Chile & Argentina

We were so excited that we managed to book the Ferry from Puerto Natales to Puerto Montt. Four days, 3 or four nights (we´re not sure). Slow travelling, they call it… we had some problems to book the tickets as the mobile page didn´t work, the telephones online were apparently wrong, and the nearest offices closed during the weekend. I´m becoming an expert in telephone terror, so I keep alternating Skype & mobile just in case. It was important for us to know exactly when we would arrive back in Puerto Montt to know until when we had to book our car. In the reservation, the arrival time as specified as following: Friday 00:00. In the brochure as Friday, and in another PDF, at 10:00 (no week day mentioned). Fortunately, e mail communication works well, and they answered our query and confirmed that we would arrive on Friday 10:00 – if the weather allowed it. We are in Patagonia after all, so…. that´s definitely a variable to bear in mind.

A couple of days later, I decided to write again, to confirm if the car was included. During the whole booking process, there was no option to book a car. In the brochure and webpage, it stated that the boat had X places for cars (sounded more than enough), so at that moment we assumed that in the price, one car would be included. In the end, it’s a Ferry, and not a cruise as they keep repeating in their advertisements. Micha laughed at the idea – why ask, you can´t book it in the webpage separately, there´s no extra information, no price listings… It´s obvious its included.

Just in case, I decided to write a polite email asking if under our reservation number “XXXXX” the car was included, and if it wasn´t how much it would cost. To our surprise, the car had to be booked apart, but it wasn´t possible to book it neither online nor in the offices, just through a salesperson. Let´s say that I wasn´t glad to be right, but that I was happy to have asked “just in case”. To close the reservation, we needed the car model, number plate and copy of the car registration. All of which we didn´t have at that moment. I must say, that our experience with sales/ info points are vary greatly. Mostly not very helpful, but not rude. In this case, the salesperson was extremely kind and “pre-booked” a spot, waiting for the info, and payment. No credit card, no paypal and no cash accepted. Just money transfer, and they have not heard of the IBAN or BIC in their lives.

To pay, I went to a Banco Santander, took a number out like at the fishmongers, and waited 1:45 for my turn. At least in could do the transaction, and write this blog entry :)Read more