In these hard economic times, we have a company doing it's best to alienate and lose a large percentage of it's customers. This company is P&O Ferries. Despite not having to impose a smoking ban by any regulations whatsoever, they choose to impose one. No-one l know of who use this ferry company were ever asked their opinion but P/O Ferries have faux surveys that are supposed to show that we support this ban. Sounds like an ASH tactic, doesn't it? Maybe the Dreadful Arnott gave the P&O Board certificates for their walls and then patted them on the head? Unfortunately P&O Ferries Board have no shareholders to answer to, they are owned by the Dubai Government under an investment company called Dubai World.
Dubai World's portfolio is so vast l doubt they even know they own P&O Ferries and so the Board of P&O Ferries do their own thing so to speak. P&O Ferries are not doing well at all and yet continue to damage/destroy the business they already have. This again is right down ASH's street, ASH produce absolutely nothing but they damage/destroy jobs and businesses with not a care in the world. They do however fill their own pockets/handbags.
P&O know that many people use their Hull routes to purchase tobacco products and the amount these people spend is not insignificant at all. On our recent baccy cruise l asked a few people and observed how much they were spending. l estimated that the amount was around £10,000 and this was by no means all the passengers who were buying tobacco products. None of them bought from the ship!
Why? ... because P&O carry virtually no stock so people make arrangements in Bruges, Ostende etc before they sail.
This is P&O's stock at the beginning of the cruise.Just 12kg of Samson and 11kg of Drum. This is at the beginning of the cruise remember! Note, this isn't a one off, every cruise l've been on has been the same. The shop staff themselves can't believe it either. Just to add insult to injury, the P&O Board then treat their smoking passengers worse than livestock and with little regard for their safety too.
lf P&O Ferries had shareholders ... would this Board still be there? Even the Cross Border Shoppers are now stopping using these ferries and taking flights instead ... and who can blame them? Unless l'm missing something, this P&O Board must rank in the top 10 of incompetence rankings!
Oh and the complete lack of help for Cross Border Shoppers goes without saying!
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| P/O tobacco stock beginning of cruise |
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| P/O tobacco stock beginning of cruise |
It's a wonder that they actually ALLOWED us outside in weather like that. There was a real possibility of getting blown over or through the railings!
ReplyDeleteI'm disappointed that they choose to exile smokers outside. But I'm incredulous that they don't stock the onboard shop! Whatever happened to capitalism? A captive audience, most of them on a bulk-buying shopping trip, and this company doesn't want their money? WTF?
Good video, SH. I didn't think you could capture that weather experience on video, but it brings it all back! Brrr! :-)
It might be an idea to write to P&O and ask why they treat smokers in this way when the smoking ban doesn't apply.
ReplyDeleteWith much reluctance I'd have to say that it's their ship and their rules, stupid and unnecessary though they may be. Of course the bugger of it is there's not much in the way of alternatives for all the smokers to use instead and put some monetary pressure on P&O. Well, I say there isn't but how does the cost of a mass drive down to the tunnel and getting the car/train across work out? Presumably you can't smoke on that either but you could all the way down to the train and same on the other side, and that time on the trains must be less than the ferry trip? If not then I guess writing letters to them is about all you can do.
ReplyDeleteOut of interest can you vape on board P&O ferries?
I did JJ - they used "the Law" to justify it even when I explained that 30 minutes from British shores and they are under no legal obligation and could take Belgium's view on choice.
ReplyDeleteThereafter P&O ignored me. They hate smokers. They want your money but they don't want to give you a service which is why ALL Resistance warriors should NEVER buy a single item, aboard - not tea, not water, not food, not alcohol, not a sandwich, nothing from their poxy smelly perfume shop etc.. Not a penny more than that cost of travel
Haha JJ, we tried that. First they said that their passengers were happy with the smoking ban as shown in their feedback/surveys but when we pointed out we knew of no-one who'd ever been asked, we got this :-
ReplyDelete"If we would actually not consider our smoking customers important, we would have banned it completely from the vessels.
We regret to lose your custom, due to the smoking policy, but we stand with our right to exercise this policy."
Translation... f off, we don't care!
