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Another CaRT Survey


Midnight

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7 minutes ago, LadyG said:

I have no idea Haggis, I live too far from a canal to benefit from canal water wellness. I presume they have removed the dead cats from the Monklands canal? 

You say you have no idea but it doesn't stop you waxing lyrical ? No idea about the Monkland canal but don't see what it has to do with C & RT.  The Scottish canals are administered by British Waterways Scotland trading as Scottish Canals . When C & RT was formed the Scottish government in their infinite wisdom decided that the Scottish canals should be under their control.

 

haggis

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Just now, LadyG said:

We pay our taxes to Westminster so they can have Duck Ponds in their gardens paid for by the British taxpayer.

I started to write a reply to that but have decided that any hypothesising on how taxes are divided between Holyrood and Westminster was far too much for my little brain at this time of night. :blink:

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3 minutes ago, matty40s said:

Oy, it's not appiness,  its wellbeing and fishing nets.

So next time I get accosted by a chugger or some ejit power crazy  verlokie does something dangerous,  I shall accuse them of damaging my wellbeing, and reducing the harmonious atmosphere of the canal.

simpler to tell them what they are.

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9 minutes ago, Tumshie said:

I started to write a reply to that but have decided that any hypothesising on how taxes are divided between Holyrood and Westminster was far too much for my little brain at this time of night. :blink:

Thank heavens :)

I never wanted a Scottish Parliament, an expensive waste of time imho. They have given me £200 pa for winter electricity, I have a notion this is funded by the EU. 

They have put some insulation in my house, it would have cost a lot less than the double glazing I paid for out my own pocket and which is more effective.

And I get a bus pass which is OK, except I get travel sick after half an hour on the rickety buses built in Eastern Europe. 

I have no idea exactly how much they have cost we Scottish residents, but it is far too much imho. 

Edited by LadyG
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7 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

Its a good point Roland makes. I've never seen a question on a CRT survey asking what I think about vollies.

 

Anyone might conclude they don't give a damn what we think about vollies... 

 

 

Except this year’s survey asks for info about volunteers separately from staff. It’s actually the hardest section to know how to answer as it asks for global scores for a very heterogeneous group of people.

 

I thought this year’s version showed signs of hasty last minute editing, not reassuring.

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My concern with many of the questions is that they gave no space for reality. They assume that your experience is monochrome - either good or bad. In the real world, there are some good times and some bad times. I wonder what professional assessment was made of the proposed questions before they were issued? Sounds more like they were devised by the PR department rather than proper social scientists.

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14 hours ago, haggis said:

....................

It is so nice to read the occasional post in praise or C & RT but they are far outweighed by negative comments. It makes me wonder sometimes why some folk on here continue to boat if it as bad as they say. 

 

Haggis 

I do praise CaRT when they get things right. My view is that those officers on the ground are doing a good job in difficult circumstances. It's the management at the top who are causing the dissatisfaction through the policies that have been introduced. Yes you have to balance the bad with the good, but overall my recent experiences of the waterways has been overall negative. Many of the stoppages could be avoided with a better maintenance policy than the current "only fix it when it breaks". How many lock gates have you been through with just one paddle working?

 

My boat is on the Yorkshire side of the Pennines. How could I possibly be happy with CaRT after the problems we suffered last year (at one stage all 3 Trans-Pennine routes were closed). 

 

Surveys that ask how you feel on a scale of 1 - 10 are a waste of time, your 8 may be my 3.  The questions about how you feel generally, are used to modify the results. These are usually set up to get the answers you want. In a previous life I produced satisfaction surveys for a local authority with the instruction to "get answers that put us in a good light". I also produced surveys where we wanted to know the real situation.  If you want to know if your customers are happy ask "Are you happy with..................." Yes / No 

 

BTW Soft data is just as important so I suggest reading this forum and others is a valuable source. I would also suggest the mixed views on here also reflect the wider boating community.

Edited by Midnight
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15 hours ago, haggis said:

 

It is so nice to read the occasional post in praise or C & RT but they are far outweighed by negative comments. It makes me wonder sometimes why some folk on here continue to boat if it as bad as they say. 

