Tolls (that’s Not A Swear Word!) Amongst Other Things.

[MauriceMynah]

Is the doctor a bit unsteady on his pins ?

[BroadAmbition]

So the 28th April 'B.A's  short term visitor toll expired as was due to

Early May Robin rang the toll office and paid the outstanding amount so now 'B.A' is tolled for the year through to April 01st 2025

Today 22/05 A wetshed boat owner contacts me to say a Blessed Authority letter in plastic envelop attached to 'B.A's cabin side for all to see about three days ago  (I'll remove it tomorrow)

Today - Robin rings the Blessed Authority toll office only to be told that they can't discuss matters about 'B.A' as Robin is not the lead name on the registration docs even though he had previously paid the toll for her and they know full well there are four owners

Robin - ok then you can discuss where my £380 odd has gone to seeing as I paid it to you

Tolls office - Put on hold

Tolls office - Ok we now can discuss it with you and yes the toll was for 'B.A'

Robin - So why have we a letter for non-payment?

Tolls office - Our mistake, rangers and office, left hand / right hand etc, btw why did you purchase two short term visitor tolls?

Robin - We didn't we purchased one 28 day toll

Tolls office - Ok, why did you purchase the one visitor toll

Robin - MYOB

Here endeth the update

----------------------

Seems like either the Blessed Authority are being awkward and / or not a clue what they are doing – No surprise there then

Griff

 

[Velo500]

1 hour ago, BroadAmbition said:

So the 28th April 'B.A's  short term visitor toll expired as was due to

Early May Robin rang the toll office and paid the outstanding amount so now 'B.A' is tolled for the year through to April 01st 2025

Today 22/05 A wetshed boat owner contacts me to say a Blessed Authority letter in plastic envelop attached to 'B.A's cabin side for all to see about three days ago  (I'll remove it tomorrow)

Today - Robin rings the Blessed Authority toll office only to be told that they can't discuss matters about 'B.A' as Robin is not the lead name on the registration docs even though he had previously paid the toll for her and they know full well there are four owners

Robin - ok then you can discuss where my £380 odd has gone to seeing as I paid it to you

Tolls office - Put on hold

Tolls office - Ok we now can discuss it with you and yes the toll was for 'B.A'

Robin - So why have we a letter for non-payment?

Tolls office - Our mistake, rangers and office, left hand / right hand etc, btw why did you purchase two short term visitor tolls?

Robin - We didn't we purchased one 28 day toll

Tolls office - Ok, why did you purchase the one visitor toll

Robin - MYOB

Here endeth the update

----------------------

Seems like either the Blessed Authority are being awkward and / or not a clue what they are doing – No surprise there then

Griff

 

What does MYOB mean.

[BroadAmbition]

What does MYOB mean.

Mind Your Own Business

 

Another old one, used to see this in a few pubs in years gone by:-

 

ITYWIMIYBMAD

I'll Tell You What It Means If You Buy Me A Drink

Griff

[BroadAmbition]

Sent an email to the Blessed Authority today that they'll pick up in t morning - That'll learn em!

--------------------------------

Morning Tolls Office,

Please find attached a scanned copy of notice 23835 that a Ranger kindly attached to our boat on 19th May

Could you point out to the Ranger,

1)  The name of the boat on the form is wrong – This despite the name being clearly visible in five locations on the boat

2)  The registration mark on the form is wrong – This despite the marks being clearly visible in three locations on the boat

May I suggest the ranger asks a member of your staff to take him to Specsavers (Other opticians are available)

Could you point out to yourselves that the remainder of the annual toll £338:80 was paid about a fortnight prior to the notice being attached to our boat.

Therefore I can only conclude that you are not updating your database in a timely fashion thereby causing the poor ranger to issue incorrect notices with incorrect details

Otherwise known as left hand has not been introduced to right hand

Yours,

Charlie Griffin

07966 168647

 

 

 

[Smoggy]

A BA spot the difference competition. 

[BroadAmbition]

Griff

[Bikertov]

2 hours ago, Smoggy said:

A BA spot the difference competition. 

Can you explain - I'm colour blind so can't tell the difference between the two 

[Paladin]

12 hours ago, BroadAmbition said:

Sent an email to the Blessed Authority today that they'll pick up in t morning - That'll learn em!

--------------------------------

Morning Tolls Office,

Please find attached a scanned copy of notice 23835 that a Ranger kindly attached to our boat on 19th May

Could you point out to the Ranger,

1)  The name of the boat on the form is wrong – This despite the name being clearly visible in five locations on the boat

2)  The registration mark on the form is wrong – This despite the marks being clearly visible in three locations on the boat

May I suggest the ranger asks a member of your staff to take him to Specsavers (Other opticians are available)

Could you point out to yourselves that the remainder of the annual toll £338:80 was paid about a fortnight prior to the notice being attached to our boat.

