Summer Assistants and Customer Charter

[TrueBlue]

Discontent abounds - and not just me.

The Charter has lost users a lump of lock attended time:-

Half a hour per day in May
A whole hour per day in June,
and a chunk of time in September.

One might think this would be an acceptable swap for 98% service, yes Ninety Eight Percent in July and August.
So, come 1st July, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th - No SAs, I say again No SAs. Perhaps next week said one lockie.

SAs have to attend five training courses, said one.
SA signed up, contract accepted, wanted to work from 1st. July EA says no.

Not only that, but there's something called The Golden Hour (I'd call it something else), where it seems the lockie can go AWOL.

I turned up at one lock at 18:30 - Self Service.
Another lock said "staff off" at 18:00.

Doesn't say much for the bloomin' charter does it?

It doesn't upset me personally, now that 'leccy is on everywhere, but what about the casual user and hirers? Neither class seem to want to work the locks themselves, and it awkward for smaller boats to manage their lines and leap up to work the gear.

The real issue is nothing is consistent; the Charter should be a reasoned promise of service not a bit of guesswork which will be swept aside if anyone is foolhardy enough to complain.

Better to say - we've got no money, can't recruit the right sort of staff, or whatever the official reason is, and users may be lucky enough to see a manned lock somewhere.

In the meantime read the instructions on how to work the lock and press on.

Anyone think this is the thin end of the wedge??

 

[apollo]

Yes agree, but apparently we are in the minority....
Still, now you have raised it on the forum, no doubt a solution will be imminent!

 

[boatone]

Did everyone really think that the climb down re the lock cottages issue was going to be without some other consequences?

As far as I am concerned the Charter gives us something specific to kick against - thats what the EA have committed to as performance targets and we are entitled to complain if they are not met.

However, general moaning is not going to achieve anything. What is needed is times, dates, location and issue reports sent to Reading whenever we have a legitimate complaint.

e.g.
XYZ Lock/1500hrs/21/07/10 - lock unattended - no indication as to reason
ABC Lock 0945hrs/16/07/10 - lock on self service
etc
etc

As for the thin end of the wedge - its not me thats naive ..... and there's no lock keepers on BW !

 

[ianc1200]

But they (BW) haven't got locks which trip out if you press the wrong button. When it comes to it, why not have what they have on the canals, ie balance beams, paddles etc. the power is only there to make the lockie's job easier, if the lockie isn't there we'd be a lot better off by replacing the mechanisms with the old traditional Thames locks as seen at Kings and above, because it will be a lot easier for us boaters to use.

 

[apollo]

But they (BW) haven't got locks which trip out if you press the wrong button. When it comes to it, why not have what they have on the canals, ie balance beams, paddles etc. the power is only there to make the lockie's job easier, if the lockie isn't there we'd be a lot better off by replacing the mechanisms with the old traditional Thames locks as seen at Kings and above, because it will be a lot easier for us boaters to use.

Agree, very sensible suggestion....

Now watch the do-gooders shoot it down.

 

[boatone]

But they (BW) haven't got locks which trip out if you press the wrong button. When it comes to it, why not have what they have on the canals, ie balance beams, paddles etc. the power is only there to make the lockie's job easier, if the lockie isn't there we'd be a lot better off by replacing the mechanisms with the old traditional Thames locks as seen at Kings and above, because it will be a lot easier for us boaters to use.

Do you really think that the Thames locks could be returned to that method of operation or that the majority of users would welcome it?

 

[boatone]

Lock Operation times

For those that are not aware.....

The Lock Operation times as printed in the Customer Charter appear below.

 

[apollo]

Do you really think that the Thames locks could be returned to that method of operation or that the majority of users would welcome it?

With the distinct possibilty of astronomical license increases, I suspect folks may surprise you.
Did you read papers this morning about some of the suggestions on governments "where to cut" site?

 

[boatone]

It ain't going to happen and you know it !

You paid for, and were granted, a licence to use the river as it is now - not as you would like it to be.

