The Steamship Authority website was back up and running Thursday evening after being down for most of the opening day for coveted summer car reservations.
The Steamship Authority website was back up and running Thursday evening after being down for most of the opening day for coveted summer car reservations, sparking a flurry of emails and social media posts from stymied travelers looking to plan their summer trips to Martha’s Vineyard.
The website was operating normally at about 5 p.m. Thursday, according to SSA general manager Bob Davis.
Mr. Davis said high traffic was not the problem. "We've handled that volume in the past," he told the Gazette. "We believe it was a combination of a hardware issue as well as a setting issue...it was just a combination of items, it dragged the system down to a crawl."
Mr. Davis said the website goes down each night for a period of time for backup processing, and it appeared the website did not go back into operation as it should on Thursday morning. He said it became clear there was an issue early Thursday morning.
Reservations for nonresident boat trips between May 11 and Oct. 11 opened on Thursday online and through the mail. Facebook and Twitter were awash in comments from frustrated would-be travelers to the Island.
Mr. Davis said he and his staff heard from frustrated customers. "The technicians, the programmers, the consultants, everyone was working furiously. Unfortunately we didn't do a good job in terms of getting notices out to people. So that will be something to look into."
"The staff and reservation offices were dealing with quite a few calls," he added. "Part of it is people didn't know if it was their connection."
In an emailed statement, Mr. Davis apologized and thanked customers for their patience. Customers were encouraged to try to retry the booking process online.
The general manager said ferry service Thursday was affected as well because staff did not have access needed for vehicle ticketing, and at times tickets had to be written out instead of printed.
Comments
I just called them it was up
Chris L NJI just called them it was up but now site back down. Just crashed. Very frustrated. What a joke. They need new leadership. Been trying since Midnight (no exaggeration)
My goodness. Talk about a
Steve FalmouthMy goodness. Talk about a first world problem.
I thought the same thing. But
Jack M EdgartownI thought the same thing. But it IS frustrating as all hell!
My favorite part is all the
Ross MacPherson PlymptonMy favorite part is all the reminder emails for today’s reservation opening that I have been receiving over the last few weeks. This happens to some extent every year. Reminds me of when they launched the gift card program that said cards are good at all steamship locations. Except they were only usable at the terminal, not online, not in the parking lots and not at the snack bars. Mary Coffey personally updated me for a year (that’s how long it took) on all the progress they made with that program. I think they were afraid of being sued.
We have been vacationing on
Frustrated in CT ConnecticutWe have been vacationing on the island for several years . I started trying to book a reservation at midnight and continued until 2:30 this morning. I’ve tried throughout the day today as well, and still no reservation.
What an absolute disgrace that the website still isn’t runnng properly . The Steamship Authority obviously doesn’t care about their customers who pay a premium to vacation on the island . They know we are at their mercy if you want to bring a car on the island .What a stressful , beyond frustrating experience! This is the worst online booking experience I have ever had .
What a freaking mess! How
Julie Robinson BostonWhat a freaking mess! How about putting suspending the whole process two days, fix the IT problem, and let people make reservations then? We’re actually let the people they’re paying to answer the phones take reservations instead of telling everyone to call back in a week. So we don’t all have to sit glued to our computers and phones for hours on end while they try to figure it out!
They have a monopoly...nuf
KBStevens New YorkThey have a monopoly...nuf said.
Inexcusable for the terrible
Dennis HirschfelderInexcusable for the terrible communications SNAFU subsequent to the computer crash. A case study in how to create enormous ill will with a large customer base by not informing these customers early on and regularly what was happening...and in the process recognizing their angst and profusely apologizing for the enormous inconvenience the crash caused.
What a shocking mess! Wait a
Mike Reynolds Grand Blanc MichiganWhat a shocking mess! Wait a minute; it is not shocking at all. Where else are you able to go for this type of transportation? SSA has a captured audience. There is no urgency on their part that I can see.
Working like a charm at 4
H Chilmark & New YorkWorking like a charm at 4:40pm
Got in, it is up and running
Ray R MassGot in, it is up and running 4:50P
After spending 13 hours on
Sophie M. Chilmark, MAAfter spending 13 hours on the internet waiting, refreshing, watching the spin of death, I finally got a reservation, but so did everyone else. As I input the information, the website response was so slow that my ferry choices kept disappearing right before my eyes. After more than 150 logged phone attempts, and the many excruciating hours watching the website partially load and then crash, I got through to a phone operator. She was very nice and quite apologetic, but could nothing for me - until Jan 18th! "We can only take phone reservations starting January 18th. Keep trying." I would have saved time and unnecessary anxiety and stress by driving all the way to Woods Hole with a stamped envelope if I had known that the process would be such a mess - AGAIN! If they could not fulfill the promise of reservations online, then they should have had the courtesy to accept phone reservations.