We got a load of our friends to write in and complain and all got the same sort of answer. :)
AE ... it is indeed 'their' ship but one wonders what this current Board of P/O objectives are. ls it a "feel smug righteous factor" or is it to maximise profits? The lack of shareholders or interest (or eye off the ball for a minor holding) from the parent company suggests the "smug righteous factor"
ReplyDeleteStuff em! Hide your alcohol when boarding in Hull, take a kettle and packup, use the in cabin smoking room. That is the shower room with the extractor. Pick up the glasses people have used for drinks and take em back to your cabin. Wash em out and fill em with your own alcohol. The bar will even give you ice. Don't buy any baccy from the shop. Use them as they try to use you. Starve them of profits cos the're in deep shit already. Then maybe someone will buy the route and ships off them and build a successful business again. The CEO of POF is Helen Deeble and couldn't run a piss up in a brewery. Or a tobacco shop with captive customers! Run the petty righteous bastards into the ground!
ReplyDeleteDo other ferries have the same policy re this route? Maybe they hold the monopoly
ReplyDeleteThat's not rough weather. lf you think thats bad you should sail what l've been through. lt'd petrify you!
ReplyDeleteAlan .. l thought someone like you would come along. The conditions in the vid are not what any paying passenger should have to go through just because of a Boards spite. There is danger for these passengers in conditions like that, let alone the sheer inhumanity forced upon them. They are not seamen.
ReplyDeleteFor your information l don't need your input on what rough seas are. l come from a deepsea fishing family. We sailed in waters such as the Barents Sea in the depths of winter and Force 12's (you should know that there is no 13) where the sea froze to the ship and you had to chop it off with axes ... otherwise you'd capsize. Some did and we lost friends and family. So please, no more eh?
Anon 15.10 ... EXACTLY! They have the monopoly to virtually print money ... but don't!
Apologies, l'll shut up.
ReplyDeleteSmoking Hot, without knowing if the board have got a Bannatyne type aboard (no pun intended) I've no idea if it's a smug-righteous thing or a sign that you guys have been successfully de-normalised and a belief that being seen to bully smokers attracts more non-smokers. It's going to come down to how well you're able to persuade them otherwise. Perhaps a letter/email campaign involving sending them lots of photos of closed pubs and pointing out that bullying smokers completely failed to attract more business from non-smokers, and the only thing the ferries have got over the planes and trains is that there's time for a smoke on the way.
ReplyDeleteAE ... no campaign will have any impact on this lot. How can it when they have a captive market and don't take it up. The gift shop onboard must be 30 or 40 times larger than the tobacco shop and yet how many shopping in there would be spending £500+ at a time? The stupid place doesn't even sell newspapers ffs! lt is truly beyond belief. The financial losses incurred must be astronomical. You really think that the people in charge of this farce would listen?
ReplyDeleteThis particular ferry run involves sailing at 18.30 and arriving in Zeebrugge the next morning around 09.00 and then sailing again at approx 19.00 and arriving in Hull about 08.00.
lt's far more relaxing and convenient than airports. Don't know about trains as l've never used them. l really can't stand the airport security circus as it gets more ridiculous seemingly everytime l have to fly.
Before PO Ferries took over it was North Sea Ferries and boy was that a good crack. You bought all your alcohol, cigs and baccy onboard and had 2 damn good nights of fun. There was no need to take your own alcohol as drinks were cheap and the bars did a roaring trade ... as did the restaurants. Then P/O came along and it's been going downhill ever since. Hopefully they'll reach a point where they sell the run.
POF are a complete joke. What sort of fucking idiots transports 100's of pax over to Belgium to buy alcohol,baccy and cigs day in day out and doesnt try and get their custom on-board?
ReplyDeleteSH this video fits in with how we are treated in pubs. I made a video not long after the smoke ban came in where I was stood out in a snowstorm to have a smoke, having to leave an empty pub to do it.
ReplyDeleteBy law, pigs have to have 95% shelter but human smokers only have 50% but on this ferry smokers have 0%. Dusgusting and it made me think of Nazism.
i'll fight this smoking smear till my dying breath, which is a considerably way off!
l would fully endorse Helen Deeble and her board to run any of my competitors companies any day of the week.
