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Crew’s on board with award

Ferry employee Hardeep Parmar recipient of Victoria Hospitality Award for customer service
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B.C. Ferries customer service attendant Hardeep Parmar (front and centre) stands with Captain Stojan Pererisic (from top)

Hardeep Parmar is quick to say an award that recently came his way for excellent customer service is a team effort.

The Customer Service Attendent aboard the MV Klitsa out of Brentwood Bay was recently given a Victoria Hospitality Award for, well, his excellent customer service.

The nomination came from a passenger on the Brentwood Bay ferry run whose car had died. She was on her way to cancer treatment and had pneumonia.

Parmar, she wrote, went above and beyond to get her vehicle started. It was this that led to the Victoria Hospitality Award.

The honours are chosen by representatives of Black Press, the City if Victoria, Destination British Columbia, the Hotel Association of Greater Victoria and Tourism Victoria.

“It is nice to be recognized,” he says. “It meant a lot to myself, our captain and the rest of the crew. It’s a good feeling.”

Parmar, a B.C. Ferries casual employee who splits his hours between various vessels in the fleet, credits the teamwork of Ferries crews who are taught about customer service from day one of their employment.

“I really don’t do anything more than what the whole crew does,” he says. “We’re all trained to deliver good customer service.”

Parmar, whose main job is safety and passenger control on board the vessels, is also a ticket taker on the MV Klitsa. He said the crew — as well as all B.C. Ferries crews — work hard to ensure the vessels are clean and safe and that passengers enjoy their voyage no matter what is being talked about in provincial politics.

“I want people to know that whenever they come aboard they are treated as our guests.”

 

editor@peninsulanewsreview.com