne Dollard said: "This is really appalling. We had an email to say our tickets have been cancelled. No apology, no mention of a refund. We have two young kids and booked in February. As ours are cancelled I assume we can’t join the free for all at Oban? Useless."

Another said: "Our ferry was cancelled with a day's notice, the alternative route was too far for us to travel. We ended up having to cancel our camping trip, despite having paid ahead for our pitch. I was offered a refund for my ferry costs but lost out on camping costs. Disappointing."

Patrick Law added: "Unbelievably poor. Arrived 50 minutes early with a ticket for 8.30am but couldn’t get on. Not even close. No notification of move to first come first served."

David McMullen said: "We received a message at 755pm saying our booking was cancelled, no mention of turn up and go. Forced to take a four hour detour via Lochaline. Appalling service".

Another responded: "This is completely nuts."

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Concerns arose after CalMac told users of the Mull service on Tuesday of last week that "due to the passenger volumes, we would not advise customers to travel on day trips to the island due to reduced availability on return sailings".

The advice was rescinded on Wednesday.

Mr Reade said that customers should have been told earlier in the week that there would be an issue - but they were not told till 9pm on Friday night. As the call centre closed at 8pm, he said it gave people no opportunity for customers to react or contact CalMac.

"Not only was the timing appalling, but the language used was really poor – no-one was sure what the service announcement actually meant. It wasn’t clear if ALL bookings were null and void, or only those who had been contacted.

"It turned out (after getting some clarification) that what was intended was that indeed, all bookings were voided. But people with booked tickets weren’t sure if they should turn up at the sailing they had a ticket for, or just turn up anytime and wait.

"The shore staff handled the situation very calmly and resiliently, but it must have been very difficult. Cars were queuing all day long in Craignure, with many people waiting for 4 hours or more before they could get on a sailing. Many people abandoned efforts to go via Oban and left via Lochaline. From a communications and customer service perspective, it was handled very very badly."

It comes after more than 30 bugs and problems have been raised with CalMac over the new electronic ticketing system including some vessels being unable to sell tickets because their internet connection is inadequate.

The Mull and Iona Ferry Committee reported issues with overbooking meaning that people who have had sailings bought in advance were having them cancelled.

Other problems reported included finding that some routes were wrongly stating that there were no sailings at all, the system listing ports that do not exist and repeated difficulties with users being unable to log into their accounts.

On Twitter CalMac chief executive Robbie Drummond gave one response as the chaos unfolded.

It was to one user Moray Finch who said: "Your port staff in Craignure and Oban deserve a medal for turning up today knowing they would have to deal with so much anger and frustration. Please make sure their courage and loyalty is acknowledged and rewarded."

He replied: "Thank you, Moray. We do. Commitment and endless good humour. I will pass on your comments."

But another user told Mr Drummond: "Do you not think it's time you showd up on Mull to explain to the residents and your staff what you plan to do in the future to prevent these last minute cancellations and changes to bookings?"