1 /5 Ishtiaq M Ahmed: Feedback on Swimming Pool Management
The swimming pool is being run with little structure or accountability. Staff appear to make decisions as they please rather than following any clear policy. They justify this by calling it a “community pool,” as if that gives them the right to ignore discipline and basic standards.
There is no proper lane management. Swim coaches act as if they own the entire pool. It is common to see 7–8 adults crammed into one lane while lanes reserved for teaching have only two people casually chatting with a coach. This is unfair and poor utilisation of space.
When I approached the manager to share this feedback, instead of listening, he became defensive right from the start. His first response was, “We’ve run this pool this way for 10 years. It’s a community pool. If you don’t like it, go elsewhere.” That attitude is unacceptable for someone in a customer-facing role. A colleague of his, clearly junior, was more professional and respectful. The manager, however, was dismissive and arrogant, behaving as if any criticism is a personal insult rather than an opportunity to improve.
His final remark, “Don’t come if you don’t like it,” says everything about his approach to customer service. If I had not already paid in advance, I would have left immediately.
This is not about one incident, but about a culture of poor management and lack of accountability. The pool desperately needs proper policies for lane discipline, fair allocation of space, and above all staff who listen and respect members rather than treat them with contempt