ReplyDeleteHold on a minute
ReplyDeleteOn the RETURN sailing the ship shop
had plenty of Golden Virginia ,by
then the passengers had stocked up in Belgium,just how stupid is that?
Anyway let us be honest,we cant attach to much blame to P&O,the
blame lies firmly with the smokers
themselves.With a few exceptions
they kowtow,they whimper ,they murmur,they tickle keyboards,they
huddle like de scented skunks in
back yards,they cluster like frightened ferrets in pub doorways,
they linger in alleyways like silent mutants.Speaking of JudasGoats let us never forget
the real big turncoats on this issue.....The Publicans...what a bunch of spineless whimps
In the meanwhile lets carry on
twittering,facebooking,youtubing,
ether waffling and playing tootsy wootsy on Daily Mail comments pages with the odd restrained outburst of anger down the copper wires
Look back in anger
U NO U
Don't p and o use bonded warehouses in Hull? Have to agree about smokers and pubs though. Pathetic the lot of them. P and o are shit aswell.
ReplyDeleteanon@20:38
ReplyDeleteSmokers in the UK are put to shame by the Dutch - but the problem is the grasping twerps of the local council go for the landlord - and his licence...
But, the Dutch don't have the BBC and Gannet Media to deal with - that's not an excuse - have you tried getting anything through to a local newspaper or onto the state broadcaster? In the twisted world of of UK tosspot MSM insane medics and bonkers bansturbators trump articulate smokers every time - and I'm sick of it.
To use a curse from the Dubai part of the world - "May the fleas of a thousand camels infest all ASH members armpits in perpetuity"
P&O look like a bunch of utterly clueless twats - on that time schedule it should be a party boat like the Baltic jobs - good 'ole British managers and "executives" at it again eh?
I couldn't tell from the video whether smoking is allowed in all outside areas - because DFDS (ex Norfolkline) don't even allow that! Smoking is permitted outside on each side towards the rear of the ship, in the most windswept and dreary areas possible. At the end of the boat, there is a comfortable sunny area sheltered from the wind, and smoking is banned there!
ReplyDeleteTheir announcements always irritate me as well: "In the interest of the safety and comfort of ALL our passengers, smoking is not permitted inside the vessel" (the announcer places a special emphasis on the word "all").
The "safety" part is of course drivel (how many cross channel ferry disasters triggered by a cigarette indoors can you think of?), while the "comfort" part is simply insulting - "all our passengers" includes smokers, and it is not remotely bloody comfortable to have to go out to those horrible little areas when you want a cigarette.
As to why they feel they have to treat their paying customers so badly, I can only assume that the people in charge believe all the propaganda and think that denormalising smokers is a hugely popular and worthy measure to take.
When PO Ferries brought in no smoking they quoted Dept of Health figures stating 76% of people were in favour of smoke free. l thought fine, make the ferry 76% smoke free then.
ReplyDeletePOF are getting desperate now. Since Oct 1st if you buy alcohol from the ship you can't have it till next morning. Shows the mindset of this idiotic POF board. They haven't got a bloody clue. Do they actually think that doing this will increase bar sales? Talk about being dumb!Everyone l know drinks and smokes in their cabins and ignore the bars. When they do leave the cabins they take drinks with them. Anyone with a brain could see what the problem is and that's they charge too much at the bar! Next thing will be raids on cabins! lol
ReplyDeleteI recently went over to Bruges with a group of mates and family. We make the ferry trip 2 0r 3 times a year. Between us we spent about 10k. PO Ferries didn't get a penny of that because as others have said they have no stock and only offer a very limited variety of brands. l wouldn't be surprised at all to find ASH are on the board of PO Ferries. They obviously dont want to sell tobacco at PO. We didn't use the bars or restaurants either.
