Raw Deal: All set to sail, but Helen was shocked when her car was refused a place

WHEN you pay to make a booking, you have every right to expect you have reserved a service, that your details have been taken and that arrangements will be honoured.

To be turned away when you know you have booked a service – a restaurant table or a reserved item – is bad enough, but all the worse if you reckon you have pre-paid for it.

The worst possible scenario might be if you were going on holiday but the transport you’d arranged to take you to another country says it doesn’t know what you’re talking about.

That’s exactly what happened to Helen Howlett, of Whitley Bay.

On December 30 last year she’d made an “early bird” booking to sail from Newcastle to Amsterdam in late July, returning early August.

The booking was, Helen is sure, for four adults and a car.

But when she got to the ferry terminal in Newcastle, Helen was shocked to be told that while DFDS had a record of the four passengers there was no mention of a car – and then they were told the ferry was full.

It was a stressful and upsetting 50-minute wait to see whether their car could be squeezed on.

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This was perplexing as Helen had confirmed her reservation on May 26 and paid the remainder of the fee. A member of staff had taken her through all the details – including her car reg. number.

The mystery deepened when Helen and her family discovered there were four other families, in exactly the same position, waiting to see if their cars could also be squeezed aboard.

All five were adamant they had booked cars as well as passengers to travel. All had been told a car wasn’t included.

Helen was eventually allowed to take her car aboard as room had been found. But the staff insisted she paid for the trip, and the return, or she couldn’t travel – despite Helen reckoning she had already paid for her car’s berth.

This fee was a not inconsiderable £164.

Helen feels she was forced to pay up or ruin her family’s holiday – and then she spent three weeks worrying about whether the return trip was properly booked.

Helen wrote to Raw Deal about all this.

We had a word with DFDS. Was the car booked or wasn’t it?

A spokesman told us; “Due to a system error last December, some reservations did not correctly have vehicles added, which meant customers were only charged for their passenger ticket.

“No vehicle charges were processed as part of these reservations.

“In Ms Howlett’s case, the check-in team were able to add the vehicle to her booking when she checked in to ensure she could travel on the sailing booked.

“We understand it was a worrying situation for Ms Howlett when she arrived at the port to find her car was not included on her booking. Our check-in team did all they could to resolve the situation to her satisfaction.

“A discount was applied, as a gesture of goodwill, when we added the car to her booking.”

But it didn’t finish there. Helen told us: “Thank you so much for intervening. Funnily enough, since you contacted DFDS, they have conceded they will refund the additional car payment I made on the day of travel.”

The booking was part of a special offer for a car and free passengers – and I’m sure I confirmed this in the phone conversation when I paid the balance.

“Four other cars faced the same issue, which speaks volumes.”

Do you have a problem?

To get in touch with Raw Deal please email your address and daytime/mobile number to rawdeal@sundaypost.com or write to Raw Deal, 80 Kingsway East, Dundee, DD4 8SL (please include SAE).

Briefly outline the problem and how you would like it resolved. Include contact details of the other party and any customer ref/order numbers.

By requesting Raw Deal’s assistance you agree for your name, location and a photo to be published.