One task, three emails.

Mr Mustard is a busy man & sometimes emails arrive into his inbox far faster than he can get them out and his plan to keep unanswered emails below a one page listing goes to pot. If he gets sent three emails when one would do his stress levels rise.

You may have read the earlier blog post about the travails of trying to buy a Suzuki Vitara. One was, in the end, purchased from a helpful main dealer down Fareham way. Driving back up the M3, Mr Mustard stopped in the services, took a photograph of the sales invoice and emailed it to parking permits at Barnet Council, Crapita really. He then phoned up to ask for the permit to be changed over, having traded in his old car, and wanting to park outside when he got home. The sales invoice isn't proof of purchase apparently! that will be a story for another day once the parking manager has reviewed what documents count as proof of ownership, Mr Mustard having pointed out there is no finer proof. After some huffing and puffing a dispensation was granted. A week later Mr Mustard emailed in a copy of the V5 registration document, once he had it. He then received 3 emails in quick succession.

Excuse me, Mr Mustard swaps a permit for a car with a 2 litre diesel engine for one with a 1.4 litre petrol engine, how can it cost more and certainly not that much more? The answer for an in year swap should simply be to swap permits and charge the real full year price at renewal to save on administrative time.

Mr Mustard can't see the point of this second email, received 4 minutes after the first one.

What is there in this third email that couldn't have been in the first one? Mr Mustard has suggested to the parking manager that he reviews Crapita's procedures. Perhaps they charge per email?

Mr Mustard queried the £130 charge, which hadn't been paid by him, and got this reply from a proper council employee, one with some savvy and good manners:

That is a pretty decent explanation and apology which could be improved by using 'the' instead of 'any' as of course there was confusion, mostly in Crapita's systems, and there was inconvenience as credit card accounts had to be checked and an email written. That small caveat apart, it is good to see someone take responsibility for a blunder not of their own making.

It isn't as if Mr Mustard is the only person to buy a brand new car within Barnet (it is only the third time he has purchased a brand new car or van) and so he hopes that because it is him the systems will be looked at to be improved. (Mr Mustard's comments have now been ntoed for future improvements. It will probably be 5 years before the Vitara is changed, let's hope the system has improved by that time).

It is a routine task after all. If only there was an efficient multi-national billion pound turnover process outsourcing company that is up to the job who Barnet Council could outsource to.

Yours frugally

Mr Mustard

Parking permits - forced channel shift

Forced channel shift is a terrible way to treat the public. The Government are now trying it but that doesn't make it right. In essence, what the council will do is to force everyone to apply for their parking permit on-line, whether or not you own a computer, not because it is the best method (although Mr Mustard uses it a lot and younger folk than him - see grey hairs in previous blog post - will be perfectly happy with it) but because it is the cheapest method for the council to process. We are letting the cost tail wag the service dog and it is high time we brought councils to heel.

What councils forget is that they are there to serve the public, who provide the funds, and so if the public prefer a more user friendly method that costs more, they should be allowed to use it. There are, of course, equalities issues with making older people and disabled drivers use a computer and a scanner (to upload a copy of, say, a car log book) or they have to lose some of their independence and get someone with the necessary computer skills to carry out the task for them.

Mr Mustard predicts that sometime in the future a charity will spring up which opens a shop, with plenty of free parking for blue badge holders, and provides a place where old folk can go and get this sort of thing done for them, computer lessons if they want and have a hot drink and a chat. This would help to get them out of the house and combat loneliness. The council might even be persuaded to make a grant to assist the charity as applications all made by the same person would go through more smoothly because they would know what is required.

Amendment  - 15 June
Don't ask Mr Mustard for winning lottery numbers as he will give you last week's ones. Age UK already do as much computer help as you could need. See here

Mr Mustard felt that with Capita taking over the issue of parking permits in their Coventry office, and coincidentally there being a backlog of applications, he would remind one of the parking managers of his opposition to forced channel shift and this was the response he received. Mr Mustard had become involved because a lady in her late 70's had trouble with obtaining a permit for a new car and didn't understand the PIN code system she was being forced to use.

Dear Mr Mustard

There is no forced channel shift. Residents are able to renew, purchase or transfer permits via post.

Mr Mustard is somewhat sceptical. He went on-line to see if he could download a form in order to apply manually. Every menu he clicked he ended up on the page that forces you to renew on-line, this one:

Mr Mustard tried again. He searched for "parking permit" and got this page

Great thought Mr Mustard, he had beaten the system. He clicked on "the attached form" and got this page:

Downloads do not accidentally fall off the council website, someone in power has taken an executive decision, a bad one in Mr Mustard's opinion. Despite what one of the parking managers says, forced channel shift is being well and truly foisted upon us. The manager reads this blog and so will doubtless now show Mr Mustard where the forms are to be found (in the council's libraries?) or it will quietly reappear for downloading.

Have you had a permit renewal since 1 May? Do let Mr Mustard know how it was for you?

Is your permit due, or even overdue for renewal? Don't think you can rely on council reminders as they can be less than reliable. Go and look at your permit in your car now and if your permit has expired phone 020 8359 7446 for a dispensation. Two things they probably won't tell you about the dispensation:

1. It only applies from the next day.

2. It usually only lasts for 14 days.

If in doubt move your car off the road or outside of the zone as little mercy is shown to those innocents whose permits have expired through no fault of their own.

Yours frugally

Mr Mustard