CalMac Reviews 

Planned ferry out of service for maintenance however sold tickets in advance expecting it to return to service.
No fleet resilience - offered a 4pm sailing to Arran as opposed to 10am when a days activities planned and costs incurred. Ended up having to travel at 7am resulting in being shattered at the end of the night.

It's nothing to do with local staff or anything to do with the poor people who have to deal with the complaints online. It's the extremely poor service and communications that they provide to locals (as well as everyone else). The debacle over the Sound of Harris during the winter is truly atrocious. The replacement ferry takes fewer vehicles compared with the normal ferry and so they have put on fewer sailings! They have also made booking a nightmare as one minute everything is booked up for weeks in advance and then days later there are spaces. What the hell is going on!

Need a website that works off an android phone, three attempts at putting info to book in, registering account, etc....click to book and pay nothing happens and no it was not anything to do with Internet signal

The worst thing about the islands! The Ardrossan to Brodick ferry crossing is an utter disgrace. We drove 5 hours to Adrosan to get to Isle of Arran, and when we arrived I received an SMS that the ferry was cancelled. One hour before check-in. even the weather app on my phone showed that there would be strong winds the day before. Is it really that difficult to announce in time that the ferry will be cancelled? They didn't offer us a ferry for another day, refunded the money for the tickets and that's it, go and do what you want. We had booked a hotel for a couple of days on the isle of Arran, of course no one compensated for these losses.
We drove home again for 5 hours. Several hundred pounds thrown in the trash. I do not recommend to anyone.

Wow, very impressed with CalMac. Changed our travel plans slightly and rung on the offchance we could get a partial refund, although thought unlikely as short notice. Firstly they were answering phones on a Sunday evening, secondly, they agreed to the refund with no problem!

Great customer service. I had a two week break booked on Arran for over 6 months. As it got closer to the time, I had to call and make changes to the outward trip. Nothing was a problem and new paperwork was sent through promptly. Two weeks later whilst on Arran, a situation arose, and I needed to amend the return booking. I visited the CalMac office in Brodick and the staff could not have been more helpful. All in all, a shining example of how companies should provide customer service. Brilliant.

Want to say a BIG thank you to MALK. He was a great help. Made my life a lot better.
Grateful Mrs D x

Atholl Removals Perth travelled to the islands freight service booking is on this occaison Stornoway to Ullapool spoke to Jemma after calling the port 4 times and getting no responce and given up . She was not a good customer service agent and was when I was trying to book 2 small removals vans on their service to be told I could only book 1 as the other was not commercial .We have allways managed in the past to book on both vans . she simply said Im not going to argue with you and I only managed to book one van on and she put the phone down . No point on complaining as the manager was standing listening to the conversation . If only DR McLeod could operate a freight boat service because calmac are useless. 1st class Public money for a poor 2nd class service.

Travelled at short notice across to Islay from Kennacraig to Port Ellen.

Booking via Calmac website was straightforward.

All staff at mainland and island terminals were helpful and friendly. Vessels were clean and left on time. Food was tasty, drinks were hot.

Excellent ferry service.

What an absolute embarrassment of a company to Scottish tourists.
Due to sale from mallaig at 9.05 checked site stated the time and ship had changed to 9am no problem only 5 min of a difference.
Only to be told our ferry is cancelled and we are not getting on the one 5 min earlier to which I replied what a joke of a company to then have someone come out there office start ranting and raving at the back of me saying if I don’t leave they where calling the police.

Arrived at Oban to be told that the ferry had gone technical. Advised to drive to Lochaline (a two hour drive and two ferries away). As we arrived at Lochaline we checked the service status website to find that the ferry we were supposed to be on had left on time. Now sitting at Lochaline as the ferry is too small for the line of cars diverted from Oban and we can’t get on it. Having fun watching it sail away.

Very disappointed with the lack of contingency planning by Calmac. Our trip to Lewis was ruined and we were left £600 (accommodation) out of pocket when they cancelled our ferry due to Covid. Surely you have back up staff to ensure you meet your obligations?! Trying to rebook was chaotic and communication was poor, resulting in us losing our holiday. I have no confidence in booking again as there is no liability from Calmac for lost accommodation. Very poor experience.

I have never been spoken to like the way I was by a member of CalMac's staff at their Oban Terminal on the 11th of July 2022. Apparently having a booking and purchase order for travel is not enough to be allowed to board. I use CalMac on a weekly basis so to be told that I am a liar when I tried to explain to their representative that this has not been an issue on any other occasion in the last 20 years left me lost for words. I would dearly like to speak with a senior representative from Calmac to discuss the issue. I have tried contacting them by phone without success.

Had to cancel my trip due to operational issues - absolute joke of a company

First time using CalMac getting a car from Oban to Craignure then on foot from Fionnphort to Iona. Brilliant service and pleasant and friendly staff. Everything was straightforward.

We travelled from Norfolk to Ardrossan for the ferry to Arran its about 350miles. The indformation said check-in closes at 2.50pm also check in is at 2.50pm. We arrived an hour before departure, and were sent away for being too early, there is no where to easily park with a caravan, we then saw lots of cars arriving to the ferry we came back and the bays were queuing, a bit of common sense and good customer service would have been helpful, there was a place we could have parked to wait.

I have made 4 return journeys on CalMac over recent years, and have always thought that it was great. Makes me think it would be a good idea to nationalise the railways.

I have made a booking for a ferry journey-Ullapool- Stornaway. Unfortunately I put the wrong return date and had to contact the customer service. It was 8pm when I called and they could not have been more helpful. I had to call again today to amend the booking - a change of vehicle. I cannot praise the team enough. They are easy to speak to and to understand. Very polite and helpful. How lovely to get that kind of service in this day and age. Well done Calmac.

Travelled today on the Oban to Mull ferry. Cannot rate the service highly enough. We needed to amend the departure time of the return journey and the Customer Service rep was so helpful and friendly. Infact all the staff were. They actually smile at you!! Breakfast was excellent value and all areas of the ferry was very clean. Really enjoyed our day and cant wait to travel to the other Islands with Cal Mac.

We took the Ullapool to Stornoway and later the Tarbert to Uig ferries and found the whole experience very pleasant. The ferries are clean, have plenty of choice of seats and a nice cafe. Weather caused the cancellation of our first sailing and we received lots of notice and an invitation to reschedule, which was extremely helpful and enhanced the first day of our holiday!