No discretion for customer of 30 years
Dear Sir,
Being a member and regular user of the Sports Complex for more than 30 years I am saddened by the intransigence and total lack of common sense shown by the current management regime to the degree that loyalty and judgement are now a latent quality.
Recently due to illness it was prudent for me to cancel a squash court and having provided 2 days notice was surprised to be informed by the receptionist that I was in default being liable for the £5.50 hire charge because I’d only given 46.5 hours notice instead of the requisite 48. The reasoning being that due to short notice they would probably be unable to re-hire the court, this was regardless of the fact that all the remaining 3 courts were still available.
I appealed to the manager Judith Simpson without success and so contacted Town Council Officer Christine Walton only for her to state that it was council policy to charge regardless of circumstances and dismissed my plea for exemption on the analogy that if I’d tried to board an aeroplane after the gates had closed I wouldn’t expect to gain access to the flight!
It is a sad indictment of our public services that even in these austere times our elected local government employees are unable to show any form of discretion or common sense and do not appear to have the ability to discriminate between bone-fide and bogus claims.
In effect the Sports Complex management are charging faithful and long standing patrons for facilities that haven’t been used or caused any loss of revenue to the Council.
Derreck Pinkney
Haselrigg Close
