Thanks to Desmond Green from Guildford, Surrey for sharing this letter with us. The opinions expressed in this letter/article do not necessarily reflect the views of Island Echo.
Like many, I have been very disconcerted with the rising price of ferry crossings to the Isle of Wight.
My parents live on the island and I like to take my children, their grandchildren, to see them, probably about 5 or 6 times through the year. We travel from Portsmouth to Fishbourne and, obviously, having children we cannot travel at completely unsociable hours. We generally cross around 8:30pm on a Friday evening and return around 5:30pm on the Sunday. The price is now around £120, with a car, all through the summer.
Every time I book with Wightlink, online, there is a voucher code section. I always pass over this voucher code section, as I have never had one from Wightlink, and wonder what I have to do to gain any discount or concession or loyalty type reward. Since 2009, I have probably spent £3,000 or more with Wightlink.
Please see the responses from Wightlink to my two-fold concerns, of rising prices and the complete lack of any reward for a loyal customer. The first series of responses are answered by the Customer Services department…
“Thank you for your message. I’m afraid I’m not aware of any discount codes coming up.
“We understand that it may be frustrating to find that a fare is higher than expected, and would like to explain the background to it.
“Wightlink uses Flexi-Pricing, which means that prices for a particular crossing may increase in line with demand for that crossing. The sooner you book, the more likely you are to pay a lower fare and fares will generally get higher the closer you get to the sailing date, particularly during busier times. This means lower fares may be found by being more flexible with dates, routes or times of sailings”.
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“My apologies that Wightlink do not have a loyalty scheme you can make use of, neither do we offer lower fares on an individual basis.
“Instead we try and offer low fares and a range of pricing for all our customers to benefit from. I am sorry to read the price has put you off travelling at some of our busier times in the summer”.
Completely dissatisfied by these responses, I took the trouble to write to the Wightlink CEO, Mr Burrows. He passed this back to Customer Services. In my letter I had said how I had not been offered any discount of fares, any free leg of a trip, not even a complimentary cup of coffee. How did Wightlink respond to this letter to their CEO? [See the response letter here].
Right from the very top of Wightlink, the way they have responded is to offer me just that – a complimentary regular sized hot drink (or bottle of water, or Ribena, or fruit shoot)! I’m just really shocked how disdainful this is. I think people on the island, or travelling to the island should know how Wightlink treat their loyal customers.
I am now writing back to the CEO of Wightlink. I am returning the complimentary hot drink voucher, as well as one I receive from a garden centre I use, where I spend the merest fraction of what I spend with Wightlink.
As it stands, I don’t plan to use Wightlink any further, but this is really awful as it means my children will not get to see their grandparents with anything like the same frequency. In this way, Wightlink are in a position of being able to exploit people like me, and others who are reliant on their crossings. It really is profiteering on their part.
If their boats are always full, then they must be making lots of money and able to give something back to their loyal customers. If their boats are not full, then they should reduce prices to make their services more affordable.
Desmond Green
Guildford, Surrey