Therefore I can only conclude that you are not updating your database in a timely fashion thereby causing the poor ranger to issue incorrect notices with incorrect details

Otherwise known as left hand has not been introduced to right hand

Yours,

Charlie Griffin

07966 168647

I encountered the same ranger doing his ‘marina checks’ on the 7 May, the day after the Early May BH, as he was about to issue a notice to my boat for no toll. My boat had been in for repairs with a boatyard, so wasn’t liable for a toll until the previous week. I had just got it back and paid the toll on-line on the previous Friday. I told him the boat was tolled and he said ‘not according to my app it’s not’. I told him his app was wrong, so he phoned the tolls office, who confirmed my payment.

Apparently, when you pay via BACS or on-line, the app isn’t automatically updated. ‘Someone’ in the tolls office has to physically check the payments and update the app manually, which then doesn’t actually update until the following midnight. So, as in my case, the app can be up to four or five days out of date. He then rang his supervisor to ask if he should still continue with his marina checks, as quite a few boaters could be upset at being wrongly issued notices. He was told to carry on, as, no matter when the checks were made, the app would still be out-of-date by at least a day.

So the ranger (who I actually consider to be one of the better rangers) was simply trying to do his job, with tools not fit for purpose. He might have made errors in the completion of the form, but that hardy warrants public ridicule. Am I the only one who didn’t find the post amusing?

Both these incidents (and I am aware of other similar cases) merely highlight the inefficiency of the current tolls checking system. Bear in mind that the notices are an accusation of a criminal offence, which will stay on record to be quoted in any future incident, unless challenged and expunged. I take it very seriously if/when I am accused of something I haven’t done. But it’s not the rangers’ fault.

My solution is a change in the system, for the ranger to contact the tolls office for confirmation of the tolls status of a vessel, BEFORE a notice is issued. Time consuming but a more accurate way of enforcement.

[floydraser]

1 hour ago, Paladin said:

He might have made errors in the completion of the form, but that hardy warrants public ridicule. Am I the only one who didn’t find the post amusing?

Clearly not. But anyone working for the BA needs to have a very thick skin. His job involves administration which I presume means a lot of reading and writing things down, mainly in an office but sometimes out of the office and looking at boats and meeting people. Filthy job but someone....

One boat happens to be the well known Broad Ambition, as seen on social media and it's rebelious owner. The one who moored at Ranworth and all that. So the guy works for the BA in tolls, never heard of the Broad Ambition? Hmm. The cynic in me thinks it may have been a deliberate wind up.

1 hour ago, Paladin said:

My solution is a change in the system, for the ranger to contact the tolls office for confirmation of the tolls status of a vessel, BEFORE a notice is issued. Time consuming but a more accurate way of enforcement.

That I agree with.

[Paladin]

18 minutes ago, floydraser said:

The cynic in me thinks it may have been a deliberate wind up.

Why would anyone bother? Having spoken to other rangers involved in the 'marina sweeps' around the same time, I was somewhat surprised by the numbers of (allegedly) untolled boats that were found. A boat is a boat is a boat.

Not everybody reads forums.

[floydraser]

9 minutes ago, Paladin said:

Not everybody reads forums.

I don't see how anyone could work in BA tolls and not have heard about Broad Ambition. It's only fair that rangers should be briefed on who to look out for, who may potentially give them some grief. With all the anti BA stuff going they would be told what to expect. They don't have to read forums.

Something like Traffic Wardens.

[dom]

11 minutes ago, Paladin said:

Why would anyone bother? Having spoken to other rangers involved in the 'marina sweep' around the same time, I was somewhat surprised by the numbers of (allegedly) untolled boats that were found. A boat is a boat is a boat.

It staggers me the number of apparently untolled boats around the Broads these days. Whenever I watch a Youtube video, I tend to play "spot the toll dodger". 9 times out of 10, anything I look up shows as untolled on the BA website.

There is however clearly an issue with the BA's toll database and access to consistent information. Seemingly, the web interface doesn't show when someone is paying by an agreed plan - something which I've said before I think could be construed legally as defamatory. It now appears that even rangers don't have access to reliable info which, again, leads to the type of situation described here. Again, not the first time I've said this, but I suspect the BA's chief executive probably doesn't have an especially great understanding of IT, so may well be oblivious to their need for a decent modern ERP.

[MargeandParge]

I hate to ridicule anyone that does their job to the best of their ability, honestly and with the equipment that they are provided 

In this case I don't think the Ranger was being criticised but the system was.

The only way that the system will change is from within ,so those that have to implement it at any level must speak up and change it before they are ridiculed, as those that are accused feel they have been .

