Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Parking Permits - the new, even worse service!
I've just had the pleasure of interacting with our wonderful council parking service again, and thought others might find the tale a useful warning.
If you need visitor parking permits in a hurry - the system has changed (again!) and is now worse than ever:
- You can apply online, but that will take up to 13 days (according to the Council)
- You can visit the Customer Service Centre, but they can only sell you 8 permits.
Yes, you read that last bit right. The new, improved service allows you to stand in the long queues (see threads passim), only to discover you can only get 8 permits. You can order more for later delivery, but only get 8 on the day. This is apparently an edict from the Parking Service to "encourage usage of the online system".
For added hilarity, you don't have to pay there and then for the permits - oh no. That would be too simple, since you're there with a nice chip'n'pin terminal right in front of you. You have to give a phone number, and then apparently someone from the Parking Service will phone you to take payment for the permits. It's been a week since I visited, and no call so far. Maybe I won't have to pay after all.
Of course, you could use the online system. This is the one which starts by you emailing (!) someone to get an applicant ID (takes 3 days). You can then go to the website and order your vouchers and have them sent out (up to 10 days). Good luck if you have anyone visiting in the next two weeks.
Given the dog's breakfast that is the online system (thanks Civica!) I'm not surprised that people still choose to use the Customer Service Centre. So rather than improving the online system, the Parking Service has decided to break the existing system to make online look good in comparison. What a stroke of genius.
If it wasn't so sad, the Byzantine complexity achieved in a system for issuing visitor parking permits would be rather impressive.
Talking to the Customer Service staff, they're well aware the system sucks, but are powerless to effect change. So they end up dealing with disgruntled customers all day. I did suggest that the head of the parking service would like to spend some time on the front line, but the nice lady questioned my sanity for suggesting such an improbable event.
Tags for Forum Posts: bad, council, customer, parking, parking permits online, permits, service
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by maggie on
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see previous discussion "Visitor parking permits CAN be ordered online!", sorry don't know how to do a link...
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Permalink Reply by JulieB on
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I ordered some visitor permits online on the 21st Dec and they arrived today, which I thought was quite good. I registered a while ago and I can't remember exactly but I'm pretty sure I got my ID the same day, or the next.
However, it is a very complex and annoying system. Especially, as Malcolm said, you can only order 1 type of permit per transaction. It's like websites used to be in the Jurassic period.
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Permalink Reply by Malcolm on
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It took 3 days (19th - 21st) for my registration to be processed. At that point I didn't dare find out how long the actual permits would take, as I had guests over Xmas.
At the moment, I'm quids in - I walked out with 8 1-day passes (face value: £24) and have yet to have been called on to make payment.
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on
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IS any individual responsible and accountable for the Parking Service performance?
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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It seems very likely that the problems described on this thread - and earlier discussions about the issue of permits - are problems of poorly designed and/or inadequately run systems.
Systemic problems need systemic solutions. So yes, people should be responsible and accountable. But providing a better service needs to focus on the nuts-and-bolts of What? Why? and How? And not just Who?
One of the perverse consequences of a blame culture is that people are afraid to experiment and risk new initiatives. Like trying to introduce online purchase of parking permits!
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I think "systems" here is a diversion and I think blaming "systems" may be an admission that no one is in charge. The council, its bureaucracy, procedures and systems are all man-made.
"Systems" don't just drop from the sky. "Systems" are designed, chosen, specified, approved and commissioned by individuals and not the other way around.
The online purchase of parking permits is obviously a good idea in principle. It's reasonable. Employees should not be afraid to experiment with workable solutions. But purchasing online is not an experiment – its been around for years. It's not rocket science. Investigation of what? why? and how? may not advance matters unless the Who? is competent.
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I was going to quote the old saw, from the early days of corporations and mainframes, that no one ever got fired for buying IBM. The problem here might be that no one ever got fired.
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I find that it's usually more helpful to begin tackling a problem by asking questions, rather than making unevidenced assertions. It also helps to try keeping an open mind, rather than decide which conclusions you want to reach.
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begin* tackling a problem
It's possible of course and maybe easier to endlessly hand-wring; on the other hand someone might do something. We are told the problem is likely to be with "Systems" rather than individuals (who are highly paid employees).
Some questions: was the online visitor permits purchase system, developed "in house" as suggested above (it appears not: Civica)?
When will a conclusion be reached and where does the buck stop? Does the public deserve better? *How long has the problem with visitor permits existed?
PDF Civica On-Line Permits
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Clive, sharper questions may produce clearer information. While rhetorical questions like: 'Does the public deserve better?' are likely to get vacuous answers.
Then, just posting them here is more like HoL-whingeing than hand-wringing. Questions need to go to someone who can give you an answer. You could, for example, send an email. Or even seek to ask them at a "cabinet" meeting.
About poor systems preventing willing workers doing their jobs, the best quick intro I've found is still W. Edwards Deming's red bead experiment. Click for the YouTube video. (And move the slider to 4mins 29 seconds.)
Perhaps Malcolm has some other useful links.
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Alan your previous post suggested that asking questions was the right approach, rather than having [preconceptions].
These are my preconceptions:
The public does deserve better
The council should expect certain minimum standards of competency and performance in its employees, some of whom are highly paid.
I note that you were not able to address the question, did the public deserve better?
Perhaps it does not, in your view. Some of those who are obliged by the council to obtain visitor permits might disagree. I detect no sense of urgency, still less any sense of anger. Am I wrong to sense that this an irrelevant question for you?
That this issue is now again the subject of an HOL thread is because the council has not managed to sort this out.
Thank you for the invitation to send emails and ask questions at a cabinet meeting. Do councillors bear any responsibility to sort this out?
Poor systems are designed or allowed or continued by individuals, they are not like the weather. It is clearly in some people's interests to have others believe that "poor systems" are like the weather. For example, the Microsoft corporation would have you believe that vulnerability to "computer" (Windows) viruses is like the weather, something a "Windows" user just has to live with.
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