Northern mayors join the call for BC Ferries to step up the delivery of its information services

It was an issue that first came to light from residents of the Queen Charlotte Islands, a centralized reservation and information centre based in the south would leave many local residents wondering where there vessel was and when it might come in.

The days of phoning the local terminal for information are gone, as all calls are routed to the central service centre, leaving Victoria based agents to try and explain the status of service on the unpredictable North Coast.

It’s a business model that a good number of northern residents find unacceptable and would like to see revisited.

The Daily News featured the controversy as part of the front page of Tuesday’s paper.

‘B.C. FERRIES CHANGE MEANS NORTH IS MISSING THE BOAT’
Mayors fear ferry advice, information is not as good as it should be
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Pages one and three

Residents of the Queen Charlotte Islands and the North Coast no longer know when their ship will come in because of a B. C. Ferries’ decision to centralize its reservation system in Victoria, say directors of the Skeena Queen Charlotte Regional District.

“You used to be able to call the ferry terminal and find out the status of the ferry,” said Ian Hetmen, director for Rural Graham Island. “The young lady that was looking after that became ill and the person who filled in for a few days didn’t do a very good job and it carried on from there.”

In order to rectify the problem, Hetman said the company decided to change its reservation system so that when people call the local terminals, they get redirected to Victoria.

This decision covers the Prince Rupert, Skidegate and Port Hardy Terminals.

However, the information being provided about the status of the ship has not always been accurate, leaving people waiting for hours at the terminal.

Corey Delves, the mayor of Port Clements, noted he has tried calling the terminal in Skidegate this winter only to get transferred to Victoria and told to show up four hours before the ship actually left.

“We are all facing these challenges,” said Carole Kulehsa, mayor of the Queen Charlotte Village.

The reservation system in the North is particularly problematic during the busy summer season and no one is quite sure how centralized booking will affect the existing challenges.

Kulesha said she had met people from Europe who drove the mainland and thought they could just hop on a ferry to the Islands in August.

“Well, you can’t get one. People book months in advance,” she said. But these people were given the wrong information. Whether it was local or central booking, there was a variety of information they were given.

She said the ferry advisory committee has been told that under the centralized system everyone will have the same information.

“In theory it might work, in practice a big hole is the fact that we can’t call and find out if the ferry is on time,” she said.

In an earlier interview, B. C. Ferries spokesperson Deborah Marshall said people wanting to speak with someone at a local terminal can go down there personally.

She said the company made the shift because it will make service better, allowing staff at local terminals to focus on walk-in clientele. And there will be no decrease in the staffing level.

“There is no impact on our ticket agents, what it does is give better customer service to their face-to-face customers,” she said. “Right now, they are dealing with the phone as well as customers who are there in person.”

Currently, 75 per cent of reservations for the Northern Routes are handled out of Victoria.