CRT closing the “ContactUs” Twitter account…thoughts?

[frangar]

It seems CRT are closing the ContactUs account on twitter or X if you like. 
 

Now I’m not a massive fan of Twitter but did find it an effective way to get in touch to report faults and incidents without having to send it to the relevant region or worry what region I was in. You could also send a pic to show the issue. It wasn’t without fault but I thought it a useful tool in getting in touch when boating without having to wade through a diabolical website to find a contact form that can’t accept an image.

 

Ive been told the regional Twitter accounts are staying but I can never remember where one region ends and another begins…and that in the future the web form might accept images. Apparently the main CRT account can be used but as far as I’m aware this has never been used as an account to contact CRT…just to send out information. 
 

Am I alone in finding closing a customer service portal annoying or perhaps it’s me that’s out of touch? 
 

I’d love to hear others thoughts on the issue so I can relay them back….even if that means it’s me that’s the only one concerned. 

[Midnight]

3 minutes ago, frangar said:

It seems CRT are closing the ContactUs account on twitter or X if you like. 
 

Now I’m not a massive fan of Twitter but did find it an effective way to get in touch to report faults and incidents without having to send it to the relevant region or worry what region I was in. You could also send a pic to show the issue. It wasn’t without fault but I thought it a useful tool in getting in touch when boating without having to wade through a diabolical website to find a contact form that can’t accept an image.

 

Ive been told the regional Twitter accounts are staying but I can never remember where one region ends and another begins…and that in the future the web form might accept images. Apparently the main CRT account can be used but as far as I’m aware this has never been used as an account to contact CRT…just to send out information. 
 

Am I alone in finding closing a customer service portal annoying or perhaps it’s me that’s out of touch? 
 

I’d love to hear others thoughts on the issue so I can relay them back….even if that means it’s me that’s the only one concerned. 

 

If it's closing because Twitter are saying they will be charging then fine by me. However I do take your point about the C&RT website and form. Should be an easy fix - a bit like a broken paddle 

[frangar]

3 minutes ago, Midnight said:

 

If it's closing because Twitter are saying they will be charging then fine by me. However I do take your point about the C&RT website and form. Should be an easy fix - a bit like a broken paddle 

Apparently it’s a cost saving measure and due to “lack of engagement” however I’m not sure if that’s because Twitter are charging or because CRT outsource their social media monitoring. I will seek clarification. I’ve pointed out that customer service accounts are rarely followed back but used to contact said company or organisation as and when required. 

 

[john6767]

It does seem to be a retrograde step, having one point of contact that could forward to the relevant region as necessary was a good way of it working.  Harder to figure out what region the issue is in, and what the Twitter handle of that region is.  If would have thought the way of saving money would be to concentrate on the single Twitter contact, and not have the regional ones.

[Rob-M]

Ingesting twitter posts in to an internal system to process them internally and route to the right place via email is relatively straightforward so they could have a processing engine that looks for key words and handles accordingly.

[jeanb]

We happened upon a drained pound which we reported on twitter, crt came back quite quick and requested a photo which we obliged, they said they would get it reported, which they did, and the regional office phoned and kept us updated. We also sent an appreciation of crt's quick response at Colwich Lock. Their twitter person said thanks and they would pass it on. Both cases we think twitter worked well.

[Ewan123]

Since twitter seems to be heading towards a death-by-mismanagement, it might be good for CRT to encourage people towards a different contact method.

 

I wonder whether WhatsApp might be viable for reporting issues - easy to add photos, easy to have some back-and-forth conversation unlike CRT's online form. Presumably expensive for CRT though, I expect most options would be.

[Machpoint005]

I can't help wondering why simply phoning them up isn't the primary contact method. After all, we do all have phones.

 

 

[frangar]

6 minutes ago, Machpoint005 said:

I can't help wondering why simply phoning them up isn't the primary contact method. After all, we do all have phones.

 

 

Hard to put a picture in a phone conversation plus I find a quick text easier than waiting for a switchboard or indeed sending a message out of hours. Not all of us boat Mon-Fri 9-5. 

[john6767]

11 hours ago, Machpoint005 said:

I can't help wondering why simply phoning them up isn't the primary contact method. After all, we do all have phones.

 

 

That works well for some types of contact where it is personal to you, say a licensing issue.  
 

For contact about a navigation issue that has more general impact, say a tree down, then using something like Twitter as well as informing CRT, also informs all the other boaters that follow that CRT account.  It also keeps customer service on their toes, it is I think we’ll established that you get better results with Twitter as organisations don’t like to look to fail to respond in “public”.

 

In a boating context think about using Twitter like using VHF to contact a lock, it is informing others what is happening as well, where if you contact the lock by phone then the lock knows you are coming but no other boats do.

[robtheplod]

Surely the best way is via their website?  they then have full control over what they can do with it and its easy to remember?