# AT ferries pull plug



## billym (Dec 17, 2005)

Yesterday we spent 25 mins on the phone booking a ferry Bilbao portsmouth 6th March. It was nearly impossible as the computer could not do two vehicles, four people and one cabin. We had to go for two cabins. How stupid is that. Well not as stupid as what has happened today. I rang them again with a query to be told the booking should not have been taken as all the ferries have been CANCELLED. If you have a ferry booked check with AT . We have a friend on that same ferry and when I asked if AT would contact them to tell them of the cancellation they said no as the phone calls would be too expensive ! Our money has been promised to be refunded into our credit card.

Their Spanish office is 902454645 otherwise it is 08717206445


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## bognormike (May 10, 2005)

Hi Billym

Sorry to hear about your problems.
does that mean they've pulled out entirely? or just for the crossings you were trying for? The web site is proclaiming bookings being taken up to 31/12/07! :?


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## Rapide561 (Oct 1, 2005)

*AT Trans/Med*

Hi

I would be very surprised if they walk away from the lucrative Bay of Biscay market. I know they have not taken high levels of patronage, but they have done well with freight.

I will investigate...

Russell


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## AlphaBob (Aug 6, 2006)

Here is the link form the local paper, 'The News' regarding it.  << here>>  For your info


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## MOTORHOMER (May 9, 2005)

Hi


It was on the midday TV news as well. They have cancelled all sailings apparently. Hope folk get their money back.


Motohomer


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## bognormike (May 10, 2005)

"The company stressed it wasn't pulling out of Portsmouth and that the cancellations were due to 'operational reasons'."

Either they've got technical problems or they're losing money hand over fist and trying again for the main season.
Tough on the people who've booked - as usual no consideration to the customers.........


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## billym (Dec 17, 2005)

Thanks for the replies. It explains why it took 25 mins to book direct with AT with the operator keep saying I must just check with my superior. At 8.30 pm they took my money obviously knowing they would not be able to supply the service for which I was paying. That is Criminal Deception in my book. Yes I know I would never prove it but it does serve to remind me why we ducked out of the rat race nearly seven years ago. Unfortunately we have not ducked out far enough... YET


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## MOTORHOMER (May 9, 2005)

billym said:


> Thanks for the replies. It explains why it took 25 mins to book direct with AT with the operator keep saying I must just check with my superior. At 8.30 pm they took my money obviously knowing they would not be able to supply the service for which I was paying. That is Criminal Deception in my book. Yes I know I would never prove it but it does serve to remind me why we ducked out of the rat race nearly seven years ago. Unfortunately we have not ducked out far enough... YET


hello Again

If you have only just paid & used a credit card I would get in touch with the credit card company & stop the payment.

Motorhomer


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## asprn (Feb 10, 2006)

I can confirm that AT Ferries have pulled the plug on the Portsmoth - Bilbao service "for operational reason" until at least April. They say they will refund my payment in the next 10 working days, and I've managed to re-book with P&O through the Caravan Club (twice the price, but at least I'm sure the damn ferry will sail....).

**UPDATE** I've now had email confirmation of the cancellation, so I'm not anticpating a problem. Ultimate redress will be through the card company if necessary, but the guy on the phone was very helpful. 0870 066 5446.

I suggest that if you need to re-book, you do it PDQ.

Dougie.


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## chrisgog (May 17, 2005)

aghhhhhhhhhh. Three of us have booked for July through the ccc club.

I have spoke to c c c club and they have said they have people stranded out in Spain and trying to get them back on other crossings right now. Those people have to pay the other crossing out of their own pocket. 


AT ferries are saying they will refund people.

ccc know very little as they are a Spanish company. 

Does anyone know how we fair if we paid with credit card to the ccc club and were told at the time we had to pay in full and there we could not cancel only transfer bookings with this company

mY FRIENDS ONLY BOOKED LAST NIGHT THROUGH THE CCC CLUB.

cHRIS


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## artona (Jan 19, 2006)

Hi Billym team

Thanks for highlighting this. I have stickied the thread in the hope everyone effected will see it


stew


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## asprn (Feb 10, 2006)

chrisgog said:


> aghhhhhhhhhh. Three of us have booked for July through the ccc club.
> 
> I have spoke to c c c club and they have said they have people stranded out in Spain and trying to get them back on other crossings right now. Those people have to pay the other crossing out of their own pocket.
> 
> ...


Barclays Bank (I paid with my debit card) have instructed me to wait the 10 days for the refund, but if it does not arrive, produce evidence of AT Ferries' pulling the service (printout of news item etc) and register a claim at my branch. They cannot guarantee a refund, but they say they would try.

Dougie.


