Further to my last blog here is an update on the situation at The Cliffs of Moher. We were very busy this Saturday and were both working which we were delighted about and just to cheer us up further we received another 2 parking tickets ! (one each). Today I have been on tour and even though my passengers boarded at the Cliffs in 1.5 minutes (thank you all !!) I still received another ticket making my collection total 5 now.
We are obviously in regular contact with our fellow day tour operators on the situation and on both days during the weekend NONE OF THEM received a ticket - only us but then they don't write blogs, coincidence??? - of course it is !
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
01.08.07 – Tales from the frontline!
It has been a while since my last blog and I was intending to write chapter 2 of my “History of Barratt Tours but the events of this weekend have changed my mind a little – so the next one will be chapter 2 – I promise.
Some of you may be aware of the ongoing problems that we have been having at The Cliffs of Moher but for those of you aren’t here is a re-cap. The new visitor centre at The Cliffs opened on the 8th February this year in a blaze of publicity by Bertie Ahearne. What did not receive quite so much publicity was the protest by 50 coaches and operators at the new parking charges – sorry, “ facilities charges” being levied on visiting coaches these are as follows:
For up to 15 passengers – Eu25.00
For up to 39 passengers – Eu50.00
And over 39 – Eu60.00
These prices do not include any admission fees.
We were and are very much opposed to this outrageous price structure and together with the majority of our fellow day tour operators took the decision not to support the visitor centre in every way possible – so we have had to resort to picking up and setting down customers at the roadside and parking elsewhere.
It has been reported by certain parties that we are doing this as a result of a lack of care for our customers but nothing could be further from the truth. The sole motivation for this action has been to protect our customers from the inevitable price increase that would result from paying the charges. Also we have had no price increase in our day tour prices for 6 years now and we have managed to absorb fuel and insurance increases but this level of pricing is just unsustainable.
This weekend Clare County Council has taken the action of employing a traffic warden to hand out tickets to all operators picking up and setting down outside the visitor centre and we have now collected 3 of these. We seriously doubt the legality of these as we have yet to park and are only picking up and setting down for a maximum of 2 minutes at a time but this point will be tested very soon.
We will continue to fight our cause and can assure those concerned that the “bully boy” tactics currently being employed has only served to strengthen our resolve as we believe totally in what we are doing and will never be forced to pay for something that we were never consulted about in the first place.
On a personal level the stress that this situation has caused me and Christine lately has been huge and when combined with the daily worries of running our tours and in particular the number of roadworks in Clare lately has made for a rather uneasy season but hopefully this has not had any effect on our customers enjoyment of our tours.
We will keep you posted of developments as they happen but thanks to those of you that have travelled with us for your kind words of support – they really do make our struggle seem worthwhile.
Some of you may be aware of the ongoing problems that we have been having at The Cliffs of Moher but for those of you aren’t here is a re-cap. The new visitor centre at The Cliffs opened on the 8th February this year in a blaze of publicity by Bertie Ahearne. What did not receive quite so much publicity was the protest by 50 coaches and operators at the new parking charges – sorry, “ facilities charges” being levied on visiting coaches these are as follows:
For up to 15 passengers – Eu25.00
For up to 39 passengers – Eu50.00
And over 39 – Eu60.00
These prices do not include any admission fees.
We were and are very much opposed to this outrageous price structure and together with the majority of our fellow day tour operators took the decision not to support the visitor centre in every way possible – so we have had to resort to picking up and setting down customers at the roadside and parking elsewhere.
It has been reported by certain parties that we are doing this as a result of a lack of care for our customers but nothing could be further from the truth. The sole motivation for this action has been to protect our customers from the inevitable price increase that would result from paying the charges. Also we have had no price increase in our day tour prices for 6 years now and we have managed to absorb fuel and insurance increases but this level of pricing is just unsustainable.
This weekend Clare County Council has taken the action of employing a traffic warden to hand out tickets to all operators picking up and setting down outside the visitor centre and we have now collected 3 of these. We seriously doubt the legality of these as we have yet to park and are only picking up and setting down for a maximum of 2 minutes at a time but this point will be tested very soon.
We will continue to fight our cause and can assure those concerned that the “bully boy” tactics currently being employed has only served to strengthen our resolve as we believe totally in what we are doing and will never be forced to pay for something that we were never consulted about in the first place.
On a personal level the stress that this situation has caused me and Christine lately has been huge and when combined with the daily worries of running our tours and in particular the number of roadworks in Clare lately has made for a rather uneasy season but hopefully this has not had any effect on our customers enjoyment of our tours.
