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.
This article appears in January 12, 2018.
Thanks for the info. No email response by Authority
At the very least we should told what is going on and when we can expect service to resume. They should bring in phone operators to handle reservations until they are back up and running. Appalling lack of info.
I couldn’t agree more. Where was the preparation and proper backup? This is not their first rodeo and they should have been prepared. This ultimately comes down to poor crisis management and a lack of communication. After trying tirelessly into the wee hours of the morning to book my reservation I decided to take to the phone as soon as the opened this morning, It took me 143 attempts to get through only to be told that they couldn’t take phone reservations until Jan. 18th. Perhaps due to their systems error they couldn’t take phone orders, but this should have been an all hands on deck response to at least get proper messaging out. Customer service matters. They need to do better.
When you’re the only game in town, there’s no incentive, really.
I have to thank the Steamship Authority for personally reaching out to me in response to my comment. I truly appreciate that they are making the effort to reach out to their customers and listen because that is the only way that you can effectuate change. I’m sure some tough lessons were learned today, but hopefully some necessary changes will be made. Thank you.
If you spent some time to understand the system you would have realized phone orders for off islanders are not scheduled until the 18th. Could have saved yourself 143 phone attempts!
Same experience. Thoughtful gesture.
Thank you Steamship Authortiy for calling me and telling me when they were back up and running! My faith is restored and my annual ferry passage booked!
Thank you. I am fully aware that phone reservations do not begin until 1/18, however in light of the online issues that I was having I decided to call. Furthermore, you were directed on the website that if you were having difficulty booking your reservation to contact them directly.
Site is still down and no one is answering the phones at Steamship Authority. It’s a shame they don’t value their customers more.
It’s a monopoly, they don’t need to value their customers
Could not access the site until an hour ago and all my dates were gone.
It’s been up, but very slow, since about noon.
After trying all day, I was finally able to book. While still very slow, it is up and working.
Wow, you must have special powers! I have been trying since six AM!
Steamship happens.
The helpful operators told me to go to the website to make a summer reservation!
They have had problems for years and honestly, with the money they must make, this website should be improved and working. No excuses!!!
My entire family is very Frustrated!
I totally agree! We all look forward to a magical time on the Island only dreading the stressful process of booking the Ferry every time! I’ve spoken with managers at the Steamship Authority year after year and they always agree that they have a problem to resolve.Bottom line for me,I was on their website from 1:00 AM through 9:30 AM ,9 hours straight and finally gave up from exhaustion and deep frustration. I finally got through on the phone only to be told to keep on trying! This is truly one of the most abusive experiences I’ve ever experienced and I still don’t have a Ferry after all my effort!
I would suggest putting info on website and phone system informing folks to what’s happening. That seems only reasonable. Extremely poor service
WHY do they open all of summer on one day anyway? Why not stagger it so that so many people aren’t trying to use it at the same time? This is ridiculous. This is their biggest booking day of year and they flubbed it. Amateur hour.
A very cordial woman at the main office said at 1 p.m. Eastern that they hoped to have it fixed “by the end of the day.”
I got an operator and they would not take my reservation. Hmm I guess as a monopoly they get to do what they want. I think there should be an investigation and possibly a break up the monopoly cause it is not working for consumers.
I don’t think they can access the website either.
Phone orders are not being taken until the 18th. Up all night to get a boat to the Vineyard, classic first world problem! Wait a few days, get a reservation somewhere near when you want to come and then go online everyday until something opens up. That’s what islanders do in the summer after people from away take up all the reservations making it nearly impossible for us to go off island for doctor’s appointments, family gatherings, etc.
I agree, an investigation is warranted. There needs to be modifications made to the existing system.
Looks like its time to outsource your IT to the cloud – burstable compute for times like these with SLA’s built in.
I’m quite upset. I started trying to make my reservation at 12:05 AM. I stayed on until 1:30 AM to no avail. I set my clock for 7:30 AM. I’ve been online ever since. I used my ipad, laptop, and phone, trying to get in. Finally, it appeared that my reservation finally went through. I saw the reservation. They asked for my credit card. I gave the information needed; however, the computer froze. Then after several minutes, it appeared as if it went through. I’m now trying to confirm if my reservation has been confirmed. I’ve been going up to the Vineyard for over 20 years and this is the first time that I’ve had this kind of issue. I’ve called and called as well. All lines are busy. I am totally stressed out!!! Please advise me of my reservation. Thank you.
Me too! This is AWFUL!!!! I just don’t understand how they could have such problems when they KNOW what the issues are. At this point, I believe they’ve just taken the phones of the hook at SSA.
Stayed up til midnight to try to be one of the first…. kept getting errors and no connects. Finally went to bed at 12:45. Up early to try again and to no avail. Too bad this couldn’t be smoother (and maybe a secure save cc info for each transaction?!)
This is incredibly frustrating. I have literally been sitting at my computer all day trying to deal with this. You would think that in 2018, this could be managed in a far better way. I am surprised that there are not overseas bots who can buy up all the tickets and resell them, like concert tickets. I would pay a premium to avoid this headache, for sure!
Open up the phone lines NOW instead of waiting until 1/18/18, to allow people to book reservations due to the website being down! This is ridiculous!