Moses Smell the Roses
A Summer Person From KansasMoses Smell the Roses
It is wonderful to be in the central time zone logged on at 1050pm aka 1150 pm est 01.10.18
Had a paid confirm at 1055pm aka 1155pm est
See you all in June
The SSA is great as always, loves the guys at the ferry
See you all at john's seafood and lobster rolls at the Methodist church
I just received a call from
Mike Reynolds Grand Blanc MichiganI just received a call from personnel at the SSA. The gentleman apologized for the website issue and stated it was okay to make reservations, etc. I give them credit for calling and making things right.
I have a suggestion. The SA
Katama Bill KatamaI have a suggestion. The SA should go to 365 day advance reservation system. Then reservation volume would be consistent through the year.
It never fails that tech
SMU BostonIt never fails that tech breakdowns happen at the worst time. Perhaps the Steamship Authority would consider monthly windows for summer bookings so all June rez have a start booking date, all July rez start booking a month later, etc. At least it would mitigate the number of customers impacted if there were a system failure, and give the SSA a buffer to correct tech issues in real time.
It never fails that tech
SMU BostonIt never fails that tech breakdowns happen at the worst time. Perhaps the Steamship Authority would consider monthly windows for summer bookings so all June rez have a start booking date, all July rez start booking a month later, etc. At least it would mitigate the number of customers impacted if there were a system failure, and give the SSA a buffer to correct tech issues in real time.
How many person-years of time
MV SomervilleHow many person-years of time were lost today hitting reload? Conservatively, tens of thousands of hours lost collectively, perhaps hundreds of thousands. If everyone had a similar experience to people here, it's possible about a little under a human lifetime was wasted collectively.
Finally got a reservation after 17 hours of trying. Started at midnight and put in 2.5 hours. Slept on couch and set alarm for 4:15. Put in another 1.5 hours. Slept until 7:30. Tried calling but the phone lines were also down. Put in 1.5 hours before going to work. Tried intermittent through the morning. Spent all of lunch trying. Tried a few times in the afternoon before getting the red screen warning with the first communication from SSA. Finally got in a little after 5 pm on tiny phone screen. 17 hours, with about 6-7 hours of active trying.
All this because someone doesn't care to understand websites circa 2005. This isn't SuperBowl traffic. It's a completely predictable demand spike of a few thousand people that could be handled by any number of flexible web hosting providers. Google "how not to have your website crash" and you'll find any number of reasonable solutions.
This isn't some charming little quirk of island vacations like camping out for concert tickets. It's a completely avoidable waste of time.
Laughing at all the ”summah
John Mort Atwood CircleLaughing at all the ”summah ginks” whining about a website crash. Get over it people. You’ll still get to MV this summer.
To me this annual race to get
Greg Stevens Darien, CTTo me this annual race to get tickets is the best. It’s always a bit of jungle ball. I don’t want perfect on the vineyard. Far from it. So yeah, I cashed in 8 hours, but I got my tickets, and I felt great! Weeeee!
Finally booked the ferry just
Mary ConnecticutFinally booked the ferry just after 9:00 pm after trying periodically all day Thursday. Able to get the outbound time I wanted but the all the return trips for the day I wanted were unavailable. Went into the site this morning and the day and time for the return trip were now available. Just a heads up to others if you didn't check today.
Give the SSA a break! It was
LindaS BostonGive the SSA a break! It was unfortunate timing of their system failure, but stuff happens. Hopefully they will learn from this for next year. As someone else said, "first world problem"...frustrating - yes, but still well worth the trouble to spend a wonderful week on the Vineyard.
NO EXCUSE for terrible
Lucille PennsylvaniaNO EXCUSE for terrible planning or caring about those who need to use this service. An entire night and day wasted by all three members of my family trying to ake reservations. This was worst ever and I have been coming to Vineyard for 35 plus years. Could have easily at least had call center make reservations rather than wait til the 18th. They KNOW they will be inundated as soon as reservations are opened and have never tried to find a BETTER Way. Disgusting
Do what we did. Move here!
Local MVDo what we did. Move here! You can book early and often. Of course once Summer rolls around you can't get off the island without experiencing much worse frustration since there really are no openings at all. I will say that I was delighted to book my choice times in August on Monday with no system problems. And my experience with the staff and management at the ferry has always been a delight! Perhaps it is time many of you find a more convenient summer destination! I cannot for the life of me understand what brings the peak crowds...we locals go into hiding and groan when we have to face the crowds of unhappy stressed out vacationers.
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