 

Haggis 

When we had the businesses our trade body continually reminded us a dissatisfied customer would tell 20 people a satisfied customer perhaps 2.

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2 hours ago, Mike Todd said:

My concern with many of the questions is that they gave no space for reality. They assume that your experience is monochrome - either good or bad. In the real world, there are some good times and some bad times. I wonder what professional assessment was made of the proposed questions before they were issued? Sounds more like they were devised by the PR department rather than proper social scientists.

Exactly. I raised those concerns in previous years but got told that it had been devised by professional opinion researchers. My last job before retiring was in a university research institute and involved overseeing the delivery of various kinds of psychological and social attitude surveys together with qualitative investigations. The design, administration and analysis of accurate measures tailor made to answer specific questions does not come cheap!

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2 hours ago, BruceinSanity said:

Exactly. I raised those concerns in previous years but got told that it had been devised by professional opinion researchers. My last job before retiring was in a university research institute and involved overseeing the delivery of various kinds of psychological and social attitude surveys together with qualitative investigations. The design, administration and analysis of accurate measures tailor made to answer specific questions does not come cheap!

Exactly!

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I've tried to recall exactly when this aspect of 'customer satisfaction' came to feature so heavily in our lives. P.R. Companies have managed to wheedle their way into every aspect of private and public life, and they obviously feel they are making a serious contribution to organisations with their expensive non-jobs,, but surely they are the only ones telling that tale.

The N.H.S. surveys are surely the most pointless example of these exercises, as there is little alternative to the services unless you are rich, or someone who is, is paying for you.

The exponential rise of Local Government Magazines is another area where our money is spent needlessly, instead of the services which it should be spent on. I despair at the sight of banners outside schools proclaiming their 'excellence', as if parents of prospective pupils have much choice in the selection of their establishment. Anyone who has had covers made for their boat will know how much these are likely to cost. The OFTEC reports are easily found if you need information.

In the commercial world, we all know how easily Trip Advisor and the like are manipulated.

We now, of course, have a generation of debt laden students with degrees in these non sciences, who cannot live without the approval of their peers on social media; but that is another unwelcome and dangerous spectre in our modern lives.

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2 hours ago, Ex Brummie said:

I despair at the sight of banners outside schools proclaiming their 'excellence', as if parents of prospective pupils have much choice in the selection of their establishment.

While I wholeheartedly agree with your sentiment it is (certainly up here) misleading to suggest parents don't have much choice I know of may schools where children travel 20 - 30 miles (clearly from outside the catchment area) to go to the school their parents feel is the best.  Incidentally I am talking state schools not "public" schools.

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22 hours ago, Jerra said:

While I wholeheartedly agree with your sentiment it is (certainly up here) misleading to suggest parents don't have much choice I know of may schools where children travel 20 - 30 miles (clearly from outside the catchment area) to go to the school their parents feel is the best.  Incidentally I am talking state schools not "public" schools.

The whole academisation programme is founded on the basis that parents do have choice and should exercise it in an informed way.

 

Trouble is, that in rural areas, such as down here in Cornwall, the whole idea rings hollow when the next school is a considerable distance away, especially secondary.

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I find it difficult to answer where I cruise. North West, Wales etc. I've done K&A, Thames, South Oxford, North Oxford, Trent & Mersey, Erewash, Some of the Trent etc. in the last year Which region is that? I found quite a few repetitive questions, different words asking a very similar thing. The 'happy' section depends on wether you have just clouted your thumb with a hammer or not. 

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3 hours ago, Mike Todd said:

The whole academisation programme is founded on the basis that parents do have choice and should exercise it in an informed way.

 

Trouble is, that in rural areas, such as down here in Cornwall, the whole idea rings hollow when the next school is a considerable distance away, especially secondary.

You can't get much more rural than the part of Cumbria I am in.  At one time the school I taught in (secondary) had the second largest catchment area in England.  The schools I mentioned above are secondaries.

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