Condor facing big compensation payouts to delayed travellers?

Tuesday 01 March 2016

The news goes from bad to worse for beleaguered ferry firm Condor – they could end up footing a bill for thousands of pounds from angry passengers who faced long delays this weekend.

One passenger, who commented on social media about the long delays he experienced this weekend after a ramp failed leaving dozens of drivers stranded on the Condor Clipper, has filed a claim for £161.25 for “the huge disruption, inconvenience and lost time” suffered.

In all, 44 vehicles were stuck for more than 12 hours aboard the vessel – Condor have apologised, but are coming under increasing pressure over problems with the Clipper and their new Liberation fast ferry, which has been beset by problems since it first came into service last summer.

Kit Ashton has filed the claim under EU rules, and there could be dozens more in the days to come.

He has highlighted the disruption and inconvenience – and the distress caused to animals being carried from Jersey to the UK over the weekend, after reports that horses had to be sedated aboard the vessel because of the distress of the delays.

Mr Ashton, a musician, wrote: “Condor's record is nothing short of an appalling failure and breach of the public service contract you have with the States of Guernsey and Jersey.

“Having a monopoly granted to you by these governments, not to mention immense financial subsidy, places you under a binding obligation to invest in providing a good and reliable service to the public that those governments represent.

“You have consistently and in my view callously fallen short of providing this service, and instead seem more keen on short term profits, never mind the personal consequences for thousands of people (and animals!) negatively affected by your actions.”

Speaking on Saturday Condor’s Executive Chairman Russell Kew said: “I’d like to apologise to all those customers who have been inconvenienced over the last 24 hours, and to thank them for their understanding and patience. 

“Having spent today in Portsmouth, members of the senior management team and I were able to answer customer questions, and support our staff in looking after all those who were affected.  I’d like to thank our engineering, call centre, on board and port staff for their commitment to supporting our customers.”

Photo credit: Kit Ashton