WightLink have a wide range of customer service support for new and old customers. They have a help desk at every pier, a very helpful website with all kind of information about the business, there are free time tables on the piers, leaflets with all the services they provide, and also an email which customers can contact for any information.
WightLink has been open since 1796, and has been expanding every year to having 72,000 ferries crossing the Solent from Portsmouth to Ryde per year. People who live on the Isle of Wight use this service because it is one of the few ways to travel from the island to the mainland. Red Funnel also offers ferries to the mainland, but they are more expensive and are really for people who are travelling with a vehicle. Recently the island also have hovercrafts sailing between Southsea and Ryde, but people still use Wightlink Fast Cat because they have up to 1 ferry every 30 minutes, and have a train at both Ryde pier and Portsmouth pier, which is convenient for people who are travelling to far distances.
Wight Link Ferries is the biggest ferry service on the island and is used the most, it has 3 different places to travel to from the island to the mainland, and these are:
Portsmouth Harbour → Ryde Pier Head
Portsmouth Gunwharf car ferry → Fishbourne Car Ferry
Lymington Car Ferry → Yarmouth Car Ferry
Wight Link Ferries is used by most people who live on the island for the following reasons:
- Cheaper for return ticket from the island, this is so residents on the island do not have to pay the same price as tourists.
- There is a ferry every 30 minutes crossing between the island and the Solent at peak season and one every hour in normal season.
- Wight Link has also got a very easy transport system to get to and leave the pier or terminal, there is a train station in both Ryde and Portsmouth pier and terminal, and there is a bus station in Ryde that’s just 5 minutes away from the pier, and a bus station just outside the Portsmouth terminal which has buses going all round England.
- Wight Link does not charge people if they have booked their ferry then missed it.
- Very reliable timings.
- Many ferry timetables, which are easy to get.
- Wight Link also sponsors the local Ice Hockey team, which makes them better known by people who watch the Raiders ice hockey team.
- It is free of charge to take children under 5 years old, and bicycles and pets.
- Wight Link is one of the only ways to get to the island
Wight Link Ferries is also used by tourists a lot because of the following reasons:
- All the terminals and piers are not far away from every thing for example, Ryde pier is near all the Ryde shops, and has a bowling alley and ice rink just beside it, so it is an ideal choice for tourists.
- Wight Link sponsors the local ice hockey team, so tourists who go to watch them or skate in their ice rink will see their leaflets and logo everywhere.
- All Wight Link terminals and ferries have connections; most of them have a train station besides them, or a bus station.
- All Wight Link ferries are close to all there cities/towns main attractions, e.g. Portsmouth terminal is close to the millennium tower.
- Wight Link is one of the only ways to get to the island
Wight` Link is located in 6 places on the Solent, Portsmouth Harbour, Ryde Pier Head, Portsmouth Gunwharf, Fishbourne, Lymington and Yarmouth.
All there locations are a very powerful attraction; because they’re very easy to get to, and have many different services near them for example shopping centres and tourist attractions such as bowling alleys, arcades and ice rinks. Because of this people use them even for day trips, as they do not need to pay any money to travel apart from the cost of the ferry ticket. Wight Link is a local company, but people come from all over the world and use their service.
WightLink has many types of customer support services, these are:
Help Desk:
WightLink have a help desk at every ferry terminal, these help desks provide all information needed about the ferries departures and arrivals, and have information about what services they provide, and what is on offer, and general information about the ferry (e.g. disabled information).
Leaflets:
WightLink have leaflets that are always on offer to all customers. These have all the services they are offering, and special offers they might have that month, as well as the ferry times.
Website
WightLink have a very useful website that has many services available, some of these are:
- Time tables
- Fares
- Online booking
- Holiday planning
- Special offers
- Page that shows all routes
- Online help
- Fast cat information
- Island travel help
- Weather forecast for the island
- General information
- Disabled information
- Maps and ports
- Parking information
- Events information
- Business history information
- Email to contact WightLink
- Special offers
Here is the index page of the website:
Posters etc.
WightLink have many posters that display their services, information and special offers to customers.
WightLink communicate with their customers in many ways, through posters, adverts on ferries, and speaking to their customers through adverts and speakers in the terminals and on the ferries while travelling. WightLink know their customers’ response because they have surveys to measure customer satisfaction.
Wightlink measure their customer support by taking their customers opinion, they do this in many ways:
- Surveys: Wightlink staff get there customers opinion about the business by asking there customers, by random, what they think of the business and what improvements can be made by using a questionnaire or survey. This will measure the customers satisfaction and give Wightlink ideas on how to improve there service to there customers so they can be more satisfied with the business.
- Phone: Wightlink always supply there customers with there help desk phone number, this is so if there is any problems, complaints or just general inquires the customer can easily find there contact information. Using this Wightlink can find out what the main problems the customers find with Wightlink so they could fix them, for example somebody might complain that the times are inconvenient with the bus times.
- Complaints: Wightlink accept complaints from customers, in their customer support desk they have complaint sheets that customers can fill in to make any complaints or comments about their service. Wightlink review these and try to correct or improve their service to make it more convenient for there customers.
