Seafrance on strike

I've been fucked over by Seafrance's wildcat strikes before, but used
them a month or so ago, and then again this week, to get to a show in
Paris.

Retrun ferry 3.30pm on Tuesday, and the Seafrance queue at Calais is
*massive* - right back to the point where it was blocking access to the
immigration booths on the edge of the hardstanding. P&O was virtually
empty. Yup, the unts were on strike again.

There were four of us in the car, and it was a biz trip, so I went to
the P&O ticket office to buy a single ticket to the UK. Company money,
after all. Muttered something about 'bloody Seafrance" and the P&O lady
looked up.

"Oh, you have a Seafrance ticket?"

"Yes..."

"Well, we have an arrangement with them if sailings are blocked. We
exchange their tickets for us, and we invoice them. Just give me your
ticket and I'll make you one out for our next sailing."

So why, I wondered aloud, wasn't every Seafrance would-be traveller
switching to P&O? Answer: because Seafrance *doesn't tell you this
crucial piece of information*. It means they'd lose the revenue for
every passenger to their rivals. So they just keep schtum.

We were on the 4.10pm P&O boat. The Seafrance queue had swollen even
bigger. Their two boats were in dock, doors open, silent. And hundreds,
if not thousands, of people were getting steamed up at them when, had
they but known it, they could have got home hours ago.

I assume it's a reciprocal arrangement, but given the infrequency of
P&O strikes, I bet it's a bit one-sided.

So, if you ever travel Seafrance and get stitched up by them - change
your ticket to P&O. It won't cost you anything, and it'll lose
Seafrance some money.

This is a public service announcement.

 

[snip]

I heard on R5 on the way home last night (about 6pm) that Seafrance
were effectively blocking P&O sailings as well, so it sounds like you
got there just in time

 

Swapping boats.... Luxury.

By 7PM Tuesday evening the seafrance strike had affected P&O sailings
too, including the one I was on. It took over 1.5 hours of queueing to
get to customs, then a further 35 mins to get from customs to the P&O
booths.. *Then* a 2.5 hour wait at the dock side, until a boat was able
to park in the one dock left "spare" by Seafrance..

The clock read 12:30 (local) when I got back to blighty, and almost 4AM
when I got to bed, having driven home half asleep.

I'll do an off-road write up at some point, had enough fun there to make
the hassle of the ferry worth it.

 

Time to send a gunboat? Do we have any left?

 

and the French think they can compete in the Global Economy....

 

Cool move. But did people not think that this might be covered by travel
insurance ? I think mine does, in which case the tunnel would also be an
option. (I can't see them blocking that.... unless they trow burning sheep
onto lorries )

 

Just checked my annual policy, underwritten by Fortis.

You have to be delayed for 12 hours before you can claim and there is a £50
excess.

 

Hardly seems worth claiming, does it?

 

Depends on what you paid for the ferry crossing and any incidental expenses
such as hotel costs. If you were taking a crossing via Portsmouth or
Plymouth in peak season then you might be talking £300 for the ferry alone,
if you swapped from say LDLines to Brittany Ferries.

 

I pay £10 ukp extra to avoid the £50 ukp excess, that was worthwhile this
year when I claimed £170ukp