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+--- Thread: Did the steampacket hire the extra ship? (/showthread.php?tid=19964)
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RE: Did the steampacket hire the extra ship? - taxman - 19-06-2015
Knock yourself out Eddy!! http://www.tynwald.org.im/business/pp/Reports/2008-PP-0120.pdf
IOM Parliament set up a select committee to examine the SP fares etc. Their 398 page report is a public document and may or may not answer your questions - alternatively just take two sleeping pills!!
RE: Did the steampacket hire the extra ship? - Keith Pursglove - 20-06-2015
(19-06-2015, 11:04 AM)taxman Wrote: Knock yourself out Eddy!! http://www.tynwald.org.im/business/pp/Reports/2008-PP-0120.pdf
IOM Parliament set up a select committee to examine the SP fares etc. Their 398 page report is a public document and may or may not answer your questions - alternatively just take two sleeping pills!!
Read it last night! Did not need the sleeping pills!
Experience of the authors sounds about right if travelling at any other time of the year except TT and FOM times.
RE: Did the steampacket hire the extra ship? - taxman - 22-06-2015
Fares can be a little higher during half terms and school hols too, but that's the same for everyone elsewhere.
RE: Did the steampacket hire the extra ship? - Steady the Edward - 22-06-2015
Tax man you say
IMHO they shouldn't be sabre rattling but instead working with the Government to provide the year round service the Island needs and make a FAIR profit at peak periods.
the profit line has to be calculated on a yearly basis not just peak periods , if you trim the profits at one period you have to increase at another to compensate
and they need to be able to plan long term , you can not invest multi millions of pounds on replacing boats when you don't have a long enough contract to see a return on your investment
ok they need to do some basic in house customer care thinking and buy boats more suitable to the job to maximise both profit and capacity
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RE: Did the steampacket hire the extra ship? - taxman - 22-06-2015
(22-06-2015, 02:55 PM)Steady the Edward Wrote: the profit line has to be calculated on a yearly basis not just peak periods , if you trim the profits at one period you have to increase at another to compensate
That's what I was trying (and obviously failing) to say. Apologies Eddy.
At the moment I think they're using peak profits to subsidise their other services. There must be scope to level things out a little better.
RE: Did the steampacket hire the extra ship? - Steady the Edward - 22-06-2015
Yes of course there is plenty of scope to lower peak time prices Taxman , but as I said earlier it would be at the detriment to what Islanders have to pay in freight charges and what they have to pay the rest of the year , I can't imagine for one moment Islanders would want that just to save us TT / MGP visitors a few bob , when talking about the S P we have to look at the overall picture , the service the Island needs to survive freight to meet basic needs throughout the year has to come first , and unless the Island were to buy the SP out and run it themselves as a non profit making Island service you have to allow them to make a profit , and if that profit margin is not healthy enough or secure enough you have big problems , people go on about having competition for the SP have a look at the trade they have for the rest of the year outside TT / MGP you wonder how they keep going , on the crossings I have done out of TT period the boats were way way less than half full that is not conducive to having a situation of competition , with two companies running boats quarter full neither one making money , just plain unsustainable and to no ones benefit we have to be realistic in our wishes
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RE: Did the steampacket hire the extra ship? - Steady the Edward - 22-06-2015
Taxman you put up a government document and tell me to knock myself out or take sleeping pills , may I ask how much of it did you read ?? having knocked myself out and scip read , a chunk of it I have pulled one response that makes me wonder what you were trying to achieve by throwing that at me
Conclusion
9.11 We consider that, as the increase in standard fares is monitored by the
Department, and as additional charges are in the main a matter of choice,
no excessive charging in respect of passenger/car fares has taken place
now by your comments I would assume you do not agree with YOUR government's findings
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RE: Did the steampacket hire the extra ship? - taxman - 23-06-2015
Lol Eddy - you wondered what the margins were and I was aware that there was a parliamentary report so I linked you to it. No agenda from me, I was just trying to help. I was aware however that it was dull reading hence the "knock yourself out". It was an attempt at humour which appears to have failed miserably.
Reading the comments on the now closed forum it is clear that visitors feel the fares are excessive and those fares are a deterrent to potential visitors. What a parliamentary report concludes is irrelevant and it certainly doesn't change the perception at TT and MGP time. To that extent I certainly don't agree with the findings.
Sadly, SP follow the same business models to many travel operators (sea rail and air). They have a bewildering fare structure which is compounded by heavy discounting. This means that the average customer has no idea what they might be charged. I advocate a return to a transparent fare structure which is fair to all customers (locals, visitors and freight).
RE: Did the steampacket hire the extra ship? - Southernman - 23-06-2015
If all customers (residents and visitors) feel that the fares are too high, but the enquiry found that the IOMSPCo is not earning excessive profits, then they are probably distributing the pain fairly. If another company can provide a similar year round service at a lower cost, then that will come out of the expressions of interest. I don't want another Easyjet situation on the high seas.
RE: Did the steampacket hire the extra ship? - HammerHead - 23-06-2015
(23-06-2015, 01:09 PM)taxman Wrote: Sadly, SP follow the same business models to many travel operators (sea rail and air). They have a bewildering fare structure which is compounded by heavy discounting. This means that the average customer has no idea what they might be charged. I advocate a return to a transparent fare structure which is fair to all customers (locals, visitors and freight).
2014 was my first visit to the TT and I found it staggering that despite eventually getting through and booking the sailings that I wanted I had no idea what my balance would be until the invoice arrived six months later. When I say no idea I mean literally no idea - it could have been anything from £200 to £800 or even more.
I don't think you'll ever move away from the more expensive fares at TT time any more than you'll move away from increases in travel/holiday during the school holidays, but surely having some transparency isn't too hard?
RE: Did the steampacket hire the extra ship? - Steady the Edward - 23-06-2015
I have all ways been of the opinion that it is no good saying something is wrong unless you have a viable capability of correcting that wrong , and as yet I have not heard any one put up a VIABLE alternative to the SP , don't get me wrong I am not saying they are perfect in any way , their customer care skills are atrocious at times , their attitude to loyalty is beyond me , but hay why should I care it's not my Island and I cant see them making much out of me any more , if I get back at all it will be out of season cheap offer crossings to just be a hol visitor catching up with friends once a year if I am lucky
RE: Did the steampacket hire the extra ship? - taxman - 24-06-2015
You and Southern make very valid points Eddy. Southern doesn't want to see another Easyjet and you mention VIABLE opposition.
The vessel size limit of Douglas harbor coupled with the performance required from the vessels in the prevalent weather mean that the range of potential vessels is severely limited. This means in turn that there are likely to be few operators if any, other than SP, who could be equipped to work the route. This is why I reckon we should be round the table negotiating a deal and building in some customer safeguards and not playing games of one-upmanship in the press.