That was the Trip that Was

Remember Jaki's dealings with Iberia just before Christmas. Well travel by sea can be just as frustrating as my next little story demonstrates.

Months ago we booked our return ferry trip - Ibiza - Mallorca - Ibiza - with giant ferry company Trasmediterranea. About a week before our departure they rang to say our return ferry on 19th April was cancelled for technical reasons, could we come back on the 18th? Yes we could, as there's nothing I like better than foreshortening my eagerly awaited holidays by a day.

The 18th dawned sunny and extremely windy. Trasmediterranea's customer service department proved somewhat elusive as their phone number is listed neither on their tickets nor the White Pages. (I eventually found it in the Yellow Pages listed as Transmediterranea, with an extra 'n') They assured me there were no cancellations that day becasue of the high winds.

With a car bursting with purchases and ourselves we were confidently pulling onto the ferry port car park when the phone rang. It was Tras ringing to tell me my ferry was cancelled and would I like to go home on the 19th?
'but that boat was cancelled last week,' quoth I. Much keyboard tapping revealed that, according to their records, that ferry had never been cancelled and was running as normal.

Interestingly, a majority shareholding in Trasmediterranea is currently on sale for around €800 million. Seems like a bargain.