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BC Ferries compensates 12 ticket-holders who were turned away Friday at Tsawwassen terminal

BC Ferries is apologizing for turning away 12 foot passengers with tickets Friday night as they tried to board the last ferry sailing out of Tsawwassen to Salt Spring and Pender Islands.

The dozen ticket-holders who walked away were given a refund, a food voucher and vouchers for future trips.

Cynthia Garrett had arrived by transit to catch Friday's last ferry to Salt Spring. Her husband and three kids were in a car waiting for the same sailing and the plan was to meet on board.

As Garrett waited to board with a large group of foot passengers and cyclists, officials approached them and announced they had oversold the sailing by 12 spots.

"We were really put on the spot. We're literally at the gate and then we're told, okay, 12 people have to not go," Garrett said.

"There was not much movement, people were pretty entrenched … It was getting tense."

Refund and vouchers offered

BC Ferries staff offered a refund, a $50 food voucher, plus vouchers for future trips to a dozen passengers who volunteered to give up their seat, said Garrett, but the offer was not extended to drivers.

"We were all on transit so we didn't have [options] other than transit to get back to where we had come from … That didn't seem to be much of an offer when you actually, in the moment, want to get to Salt Spring or Pender."

Transport Canada dictates the number of passengers that are permitted to board each sailing, depending on the type of vessel, BC Ferries spokeswoman Deborah Marshall told On The Coast's Gloria Macarenko Monday.

Marshall offered apologies on behalf of BC Ferries to customers who experienced long wait times this past weekend and to those passengers who were turned away Friday night.

Too little too late

In Garrett's case, the overage wasn't detected until it was too late. The 7 p.m. sailing to Victoria with a possible connection to Salt Spring had already left.

"Had we known, I would've happily taken that ferry and gone via Fulford to get to Salt Spring, but we didn't know that in time," said Garrett.

Eventually, after 12 people had voluntarily walked away, Garrett made her way onto the ferry and met up with her family. By 9 p.m. — a 90-minute delay from the scheduled departure — they left the Tsawwassen terminal.

"You never quite know, and we know that about travelling the Gulf Islands, but this is Friday of a long weekend, I guess one would hope they had some contingency plans."

With files from On The Coast