# Charges for amending travel dates by P&O at Calais



## jb6981 (Jan 8, 2006)

I booked a Dover-Calais crossing with P&O through the Camping & Caravanning Club; outward 6 July 2009, return 30 October 2009. The price was £125.00 for a 7.5m Hobby 725. We arrived back at Calais on 27 October and decide to return to England the next day (28th) rather than on our pre-booked crossing on the 30th.

We went the P&O office on Calais docks at about 9pm on the 27th, it was open with two staff on duty. I explained that we would like to travel the next day (morning) and our ticket voucher.

A phone call was then made by the clerk, he confirmed that there was availability the next day and asked if we wanted to travel at 9.25am or 10.15am, we said 9.25am please and (still on the phone) he changed our booking. He then wrote 9.25am on our original ticket voucher in biro and gave it back to us. Then he charged us £60.00 (sixty) pounds. No extra tickets were printed, just a 2 minute phone call! I was speechless.


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Typical.
My wife was booked on Celtic Lines to come back via Portsmouth to Cherbourg today. But as the gales are still raging Celtic canceled her £49 crossing and the boat.
We then had to book with Brittany Ferries at £119.

Grrrrrrrrrrr.

Ray.


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## grumpyman (Sep 24, 2006)

Had exactly the same with P&O had to return home a 2 weeks early went to Calais Office asked for next available Ferry over 24 hours put us on one in 10 minutes and charged us £61 just wrote on original paper work. Ferry was half full.


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## steco1958 (Mar 5, 2009)

This happens, I think you will find it is all in the T&C's (no I'm not saying its right) just saying that you have purchased a specific crossing and yo have altered that contract.


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## maxautotrail (Aug 21, 2007)

jb6981 said:


> I booked a Dover-Calais crossing with P&O through the Camping & Caravanning Club; outward 6 July 2009, return 30 October 2009. The price was £125.00 for a 7.5m Hobby 725. We arrived back at Calais on 27 October and decide to return to England the next day (28th) rather than on our pre-booked crossing on the 30th.
> 
> We went the P&O office on Calais docks at about 9pm on the 27th, it was open with two staff on duty. I explained that we would like to travel the next day (morning) and our ticket voucher.
> 
> A phone call was then made by the clerk, he confirmed that there was availability the next day and asked if we wanted to travel at 9.25am or 10.15am, we said 9.25am please and (still on the phone) he changed our booking. He then wrote 9.25am on our original ticket voucher in biro and gave it back to us. Then he charged us £60.00 (sixty) pounds. No extra tickets were printed, just a 2 minute phone call! I was speechless.


Not quite the same but we arrived at the Sea France, Calais check in about 30 minutes before the ferry before our booked crossing was due to depart. The check-in clerk asked if we wanted to board the earlier boat for 20euros. We said no we'll wait. They sent us to an empty lane and we started to get the kettle on. Then the staff loading the earlier boat said for us to get in another lane. I said we had been told to stay in that lane for the next boat. "I am overridding" she said and we left an hour earlier.

Keith


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## foll-de-roll (Oct 29, 2007)

Hi 


Try Norfolk Line. 

Over the years we have always found them very accommodating, and only once (during a very busy period) have they charged us a surcharge.

Very good Ferry company.

Andy


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## geordie01 (Apr 20, 2006)

last august due to a mixture of over sleeping going to the super market for that last couple of bottles of wine and photographing a new aire in camiers we missed our sea france ferry. when we got to the sea france check in we were charged an extra £10.00 to get on the next ferry i didnot argue with that


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## peejay (May 10, 2005)

Hi jb6981;

Unfortunately its nothing new, similar thing happened to us in 2007....

http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ftopicp-197126.html#197126

Pete


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## DTPCHEMICALS (Jul 24, 2006)

Simple solution only book your outward passage to start with.

When you return to port you have a choice of P&O or Sea France to travel home on. And you pay the correct fare.

