My Blood is boiling -C&RT Licencing issue

[Emerald]

I have just spotted another post with someone in a similar position to myself. I did not receive the renewal notice for my boat licence nor any form of reminder from C&RT this year. I have been patiently waiting for it to drop through the post box but nothing arrived so I gave them a call today for them to inform me the reminder went out some time ago and now I have to pay more as a result (no prompt payment discount for me this year). I am steaming at this as I always pay on time and have no issues with my mail as far as I am aware of?

 

Can anyone tell me if I can challenge their decision in anyway? I have contacted their customer services but failed to get the response I had hoped for. I don't feel like letting this go as I don't regard it as my fault.

[Guest]

I have just spotted another post with someone in a similar position to myself. I did not receive the renewal notice for my boat licence nor any form of reminder from C&RT this year. I have been patiently waiting for it to drop through the post box but nothing arrived so I gave them a call today for them to inform me the reminder went out some time ago and now I have to pay more as a result (no prompt payment discount for me this year). I am steaming at this as I always pay on time and have no issues with my mail as far as I am aware of?

 

Can anyone tell me if I can challenge their decision in anyway? I have contacted their customer services but failed to get the response I had hoped for. I don't feel like letting this go as I don't regard it as my fault.

 

Annoying yes but surely we as boaters have some responsibility too. I know ours is due end of Feb and a reminder is in my electronic calendar. It will alert me in advance too so I can give them a bell and avoid losing my PPD. Edited December 16, 2013 by The Dog House

[GUMPY]

Is it always someone else's responsibility to remind you when things are due?

If it ran out at the end of November you should have called a month ago, if December you can still get PPD

[valrene9600]

In this very technological world we live in perhaps a reminder on your computer or smart phone will be the answer.

I would have no chance of remembering birthdays and other things without a reminder.

 

Edit. Reading the post again. If you have been patiently waiting for it to drop through the letterbox then you must have known it was due for re-newal. In which case all you had to do was phone and pay it.

Edited December 16, 2013 by valrene9600

[blackrose]

Although it's difficult to prove a negative, if you tell them that you didn't receive their correspondance how can they penalise you? But don't CRT send out reminders by email these days? (Fortunately I'm not a CRT customer so I don't know).

 

Who did you speak to at customer services and what was their response? In any dispute with an organisation I always ask to speak to someone higher up - a supervisor or manager. The person you speak to may tell you that their manager is unavailable or that the manager will just tell you the same thing, but persist politely and always get the name of anyone you speak to and write it down along with the date and time of any communication. A letter may be bettter. My advice is to calm yourself, get the name of someone higher up and write a letter of complaint sent by recorded delivery. Keep a copy.

Edited December 16, 2013 by blackrose

[Rich]

I have just spotted another post with someone in a similar position to myself. I did not receive the renewal notice for my boat licence nor any form of reminder from C&RT this year. I have been patiently waiting for it to drop through the post box but nothing arrived so I gave them a call today for them to inform me the reminder went out some time ago and now I have to pay more as a result (no prompt payment discount for me this year). I am steaming at this as I always pay on time and have no issues with my mail as far as I am aware of?

 

Can anyone tell me if I can challenge their decision in anyway? I have contacted their customer services but failed to get the response I had hoped for. I don't feel like letting this go as I don't regard it as my fault.

 

Perhaps it is true and they did in fact post the renewal. Sadly I have had letters and parcels go astray. The originators are adamant they were posted but they have never appeared.

[Jerra]

The words "have been patiently waiting for it to drop through the post box" suggest to me you knew it was due. It is hardly CRT's fault if you knew it was due and did nothing. Is it?

[Alan de Enfield]

Surely if you knew your licence was due and you 'were patiently waiting for it' you could have taken the proactive stance and phoned them (in plenty of time) and told them you had not received it - this is what I did earlier this year, got the renewal number, got the early payment discount.

 

We might live in the nanny-state but we should take responsibility for our own actions - or lack of action.

[blackrose]

Surely if you knew your licence was due and you 'were patiently waiting for it' you could have taken the proactive stance and phoned them (in plenty of time) and told them you had not received it - this is what I did earlier this year, got the renewal number, got the early payment discount.

 

We might live in the nanny-state but we should take responsibility for our own actions - or lack of action.

That is all true, but if we don't act because we forget or we're busy that still doesn't make it our fault. Rather than trying to apportion blame to either side, if the matter is approached calmly I'm sure that any dispute can be settled amicably and to the satisfaction of both parties. Edited December 16, 2013 by blackrose

[Emerald]

Is it always someone else's responsibility to remind you when things are due?

If it ran out at the end of November you should have called a month ago, if December you can still get PPD

 

Edited to delete my reply because I am responding whilst I am still angry and that is never a good thing to do.

Edited December 16, 2013 by Escape

[Mac of Cygnet]

if we don't act because we forget or we're busy that still doesn't make it our fault.

 

Yes it does. It's no-one else's, is it? It might be an 'oh, sh*t!" moment, but I don't think the OP has any reason to complain as bitterly as they are doing.

 

Edited to say "Hard luck!" in a sympathetic way.

Edited December 16, 2013 by Mac of Cygnet

[Guest]

That is all true, but if we don't act because we forget or we're busy that still doesn't make it our fault. Rather than trying to apportion blame to either side, if the matter is approached calmly I'm sure that any dispute can be settled amicably and to the satisfaction of both parties.