The issue is what can we do to encourage change and improvement that has some hope of success.

The alternative is to decide to go elsewhere or give up boating altogether.

 

[TrueBlue]

Thread drift again -

The "complaint" was that EA had reduced the availability of Summer Assistants hugely both in terms of the times when they would be available and the number of locks where they would be available.

Instead EA made what appeared to be a commitment to staff specified locks to a very service high standard, which has completely failed already.

In my experience of a cruise from Marlow to Grafton and back from 2nd to 10th July, there were no SA's anywhere, and that included locks specified in the Charter.

(There were extra staff at Hambledon and Marsh; but they were additionals provided for Henley (para 4.6 of the Charter).

The OOHPP system is excellent when it works, and when it doesn't it's a pain as the locks affected (Sod's Law) are exceedingly heavy to wind. I'm sure that could be resolved, but my question to EA on the subject hasn't been answered.

The system is tripped out by the user - No fault of EA, whose design is not unreasonable - if a bit over cautious; not unreasonable in these days of "somebody else is responsible" and H&S legislation.

The fault occurs if a sluice button (probably any button) is held for more than two minutes continuously. The system sees that as an error, and shuts down - probably to protect the hydraulic pump motor from over heating. I've seen one and it is new and very large. Being 3-phase I guess it's 2 - 3hp (unless overengineered) and if it overheated would burn the cabin down!

I don't understand why anyone should want to hold a button for as long as two minutes, without thinking "have I got this wrong?", perhaps the same person who doesn't shut the gates behind him.

School holidays are upon us and there will be a lot of in- un-experienced people on the river. If there is a rash of blue signs, then there could be mayhem or injury.

That is a major concern.

 

[TrueBlue]

You paid for, and were granted, a licence to use the river as it is now - not as you would like it to be.

I may be being a bit pedantic, but the rights are worse than that.

My reading of the bylaws was that the Registration of a vessel only entitled the owner to keep said vessel on the Thames. There is no express right to "use".

That's why it's a Registration and not a Licence.

The upside of that is it's not VATable - so one should be grateful for that small measure.

Of course in practical terms it is a complete nonsense, but I always bear in mind that EA are under no contractual obligation to do anything for the boater......

 

[Andrew_Fanner]

May be a bit pedantic, but it's worse than that.

My reading of the bylaws was that the Registration of a vessel only entitled the owner to keep said vessel on the Thames. There is no express right to "use".

That's why it's a Registration and not a Licence.

The upside of that is it's not VATable - so one should be grateful for that small measure.

Of course in practical terms it is a complete nonsense, but I always bear in mind that EA are under no contractual obligation to do anything for the boater......

Isn't this linked to the fact that the river is a statutory navigation and Envag need a way of making you pay for what you have an enshrined right to use?

 

[TrueBlue]

Isn't this linked to the fact that the river is a statutory navigation and Envag need a way of making you pay for what you have an enshrined right to use?

Oh, yes; I'm sure you're right. But it was not a fiendish plot to avoid an issue, merely a legal way to charge a fee.

Even if you have a "right", methinks there's no duty on the owner to maintain the subject of that right (that is without any legislation to enforce it). Look at the state of public footpaths as an example.

If I'm correct then perhaps "we" should be very grateful that the Thames is in the condition that it is; locks easy to work, good laybys (I won't say anything about the moorings...).

 

[boatone]

If I'm correct then perhaps "we" should be very grateful that the Thames is in the condition that it is; locks easy to work, good laybys (I won't say anything about the moorings...).

May not be to everyones liking but I reckon, in essence, that that is the current reality.

So it probably comes down to making the best of what we've got and the 'authorities' doing the best they can with the resources available.

 

[CJL]

I quite enjoy doing the lock myself - nice change to be honest!!!

Chris

 

[neale]

I went from Teddington to Osney and back in May when the charter states the locks should be manned between 09:00 and 18:00. I seem to remember a figure of some 90 odd percent target for this. I would guess that we had to work the locks around 50% of the time between these times so I would say that they are missing the target by a big margin.