Dave p


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## whistlinggypsy (May 1, 2005)

The £60 P&O charge is the *MAXIMUM* they are *allowed* to charge, so if you do not question or query the charge they will take it from you, I have never paid more than £15 for an amendment charge.

In some cases it is cheaper to cancel your original booking and rebook Calais/Dover and it will cost less then the amendment

Bob


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## tonyt (May 25, 2005)

foll-de-roll said:


> Try Norfolk Line. ...............................
> 
> Very good Ferry company.
> 
> Andy


.......... and no coach parties!!


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## peejay (May 10, 2005)

DTPCHEMICALS said:


> Simple solution only book your outward passage to start with.
> 
> When you return to port you have a choice of P&O or Sea France to travel home on. And you pay the correct fare.
> 
> Dave p


Yes but don't the prices rise steeply the later you leave it to book with all operators? You could end up paying even more.

Pete


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## DTPCHEMICALS (Jul 24, 2006)

Hi peejay
Last May Sea France out 14:00 arrived at Dover one and a half hours early and put on next ferry Booked cost £32 no added charge.
Return Calais 10:00 no booking cost £32.

Total return £64

Terms and conditions. Book fixed cheapest fare and change it and it will cost £10 when you change plus the difference in what the fairs actually cost. Flexi fare costs a bit more but no charge to change.

dave p


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## 04HBG (Dec 9, 2007)

It seems to be pot luck with them.

Having spent the last 9 weeks in Portugal we were booked on the 12.25pm ferry from Calais with [email protected] for today the 13th but we arrived 2 days early so both our friends and ourselves went into the ticket office at 3pm on Wednesday 11th and asked if there was any chance of an earlier ferry !!!!

No problem sir,
any charge ? no charge just drive to the gate and you will be on the 4.10pm but sorry its running 20 minutes late.

2 pleased motorhomers, thank you [email protected]


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## framptoncottrell (Jan 6, 2006)

Although I would always travel NorfolkLine by choice, I was very impressed with Eurotunnel on the two occasions I've used them, turning up early both times. Outwards no charge; return £4 extra.

I don't know what NorfolkLine are like for charging for accepting you early, since every time I've arrived well before my scheduled sailing, the boats have been full and I've had to wait. That's the problem when there are only sailings every two hours.

Dr (musical, not medical) Roy


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## gerardjanice (May 1, 2005)

When we arrived early at Calais in 2008 SeaFrance charged us £7 to change our booking. This year 2009 P&O charged us £60. Guess who we will travel with in future!


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## homenaway (Jul 27, 2005)

Hi,

We arrived at Calais about 90 minutes early for a P&O crossing in July this year and were just put on the earlier crossing at no extra charge  .

We had booked a single for about £31 through C&CC and if we had booked the earlier 9AM crossing I think it would have cost a quite a bit more  

sometimes you win but it seems a bit random.

We preferred the P&O boat as it had coach type seating areas whereas on the newer Norfolk Line boats the only seating we found was at tables in the cafes, same on the Harwich-Hook Stena line boat unless you pay extra for the deluxe (or whatever it was called) lounge  

Steve


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## pneumatician (May 1, 2005)

*Ferry Charges etc*

Our first Tunnel experience was because Sea France couldn't get boats in or out of the ports due to extreme weather. They gave us Tunnel tickets no charge and two hours later we were in UK.
This gave us a taste for the Tunnel which we still like.

Norfolk line have changed my booking twice and charged £10.

When we were motorcyling and P&O was all the same we rarely returned home from the Port we were booked to depart from or on the correct day. We just used to turn up at the most convenient Port. 
Not possible now with prebooked return tickets. But that was one of the advantages of motorcycling.

Steve


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## jb6981 (Jan 8, 2006)

I have now e-mailed P&O customer services with all the details and then finally stated;

"How can you justify such a high charge for what was just a quick phone call? In my opinion this equates to an unfair penalty charge similar to the charges levied illegally by the banks and credit card companies on late payments or unauthorized overdrafts."

