How to be a successfull business? Make *every* customer feel special…

Here’s a letter to Brittany Ferries I make open because it’s really a shame that the only services operating between England and Cherbourg suffer from frankly bad customer service when on-board staff is doing all it can to make it work! @BrittanyFerries should really sort itself out!

Good afternoon!

Today, I am an unhappy customer, and thought I should let you know why.

Last Monday (12th September 2011), I was due to board a fast ferry at 12:15, from Cherbourg to Portsmouth. Due to the remnants of hurricane Katia crossing the north Atlantic, rough seas prompted you to cancel this boat. Now, I am a sailor, so you do not need to tell me why. I have even done some studies about fast catamarans across the channel and the wave-height related problems, so I know perfectly well the reasons behind that.

I am not complaining about the cancelled boat, ferry crossings are at the mercy of the weather, and it is a risk we are all aware of.

I am complaining about the total lack of support that your company has offered me and probably a lot of its other customers as well.

Despite a very much “propaganda” twitter feed saying all customers were being contacted and re-booked on other boats, the only thing I have received is a dull text message asking me to call a number.

On calling it, I have been unhappily answered by someone who clearly did not give the slightest speck of interest in my situation, being straight away asked when I wanted to book a new ticket. No questions about anything else, transports or accommodation needs: just pay now, thank you very much…

I was due to cross from Cherbourg, with a bicycle, and I have been told I should go to Caen to get another ferry. As you know, Caen is 130Km away from Cherbourg, and it is close to impossible to travel with a bike on a train. That was a totally inappropriate request from that person over the phone, and a complete lack of knowledge about people not travelling by car (yes! Some still do!!)… And a lack of preparation for your customers needs. I subsequently changed my booking for an overnight crossing the same evening on the Barfleur (after I asked myself if there was anything that particular evening, because I have never been told upfront what my real options were!). This boat later on has been delayed as well.

As I would rather sleep correctly on a boat, and not stretch my neck on a simple seat, it was only normal that I needed a bunk, but I have been charged £58 extra for this. I understand you run a business, but this is where a gesture from your side would have been nice and made me feel taken care of! I am not talking about a free crossing here, as I had already paid mine on the previous booking, but not charging for the cabin (even a shared one would have been fine, I did not specifically request anything), or giving a free breakfast the next morning would have been the least I would have expected from a company that cares about its customers.

Like many times in the past, you have demonstrated with outdated, monolithic and inflexible procedures that you simply do not care and this really is a shame as the crossing services (the actual transport part of your business) are usually faultless, the staff on board always happy and smiling, and the car deck hands understanding (most of the time) about the value of the bicycles I ride.

But providing the service when it all goes well is only half the job, and you really should not rely on that when things go wrong, or many more will be unhappy. And this is not mentioning the day off work I had to take, the fees incurred in changing train tickets on the other side to get back to London, and the cancellation of a very much anticipated restaurant dinner with my girlfriend.

Hoping you will sort out your customer service sooner rather than later, all your customers should feel special!

Kindest regards

(Sent 2011-09-14 12:04)

First reply (seems automated) 2011-09-14 12:11:

Good afternoon,

Thank you for your email which has been forwarded to our Customer Service team who will reply to you within 7-10 working days.

Kind regards

Kerry