You’ll remember I gathered up myself and Baxi and headed to Victoria on the ferry over Christmas weekend. When we paid to ride the magical boat, I was accidentally charged for 2 PEOPLE and my car (why my car is charged separately than I am will always irk me – as far as I know, my car is not able to ride the ferry without me), but I digress. I didn’t notice this until later in the weekend when I was looking over my pile of receipts in my wallet.
When I returned to the Victoria terminal to come back to Vancouver on Boxing Day, I enquired about the overcharge and the pretty young thing in the booth told me to visit the admin office, get a form and send it in – no problem. I did that, and today, when I checked the mail and found an envelope from BC Ferries, I expected a cheque for $14.25.
I normally wouldn’t have even bothered to ask for the refund, but as this is BC Ferries and I have forked over more money to them in my lifetime than I care to recall, I thought if it was so easy, I would. I was wrong.
In the envelope today was a polite letter thanking me for my request, but that they “regret that they are not able to approve my refund request, as disputes of this type must be resolved at the departing terminal at time of travel, when the passenger count may be verified…”
Ahem. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, BC Ferries?
I had something to say about this:
Dear Kathryn:
Re: Refund Request
I have been a passenger on BC Ferries since I first moved to Vancouver Island in 1994; I have since returned to live on the Mainland, but on average, I ride the ferry an average of twice per month to the Sunshine Coast, the Gulf Islands and Vancouver Island. The only exception to this is the fall of 2002, when I rode between Vancouver and Victoria 47 times in 6 weeks as I tended to my dying mother-in-law. My point in saying this is that not only am I what I would consider a frequent and perhaps even valued customer (I often drive onto the ferry, eat on board, and even frequent the gift shop), but I also don’t tend to balk at the ridiculous amounts of money that BC Ferries charges me for the pleasure of my passage.
On December 23, 2012, when I drove through the payment booth, and was overcharged for the occupants of my car (it was myself and my dog and I was charged for 2 people), I took my receipt and was perhaps focused on getting my dog out for a stretch before boarding and grabbing a coffee after my frantic morning wrapping up my work for the holidays, rather than scrutinizing my receipt.
You suggest that I should have taken this up at my departing terminal, and my failure to notice is clearly my error, but I do wonder what you would have had me do had I noticed it there? Should I have parked my car in lane 35 and hiked back to the payment booth to ask for a refund, interrupting another passenger’s transaction in the process? I think that would have been dangerous to do. Perhaps I was to visit the administration office, but in all honesty, in 16 years of riding the ferry, I had never encountered such a problem, and it might not have even occurred me to do so.
When I realized before my return to Vancouver that I had been overcharged, I asked at the booth when I was paying to return to Vancouver, and was directed to the administration office, where I was gleefully told, “No problem! Just send this form and we’ll issue a refund to you!” I left feeling optimistic and appreciative of the great service. Then I received your letter.
I enjoyed a long career in marketing and public relations, before starting my own company, and I have certainly paid my dues in customer service along the way. You know what I think is a universal truth? That the customer is always right. In the grand scheme of welcoming what was likely thousands of cars and passengers on your vessels that day, you can’t seem to acknowledge that maybe, just maybe, I am telling the truth to you and that I deserve the benefit of the doubt. I can assure you that I am not someone who visits a restaurant and ever sends my food back, I don’t return clothing I’ve worn, if I am given too much change, I point it out. I tend to believe it all just seems to come out in the wash; I am not someone who complains, but this situation has compelled me to respond to you.
It would seem to me, that despite constant increases in fees, BC Ferries needs my $14.25 more than I do, and you are welcome to it. I just want to acknowledge that the principle of this situation has left me extremely displeased, and I am not, by nature, very quiet.
Like many residents, I don’t have a lot of choice but to travel on BC Ferries; the amount of traveling I do makes it just too expensive for me to fly, and as a dog owner, I am also limited when my dog is with me. However, please know that if I had more choices, I would certainly exercise them.
Thank you for your letter; I now know that in future, I am to carefully watch what your staff does so that I am not left hoping that you’ll treat me as a valued customer in the event of a discrepancy.
Kind regards,
Tara Caffelle
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The next story will be the epic adventure that took me to San Francisco this past weekend. At least it’s all good blogging material, right?