I still can’t get on, and have been trying since 7am. Very frustrating.
This has been the case for as long as I can remember. The fact this is even a new article is hilarious when its well known this site crashes every year at this time. EVERY. SINGLE. YEAR.
I have been on the website for over 6 hours, finally got in, all the way to payment section –> put payment info in and it said “reservations down try back in a couple minutes”–> reentered credit card info probably 50 times–> sadly website went down and need to start all over I am very disappointed. Wasting a day on reservations in making me reconsider vacationing on Martha’s vineyard in the future
How could SA not be prepared for first day of online bookings?! Rediculous.
Was up before the sun to get my reservation, could not for the life of me book 2 ferry trips. In this day and age is that too much to ask for? Almost 12 hours of phoning and trying to book on line still nothing! One would think SSA would come up with a different system or at the very least a back-up plan! One suggestion is to open up spring and summer reservations month by month instead of opening up the flood gates. One thing I know, I will need a vacation after this!
Clearly there was no effective load testing performed before the big day. Not good folks.
If they were a business they would be out of business.
How do you know Spring’s just around the corner? Red Sox truck leaving for Fort Meyers? Nope. It’s the hardy perennial cluster mess in Mashpee SSA.
Every year “Authority” customers logon to book reservations on opening day. And every year the SSA seem surprised that their “system” freezes, ceases and dumps me out before I can make a reservation. I called Bob Davis (not in), I called IT Director Mary Coffley (voice mail), I transferred to the extension her voice mail recommended (no answer, not even VM), I called Reservation Director Gina Barbosa. Gina actually answer and was cordial. Turns out we were from same town both born in the same hospital. Still couldn’t make res over phone. We were up at midnite. After 12 noon my wife finally managed 2 reservations. I’m still stuck trying to book for daughter.
Called again for Bob Davis (still unavail), asked his very nice secretary to hand Bob a message: I grew up with, and spent a lot of time with, a guy who could build them a better website. What’s his name she asked. I’ll spell it I said: F. R. E. D. F. L. I. N. T. S. T. O. N. E.
FYI Bob and Mary Coffley: It’s going to be busy next year on “Opening Day’. It would help me a lot if you’ll be open.
I’ll bet it was something as stupid as the system was set to kick in at 12:01 PM instead of 12:01 AM ! Next time hire someone other than the reservation system equivalent of CGI Federal.
UPDATE: Bob Davis actually called be back about 6PM. I have to give him credit for doing so given the day they obviously had there. He was professional and appropriately appoligetic. I asked him if he wanted my man Fred Flintstone come in and do there system. I do not think he found that funny. He said it turned out to be a hardware problem. I told him that I’ve only been going to MV since 1977 and expressed how aggravating it was for all of us out here, etc … and asked if they tested the system before they went live and I believe he said they did 2 weeks ago. He said it was just really bad timing. I said seems to happene every year but this was the worst yet. At least the guy called me back.
At least it wasn’t a boat that crashed.
This is Massachusetts of course the web site crashes. The person that was suppose to fix it proudly called in sick today. And no one else knew how to fix it
I called in December just to find out when to stay up till midnight and get this done. Tried at midnight, tried at 7:00 am, been trying all day. Steamship Authority needs a serious upgrade, it’s too big an operation to have minor league tech. They do a great job on the ground, they need to advance on the other stuff. Also, Vineyard owners need to consider alternative rental agreements to spread out the demand.
Have been trying consistently to make a reservation since 4am. Unfortunately, I expect that when I do have an opportunity to make a reservation, there won’t be any available spots since capacity seems to also be an issue. There has to be a better way. An update via e-mail or on the website would be helpful.
Remember , the SSA doesn’t have any competiton so why be surprised @ their annual incompetence?? They don’t care obviously..
SSA has the monopoly on car reservations so why should they ever change things. People will just put up with the system because we really have no other choice. And don’t get me started on reserving a place to stay on the vineyard – another failng system!
PSA: the website finally posted a message about an “expected problem that” blah blah blah. HA. You can call them now but will probably get a “all circuits are busy” message…. no kidding.
Hey Steamship Authority Terminal Steamship Authority Woods Hole Steamship Authority dock HOW ABOUT hiring more people for two weeks? Opening an automatic reservation telephone line ONLY in addition? THEN breaking up reservations from May -July, August – October for certain dates???? Ijs.. but what do I know??
When the cab industry ignored customer experience Uber took over. You’re asking for disruption, Steamship Authority.
I too have been on line one and off since midnight eastern standard time. I have gotten to the boat selection page maybe 15 or 20 times and are then kicked off waiting to pay. I get that things go down… but then they should let us know and if it is going to be a while then say “It will not be back on line until at least whenever…” so we can get about our business for a while and not sit here hoping to get our families on and off when houses are rented and Inn rooms are reserved.
I 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 first world problem.
I thought the same thing. But it IS frustrating as all hell!
My 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 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 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 said.
Inexcusable 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 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 4:40pm
Got in, it is up and running 4:50P
After 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
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 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 should go to 365 day advance reservation system. Then reservation volume would be consistent through the year.
It 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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! 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.