Condor cancellations wreak Easter havoc
EASTER travel plans were thrown into disarray yesterday as cancellations saw Condor inundated with calls from confused and unhappy passengers battling to find out if and when they were sailing.
The company announced on its website early yesterday morning that today's Liberation service would not be operating because of rough weather.
This update was then changed to say the new ferry was out of action because of the damage it suffered when it collided with a harbour fender on Saturday.
Later in the afternoon it sent out a statement finally confirming the Liberation would be out of action until Saturday as its 'cautious and thorough approach' to repairs and high winds in Poole meant they were taking longer than expected.
The drip-feed of information brought increased frustration for passengers, irritated at being left in the dark.
Saturday's cancellation had already led to Guernsey Police being called to the ferry terminal when a member of the public raised concerns about the behaviour of frustrated passengers, although no offences were reported and no action was taken.
And the continued disruption heaped even more pressure on Condor's stretched customer service team who were already in the process of rebooking passengers from Monday and Tuesday's weather disrupted sailings. It was forced to warn customers to be prepared for call-waiting times of up to 20 minutes.
'No one is more disappointed than we are that the combination of the very unfortunate incident at the weekend and some really severe weather has caused this disruption in Condor Liberation's first week in service,' said executive director – operations Captain Fran Collins.
