Frenchieboy Posted September 28, 2011 Report Share Posted September 28, 2011 I have had a few issues with Lancs Firearms Department in the past, mainly over my variation for a .243 for deer and Fox but that has been all resolved amicably now. I recently sent in my FAC with a Variation Application to get another rifle and Moderator added as well as getting some of the "Conditions" changed and ammended. Not only did I get my certificate back in the time space that I was told with all of the "ammendments" that I asked for done correctly, while I was out shooting last Friday the wife took a call for me from the police who said that they just wanted to know if I was happy with the "changes" and the work they had done and that they would call back another time. I got the phone call yesterday from the Firearms Department and spent 10 minutes on the phone with them. They wanted to ask me a few questions about what I thought of the service I had received and if I was happy with my certificate and the conditions on it. They explained that due to cut backs they were making some changes to try to get the "system" to run more efficiently and the way forward (As they saw it) was to get some feedback from people like myself! I have to say that the girls in the office have never been anything other than extremely helpful, polite and efficient but I have never had this sort of thing before giving me a chance to offer any feedback on their services. If it means that they are doing their best to get things running better then I am completely in favour of it and all I can say is "Well done Lancs Firearms Department" - It is certainlty a step in the right direction that other areas could take notice of! Are there any other Firearms Departments that are taking these steps to try to get things running better for the shooters? Any thoughts Guys? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apache Posted September 28, 2011 Report Share Posted September 28, 2011 Glad you have got it sorted with them! What are you adding to your ticket? Feedback has to be a two way thing, they have to be prepared to act on it! Did you point out to them the farcical situation where you could not use your .243 for deer alone but could for foxes? They could have saved themselves a lot of work if they had just given you the .243 for fox and deer on an open ticket. How many letters/emails and phone calls would that have saved them? (I am 100% serious with that point). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frenchieboy Posted September 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 28, 2011 Glad you have got it sorted with them! What are you adding to your ticket? Feedback has to be a two way thing, they have to be prepared to act on it! Did you point out to them the farcical situation where you could not use your .243 for deer alone but could for foxes? They could have saved themselves a lot of work if they had just given you the .243 for fox and deer on an open ticket. How many letters/emails and phone calls would that have saved them? (I am 100% serious with that point). They added the rifle and moderator I asked for without any questions plus they changed the "Named Mentor for Deer" to "Acompanied by any experienced deer stalker" - They also added a written condition for me to use my 17HMR for "Dispatching of Foxes in a cage trap" (I already had this agreed but up to now I did not have anything on my certificate to cover me for it) and they gave me "Open Conditions" with my .243 for Fox! I did mention that I saw it as being a little "difficult to understand" how I could be on an OPEN ticket and deemed perfectly safe with my .243 for Fox but on closed for Deer as I felt that there was more of a public risk while using a .243 for foxes on the lamp than there was with using a .243 in daylight for deer stalking. They were a little lost for an answer to this but I did state that I was not overly worried about it as I will be sending in a letter in the very near future from a DSC Accredited Witness stating that (In his opinion) I am perfectly safe to go deer stalking unacompanied therefore should be no reason why the "Accompanied Condition" should not be lifted and a Full Open Certificate should be issued to me. The reply to that was that as soon as they receive that letter they will happily remove the "Accompanied" condition and will issue me with a full open ticket straight away. I am quite happy with the way that things are now panning out and the reply that I was given and I believe that this is a move in the right direction. If this sort of thing helps things to run more smoothly and efficiently then I am all in favour of it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badgerpig Posted September 28, 2011 Report Share Posted September 28, 2011 I used to live in Blackpool and first got my SGC there, found the whole dept (FEO and office staff) friendly, informative and helpful Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psyxologos Posted September 28, 2011 Report Share Posted September 28, 2011 The truth is that they are doing their best. OK, they seem to have some trouble with wording their conditions (as I found out first hand) but they are certainly helpful and reasonable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark the hat Posted September 28, 2011 Report Share Posted September 28, 2011 hi pete' hows things your end m8,and hows the good lady??? great to hear some good news for you about this mentoring b@@ll@cks,i got clobberd with the same mentoring but for fox its a pain in the rear and thats the first ive heard of the fd ever phoning to ask a shooter for feedback, good luck m8 and go get em atb mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSPUK Posted September 28, 2011 Report Share Posted September 28, 2011 SGC expired on 25th August - sent renewal off 20 July - still not back - did get a letter last weeks saying there was a delay -overworked sorry. I don't really mind if they are pushed from backside to breakfast time. