Trust in BC Ferries ‘being challenged’ by miscommunication: expert

After a week filled with challenges in communication, an expert says BC Ferries has a lot of work to do to improve.

The corporation has been criticized for repeated discrepancies about sailing waits on its website and Twitter in recent days, with BC Ferries vowing to fix some of the issues that led to these challenges.

But George Affleck, a political analyst and the owner of a communications agency, says big failures require big action.

“BC Ferries specifically has one true job, [which] is to get people on and off ferries as efficiently as possible,” Affleck told CityNews. “Clearly, they have failed at that in a big way this week, multiple times, and I think that the trust in that organization is being challenged, to say the least, because of that.”

This strain in trust Affleck is referring to comes after a vessel that sails between Tsawwassen and Swartz Bay was taken out of commission due to mechanical issues. The Coastal Celebration returned to service Friday, according to the corporation.

#BCFHeadsUp
Four-ship service between #Tsawwassen and #SwartzBay is back today with the return of the #CoastalCelebration.

When a ferry is removed from service, we know the impact on our customers is significant. We apologize to everyone who experienced sailing waits. ^km pic.twitter.com/LnzXSJ7aBM

— BC Ferries (@BCFerries) July 28, 2023

Despite the frustrations that customers have felt, Affleck says people don’t have many other options.

“You know what the worst thing about this is? It that we are a captive audience as consumers, or users, of the BC Ferries system. We don’t have a choice. We could certainly fly, but we have a socialistic ferry system that we are mandated to use if we want to get around this province,” he said.

He says it’s shocking that neither the CEO of the corporation, nor the office of the premier had addressed the issues directly earlier in the week.

“I think that that is shocking behaviour, and I think from the top to the bottom…needs to address these issues so that the confidence in BC Ferries, which has been waning for as long as I can remember, needs to be built up. And the first place to start is: How are you communicating how people get on and off a ferry?” Affleck asked.

“It feels almost like they just don’t care that we’re frustrated.”

‘That is not an acceptable situation’: Eby says BC Ferries needs to do better

After CityNews spoke with Affleck Friday morning, David Eby spoke for the first time that afternoon. He says there are some challenges the corporation is facing that “money can’t solve.”

“If you can’t find that skilled mechanic, if you’re short that part to get the ferry running that’s broken because of supply chain issues, it doesn’t matter how much money you throw at the problem — the boat is still in the dry dock,” he said during an unrelated press conference.

Eby says he spoke with the company’s management Friday afternoon to press the urgency of needed improvements.

He says he wants to see progress in improving the problems over time.

“If you’re baking on the tarmac with your kids in the back seat and you can’t get on the ferry, that is not an acceptable situation. When your goods can’t get to your store because there’s not room on the ferry, that is not an acceptable situation. And when you’re unable to get the information you need from the online systems, that is not an acceptable situation. It is not tenable for BC Ferries not to deliver these basics for British Columbians,” he said.

Related articles: 

• ‘It is appalling to see’: BC United says BC Ferries issues show lack of leadership

• BC Ferries’ website, Twitter showing discrepancies in sailing waits

• BC Ferries’ website mishap ‘won’t be happening happen again’, transportation minister says

In a statement Friday, the corporation says now that Coastal Celebration is back in service, “our Current Conditions and Twitter are aligned.”

“While the Coastal Celebration was out of service, we reported out how many stand by vehicles were accommodated by sailing via social media,” the statement reads.

“Current Conditions on our website provides a forecast of expected wait time for customers in stand by vehicles. After accommodating all Coastal Celebration customers who had bookings, on other vessels, we forecasted almost all remaining sailings to be 95 per cent full on the Tsawwassen – Swartz Bay route, which is higher than normal.”

It adds that if customers don’t show up for their reservations, more vehicles can be added on and “wait times will be shorter than predicted.”

As an expert, Affleck recommends streamlining communication to only display the most accurate information.

“I think the biggest challenge that we’ve had this week with BC Ferries is continuity. There’s miss-messaging — the messages are different on different platforms. Get it right. Either don’t communicate on one platform if you can’t get it right for whatever reason. Whether it’s a different person who’s in charge of tweets and another person who’s in charge of the website, get your act together,” he said.

With files from Hana Mae Nassar