 Posted 04 October 2008
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| I thought I would do the nice posting first ! As a seasoned Leger traveller and hopefully always singing their praises it now comes to the 'brick bat' session. Well Leger if you wanted to spoil the end of a trip for myself and several hundred other people from numerous tours you have succeeded big time ! For some reason (allegedly to do with the Channel Tunnel problems ?) Leger decided to do the interchange at Calais. No problem as such though it would have been nice to have been informed of this prior to arrival in Calais. I also have great sympathy for those who have long journeys home from Dover and a rapid exit from the port would be an advantage. But...I seriously question the logic and most certainly the site chosen ! Why choose a bleak inhospitable spot with filthy toilets, one decidedly dubious food kiosk, no shelter and nowhere to make any purchases of refreshments for those with long journeys. Namely 'Cheers' warehouse...nothing cheery about it ! A little birdie told me it was due to financial considerations...I leave readers to draw their own conclusions ! What a shame that Leger chose to turn their backs on another site which has numerous food kiosks, clean toilets, undercover seating, a wide range of purchases of all sorts and a 'toilet drop' for the coaches. Namely 'Pidoux'. I have been told by drivers they much prefer this site to others for all the reasons I have stated. Come on Leger.....lets hear your excuses. But do remember if it is for financial considerations your biggest financial asset is your customers so start looking after them again. Regretfully I heard a number of people saying they would not be booking with Leger again. You don't get a second chance at first impressions !!! A very frozen, damp and extremely annoyed.... RMA
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Posted 06 October 2008
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| Hi RMA, Good to hear from you on the forum again. I am glad you enjoyed the trip (for the most part). I think it is probably the favourite trip I have been on. Have you bought a concert ticket for November 11th in Ypres ? It must have been bad at the interchange for you to complain because as you say you usually are very complementary of Leger. My friend and me travelled to Bruges with Leger the day after the channel tunnel fire and they used 'Stop 24' near Ashford as the interchange point which worked really well. I am not sure why this is not continued ?! Changing at Calais does seem strange, I truely hate Cheers.
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Posted 06 October 2008
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| Hi Harmat Yes....VIP concert ticket bought as soon as the letter arrived. Looking forward to the trip very much although it will be very emotional I'm sure. I hope Leger can get themselves sorted out regarding the interchanges. It would be a great shame if they lost their reputation as one of the best. Look forward to seeing you on 11th of the 11th. RMA
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Posted 07 October 2008
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Hi - we always welcome input from all our clients, especially regular travellers.
As you know, I haven't guided a tour for some months due to my BBC projects, so I haven't experienced this yet.
However, it is due to the problems at the CT, and the big problem Leger faces is finding an alternative location to do the Interchange, especially when there are large number of coaches. It just can't be done anywhere, and some places are busier than others - which is why I suspect Cheers was chosen over the other place, where I don't think there is enough room to line up the coaches and do a proper Interchange. We used to have an area close to the CT where we did this, but I believe that can no longer be used.
I am sure the Leger office would appreciate your input via email or letter?
Looking forward to seeing you over Armistice period.
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Posted 07 October 2008
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| Hi Paul Thanks for your comments. I will be writing to Leger and air my views, and hopefully it will be received by Leger as constructive criticism. I know I am only one of many, many staunch Leger supporters and we all want Leger to remain at the top. RMA
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Posted 07 October 2008
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Hi RMA
Great to read your feedback and delighted you are a real advocate of Leger Holidays and have enjoyed many a tour with us.
Regarding your experience at "Cheers" I know you will appreciate that at the moment with the Channel Tunnel being out of commission and customs cracking down, the likely hood of coaches missing the ferry and delaying the interchange in Dover is very high. Every coach stops at cash 'n' carry on their return home because of customer demand. By operating the interchange at one of these areas we kill two birds with one stone. We Change the luggage over and offer the passengers an opportunity to move away from the interchange and purchase items at the shop.
There is no financial gain for conducting the interchange at "Cheers" and the decision to do this is done with the customer’s best interest in mind.
Following your observations specifically toilets, seating area and restaurant facilities we are investigating and reviewing the situation.
Once again many thanks and as I mentioned above your comments have been taken very seriously.
Best regards
Lisa Coulby
Head of Customer Care
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Posted 08 October 2008
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| On returning from the "Dunkirk and Fortress Europe" tour on September 26th. we were the last coach into Cheers, we did the fastest turnround ever by Leger..2 MINUTES!!!!! Brilliant!!!!!!!!!!!! The Ferry is 200% better than the tunnel, please Leger never use that awful tuneel ever again  Thanks for the best trip yet.....a veteran of many Leger tours. Ed.
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Posted 14 October 2008
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Just thought I would put my thoughts into the mix, after reading these posts I am a bit appreshive about my trip in November for the Armistice. My first WWI related leger trip with a ticket for the concert.
Being a veteran of leger trips and with my health and safety hat on  . I was vovolunteredo be risk assessor for my workplace. I would say that with the companies that use the Pidoux site other that leger it would not safe to carry out the interchange there for both the staff moving the cases or us as trtravelersor leger. Remember back to last year and publictiy around the belgian coach crash, that was 1 coachload I leave it to others to imgiane how the publicity would be if several coaches were invovled. At times the least worst option has to be taken this is not a defence of leger.
For your tomorrow we gave our today
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