--- In [email protected], Martin Clark <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > tiamiboat wrote... > >--- In [email protected], Martin Clark <yahoo@> wrote: > >> > > >> And, since Eugene's departure, I doubt whether anyone monitors > >> forums, lists and newsgroups any more. > >> > >Yes, you'd be surprised. People from BW do monitor this list and a > >number of others, and a number of blogs and websites. But if we > >spent all our time telling everyone what we were doing we wouldn't > >have time to take action :-) > > > Well, we know you've always been a regular in these parts, Debbi! > > What Eugene was good at was not just monitoring the various forums but > being *seen* to monitor them. He would reply to answer questions, to put > BW's point of view, to correct misunderstandings, etc. He would > sometimes take things further that people had raised. > > We got some comfort in knowing that someone in BW was reading about > people's concerns and that sometimes this would result in problems being > dealt with. People at BW may well be monitoring forums now but we have > no way of knowing that as there is no feedback. The gap between BW and > waterway users feels to have widened. > -- > Martin Clark > > Internet Boaters' Database http://www.lock13.co.uk/boats > Pennine Waterways Website http://www.penninewaterways.co.uk > If my remit was a more national pr/customer complaints type remit then I would happily pick up from Eug left off but my remit is quite narrow and very London focussed. He was I agree very effective and there are now other colleagues within BW who will be taking it forward.
I am sorry to hear that you feel the gap between BW waterways users feels to have widened but maybe in the context of developments over the last 18 months and boating customers this is true. I hope this isn't true of all our customers who include walkers, cyclists, rural leisure businesses, city/waterside businesses, anglers etc, residents of houses next to the canal etc etc. Many of us in BW really want to provide an excellent level of customer service even if it means trying to balance the needs of groups with very different aspirations (eg anglers vs boaters). Staff at BW recognise that they are the current guardians of the last bit of working industrial heritage which is also a huge leisure, wildlife and business resource and it will be difficult to please everyone all of the time. But it is only by working with customers from all backgrounds that the best result can be recieved for the majority including us boaters. There are various ways of feeding into the process for BW led consultations, to action and dialog with various waterways groups such as AWCC, IWA, SOW, NABO etc. I'm sorry to hear that Bruce feels that his efforts have been a waste of time. Whenever I posted something on the NABO waterways report site over the last 24 months I always got a reply from the West Mids office and almost always from SE. There have been some staff changes in West Mids recently which may have made a difference. If anyone on this list thinks they've not been heard please PM me or copy me in on your e-mail and I will do my best to ensure that your comment/complaint/suggestion ends up in the right place. Debbi