I have received an acknowledgment e-mail stating that some one will get back to me.

I quote what it says on my C&CC ticket voucher; "...If you wish to travel on a different departure to that booked you may fall into a different tariff and be required to pay an excess amount at the port" [end quote].

In my view my contract was with P&O, the booking agent merely introduced the two parties; P&O then agreed to transport my van and two passengers on a particular sailing. I asked for the contract to be varied to allow travel two days early, the point here is whether the amount charged to vary the contract was reasonable and proportionate. The ticket price was £125 return, it is reasonable to assume that the return leg price was £62.50 therefore a charge of £60.00 to amend the ticket would be unreasonable and in effect charged me again for the return leg of the journey. P&O did not say that my journey fell into a different tariff and there was plenty of availability, I was offered 9.25 or 10.15am. On reading the replies to this post it seems that the £60 charge is their standard charge. The question is does it breach consumer law? Is it an unfair penalty charge? Or a breach of contract by charging an unreasonable amendment fee? I await the response from P&O with some anticipation.


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## Sgt411 (Dec 17, 2008)

We booked a return trip with Norfolk Line from Dover to Dunkirk in May this year. After a 3 month trip around France we decided to come home a week earlier than planned. We arrived at the Norfolk Line terminal and asked the the girl on the booth if we could return a week earlier and she referred us to the booking office. We were informed that the next sailing was fully booked but we could return to Dover on the first sailing the following morning. The clerk duly booked us onto the morning sailing and we went to the Gravelines Ayre for the night and returned to the Norfolk Line terminal the following morning and made the early morning ferry back to Dover. I am please to say that there was no charge for the change of booking.


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## bozzer (Jul 22, 2009)

I note posts have recommended only booking outward with no return. We've done this until one wet day my wife reading the small print of our travel insurance it stated it was only valid where return had been booked before travel!!
We now always book a return ferry.


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## devonidiot (Mar 10, 2006)

Last year we changed some Air Miles for a return channel crossing with P&O, there was a surcharge of £18. Very cheap and also good service.

Due to circumstances arising we had to return one day early, and were charged £60!

I realise that changing travelling time will attract some extra payment, but £60 for writing out a new ticket is exorbitant, especially as the ferry was less than two thirds full.

I was even more annoyed when I discovered I could have obtained a single ticket for £49 on another carrier.


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## sallytrafic (Jan 17, 2006)

bozzer said:


> I note posts have recommended only booking outward with no return. We've done this until one wet day my wife reading the small print of our travel insurance it stated it was only valid where return had been booked before travel!!
> We now always book a return ferry.


That is a very good point bozzer my insurance says the same.

Also

this from my 2007 Irish Blog

We went back home via Scotland, so that meant getting to Larne. We turned up the day before we were due to travel, and having spent 5 minutes exploring Larne, thought why not get over to Cairnryan today? There was a P&O ferry in, and they were loading, so we went to the drive through check-in and they said the sailing was now closed and sent us to the terminal building. Yes, we could get on the next ferry, but it would be an additional £46.50, the original cost was £98 so thats a 50% surcharge, we said no thanks. Does anyone wonder, or know, what the extra £46.50 was for?


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## HarleyDave (Jul 1, 2007)

*P&O Rip Off*

Some years ago I had to return urgently from a European tour (UK - Sweden - Algarve - UK) on the Harley.

I arrived at Calais a day earlier than booked and asked to bring my crossing forward.

They charged me more than the original on-line cost of the *return* for the amended *single journey* - and this for a bike that can fit into any small space and it wasn't as if the boat was anywhere near full.

I paid - because I had to - but I vowed NEVER to use P&O again.

And I never have.

I only go over twice a year but I tell everyone I can about their sharp practice.

I would rather travel further than use P&O

I now sail Norfolk line (who incidently have never charged me *anything* extra to change my timings - even in the MH with trailer) Dover - Dunkerque - and will continue to do so.

