St Clare Ferry was cancelled at short notice due to multiple engine malfunctions. The initial support in the email was very much, "oops, tough luck" and I ended up panic buying an on the day ticket for Yarmouth to Lymington for 11pm as that was the earliest available departure from IOW, despite having a hotel booked in Portsmouth and originally being booked to travel from Fishbourne at 5pm.Having called customer services and not being able to get through, a stranger overheard my conversation and provided me with a different number for Wightlink. After a five minute call, I was booked on a ferry from Yarmouth that was only three hours later than the original booking and my on the day purchase was marked for a full refund.As it turned out, the St Clare was fixed ahead of our original sailing time so I could have avoided any issue if I had just ignored my emails for the day! I did not receive an email to tell me that my original sailing was available again, and only noticed after checking the Wightlink website on the way to Yarmouth, to then discover that our original St Clare Ferry had departed on time 20 minutes earlier, and that all original bookings had been reinstated.We were only 10 minutes from Fishbourne at this point so we turned around and headed to the port. The attendant was happy for us to board the next Ferry (which had very limited availability), given the whole debacle that we explained to him.If you are confused reading this, imagine how we felt on the day! The conclusion was that we ended up travelling one hour later than planned from our original terminal to Portsmouth. The support on the day was appalling to be honest and if it was not for a kind stranger giving me a different phone number for Wightlink, I have no idea how the day would have gone.After the fact, however, the service has been excellent. I received a full refund for both the original return journey and my panic buy, as well as a £20 voucher for future crossings, all without having to request this.I do feel the support on the day should have been better than "we've cancelled your ferry. Don't travel to the port", and the number I called should have been in the email so that people didn't feel abandoned. It didn't turn out too badly for us but I can see from the reviews that others were not so 'lucky".I have travelled with Wightlink several times before and never had any issues so whilst I think this was handled poorly at the time, I would still travel with them and hope they will take customer feedback on board to make future issues less stressful all round.
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We are the main link between the Isle of Wight and the mainland. Every year, we carry over 4.6 million passengers, making us one of the UK’s largest domestic ferry operators. We provide Island residents with an easy and frequent service to the mainland, as well as giving millions of holidaymakers a taste of Island life.
Crossings take approximately 22 minutes by catamaran and from 40 minutes by car ferry. And we operate three convenient routes and just under 46,000 crossings a year. We are also dedicated to giving excellent customer service and the best facilities on board and at our Terminals.
As most people who travel to and from the Island do so with us, we are truly a part of Island life. We are proud to support IOW communities wherever we can, from sports sponsorship to local regeneration projects. And we offer Isle of Wight residents great value Multilink Pass tickets, making travel to the mainland easy and affordable.See more
