We have heard a lot of complaints from different people over the last few years about our ferry system. We now have an experience of our own.
On June 7, my wife and I needed to take our daughter to the 7:30 p.m sailing at Departure Bay. As we were coming from Parksville, we left 70 minutes before departure time. However, due to a nasty accident we were in a massive traffic jam and consequently arrived at the ferry at 7:25 pm, 5 minutes before sailing.
We of course, were told we could not purchase a ticket or board this ferry as we were too late. However, the ferry then stayed at the dock for another half hour not leaving until 8 p.m., which gave us 35 minutes to board. There were several irate people as well as ourselves who had also been held up due to the accident, some of them tourists. We were told these were the rules, no exceptions.
B.C. Ferries couldn’t care less about the schedules that could have been met as the ferry sat at the dock for the extra 35 minutes. This is the type of thing that makes people irate and upset with B.C. Ferries, including the tourists.
Herman VanderbylParksville