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## Rapide561 (Oct 1, 2005)

*AT FErries*

Hi

From the ferry forums that I play on, it looks like the ship is being deployed elsewhere.

I do not think you need to worry about getting a refund - I am fairly certain you will get it.

The Ferry belongs to a massive fleet, owned by Acconia/Trasmeditterannea of Spain.

If you do have an issue with a refund - and allow a little time, you can claim through your credit card.

I suppose if they are a "boat short" on one of their core routes, it makes sense to keep the main line open, using the ferry from a "side line"

Inconvenient though to all concerned.

Russell


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## Rapide561 (Oct 1, 2005)

*Spain*

Hi

A bit more.....

"P & O have agreed to lease the ferry "Pride of Bilbao" for a further three years, ending doubts over the route."

This is from the Lloyds shipping list of 17th January.

Russell


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## chrisgog (May 17, 2005)

???Who are P and O leasing it too???


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## glacier (Jun 24, 2006)

*P&O Ferries prices going up?*

Just checked the booking I made this time last week. P&O Portsmouth - Bilbao

Has gone up £11.25 on £474.50. Now £485.75. One-way (before Tesco Vouchers - gives a 75% discount) sailing on 4th July.

Now waiting on my next batch which come through in February before booking return leg (subject to availability).

At least it doesn't look like P&O are stitching people up - yet. As this is standard fare rate, it may well be the discounted fares through CCC etc that go first, as you can't use Tesco Vouchers on those.

All AA members get a standard 5% off, again not eligible with Tesco Vouchers.

You can buy other peoples Tesco vouchers on ebay and Tesco will honour them for conversion to travel vouchers. Current going rate on ebay seems to be twice their face value, so half travel token value. So at least that way you would get crossing half-price. As usual you run the risk of the unscrupulous on ebay.

Glacier


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## glacier (Jun 24, 2006)

*Pride of Bilbao*

Pride of Bilbao is P&O current vessel on this route.

They have announced they (P&O) are leasing it from the vessel's owners (?) for another 3 years


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## Rapide561 (Oct 1, 2005)

*Re: Pride of Bilbao*



glacier said:


> Pride of Bilbao is P&O current vessel on this route.
> 
> They have announced they (P&O) are leasing it from the vessel's owners (?) for another 3 years[/quoteHi
> 
> ...


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## gaspode (May 9, 2005)

The local BBC news this evening reported that AT hadn't even told the Port Authority that they were suspending the service, nor the travel industry as a whole. Apparently they have sent the ship to cover another ferry service in the Mediterranean. They did say however that AT would be resuming the service from Portsmouth after Easter so perhaps later booking will be honoured?


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## glacier (Jun 24, 2006)

*that's what I said?*

Rapide 561

That's what I said P&O are taking out a 3 year lease on the Pride of Bilbao, which is owned by someone else - I don't know who hence the ?

They have announced they (P&O) are leasing it from the vessel's owners (?) for another 3 years

We are saying the same thing in answer to Chris's query


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## chrisgog (May 17, 2005)

Keep us informed Gaspode

Really feal sorry for those stuck in Bilbao or even Portsmouth. Hope everyone can get transferred to another ferry soon and not spoil their holidays.

Chris


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## billym (Dec 17, 2005)

Everyone has been telling me that Pand O are twice the price but we have booked today and paid 10 % more than the AT price. We trawled the internet sites, made phone calls and as a last reort went direct to P and O and got the price way cheaper than on line site prices.

I just hope the Pride of Bilbao is out of dry dock by March


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## chrisgog (May 17, 2005)

Bilym
Out of curiosity, how much do P&O charge and when is your crossing?
We booked £494 return crossing July and return end of August about 2 weeks ago. My friend payed £580 for the same dates on Monday night, both of us with AT ferries. Seems the price is creeping up as the ship is filing up.

Safeguard said they had already had a claim through on their travel insurance today. I rang to make sure I had included cancellation fee on our policy!

Has anyone heard anymore today?
Chris


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## billym (Dec 17, 2005)

We sail on March 7th but cannot compare prices with yours as we have a 35 foot RV and a seperate van as well as 4 people. The single fare we have paid is 8 GBP more than you paid for your return trip. We were quoted 625 GBP by one site.

I have to put GBP as the pound sign on this keyboard has disappeared !


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## philmccann (Jun 14, 2005)

Hi there

After reading this thread, phoned and found mine for April is now cancelled. My price with AT ferries was £349 return, which will now be refunded. However, when I checked with P&O they are quoting over £800. This does seem extortionate, so anybody with any advice on how to get the price down, your words are more than welcome.

April in Spain is now in jeopardy at that price.


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## chrisgog (May 17, 2005)

Have you had any quotes through the cc or ccc club??

