Grauniad story:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012...-company-sinks

Not surprised at those prices - £95 a ticket for a trip up a scummy
stinking ex-industrial river aka Lee.

When I went to the Olympic Park for the Paralympics - I managed to get
one ticket after battling with the 'not fit for purpose' ticketing web
site - I did see a small (a very small) queue of people waiting for
such a boat. But there were no signs advertising the service at the
Park, indeed I live in London and never once saw any advertising for
this now bankrupt service at all.

But then with the prices of tickets and then food & drink at the Park
being way beyond reason - e.g. a small bottle of Dutch pi$$ aka
Heineken at £4.30 and food prices equally outrageous - anyone
attending needed a mortgage to finance the visit.

AND with the tickets you usually also got a 'free' Travelcard.

So I'm not surprised that the water taxi's gone bust. But I wonder who
was running the company and who the drivers were? I bet they were
greedy speculators out for a quick buck and were not river-folk.

On Wed, 12 Sep 2012 01:54:11 -0700 (PDT)
" wrote:
Grauniad story:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012...-company-sinks

Not surprised at those prices - =A395 a ticket for a trip up a scummy
stinking ex-industrial river aka Lee.

Looks dodgy anyway - thats a narrowboat and they don't much like flowing rivers
as they tend to get swamped and actually sink never mind metaphorically.
I actually saw it almost happen once when I was working down at blackfriars one
lunchtime. Luckily the lifeboat and plod turned up and stopped the boat going
down by tying it at both ends to the thames clipper pier. Was a close run
thing though. Quite what possessed the dopey cow driving it to try and take
it up a rather choppy thames against the tide is anyones guess.

B2003

spoke:
So I'm not surprised that the water taxi's gone bust. But I wonder who
was running the company and who the drivers were? I bet they were
greedy speculators out for a quick buck and were not river-folk.

"Water Chariots, run by Peter Coleman, a property developer, could not
be reached for comment. "

So no suprise there then.

TAAW His Linkedin profile has been pulled.

--
Rob
The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing.
If you can fake that, you've got it made

On Sep 12, 10:06*am, R C Nesbit wrote:
spoke:

So I'm not surprised that the water taxi's gone bust. But I wonder who
was running the company and who the drivers were? I bet they were
greedy speculators out for a quick buck and were not river-folk.

"Water Chariots, run by Peter Coleman, a property developer, could not
be reached for comment. "

So no suprise there then.

TAAW His Linkedin profile has been pulled.

--
Rob
The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing.
If you can fake that, you've got it made

I wonder how he got a passenger's licence and insurance for the narrow-
boats to work the Thames and Lee. Especially if as you say narrow-
boats are not exactly designed for running rivers.

CJB.

On Sep 12, 10:18*am, "
wrote:
On Sep 12, 10:06*am, R C Nesbit wrote:





spoke:

So I'm not surprised that the water taxi's gone bust. But I wonder who
was running the company and who the drivers were? I bet they were
greedy speculators out for a quick buck and were not river-folk.

"Water Chariots, run by Peter Coleman, a property developer, could not
be reached for comment. "

So no suprise there then.

TAAW His Linkedin profile has been pulled.

--
Rob
The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing.
If you can fake that, you've got it made

I wonder how he got a passenger's licence and insurance for the narrow-
boats to work the Thames and Lee. Especially if as you say narrow-
boats are not exactly designed for running rivers.

CJB.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

That's a broad-beam boat not a narrowboat and is perfectly suited to
working on the Lee. I'm still not surprised (or sad) that the
operation went bust at those prices though.

wrote in message
...
Grauniad story:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012...-company-sinks

- Not surprised at those prices - £95 a ticket for a trip up a scummy
-stinking ex-industrial river aka Lee.

snip

- So I'm not surprised that the water taxi's gone bust. But I wonder who
- was running the company and who the drivers were? I bet they were
- greedy speculators out for a quick buck and were not river-folk.

If by "river-folk" you mean ex lightermen and tugboat crews then no,
they would have had more sense to start with.

Only the other week there was the story of all the small traders who'd
laid out thousands on pitches in some Olympic Food Market and sold
hardly anything.

Like the people behind this, they were foolish enough to believe
marketing projections produced by the Olympics Marketing Bull****
Directorate. That and Local Council and British Waterways PR.
Rather than commissioning their own independent research. The market
traders were promised a passing trade of thousands of customers daily -
instead of just one or two, and matey here commissioned 15 specially built
vessels and was hoping to make 120 trips a day. With little it seems by
way of a back-up "legacy" plan.

I don't know the history of this but maybe the prices were cheaper
earlier on until they discovered very few people were interested
at any price.

The real success of this Olympics has been the reams of bull**** both before
and after the games. Just so long as enough people keep repeating that they
are going to be and in fact were a triumphal success that has put
Britain back in her rightful place as a world leader then
people may actually start believing it.

Unless that is you've got a few skips full of unsold food, or 15 boats
coming up soon in a bankruptcy sale.


michael adams

....

