Earlier this month we learned from CalMac about “cancellation fees”, that we understood would be charged to passengers who make a booking but don’t turn up. We sought clarification from CalMac, and sent a long list of 29 questions generated on our Facebook page. As a result of this, the charge has been clarified, and it is not what we were lead to believe at all.
There will be NO fee charged to passengers who fail to turn up for a booking. There will be NO fee charged for changing or cancelling a booking.
There WILL be an administration fee of £10 if you request a refund for an unused ticket.
The only circumstances in which this fee will be waived are a) The sailing you were booked on was cancelled b) The sailing was subject to a yellow ‘be alert’ warning c) A connecting sailing (eg Iona-Fionnphort) was cancelled or on yellow alert
The stated aim of this charge (which is an infrequently-enforced pre-existing ticket condition) is to cut down on ‘no-shows’, which can be as high as 1000 per month. However we’re not convinced that this refund charge will have much effect on ‘no-shows’, which are undoubtedly a problem. So if you do have a booking but for some reason are unable to use it or have to change it, please make every effort to notify CalMac so that the space can be freed up for other passengers. To help do this, CalMac say we should be able to amend bookings online from later this year.
Since the charge is quite different to what we initially believed, the long list of 29 questions posed is now largely irrelevant.