Just my own opinion and things usually change for the better from the ground up

Kindest Regards Marge and Parge 

 

[William92]

3 hours ago, Paladin said:

My solution is a change in the system, for the ranger to contact the tolls office for confirmation of the tolls status of a vessel, BEFORE a notice is issued. Time consuming but a more accurate way of enforcement.

That is (theoretically) what the app does. Why any human is required to be in the loop for this process (other than being the physical presence checking the boats that are moored) is beyond me.

[OldBerkshireBoy]

3 hours ago, Paladin said:

So the ranger (who I actually consider to be one of the better rangers) was simply trying to do his job, with tools not fit for purpose. He might have made errors in the completion of the form, but that hardy warrants public ridicule. 

Where posters can`t name and shame boats on this forum I agree on the point of naming and sharing the man.

[Troyboy]

It is completely unacceptable that a ranger puts a notice on a boat because he is using an inaccurate app for his evidence. And I point the blame at the ranger as much as the BA. The ranger should be ringing the tolls office every time he come across an alleged boat that hasn't been tolled. As that was described by Paladin. It is exactly the same principle as the post masters. They are issuing notices using unreliable software. I'm not making lite of the post office scandal. That is an issue that makes my blood boil. It is incumbent on the ranger to have accurate evidence before he/she issues a notice. Disgraceful. 

 

[Wussername]

56 minutes ago, OldBerkshireBoy said:

Where posters can`t name and shame boats on this forum I agree on the point of naming and sharing the man.

It has never been naming and shaming the man. 

[OldBerkshireBoy]

22 minutes ago, Wussername said:

It has never been naming and shaming the man. 

It was there earlier as referenced in Palindin`s post!

[CambridgeCabby]

34 minutes ago, OldBerkshireBoy said:

It was there earlier as referenced in Palindin`s post!

Yes it was there earlier , and in accordance with the forums stance on naming and shaming it was removed by the moderators team , as it should be . 
The tos are clear on this and in the same way that boaters are “protected”  by the tos so are businesses and individuals whether they represent the BA or any other official body . 

[BroadAmbition]

I was contacted by a mod ref removing the Rangers name - Which I agreed with.

In hindsight (A very clever thing) I shouldn't have put his name on open forum - Sorry about that %. %%%%%%% ranger if you're reading this.  However the letter was emailed to the Tolls office in full - As of yet no reply let alone an acknowledgment.  Whether the unnamed ranger is the best in his field or otherwise - Getting the boat name and Reg number correct on an official Blessed Authority notice surely should not be difficult - Unless it was a wind up in which case it went right over my napper and I missed it  

Why am I not surprised the Rangers have to work with an out of date database?

Griff

[grendel]

7 hours ago, Paladin said:

Bear in mind that the notices are an accusation of a criminal offence, which will stay on record to be quoted in any future incident

All the more reason to get the boat name and registration correct, though one wonders if the boat name is incorrect then th claim can be rejected out of hand, perhaps this should be encouraged.

[floydraser]

4 hours ago, Troyboy said:

It is completely unacceptable that a ranger puts a notice on a boat because he is using an inaccurate app for his evidence. And I point the blame at the ranger as much as the BA. The ranger should be ringing the tolls office every time he come across an alleged boat that hasn't been tolled. As that was described by Paladin. It is exactly the same principle as the post masters. They are issuing notices using unreliable software. I'm not making lite of the post office scandal. That is an issue that makes my blood boil. It is incumbent on the ranger to have accurate evidence before he/she issues a notice. Disgraceful. 

 

9 hours ago, Paladin said:

Bear in mind that the notices are an accusation of a criminal offence, which will stay on record to be quoted in any future incident, unless challenged and expunged. I take it very seriously if/when I am accused of something I haven’t done. But it’s not the rangers’ fault.

So are rangers issuing notices accusing people of criminal offences, in the knowledge that the software is faulty? Then as with other high profile cases, in the future, questions will be asked about who knew. I thought another well known issue established that those who know and choose not to say anything share the guilt of any wrong doing. So if someone gets a notice and suffers mental health problems as a result, the notice will have done the damage before anyone can confirm the mistake. 

Probably best if they get it sorted before someone calls them out as incompetent.

[Paladin]

I have little doubt that the BA will say that the notices are just 'reminders', but that isn't what is written on the notices. A false accusation leaves a very nasty taste in the mouth, particularly as it can so easily be avoided with a little more effort.

As for who knows, it was apparent to me from my conversation with the ranger that the Tolls Office certainly knows, as they update the app (belatedly). Someone higher in the food chain in the ranger services knows, as I heard him being told.

I will say, though, that the tolls record will be checked before any court proceedings are commenced (not that that is any consolation).

 

[marshman]

Comforting to know if you have transgressed!!!!!!