ReplyDeleteManchester to Charleroi(Belgium)
ReplyDelete£12 return.....55 minutes flight
Take a trip and send a copy of the
ticket to the flea bitten bagette
CEO of P&O
If you have to use Hull-Zeebrugge
DONT USE THE MINIRUISE.. USE THE BASIC FARE ONLY....£17.50 pp
DONT BUY FROM THEIR SHOP. ANYTHING
DONT USE THEIR RESTAURANT OR CAFE
DONT BUY AT THE BAR
DONT SPEND A PENNY OVER THE FARE
HIT THEIR POCKETS HARD
This was a recent internal letter at P&O Ferries from Helen Deeble:-
ReplyDelete"This all means we are being forced to reduce costs throughout the business in order to be able to compete. It is therefore important I highlight to you at the earliest opportunity that our current performance is of serious concern and that it is going to require urgent attention.
The board is currently considering all of its options."
Anyone got any suggestions for the board? :-)
Apart from getting them all to quit and find a job that suits them which would be the likes of ASH l'd think, convert half of top bar to smoking, alter main shop to sell ALL popular brands of tobacco, cigarettes and alcohol, reduce prices at bar and restaurant. Also allow passengers to stay on ship at Zeebrugge. That'd do me.
ReplyDeleteIf they carried the stock Anon 22.12, that would suit me too and P&O Ferries bank account.
ReplyDelete@Anon 22.12 ... that's a sound business plan so l doubt the Board will think of it.
ReplyDelete@TJB ... that'd suit me and Zaphod too. We don't particularly like getting up in mornings and we've done Bruges to death. I'd prefer to buy my goods onboard and then hang about all day reading and listening to music. We'd use the facilities too.
@Anon 21.48 ... Which airline and when is it available?
@Mac ... a lot of the people we've taken have bought 6-12 months supply with comparable outlays.
@ Rest of you guys ... Hard to disagree with you.
P&O should hang their head in shame
ReplyDeleteWhat a sound business plan! Alan Sugar would take one look at this current POF board and say "YOU'RE FIRED"
ReplyDelete11 of us were planning to go on the ferry from Hull this month but we've delayed going and are now flying from Manchester in Jan. Stuff P and O and the twats that run it!
ReplyDeletelt's been like this for yonks and l should know as l work on those ferries. We've told shoreside time and time again but they just ignored usso we don't bother anymore All we get is cuts and told times are hard so no payrises. We watch all the pax get off in Zeebrugge empty handed and get back on with bulging black plastic bags. Our bosses are totally fucking useless. There only answer is raising the prices at the bars and stuff which just make matters even worse. Sheer stupidity.
ReplyDeleteXX Dubai Government under an investment company called Dubai World. XX
ReplyDeleteAha. Sand niggers. That explains the alcohol. Wonder how many cigars they go through at their wee "board meetings" then?
@Furor
ReplyDeleteAlcohol being sold in another country wont bother them aslong as they get the wonga. Bet they havent a clue though how much they are losing in sales on the fags n baccy though. PO board will be pulling the wool over their eyes saying it's the recession, competition blah blah. Not that they have any competition on North Sea route mind. lol Was in Dubai a month ago, loads of bars n restaurants have smoking
PO pokładzie będzie z pewnością na oczy mówiąc, że jest recesja, do konkursu. Te kobiety mają konkurencji na Morzu Północnym umysł trasy. lol Czy w Dubaju miesięczny temu. promem oferują różne bary n restauracji mają palenia.
ReplyDeleteFerries to France ... l'm lost for words!
ReplyDeleteI've done a couple of trips to Zeebrugge with P&O recently with no problems at all. Bought the cigs on board (same price as ashore)only had to carry them a few yards back to my cabin instead of carting them all over Belgium. The bar prices were perfectly reasonable, and the food too. No complaints at all.
ReplyDeleteYou're bloody lucky ANON 01.47. I've never seen any stock of baccy in the shop. Bar prices reasonable and food too? You don't work for P&O by any chance do you? :-)
ReplyDeleteI sailed to Zeebrugge recently and noticed that the prices of rolling tobacco and cigs had increased again in the onboard 'shop'.I'm also hoping that P&O will seel out to another 'company' then we can have some common sense. Enjoy your next shooping trip, do remember to conceal your goods from P&O security staff, as they inform customs.....
ReplyDeleteI'v noticed a typing error, i was meant to say 'sell out to another company'
DeleteObvious, but i wanted to correct it!!!
is this company statute by p&o because as you are not a member of the company this does not apply to you nor anyone else it is not law
ReplyDelete