"michael adams" wrote:
wrote in message
...
Grauniad story:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012...-company-sinks

- Not surprised at those prices - £95 a ticket for a trip up a scummy
-stinking ex-industrial river aka Lee.

snip

- So I'm not surprised that the water taxi's gone bust. But I wonder who
- was running the company and who the drivers were? I bet they were
- greedy speculators out for a quick buck and were not river-folk.

If by "river-folk" you mean ex lightermen and tugboat crews then no,
they would have had more sense to start with.

Only the other week there was the story of all the small traders who'd
laid out thousands on pitches in some Olympic Food Market and sold
hardly anything.

Like the people behind this, they were foolish enough to believe
marketing projections produced by the Olympics Marketing Bull****
Directorate. That and Local Council and British Waterways PR.
Rather than commissioning their own independent research. The market
traders were promised a passing trade of thousands of customers daily -
instead of just one or two, and matey here commissioned 15 specially built
vessels and was hoping to make 120 trips a day. With little it seems by
way of a back-up "legacy" plan.

I don't know the history of this but maybe the prices were cheaper
earlier on until they discovered very few people were interested
at any price.

No, the prices were always extraordinarily high. I tried to register for a
pre-Olympics trial ride, expecting the prices to be much lower, but they
never even responded. And it's long been known that ticket holders would
get free Travelcards, so I never managed to figure what the target market
was for these boats.

On Wed, 12 Sep 2012 15:25:56 +0100
"michael adams" wrote:
Rather than commissioning their own independent research. The market
traders were promised a passing trade of thousands of customers daily -

To be honest , if they just bothered to visit they'd have seen it was a no
hope area.

The real success of this Olympics has been the reams of bull**** both before
and after the games. Just so long as enough people keep repeating that they
are going to be and in fact were a triumphal success that has put
Britain back in her rightful place as a world leader then
people may actually start believing it.

Unfortunately if you tell idiots something often enough then usually they
do end up believing it especially if you shout down any reasoned opposing
arguments as most of the politicians and their arse licking hangers on have
done over the last few years. Its how brainwashing works. Its the same tactic
that was used to sell political correctness.

If I hear one more zombie on TV or radio mention "celebrating" or "heroes"
I think I'll puke.

Unless that is you've got a few skips full of unsold food, or 15 boats
coming up soon in a bankruptcy sale.

Or some of the 10 billion quid spent on the 2 week farce.

B2003

wrote in message
...
On Wed, 12 Sep 2012 15:25:56 +0100
"michael adams" wrote:
Rather than commissioning their own independent research. The market
traders were promised a passing trade of thousands of customers daily -

To be honest , if they just bothered to visit they'd have seen it was a no
hope area.

The real success of this Olympics has been the reams of bull**** both before
and after the games. Just so long as enough people keep repeating that they
are going to be and in fact were a triumphal success that has put
Britain back in her rightful place as a world leader then
people may actually start believing it.

Unfortunately if you tell idiots something often enough then usually they
do end up believing it especially if you shout down any reasoned opposing
arguments as most of the politicians and their arse licking hangers on have
done over the last few years.

Oh dear ! Reasoned argument will never convince anyone of anything.
To sway the masses you need to appeal to their emotions. Adolf
Hitler may have been a bit extreme in some of his views but he was
certainly right about that one. As detailed in Mien Kampf.
All the evidence points to the
inescapable conclusion that UK PLC has been on the back foot
ever since putting herself in hock to the US to finance her
involvment in WW1. And has been papering over the cracks ever
since. A war out of which she gained nothing. Just debt and war
pensions. Then came the slump and then even more borrowing from
our "closest allies" to finance our standing alone early on against
Hitler in WW2 - again only recently paid off. Any politician who wants to get
elected will soon realise that the voters don't want to know about all
that stuff. Which nobody could change even if they wanted to.

They want their hopes and dreams made real. Which might last anything
between one week and one year after any General Election.

Its how brainwashing works.


Its the same tactic
that was used to sell political correctness.


If I hear one more zombie on TV or radio mention "celebrating" or "heroes"
I think I'll puke.

There's two ways of looking at that. Life nowadys is definitely too soft
as compared with the old days - but there again would you really prefer
to live in the days of rampant infant mortality, the Black Death, or public
executions with people being burned at the stake or being hung drawn and
quartered.

At least you can avoid all the bull**** if you choose to do so.


Unless that is you've got a few skips full of unsold food, or 15 boats
coming up soon in a bankruptcy sale.

Or some of the 10 billion quid spent on the 2 week farce.

Yup. Could have financed quite a good war for 10 billion quid
- only you get maybe a few less asylum seekers this way.


michael adams

....




B2003

In message , at
15:25:56 on Wed, 12 Sep 2012, michael adams
remarked:
Only the other week there was the story of all the small traders who'd
laid out thousands on pitches in some Olympic Food Market and sold
hardly anything.

Part of the problem there was apparently the way the Olympic stewards
were told to steer everyone onto public transport to get them as far
away as soon as possible, rather than lurking around to be customers.

Shops near the Cutty Sark were complaining about the same thing.
--
Roland Perry