Anger over Queensbury pool times mix-up

7:10am Sunday 17th June 2012 in News By Michael Black

Bradford Council has taken action to sort out confusion over opening hours at one of its swimming pools.

Several families turned up at Queensbury Pool to find the opening hours were not as advertised, due to an “error” on the website.

However, Phil Barker, Bradford Council’s Assistant Director for the Sport & Leisure Service, reassured people that the problem has been resolved after Councillor Paul Cromie, of the Queensbury Ward Independents, raised the issue and described the confusion as “unbelievable.”

One disgruntled pool user, Rita Boardall, said: “Having checked on the website that they were open we duly turned up about 2pm with five youngsters all under nine.

“We were then faced with a cashier who was in the pool area telling us ‘they weren’t really open’.

“As we could hear some children in the pool we challenged this. ‘I’ve only let them in because they came specially’ was the answer.

“As was the case with us we countered. ‘Well I suppose you could have half an hour’ came the grudging reply at which point she leapt back behind the desk and proceeded to work out the normal charges!”

In an e-mail to Coun Cromie, Mr Barker said: “Firstly I would like to apologise to Mrs Rita Boardall for the inconvenience and the problems that she experienced. The timetable information for the swimming pools is put on the internet and on mobile devices using computer software. Use of the software at Queensbury is relatively new as it has only been in place for approximately six weeks and this was the first time that staff had needed to update the information.

“On Wednesday staff did become aware that there was a problem with the web-page as it had de-faulted back to a previous holiday programme. Staff tried to change the information but had difficulty updating the programme.”

Mr Barker said the issue was resolved and the information was changed, but added that the families had accessed the website before the changes were made.

He said: “There are a number of points that we will address for future to prevent any reoccurrence. Staff have been provided with additional training.”

Comments(30)

ShineyDave says...
8:34am Sun 17 Jun 12

That's disgraceful, it's almost annoying as the time my local Hairdresser put a note on his door saying closed today, "open tommorow"

We had no idea whether "today" meant "today" or whether it meant yesterday, the confusion it caused was horrendous.

Report this post »

Correctness says...
8:47am Sun 17 Jun 12

Something else to be concerned about in addition to the war in Afghanistan

Report this post »

wobbley-bob says...
9:19am Sun 17 Jun 12

I went to see a friend of mine & there was a note pinned on his door that said " Back in 10 minutes, Ken"
Now, is that 10 minutes from the time I read the note, or 10 minutes from when he wrote it, or 10 minutes from pinning it to his door.
We need to know these things.

Report this post »

yangyeight says...
9:21am Sun 17 Jun 12

we must inform the church elders, absolutely shocking!
we need to start a national protest against this type of thing!
how will i be able to go to work knowing this is happening in our towns!!

Report this post »

ollie59 says...
9:27am Sun 17 Jun 12

This is a terrible story and I hope it's on the front page of tomorrow's T&A (that's Monday btw). It reminds of that poor chap who was found in a shopping mall toilet after following the "now wash your hands" sign which had been incorrectly placed by the exit door. He'd been there for three days just for following the instructions. Management must be held to account for misleading the general public in cases like this. I wonder if compo4u would be interested?

Report this post »

bingleybantam says...
9:31am Sun 17 Jun 12

No wonder this city is going to the dogs, first Westfield, then the Bulls now this. I hope Mr Galloway is going to ask questions in the house over this.

Report this post »

K.Y.E. says...
9:42am Sun 17 Jun 12

down with this sort of thing

Report this post »

burleybantam says...
10:32am Sun 17 Jun 12

Careful now

Report this post »

Albion. says...
10:33am Sun 17 Jun 12

K.Y.E. wrote:
down with this sort of thing
;-)

Report this post »

Prisoner Cell Block A says...
10:44am Sun 17 Jun 12

Seems more like a case of 'if you want the letter E to appear on the display screen press the button E' to me.

A good 100k of taxpayers money would pay for two people to go on an outward bound team building exercise so they could eradicate mistakes like 'being too thick to use a drop down timing menu.

Report this post »

Tim Love says...
11:34am Sun 17 Jun 12

Guys, guys, guys; it's Queensbury; no-one gives a **** :)

Report this post »

Lockjaw says...
12:03pm Sun 17 Jun 12

That is a regular response from the Council. "Staff to get more training". Managers should ensure there is adequate training in the first place.

