THE MONDAY MOAN - A once a week spot for us to moan about the stuff that perhaps we should all be moaning about that little bit more...
It was a tough time for us all, the summer and the holiday disruption. Radio news items we bursting with tales of people being left high and dry by government policy makers who seemed to be doing everything in their power to destroy the tourism industry both at home and abroad.
I went to France for a few weeks. Two days prior to sailing I was informed by Brittany Ferries that my return ferry was cancelled and that they would give me a refund or a transfer to another ferry. Transferring on their antiquated and not fit for purpose website was an impossibility so I cancelled the original and made another booking, this time instead of from Dieppe from Roscoff.
If you know France you will know there is a great deal of distance between the two. I changed my plans accordingly. Then... whilst away I was emailed again, this time being told that my Roscoff ferry had been cancelled. I now had to find another sailing and I had to go to Cherbourg. This all for the convenience of the ferry company who were in consolidation mode.
Now, one cancellation is annoying but a second unforgivable. They had had six months to sort this out and changing conditions just does not wash with me.
So I complained. After all Brittany Ferries had £650 of my money that they needed to pay back and that was not being quickly done and I was out of pocket due to the extra driving mileage involved in the new route. So I made a claim for my time at £25 an hour, for mileage at £0.45p and for the difference in cost between the original ferry and the newly booked ferry and for interest on the money that Brittany Ferries had had, some of to, since February 2020.
I trolled their Facebook, sent messages to their unresponding email account and threatened them with court action...
It was the threat of a court case that finally galvanised them into actual action and eventually, and I do mean eventually, they met me half way and paid up most of the mileage claim and the difference in cost between the two ferry journeys.
So a win! But a win designed to stop me making a small claim.
I won't be sailing with them again. They showed complete disregard for me throughout all communications once Covid 19 was a thing. I am sure many others will feel the same.
The question I'll ask once again and will never stop asking is why it takes the threat of a small claim to get those with some power to act in a decent way. After all, I believe they are people too...
