Soldato
- Joined
- 18 Oct 2002
- Posts
- 5,586
- Location
- Stone, Staffordshire
Just wanted to make a post to say what a great company P&O are / were to us.
My mum passed away at the end of February from cancer and we'd thankfully talked about arrangements before she died.
Her final wish was for her ashes to be scattered on the Hull to Zeebrugge ferry where she use to regularly take her school kids over belgium (she was a special needs teacher)
We arranged for my wife, myself, my mums partner and my mums best friend to go for a weekend trip. One of mums other friends was a mariner and advised that if we scattered the ashes from the boat we could be fined and large amount!
In order to avoid any kind of conflict I emailed p&o to clarify (they had already said we could "travel" with the ashes). We got an auto responder back saying that they would reply within 48hrs as they were busy and as this would be the day before we travelled I asked my wife to contact them.
After speaking to a customer services member of staff my wife was given a number and told to call to discuss what she wanted to do. The CS person appeared to be french and didn't quite grasp what "ashes" were!
My wife spoke a chap called Simon, who despite a stutter, was quite a chatterbox! He advised that we would have course be able to scatter the ashes, it would be incredibly insensitive of a company to decline such a request! Phew!
Needless to say the following day we got an e-mail reply to our initial enquiry which said that we COULDN'T scatter the ashes from the boat!
My wife again called Simon who again confirmed we could and that he had contacted the ship and we were to present ourselves to reception upon boarding and they would arrange a time for us to scatter the ashes. My wife being the thorough person she is asked for an email confirmation to be sent through incase the crew didn't get the communication. The email arrived about 20 mins later confirming that we were ok to scatter the ashes and even included a convesation that Simon had had with the captain of the Ferry.
Upon boarding the ship my wife presented herself as agreed whilst I got the settled in our cabin. At the recepition she was told "we've been expecting you" and was escorted into the back of the office to speak with the ships general manager. He explained that at about 9.30 we should go to the reception where we would be met by the captain who would come with us to scatter the ashes! Wasn't expecting that! 9.30 was a time when we would have navigated the humber and be out into the North Sea.
At 9.30 as dusk occured we went to the reception and where met by the captain. Suprisingly he introduced himself to us and then introduced other members of the P&O crew who would also come along, this was the 1st officer, the general ship manager and the reception manager! He advised that the second office was on the bridge and he would instruct him to slow the ship down for us to perform the scattering. To say we where gobsmacked would be an understatement!
We where taken to a lower deck which the general public don't have access to and they cleared all the passangers from the nearby decks. The boat slowed down as promised and the 1st officer checked the wind direction before indicating where we should scatter the ashes.
We had 2 urns and so firstly my wife and I released our urn, the ashes came out in a nice steady stream before hiting the sea. We said a few words and blew a kiss for those who couldn't be there (my sister for instance). Her partner and best friend did the 2nd urn in the same perfect way. Finally my wife threw a punch of pink roses (mums favourite) into the sea. All the while the captain and his 3 crew stood by, heads bowed.
After a hug and a few tears we thanked the captain and his crew before retiring back inside. The captain advised that they would provide us with a print out of where my mums ashes where scattered, including time and date.
I've attached the scanned letter here and the real purpose of this thread is a thank you to P&O. People often post when things go wrong but it's also important to recognise when companies do a good job. Oh and to complete the story Simon it turns out is the Head of Safety for P&O!
www.the-pier.co.uk/ocuk/File0001.PDF
My mum passed away at the end of February from cancer and we'd thankfully talked about arrangements before she died.
Her final wish was for her ashes to be scattered on the Hull to Zeebrugge ferry where she use to regularly take her school kids over belgium (she was a special needs teacher)
We arranged for my wife, myself, my mums partner and my mums best friend to go for a weekend trip. One of mums other friends was a mariner and advised that if we scattered the ashes from the boat we could be fined and large amount!
In order to avoid any kind of conflict I emailed p&o to clarify (they had already said we could "travel" with the ashes). We got an auto responder back saying that they would reply within 48hrs as they were busy and as this would be the day before we travelled I asked my wife to contact them.
After speaking to a customer services member of staff my wife was given a number and told to call to discuss what she wanted to do. The CS person appeared to be french and didn't quite grasp what "ashes" were!
My wife spoke a chap called Simon, who despite a stutter, was quite a chatterbox! He advised that we would have course be able to scatter the ashes, it would be incredibly insensitive of a company to decline such a request! Phew!
Needless to say the following day we got an e-mail reply to our initial enquiry which said that we COULDN'T scatter the ashes from the boat!
My wife again called Simon who again confirmed we could and that he had contacted the ship and we were to present ourselves to reception upon boarding and they would arrange a time for us to scatter the ashes. My wife being the thorough person she is asked for an email confirmation to be sent through incase the crew didn't get the communication. The email arrived about 20 mins later confirming that we were ok to scatter the ashes and even included a convesation that Simon had had with the captain of the Ferry.
Upon boarding the ship my wife presented herself as agreed whilst I got the settled in our cabin. At the recepition she was told "we've been expecting you" and was escorted into the back of the office to speak with the ships general manager. He explained that at about 9.30 we should go to the reception where we would be met by the captain who would come with us to scatter the ashes!
Wasn't expecting that! 9.30 was a time when we would have navigated the humber and be out into the North Sea.At 9.30 as dusk occured we went to the reception and where met by the captain. Suprisingly he introduced himself to us and then introduced other members of the P&O crew who would also come along, this was the 1st officer, the general ship manager and the reception manager! He advised that the second office was on the bridge and he would instruct him to slow the ship down for us to perform the scattering. To say we where gobsmacked would be an understatement!
We where taken to a lower deck which the general public don't have access to and they cleared all the passangers from the nearby decks. The boat slowed down as promised and the 1st officer checked the wind direction before indicating where we should scatter the ashes.
We had 2 urns and so firstly my wife and I released our urn, the ashes came out in a nice steady stream before hiting the sea. We said a few words and blew a kiss for those who couldn't be there (my sister for instance). Her partner and best friend did the 2nd urn in the same perfect way. Finally my wife threw a punch of pink roses (mums favourite) into the sea. All the while the captain and his 3 crew stood by, heads bowed.
After a hug and a few tears we thanked the captain and his crew before retiring back inside. The captain advised that they would provide us with a print out of where my mums ashes where scattered, including time and date.
I've attached the scanned letter here and the real purpose of this thread is a thank you to P&O. People often post when things go wrong but it's also important to recognise when companies do a good job. Oh and to complete the story Simon it turns out is the Head of Safety for P&O!
www.the-pier.co.uk/ocuk/File0001.PDF