We will keep you posted of developments as they happen but thanks to those of you that have travelled with us for your kind words of support – they really do make our struggle seem worthwhile.
25.04.07 – 10 years and counting!
To inspire me for my first blog I have decided to have a brief look back over the last 10 years and for those of you that don’t know us tell you a little bit about me and Christine.
Strangely the best place to start talking about Barratt Tours is to go back 12 years to a young couple from North East England holidaying in Ireland called Richard & Christine Barratt–Atkin. Richard was quite a successful area sales manager for a large European truck company with expense account and company car but no time and Christine was a very gifted but woefully underpaid and appreciated florist. They had a wonderful week in Ireland and were enjoying a few (too many!) drinks and a fantastic Irish meal in Kilkenny City on their last night. The conversation over dinner strayed to how they would love to move to Ireland one day but couldn’t think of how. They thought it would be great to use some of their skills to show people the Ireland that they fell in love with and all of a sudden it came to Richard – why not offer coach tours ( he loved old buses and romantic visions of Ireland in a magnificent old AEC swam round his already swimming head). Chris, being the sensible one said “yeah great but how” and it was generally decided that it was a daft idea.
Almost a year later Richard was visiting one of his clients who is now a good friend (hi Collin!) who dealt in old buses when he fell in love – with a bus. There stood a magnificent 1975 Bristol which would be ideal for touring Ireland – small yet classy and comfortable. Over dinner Richard announced that he had found a bus that would be ideal for Ireland and they could have a look at the weekend. It would be fair to say Chris was not all that struck by the bus but to cut what is already a long story short a deal was done. Over the next few months every weekend was spent restoring and improving Bertie (as he was then known) to tip top condition.
In 1997 our couple went to Ireland again dreaming but looking for opportunities for Business and during that visit they went to Limerick City for a couple of nights, they looked at coach tours in the City and found only one company – was there room for competition? They also strayed into an Estate Agent (or Auctioneer or Realtor to some of you) browsing at houses and then they saw it – a house with enough land to park Bertie at an affordable price so they took a look and fell in love (again!).
Within 6 months a deal was struck and the house in England sold so the scene was now set for the adventure to begin.
If you would like to know what happened next keep an eye on this space and as you have gathered our heroes are myself and Christine the owners and operators of Barratt Tours.
I will add some more topical blogs as they come along but I quite like the history of Barratt Tours idea – what do you think? – let me know!
Strangely the best place to start talking about Barratt Tours is to go back 12 years to a young couple from North East England holidaying in Ireland called Richard & Christine Barratt–Atkin. Richard was quite a successful area sales manager for a large European truck company with expense account and company car but no time and Christine was a very gifted but woefully underpaid and appreciated florist. They had a wonderful week in Ireland and were enjoying a few (too many!) drinks and a fantastic Irish meal in Kilkenny City on their last night. The conversation over dinner strayed to how they would love to move to Ireland one day but couldn’t think of how. They thought it would be great to use some of their skills to show people the Ireland that they fell in love with and all of a sudden it came to Richard – why not offer coach tours ( he loved old buses and romantic visions of Ireland in a magnificent old AEC swam round his already swimming head). Chris, being the sensible one said “yeah great but how” and it was generally decided that it was a daft idea.
Almost a year later Richard was visiting one of his clients who is now a good friend (hi Collin!) who dealt in old buses when he fell in love – with a bus. There stood a magnificent 1975 Bristol which would be ideal for touring Ireland – small yet classy and comfortable. Over dinner Richard announced that he had found a bus that would be ideal for Ireland and they could have a look at the weekend. It would be fair to say Chris was not all that struck by the bus but to cut what is already a long story short a deal was done. Over the next few months every weekend was spent restoring and improving Bertie (as he was then known) to tip top condition.
In 1997 our couple went to Ireland again dreaming but looking for opportunities for Business and during that visit they went to Limerick City for a couple of nights, they looked at coach tours in the City and found only one company – was there room for competition? They also strayed into an Estate Agent (or Auctioneer or Realtor to some of you) browsing at houses and then they saw it – a house with enough land to park Bertie at an affordable price so they took a look and fell in love (again!).
Within 6 months a deal was struck and the house in England sold so the scene was now set for the adventure to begin.
If you would like to know what happened next keep an eye on this space and as you have gathered our heroes are myself and Christine the owners and operators of Barratt Tours.
I will add some more topical blogs as they come along but I quite like the history of Barratt Tours idea – what do you think? – let me know!
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