Other option people use is Tesco vouchers but I haven't got a clue how to use them!

Chris


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## asprn (Feb 10, 2006)

philmccann said:


> Hi there
> 
> After reading this thread, phoned and found mine for April is now cancelled. My price with AT ferries was £349 return, which will now be refunded. However, when I checked with P&O they are quoting over £800. This does seem extortionate, so anybody with any advice on how to get the price down, your words are more than welcome.
> April in Spain is now in jeopardy at that price.


Phil,

We'd paid £468 return with the van & trailer with AT, and have now paid £795 with P&O. This has always been their price, and they've not capitalised on the situation. I agree though that it's Hobson's Choice for Spain - unless you consider Brittany Ferries from Plymouth-Santander, not that that's a cheap option. Doing a France ferry & driving is the other option, but it cuts into the holiday time-wise as well as racking up fuel costs.

Dougie.


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## glacier (Jun 24, 2006)

*Brittany Ferries*

I looked at Brittany Ferries from Plymouth

Pluses

a much quicker crossing, but then you do also have to drive to Plymouth

Minuses

cost is more than P&O 
can't use Tesco vouchers

No idea if they do discounts, but no special offers on the web, that I could see.

I will have to pay another £474.50 (minimum) for return leg with P&O in late July, it is the 75% that Tesco vouchers gives you that swings it.

Here is a post that explains all the Tecso voucher stuff.

http://motorhomefacts.com/ftopict-22318-tesco.html+vouchers

You need to remember that you have to spend £1000 at Tesco for each £10.00 (1000pts) voucher they gives you. which converts to a £40.00 ferry coupon.

You can double the points you collect by having a Tesco credit card as they then give you an extra point for each £1 spent.

I might as well send them my monthly salary direct to Tesco rather than putting it in the bank. Only reason we get enough vouchers is we both have Tesco credit cards and we buy our petrol there, which includes my mileage for work.

Buy all my household stuff, but very little food.. and we are a family of 5. Only other alternate is to buy vouchers through ebay, as I said previously. which could save you up to 50%.


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## 102005 (Dec 4, 2006)

My parents have just disembarked in Portsmouth this morning on the last Bilbao to Portsmouth ferry with at ferries, they are starting the route back up again in april.


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## philmccann (Jun 14, 2005)

Hi there

On their website they are taking bookings from around 28th April.

Not much use to us that had booked earlier.

What amazes me, is that I found out about it all on this website. I wonder how long they would have taken to inform me of the fact, if ever!!!!


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## asprn (Feb 10, 2006)

My refund hit the bank yesterday, which means they did it immediately on receipt of my telephone call. This is obviously reassuring to everyone who have applied/ will apply.

Dougie.


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## billym (Dec 17, 2005)

We have got our money back plus 17pence. What really annoys us is they had no intention of letting us or anyone else know they had pulled the ferry. There is a word in Spanish for people like that. There is a similar word in English, French, Italian ............


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## asprn (Feb 10, 2006)

billym said:


> We have got our money back plus 17pence. What really annoys us is they had no intention of letting us or anyone else know they had pulled the ferry. There is a word in Spanish for people like that. There is a similar word in English, French, Italian ............


lol - there are a few in English also. :lol:

I'd suggest using your 17p to send a letter, but it wouldn't even cover a 2nd class stamp. 

Dougie.


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## 102687 (Jan 28, 2007)

hi all! same happened to me here, i booked with A.T from portsmouth-bilbao on the 14th jan, paid 399quid, contacted them on the 24th, and they promised me a full refund within 10 days, i do hope that i get this,as ive now paid brittany 653 for the plmouth-santander crossing.
paddy


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## philmccann (Jun 14, 2005)

HI Paddy

Same here!!

I am out to AT Ferries and also to P&O ferries. Still awaiting refund from AT, though. That's over a week now!!


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## 102513 (Jan 17, 2007)

I dont think you need to worry about getting your money back. Acciona who own AT ferries are one of Spains biggest companies. Amongst many other projects they are doing is building the new Malaga airport, a contract worth over a billion sterling. I understand that the ship has been sent to Cadiz to cover one of there routes to the canary islands. I think they came under some political pressure from the canary islands goverment when a new ship they are having built was late being delivered. I have found Acciona to be a very ethical company and while there treatment of UK customers may seem a little shoddy you can be certain that the company is not in any financial difficulties and I would be very suprised if they do not make some sort of offer to the people affected. I would suggest taking the Portsmouth to St Malo ferry, you can drive steadily in 8 hours on lovely roads what it takes the ferry about 26 hours to do.


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## 102711 (Jan 29, 2007)

hi all again, please to announce that i have been refunded the full amount from A.T.


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