Dozens of BC Ferries passengers show up for sailing that never existed
Posted August 2, 2021 8:48 pm.
Last Updated August 3, 2021 5:43 am.
TSAWWASSEN (NEWS 1130) — Picture this, you show up for a BC Ferries sailing on a busy holiday weekend, only to find out, the sailing you booked never existed in the first place.
That’s what several passengers had to deal with this weekend after learning their trip off Salt Spring Island was not actually being offered by BC Ferries.
BC Ferries says the sailings were “incorrectly built in our system for today’s Holiday Monday schedule,” and is apologizing to all affected customers.
Savinay was one of the people impacted by the missing sailing.
“They gave us a compensatory ticket to Swartz Bay, for which we had to wait about an hour at the ferry terminal. And then at Swartz Bay, there was another hour and a half delay to Fulford,” he said Monday. “So long story short, we did reach our final destination, but had to lose about three to four hours in this time.”
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Savinay tells NEWS 1130 that BC Ferries could have found an “optimum way” for him to travel; however, he feels fortunate he reached his destination.
“Whenever they found about this, this information about this miscommunication, they should have better contacted us a night before or accordingly, we would have set our plans for the day,” he said. “I don’t think they just got to know or had an epiphany in the morning. They must have known about this reservation for quite some time.”
He assumes BC Ferries may have underestimated how busy Monday was going to be amid the long weekend.
Some are have been airing their frustration online.
A Twitter user, Northern Cyn, tweeted, “You’re entirely responsible for sabotaging the travel plans of 60 cars (+passengers!) leaving Pender today.”
https://twitter.com/doctaCynthia/status/1422288233166217222
Another person tweeted a crowd was “outraged.”
“Make this right!” they added.
.@BCFerries We are STRANDED on #SaltSpringIsland. You cancelled today’s 10:50am ferry to Tsawwassen without ANY notice to reservation holders. All later ferries 100% full. Huge crowd of outraged reservation holders like us, hearing the news at Long Harbour. Make this right!
— Robert Higdon (@rfhigdon) August 2, 2021
BC Ferries offered full refunds and asked passengers to use different sailings instead.