Report this post »

BigFigure says...
12:23pm Sun 17 Jun 12

Shocking....

Report this post »

Joedavid says...
12:34pm Sun 17 Jun 12

How many people are employed by the council in IT at high wages?
Disgrace they can't get simple thing like this right.

Report this post »

BigFigure says...
12:48pm Sun 17 Jun 12

Joedavid wrote:
How many people are employed by the council in IT at high wages?
Disgrace they can't get simple thing like this right.
Indeed, it really is shameful how low this once great city has sunk.Our noble forefathers...etc

Report this post »

wobbley-bob says...
1:11pm Sun 17 Jun 12

I see the serial moaners have got out of bed at last. :)

Report this post »

mrs walker says...
3:24pm Sun 17 Jun 12

BigFigure wrote:
Joedavid wrote:
How many people are employed by the council in IT at high wages?
Disgrace they can't get simple thing like this right.
Indeed, it really is shameful how low this once great city has sunk.Our noble forefathers...etc
It makes me ashamed to be British, it really does.

Report this post »

Johsay says...
3:30pm Sun 17 Jun 12

Another council debacle, I never got a reply to my email when I was stuck on the escalator in the Kirkgate centre when it broke down.

Report this post »

JimDogBratfud says...
3:38pm Sun 17 Jun 12

Right, that's it, I'm now leaving Bradford since the council has allowed this despicable scandal to take place.

I hope the person responsible for updating the website is prosecuted and locked up to prevent further such shameful acts.

Excellent journalism by the T and A here by the way, you will be getting my vote for newspaper of the year!

Report this post »

Get back to work says...
4:06pm Sun 17 Jun 12

Johsay wrote:
Another council debacle, I never got a reply to my email when I was stuck on the escalator in the Kirkgate centre when it broke down.
how long was you stuck on there ?

Report this post »

Colin Allcars says...
5:19pm Sun 17 Jun 12

Good job you had a smart phone to email the council whilst stuck on the escalator, couldn't you have just called out to one of those blokes in the blazers?

I went for a long weight at Crofts in 1976 and i'm still there, they must have meant a long wait!

Report this post »

Mike Strutter says...
7:04pm Sun 17 Jun 12

Calm down Rita !

It was a mistake for gods sake, don't you make any.

Don't cross Rita as she will blab to a newspaper stupid enough to take it seriously.

At least it gave Cromie something to do !

Report this post »

Horton Lad says...
9:51pm Sun 17 Jun 12

I blame Maggie Thatcher

Report this post »

qberry2 says...
12:18pm Mon 18 Jun 12

'at which point she lept back behind the desk.....'
The wording of the article is like something from a school newspaper or an Enid Blyton 'Famous Five' Story. Together with the humorous comments above I haven't laughed so much for ages. Brilliant. Keep it up.

Report this post »

Kink says...
12:21pm Mon 18 Jun 12

This reminds me of my own terrible disappointment at the hands of inaccurate sections of the internet. Not only did it have no effect whatsoever but for making my wee blue, but I was also unable to contact the African prince once my bank details had been received. Bring back paper, that's what I say. You know where you are with paper.

Report this post »

Banjaxed says...
3:42pm Mon 18 Jun 12

Well, if this article doesn't win the Pulitzer prize this year then there truly is no justice in the world...

Report this post »

BD13666 says...
10:37am Tue 19 Jun 12

tim,we dont care here either,but i wish we were placed in calderdale with Shelf in 1974. I'm really proud that I'm not a Bradfordian.

Report this post »

Shipleyvegas says...
12:59pm Tue 19 Jun 12

Good Lord - Someone made a mistake - ah well duty calls;)

http://xkcd.com/386/

Report this post »

klevispin says...
8:24am Wed 20 Jun 12

This is an outrage. Some issues are too big to be left to the politicians. Occupy Queensbury pool now! We demand justice.

Report this post »

aje2010 says...
5:57pm Wed 20 Jun 12

hahahahahahahahah you guys..

Report this post »

click2find

About cookies

We want you to enjoy your visit to our website. That's why we use cookies to enhance your experience. By staying on our website you agree to our use of cookies. Find out more about the cookies we use.

I agree