CaRT's incompetent licensing team

DOES anyone else have problems with Canal & River Trust's so called 'Boat Licensing Team'? asks Richard Swan.

In over 20 years of boat ownership I think that for at least 10 of those years I have had problems when trying to licence my boat.

Three copies

This year has proved to be no exception. Not only have I received no fewer than three copies of my licence but I haven't been able to pay for it.

I pay by direct debit but this year the debit appeared on my online bank statement only to disappear again the next day. I tried to query this with the Trust but, as usual, the customer service lady couldn't transfer my call to the 'Licensing Team' but promised to contact them and let me know the outcome.

CaRT made it invalid

I then checked with my bank who informed me that the Direct Debit had been refused because the reference number had been changed by CaRT which made it invalid. The next day I received a threatening letter from CaRT's credit control department threatening me with legal action if they couldn't collect the Direct Debit on 16th June and telling me that I would be charged a fee of £30 for the failed debit.

This time I was given a telephone number and rang to say that as it was the fault of CaRT that the money wasn't collected there was no way they were going to charge me £30 for its mistake. The girl I spoke to promised to call me back after speaking to her supervisor, but the only response has been them sending me another licence!!

If memory serves me aright this isn't the first time I have written about the Boat Licensing Team on narrowboatworld querying their competence. I can only assume that they are as incompetent as ever at what should be a relatively simple job.