I held back a bit on my comments about getting from IJmuiden port to Amsterdam. In this email I don't hold back, perhaps it's too much, but it really did make for a bad ending to what was otherwise a great way to get from the North of England to Europe.
17 May 2015 at 07:46
To: travel.sales@dfds.com
Dear DFDS,
I recently travelled on your service from Newcastle to Amsterdam with bus transfer at each end. Overall, I was really impressed. A little shocked at the food prices on board perhaps, but still impressed. For whatever reason we didn't have to pay a bus fare to get to the port, and I had been under the false impression that the bus transfers are free. So when we got to IJmuiden, I was surprised to be told, first by the bus driver, that we had to pay. The bus driver wanted €10 per person. I didn't have euros to hand and went back into the terminal to pay. I made the mistake of discussing why I had to pay given the bus in Newcastle had been free. Your staff member was extremely unhelpful, unfriendly and arrogant, but I guess I wasn't terribly friendly myself either given the situation. Anyway, my specific complaints:
- The price was much less than €10 - so your bus driver(s) are cashing in on people's unpreparedness
- There was a whole discussion about whether to charge for our two small children. The agreement was that if they sat on our laps they would be free. I realize that children take up space, but this seems a) out of sync with every modern travel service's approach to carrying children (reduced fare) and b) disingenuous to expect small children to happily sit on top of parents on what was a relatively long and cramped journey through heavy traffic into Amsterdam (considering the comfort of other passengers also)
- I was told I could have booked the far online when I booked. I didn't remember seeing any option to do this, and I've just gone through the process again to check. It isn't there, at least not on any of the 'extras' screens prior to being asked for passport details.
- When mentioning that I though the fare should be included because you advertise Newcastle-Amsterdam (where neither port is located) and because the fare was not cheap, I was told that €198 is not a lot of money. Well I'm sorry, but €198 for a family of four may well be reasonable value, but that doesn't mean it isn't a lot of money.
All of this left a very bad taste in my mouth even though the service you offer and the service you offer for foot passengers in particular is incredibly good. We were trying it out for the first time as an alternative to Eurostar. I would suggest you improve your booking website, and make at least one announcement or put up a sign on board concerning bus fares and the ability to add them to your booking.
Best Regards,
Matthew Fullerton
Update 31/5/15 - I've now had a response from DFDS (highlighting added by me):
Dear Mr. Fullerton,
Thank you very much for your email which we received from the British Market. We are very sorry to hear that using the transfer shuttle involved so many difficulties and would like to apologize for any inconveniences caused.
We do provide information on the shuttle service on the following website:
http://www.dfdsseaways.de/kundenservice/anreise_amsterdam_newcastle
If you pre-book the shuttle the price is 6,50€ per person and if you pay at the port it is indeed 10€. Children travel free of charge if they sit on their parents lap.
After a customer has finalized a booking we send out an email with information on how to add further services such as pre-booked meals or the shuttle.
We are sorry that this information was not accessible to you or hard to find. Furthermore, we would like to thank you for describing your experiences in detail and will forward your comments to the respective management.
Once again we would like to apologize and hope that in spite of the discomfort caused we will be able to welcome you again onboard of one of our ferries in the near future.
I think the main lesson from all of this is use seat61.com as a good guide for making a general plan and trying to go to the transport providers' sites for more details. In fact, the Man in Seat 61 basically recommends such a strategy himself. But there is still a contradiction between the UK website and the information in the email above: you can't book the transfer whilst booking, only afterwards as a modification (at least not on the German site). The wording above is brilliant too: "After a customer has finalized a booking we send out an email with information on how to add further services such as pre-booked meals or the shuttle" - that's technically true, there is a link "change booking", as well as copious encouragement to pre-order food. And carrying children under 4 for free on one end and not on the other also seems odd. Yet again I'm left with the feeling that simple foot passengers are second-class citizens...
