OT Rant - The Dartford Toll Crossing!

[Crumbly65]

Oh dear!!  What a complete disaster.

It would appear the Government changed the Service Provider responsible for collecting the toll.  So as a Pay-as-you-go (PAYG) customer (user), I received an email telling me I will need to re-validate my payment card, and maybe change my password from the 28th July - as did hundreds of thousands of other Dartford Crossing users.

With the predictable result that the crossing website has crashed, and the PAYG system has crashed, and nobody seems to know when it'll be back to normal.

What is it about this country that we mange to cock things up so spectacularly?

[diffwhine]

At least this country appears to be good at something I suppose...

Even if it is just spectacularly cocking things up.

Last one out, switch the lights off please.

[Wittsend]

It seems to be working now...

Just logged in and verified my card.

 

[Crumbly65]

Yep. Serves me right for having an old git's rant!

I had been trying to get it done since the 29th July, and just managed to do it, after my rant on here...

That's life right enough. 

[Betsy1969]

Oh dear!!  What a complete disaster.

It would appear the Government changed the Service Provider responsible for collecting the toll.  So as a Pay-as-you-go (PAYG) customer (user), I received an email telling me I will need to re-validate my payment card, and maybe change my password from the 28th July - as did hundreds of thousands of other Dartford Crossing users.

With the predictable result that the crossing website has crashed, and the PAYG system has crashed, and nobody seems to know when it'll be back to normal.

What is it about this country that we mange to cock things up so spectacularly?

Years of practice

[Gibbo103]

Is it nor Connect plus that run the Dartford crossing ( and all of the M25) rather than the government? I spent many a happy hour working on there - there is quite a view from the walkway that hangs under the bridge although the first time you climb over the parapet and down a ladder on the outside is quite daunting.

[Wittsend]

It's run by a private agency and operates under HMG's banner.
And I believe the recent hiccup was caused by a change of contractor.

It's a big scam as we have paid for the bridge (and Tunnels) many times over with our car taxes 

[Crumbly65]

It's run by a private agency and operates under HMG's banner.
And I believe the recent hiccup was caused by a change of contractor.

It's a big scam as we have paid for the bridge (and Tunnels) many times over with our car taxes 

Absolutely correct!  I remember when the bridge was built, the then Government saying the toll was a temporary measure and was only being introduced to pay for the bridge (cue hollow laughter!).

It has more than been paid for, and the toll is just another vehicle tax.  To be fair, I think the bridge crossing normally works well: not too sure about the tunnels crossing, there always seems to be monumental queues coming the other way whenever I've used the bridge.

It is a Government asset, run by a contracted-out agency, as is so much these days.  Quite who was responsible for the website cock-up isn't clear, but my guess is it is the Government - it's the gov.uk website....

[Alan Drover]

It's England. What do you expect?!!!! Common sense??!!

[Beowulf]

I`ll take the risk and stick my head above the parapet and be the Devils advocate for a moment with a question.
Whilst I don`t disagree with any of the above comments, isn't it also true that tunnels require a particular kind of maintenance, and under water tunnels especially so    therefore, working on the principle that those who use it should contribute towards that maintenance, sounds pretty reasonable 
The same principle applies when my council charges me for collecting the contents of my garden waste bin, and not everyone, including those who don't have a garden waste bin. And then there's the M6 Toll road .....
Targeted charging rather than a scattergun approach where everyone is robbed charged 

[Crumbly65]

I`ll take the risk and stick my head above the parapet and be the Devils advocate for a moment with a question.
Whilst I don`t disagree with any of the above comments, isn't it also true that tunnels require a particular kind of maintenance, and under water tunnels especially so    therefore, working on the principle that those who use it should contribute towards that maintenance, sounds pretty reasonable 
The same principle applies when my council charges me for collecting the contents of my garden waste bin, and not everyone, including those who don't have a garden waste bin. And then there's the M6 Toll road .....
Targeted charging rather than a scattergun approach where everyone is robbed charged 

Agreed, although I would prefer that revenue raised from vehicles is "ring fenced" and invested in maintaining the road network in a better condition than it is currently. I don't mind paying the Dart Charge, the crossing works for me on the very occasional times I cross.

My original point is about the sheer ineptitude of telling the tens of thousands of users of the Dartford Crossing that ONLY after 28th July, those with PAYG set up would need to amend their details. The way it was done caused the website to crash, creating just another frustration in an intensely frustrating world. The Government created a panic for all those whose livelihood depended on frequent crossings, and those going to the Channel ports for crossings - in the August holiday period no less!
Contrast that approach with the move of 1.5 million customers of Bulb energy across to Octopus energy (and I am not arguing the rights or wrongs of the privatised energy section here), just that 1.5million accounts were transferred painlessly.

It's about thinking about what one wants to achieve, the best way to do it, the most painless way to do it, with the minimum amount of dislocation to those affected. 

[Beowulf]

Your original point and criticism were well made and wholly justified, ineptitude could equally describe some other officially managed services. 

We`ve seen it before, when Government agencies appear to be engaged, not on their ability to do something well, but on just how cheaply they can do it, `put out for tender`. Anyone remember the farce when, despite having no ships, the Government handed a ferry firm £14 million to provide extra capacity in the event of a No Deal Brexit? That firm went bust.

If an agency's people, processes and IT systems are inept, while at the same time trying to do it all on the cheap, then look out for the fall out, its just a matter of time before it hits.

[Wittsend]

I got an email about a month before about the Dart Crossing change - that I would have to re-verify my card payment. Problem was you couldn't login before and when everyone did on the 28th July the whole thing crashed.

After verifying my card - my account details were as before, my list of vehicles but my crossings history was wiped. I guess the new operators needed me to verify the card because they couldn't mass transfer people's payment details from one operator to another - financial regs

One would have thought that they would have expected that and planned for it. That's where the criticism is - bad planning on the change over.

Surely the payment of garden waste is a scam. I thought they chipped and composted the waste and sold it on. You can use the waste as a heat source. They should be paying US for the waste.

Careful sorting of your recycling waste should generate money. Else - incinerate it and use the heat to make electricity and hot water.

   

As for road tax 
It is that, you can give it fancy names like VED, but whatever it's called it a tax on using the roads. The scam bit is that less than 20% collected is actually spent on roads. Very little is spent on other forms of transport. By having toll roads, fuel taxes, paying for entering congestion/pollution zones or pay-as-you-go schemes they are just collecting money every-which-way which is not spent on roads/transport 

Looks like pay-as-you-go per mile is coming. The technology is there.
Not really fair for people living in the countryside - so you need a sliding scale of charges.

 

[autorover1]

Didnt the toll disappear on the Servern Crossing once it was paid for ?

[diffwhine]

Yup - you no longer need to pay to get out of Wales...