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricko Posted September 28, 2011 Report Share Posted September 28, 2011 Is George Stokes still a FEO for Lancs? Lovely old bloke. Very helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rec-baller Posted September 28, 2011 Report Share Posted September 28, 2011 don,t know if George is still knocking about,, last i heard he was off on the sick -waiting for an op,, i realy like George , he did my interview and passed me !!!! shaun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lloyd90 Posted September 28, 2011 Report Share Posted September 28, 2011 Glad you had it done mate, send mine off 5 months ago to have a mentoring condition removed that I'd had for 2 years!! Also asked to add Deer on, at first they said it was ok, then said Deer stalking counts as a whole new thing and I needed to have a mentoring condition for that! Then a different woman told me I had to keep the mentoring condition for fox and for deer, I then asked to and spoke to the FEO personally rather than the clowns on the desk! He told me I needed a letter off my current Mentor to say he would mentor me to stalk Deer on my permission, I phoned and spoke to BASC about it who didn't seem bothered in the slightest! I phoned today and told them they'd had it 5 months just to remove a condition and they told me "we're busy, it'll get done in due course!" Beyond a joke ( lack of punctuation and grammar , I'm on my phone lol ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toka_shigazu Posted September 28, 2011 Report Share Posted September 28, 2011 Glad to hear Frenchie!!! No sadly George has gone now...he has been rpelaced by someone who has an active knowledge of firearms/shotguns from what i have heard. the feedback so far on the new FEO is very similar to that with George...common sense is applied by the FEO although some decisions still seem very strange as Frenchie has mentioned. the girls in the office have always been great with me too! atb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent Posted September 28, 2011 Report Share Posted September 28, 2011 I have had a few issues with Lancs Firearms Department in the past, mainly over my variation for a .243 for deer and Fox but that has been all resolved amicably now. I recently sent in my FAC with a Variation Application to get another rifle and Moderator added as well as getting some of the "Conditions" changed and ammended. Not only did I get my certificate back in the time space that I was told with all of the "ammendments" that I asked for done correctly, while I was out shooting last Friday the wife took a call for me from the police who said that they just wanted to know if I was happy with the "changes" and the work they had done and that they would call back another time. I got the phone call yesterday from the Firearms Department and spent 10 minutes on the phone with them. They wanted to ask me a few questions about what I thought of the service I had received and if I was happy with my certificate and the conditions on it. They explained that due to cut backs they were making some changes to try to get the "system" to run more efficiently and the way forward (As they saw it) was to get some feedback from people like myself! I have to say that the girls in the office have never been anything other than extremely helpful, polite and efficient but I have never had this sort of thing before giving me a chance to offer any feedback on their services. If it means that they are doing their best to get things running better then I am completely in favour of it and all I can say is "Well done Lancs Firearms Department" - It is certainlty a step in the right direction that other areas could take notice of! Are there any other Firearms Departments that are taking these steps to try to get things running better for the shooters? Any thoughts Guys? The girls in the office have always been top notch its elsewere the problems lied Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justintime Posted September 28, 2011 Report Share Posted September 28, 2011 commom sense !!!!! not in the firearms act that one mate lol defo not in Warwickshires Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
englishman-in-wales Posted September 28, 2011 Report Share Posted September 28, 2011 I think the cut backs are nation wide, certainly here in South Wales there have been cut backs, i know some of the new boys in the the club are waiting between 3 - 5 months for FAC to come through, however i think most of us that know the FEO's appreicate that they are flat out and getting around as fast as they can...over the years i have come to appreciate that sometimes it can be a long drawn out process, as frustrating as it is, i appreciate that at the end of the day we are dealing with guns and these things have to be done...Personally, i would rather wait a few extra weeks because there has been cutbacks in the firearms department than remove officers from the frontline... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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