Cheers

Dave


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## jb6981 (Jan 8, 2006)

I have now received a reply to my e-mail to P&O asking them to justify the £60 I was charged to change my booking, this is their reply -

"I can confirm that any amendment made to a booking under our semi-flexible fare structure is subject to a £10.00 (€14.00) amendment fee, and an additional charge equivalent to the difference in price between the sailing originally booked and that of the new sailing.

This supplement is determined in accordance with changes in demand for the sailing specified and principally, the proximity to your sailing date and time that the amendment takes place.

In addition to covering the administrative cost involved in providing new documentation to our vessels, the additional fee also reflects the value of the space that you occupy, in terms of recovering part of the higher fare that applies for bookings made on the day of travel. Whilst the ship may have had ample space on it the demand for that amended sailing had risen sufficiently to increase the fare.

I can assure you the supplement paid is correct and that this is the fare applied to any new passengers making a reservation for the same dates and times you sailed on. By that I mean that if a passenger arrived at the port and made a new booking based on your travel details they would have paid that amount.

Whilst I regret your disappointment, this supplement policy does form part of our terms of business. And we must apply these policies evenly and fairly to all applicable bookings." [End quote] Any comments?


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## 04HBG (Dec 9, 2007)

jb6981 said:


> I have now received a reply to my e-mail to P&O asking them to justify the £60 I was charged to change my booking, this is their reply -
> 
> "I can confirm that any amendment made to a booking under our semi-flexible fare structure is subject to a £10.00 (€14.00) amendment fee, and an additional charge equivalent to the difference in price between the sailing originally booked and that of the new sailing.
> 
> ...


It seems obvious that they haven't yet told all their employees of the companies policy, as i said in an earlier post 2 of us both 25ft long came across 2 days early on 11th November without any extra charge whatsoever.
We had originally booked the cheapest fare out and not the amendable one but we had booked direct with [email protected]

Perhaps it was the cheery Bonjour and the smile that did it.

RD


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## bozzer (Jul 22, 2009)

Harleydave you said you vowed never to use P&O again. 

We did the same - we'll never use again! Booked Seafrance crossing, arrived at Dover, Seafrance were on industrial action so we were sent to P&O!!! You can't win


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## jb6981 (Jan 8, 2006)

I have just spoken to the CC&C who told me that if I had phoned them they would have amended the ticket for £10 plus any difference in the tariff. Which on a weekday, in low season, would be about £20 difference maximum or maybe the same price, so about £30.00 in all. They would have contacted P&O direct and I would probably have sailed with the same booking reference. They confirmed that my contract was with them and not P&O as I thought. There was no refund on the original ticket as it had not been booked through P&O and as the sailing date has passed the ticket was now 'lost'.

They said that what P&O did was treat the original ticket as a 'no show' and charged me £60.00 for a new ticket. Funny how they talk about different tariffs, demand led pricing and the price rising the the nearer you get to the sailing date yet everyone is charged the same price, £60.

Apparently a few years ago you would be put on the next ferry available at no extra cost but now it seems it is all about maximizing profits (greed) which is fine for them in the short term but when you are enraging your customers they tend to vote with their feet, and there is plenty of competition out there.

So if you book through one of the clubs, contact them direct if you need to amend your ticket, otherwise its £60.00! or maybe even more in high season. You have been warned.


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## Suenliam (Mar 22, 2006)

Not sure if this is still applicable, but some years ago we booked through a travel agent (before the internet bookings became available) for a Brittany Ferries Portsmouth - Caen crossing. For complicated reasons we had to alter the sailing date. They transferred the ticket without charge, but we lost the price of the cabin and had to pay full price for a "replacement". They said this was because we booked through an agent not directly with them. Ever since I have booked direct (unless there was a really significant saving with the CC) and needless to say we have always made the booked sailing :roll: 

Sue


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