Woman fights BC Ferries over prepaid fare

A Vancouver Island woman is outraged that BC Ferries is refusing to honourmore than $700 in prepaidferry passage that she didn't use.

Frances Murray of Nanaimo bought 10 assured loading tickets in 2008, which were loaded onto her BC Ferries prepaid debit card.

The premium tickets are for passage between southern Vancouver Island and the mainland and assure boardingwithout having to makea reservation.

A condition of sale is that the passage must be used within two years.

'If I tried to pull this on one of my clients, I'd be sued.' Frances Murray

Murray's card expired at the end of June with $737.10 worth of credit still on it.

Although she knew of the time restriction, she said she did not know that the credit would vanish when the card expired.

The ferry corporation will neither refund Murray's money nor allow her to make up the difference between her old balance and the cost of new assured loading tickets, which cost more than Murray paid due to fare increases since 2008.

"I had no idea that BC Ferries would be able to simply take that money from me," said Murray. "It's just outrageous."

BC Ferries said it sent email notices to customers last fall, offering them the chance to make up the difference between the old and new fares, according to spokeswoman Deborah Marshall.

Murray, who owns a marketing firm, said she did not receive the email.

"Customers do agree to the terms and conditions of the product before they purchase it," said Marshall. "Unfortunately, [the card] has expired and she will not be receiving a refund."

Murray said the terms and conditions on the company's website do not say that if customers do nothing, they will not get a refund.

"If I tried to pull this on one of my clients, I'd be sued," Murray said.

Murray said she was considering taking legal action against the ferry corporation.