Would the DVLA accept a licence reminder sent for my car hasn't arrived as a valid reason for me driving around in an untaxed vehicle??

 

I seriously doubt it, the expiry date is clearly displayed on it for one thing.

[blackrose]

While it's reasonable to expect individuals to take action themselves, it's also reasonable to expect a reminder - which is why CRT and most other organisations collecting annual fees send reminders out in one form or another. Thus, if the individual didn't act and the reminder didn't arrive nobody is culpable and most organisations will be able to deal with the matter fairly if the individual in question seeks a resolution.

It's no-one else's, is it?

That's right, you've got it - it's no-one's fault.

 

It might be an 'oh, sh*t!" moment, but I don't think the OP has any reason to complain as bitterly as they are doing.

 

The bitterness of the complaint is a completely different matter.

[johnmck]

I am not into CRT bashing, but with the licence, they really do need to catch up and embrace the technology that is available.

 

We converted to a Gold licence in march, so knew that a renewal was on the cards before the end of this month. In late November an invitation to renew the Gold licence duly dropped on the mat. All good thus far, but we did not want a gold licence for next year.

 

So went online and variation to a standard licence was not possible. Phoned up and was told this was because the terms and conditions were differant, so it was only possible by post! So I scrawled out "Gold" on the form, as advised and substituted Standard, then amended other bits and bobs and sent it in, also adding the amended cost. I have my licence, but why was this not possible to complete online? Baffling, but many things in life appear thus to me.

[Rufford]

I have just spotted another post with someone in a similar position to myself. I did not receive the renewal notice for my boat licence nor any form of reminder from C&RT this year. I have been patiently waiting for it to drop through the post box but nothing arrived so I gave them a call today for them to inform me the reminder went out some time ago and now I have to pay more as a result (no prompt payment discount for me this year). I am steaming at this as I always pay on time and have no issues with my mail as far as I am aware of?

 

Can anyone tell me if I can challenge their decision in anyway? I have contacted their customer services but failed to get the response I had hoped for. I don't feel like letting this go as I don't regard it as my fault.

 

They did exactly the same to me, so on the last day of the current license I rang them and paid over the phone. They were of course insistent that the reminder had been sent out.

[blackrose]

Would the DVLA accept a licence reminder sent for my car hasn't arrived as a valid reason for me driving around in an untaxed vehicle??

 

I seriously doubt it, the expiry date is clearly displayed on it for one thing.

They probably wouldn't, but that doesn't necessarily mean that CRT won't.

 

I've been told the same sort of things by people on this forum over many years and they have generally been wrong. Several people told me that I would never get money back from the EA when I moved off the Thames last May, 5 months into my annual licence. However, I wrote to the manager of licencing about what I saw as the unfairness of their rules which would have meant I'd only get a couple of months fees back. I negotiated with them and got half my licence fee back on the basis that I'd been a good customer over several years and hadn't bought an annual licence in order to avoid the higher monthly licence fees. I did the same thing with BW on my mooring fees when I moved away from Brentford and I saved hundreds of pounds.

 

I don't listen to people when they tell me that rules can't be bent. Most people working in organisations can see reason if their approached intelligently.

Edited December 16, 2013 by blackrose

[Dottyshirl]

I paid for my licence weeks ago still has not arrived keep forgetting to chase it up

[Bettie Boo]

I simply set up a electronic calendar for myself, reminding me of Birthdays, Car Tax renewal, Passport Renewal, etcetera etcetera. However, I don't bother setting myself reminders for any of the charitable organizations I belong to, I find they are quite prompt in sending me reminders of my annual renewal

 

B~

[Guest]

That's right, you've got it - it's no-one's fault.

 

 

That's the point though. Ultimately it's not CRT's responsibility to ensure our boats get a licence it's ours. Ultimately if for any reason this does not happen on time it's 'our' fault.

They probably wouldn't, but that doesn't necessarily mea that CRT won't.

Why is it different?

 

More - what happens if your insurance reminder doesn't arrive, it expires and you only find out when you want to claim?

[valrene9600]

EDIT; answering post 14 but for some reason the quote feature won`t work

 

Same as you so just phoned seeking an absent re-newal number and they just took the payment on the phone.

Edited December 16, 2013 by valrene9600

[ditchcrawler]

I paid for my licence weeks ago still has not arrived keep forgetting to chase it up

So how do you know THEY received your cheque?

Just Google how many letters go adrift every year.

[Ex- Member]

Another situation where people not taking due diligence gets caught out in some way.

 

Relying on the Royal Mail for important data is not exactly a wise and sensible thing to do, sensible people back things like this up using a diary or one of the myriad of electronic gadgets available that can do things like long term reminders with ease.

 

Surely one also knows when their boat licence out? I mean you have a licence in the window even if you have an awful memory.

[Dottyshirl]

So how do you know THEY received your cheque?Just Google how many letters go adrift every year.

I bought at the marina but they are no longer allowed to take card payments in case they commit a fraud so CART rang me for the card number a few days later

Edited December 16, 2013 by Dottyshirl

[Mac of Cygnet]

 

That's right, you've got it - it's no-one's fault.

 

Perhaps not (sometimes), but it is someone's responsibility, and that someone is the boater.

[churchward]

I sympathise with the frustration you feel. However, if you knew the licence was up for renewal it is your responsibility to pay up on time to get the discount.

 

Assuming CRT did post the reminder as they said it is not their fault if the Post Office did not deliver it. Non delivery by the post office is no unheard of.