DFDS has apologised to customers impacted by a three-hour delay to the Jersey to St Malo service on Saturday.
A spokesperson for the Danish ferry company explained that an error within the booking system resulted in a one-hour departure delay from Jersey as staff had to move to manual check-in.
There was a further two-hour wait to dock due to a low tide and strong spring tides in St Malo.
Full refunds and complimentary future trips have been offered to those who were travelling as day-trip passengers, but islanders have taken to social media to express their dismay.
Becky Evans-Renouard, who was travelling to St Malo for a day-trip, described the situation as an “absolute shambles”.
Writing on the Facebook page ‘Good or Bad Jersey Businesses’, she said: “All we paid for was a very long boat ride.”
She wrote: “What was meant to be a two-hour journey turned into a five-hour ordeal.”
Ms Evans-Renouard explained that, by the time she arrived in France at 15:40, she had just one hour to spend in St Malo before returning to check-in for the ferry home.
“DFDS did say we have a free day trip now to use in future, but who would want to go through that again,” she added.
“l’d rather lose the money than attempt another day-trip with them.”
A DFDS spokesperson said: “We are sorry for the inconvenience this caused our passengers.
“On the day, drink welfare vouchers were provided, and we have since offered full refunds as well as a complimentary future trip by foot to those who were travelling as day-trip passengers.
“Customers who travelled on other transport bookings are also entitled to claim 50% compensation for the affected leg, in line with passenger rights regulations.”
The ferry company is also working on improvements to its booking system and contingency processes to “minimise the risk of this happening again”.