Brands Hatch 2011 - Thes best and worst of customer service
Posted: Sun May 01, 2011 5:21 pm
Its very unusual for me to feel moved enough to praise/complain about events but that is how I feel about Brands Hatch 2011.
Firstly the praise, I can not emphasise enough how well both Simon Davey and MSVR treated all the Mono competitors this weekend. Simon worked tirelessly as always, keeping us informed of what was going on, providing results and congratulations with his ever present smile, It is because of people like Simon that Mono is certainly one of the premier club level single seater championships in the UK, full grids for both races can only be achieved if you have happy customers.
Secondly praise also to MSVR and Brands Hatch, the parking, scrutineering, signing on was all fantastically run and led to a smooth running meeting.
Unfortunately for the negative, the weekend definitely had a sour taste to it for us personally as to some rather (in my opinion) over officious decisions from the officials and a complete lack of communication, communication skills and continuity.
We were one of the unfortunate bike engined single seaters to be excluded from Saturdays results due to “no reverse”, firstly let me say we have no problem with the decision however the punishment and the attitude were not needed. We take safety very seriously, hence why we all have belts, extinguishers, overalls, helmets etc (costing £1000s of pounds) we also know that you have to conform to the rules. However being disqualified for no reverse (which is a token gesture on a bike engined car anyway) was very harsh, especially that the system was fully present and operational in the paddock but after a long hot 15 min race, with sticky tyres and a tired battery did not quite have the guts to move the car, this offered no performance gain, surely a “fix it for next time” would have been adequate?
However what actually soured the day was we were told we could not race Sunday unless the system could be proved to work, so instead of a relaxing afternoon preparing the car and watching Mono 2000 we had to work tirelessly to beef up the system, only to be told the guy had gone home and that we didn’t have to present the car anyway as tomorrow (Sunday) was a fresh day and that the “reverse” gears wouldn’t be checked. So a whole afternoon of stress could have been avoided with some clear communication.
This combined with another competitor with a seatbelt issue who was told he could race as long as it was sorted by Cadwell was then told an hour before his Sunday race (after practicing and racing Saturday) that he couldn’t race unless it was sorted then and there, even though he could prove what he was told Saturday and by who. This only created some more unnecessary stress and a lack of continuity.
I do apologise about this post but its only because I love competing in Mono so much but things like this really need to be addressed. At the end of the day there is enough stress and rudeness in everyday life, without it creeping into your hobby.
On a separate note, just a big thank you to Peter Bragg, who I had a great battle with in Sundays race.
Firstly the praise, I can not emphasise enough how well both Simon Davey and MSVR treated all the Mono competitors this weekend. Simon worked tirelessly as always, keeping us informed of what was going on, providing results and congratulations with his ever present smile, It is because of people like Simon that Mono is certainly one of the premier club level single seater championships in the UK, full grids for both races can only be achieved if you have happy customers.
Secondly praise also to MSVR and Brands Hatch, the parking, scrutineering, signing on was all fantastically run and led to a smooth running meeting.
Unfortunately for the negative, the weekend definitely had a sour taste to it for us personally as to some rather (in my opinion) over officious decisions from the officials and a complete lack of communication, communication skills and continuity.
We were one of the unfortunate bike engined single seaters to be excluded from Saturdays results due to “no reverse”, firstly let me say we have no problem with the decision however the punishment and the attitude were not needed. We take safety very seriously, hence why we all have belts, extinguishers, overalls, helmets etc (costing £1000s of pounds) we also know that you have to conform to the rules. However being disqualified for no reverse (which is a token gesture on a bike engined car anyway) was very harsh, especially that the system was fully present and operational in the paddock but after a long hot 15 min race, with sticky tyres and a tired battery did not quite have the guts to move the car, this offered no performance gain, surely a “fix it for next time” would have been adequate?
However what actually soured the day was we were told we could not race Sunday unless the system could be proved to work, so instead of a relaxing afternoon preparing the car and watching Mono 2000 we had to work tirelessly to beef up the system, only to be told the guy had gone home and that we didn’t have to present the car anyway as tomorrow (Sunday) was a fresh day and that the “reverse” gears wouldn’t be checked. So a whole afternoon of stress could have been avoided with some clear communication.
This combined with another competitor with a seatbelt issue who was told he could race as long as it was sorted by Cadwell was then told an hour before his Sunday race (after practicing and racing Saturday) that he couldn’t race unless it was sorted then and there, even though he could prove what he was told Saturday and by who. This only created some more unnecessary stress and a lack of continuity.
I do apologise about this post but its only because I love competing in Mono so much but things like this really need to be addressed. At the end of the day there is enough stress and rudeness in everyday life, without it creeping into your hobby.
On a separate note, just a big thank you to Peter Bragg, who I had a great battle with in Sundays race.