They should regulate the people that work here. I guess the guy so called the porter was very helpful getting me a ticket which I appreciated. However, I have this observation and impression that sometimes the people in the Philippines who are too helpful are the ones who usually will ask for some $$$ and 50/50 chance they will give you an attitude if you give them too small of an amount.
This experience is a pretty lengthy in writing but I think people, especially tourists, who plan on taking the ferry at the pier should be aware and so you can all prepare to be cautious...
I came to the pier way too early in the morning that the ticketing office for Supercat was closed. Supercat was supposed to be the ferry I was going to take. The guy (i'll call him guy#1) that happened to be there informed me that the ticket to Ormoc is PHP 1,300 and the ticketing office is not gonna open until 05:30am. He was also helping out 4 other foreigners going to a different location. I overheard that guy#1 were charging them Php1,200 each person. Before he left to get us the tickets, he told me that it was up to me how much tip I should give him. I was so confused and commented that I didn't know we needed to tip (and tip for what? i was still confused what was happening since it was my first time taking the ferry)... I just thought I should just tip him for being helpful to a clueless man. So I gave him Php20. He right away complained "ONLY Php20?!" I asked, "how much am I supposed to tip? I didnt even know we are required tip." I could tell he was upset. He left with our IDs since he needed them to acquire our booking. A couple of minutes later, he came back in a tricycle handing out papers to us tourists and handing back our IDs. I got mine with all the fare details. The amount for the entire fare was Php1,100. Then there was a stamped "Service Fee of Php100". I was thoroughly analyzing it and was confused. I examined it further and I realized I got booked with Oceanjet instead of Supercat. The entire time I was talking to guy#1 I thought he was with Supercat ferry. Another strange guy came to me out of nowhere and pointed out that the stamp, the "Service Fee," on my paper ticket was the amount I was supposed to give him as his "tip". I've never even interacted with this guy. I explained to him that I already gave Php1,300 to guy#1 that has been helping me plus the Php20 tip for being helpful. I asked where did the Php200 from my cash that I had given even go. I guess Php100 was to pay the service fee and the other 100 was to pay themselves.
As soon as we entered the gates to go into the port, I spoke to the other foreigners that were being charged Php1200 per person. Their fare on paper only costed Php800 per person.
In summary to better your awareness,
1) The porter guys were blurting out prices as if it was the total fare price but in reality they were including the "service fee" and they are already tipping themselves.
2) ask the guys whether they are with oceanjet or supercat.
On the positive note, the Ocean jet ferry was smooth sailing. read more
