Naswa Water Quality

[Old Hubbard Rd]

Have you been over to the Naswa lately?? Notice all the crap (no pun intended) in the water there especially over by the docks. What would it take to grab a pool screen and clean all the floating stuff out of there. I bet ya lot's of people have pass this stuff and gotten grossed out. I for one am very disappointed in the way the Makris family has neglected the cleaniness of the place. I'm actually quite shocked. There was floating plastic cups, trash, weeds, bottles, cans, paper etc. Come on Naswa staff you should know better!! Don't wait for people to say something about keeping the place clean!! These little kids that visit play in this stuff.

[EricP]

Agreed, it's really no different than keeping your parking lot clean for your customers!

[Pineedles]

This must be a private joke between the both of you.

[Waterbaby]

Originally Posted by Old Hubbard Rd

Have you been over to the Naswa lately?? Notice all the crap (no pun intended) in the water there especially over by the docks. What would it take to grab a pool screen and clean all the floating stuff out of there. I bet ya lot's of people have pass this stuff and gotten grossed out. I for one am very disappointed in the way the Makris family has neglected the cleaniness of the place. I'm actually quite shocked. There was floating plastic cups, trash, weeds, bottles, cans, paper etc. Come on Naswa staff you should know better!! Don't wait for people to say something about keeping the place clean!! These little kids that visit play in this stuff.

Did you stop/dock at the NASWA and notice this, or was it just a pass-by thing? When did you notice this? If you did actually dock there, what was the date? PLEASE give the info so we can relate.

Oh come on, it's just like the people who come here and complain about the food and lousy service at restaurants............... Did you try talking to someone at the NASWA about it??????? Did you call and complain, if you didn't stop in???????? If you have a complaint about ANYWHERE, call the management, voice your complaint, and see if anything changes.

My disclaimer -- I have no personal financial interest, or other -- except that I like the NASWA, this is just kind of the final straw for me on this thread, I am so tired of "hearing" complaints and negative posts about places, I read this thread to get REAL reviews on restaurants and what is good and (yes) bad, not just a litany of complaints. If I'm unhappy with a place I make my unhappiness known, to the management, and if I don't get satisfaction THEN I would come to an anonymous forum and post my thoughts.

[EricP]

Originally Posted by Pineedles

This must be a private joke between the both of you.

Not at all, just comparing drive up docks to any parking lot outside any business. A clean lot always helps the image of a business.

[Old Hubbard Rd]

Originally Posted by Waterbaby

Did you stop/dock at the NASWA and notice this, or was it just a pass-by thing? When did you notice this? If you did actually dock there, what was the date? PLEASE give the info so we can relate.

Oh come on, it's just like the people who come here and complain about the food and lousy service at restaurants............... Did you try talking to someone at the NASWA about it??????? Did you call and complain, if you didn't stop in???????? If you have a complaint about ANYWHERE, call the management, voice your complaint, and see if anything changes.

My disclaimer -- I have no personal financial interest, or other -- except that I like the NASWA, this is just kind of the final straw for me on this thread, I am so tired of "hearing" complaints and negative posts about places, I read this thread to get REAL reviews on restaurants and what is good and (yes) bad, not just a litany of complaints. If I'm unhappy with a place I make my unhappiness known, to the management, and if I don't get satisfaction THEN I would come to an anonymous forum and post my thoughts.

It was Wednesday July 9, 2008 at aproximately 2-3PM. Yes we did dock and eat and drink. Sunny Day-plenty of help around. Not busy at all. Waterbaby do not get me wrong. I love the Naswa. The food is great. The drinks are great. The setup is always getting better. It's just pulling up and seeing all this filth. Several dead fish floating belly up. I know I should say something to the management. I felt a bit uncomfortable. I know putting this on this site may be a over kill although I would hope that all business people in the Lake Region read these posts and take a oportunity to reply. It would be great to get a reply saying "Thanks for your pointing this issue out to us" "We've taken care of that". "Hope your back soon"!!

[KonaChick]

Waterbaby, the original post was about the cleanliness of a restaurant and is appropriately placed on the right thread. If you don't like reading complaints about restaurants I'm not sure why you read this thread. I had a similiar experience at the Naswa the one and only time I've been there about 6 years ago and that was it wasn't all that clean and as far as water quality I didn't do an official water quality test but the babies playing in the water with their diapers on was enough for me.

[sky_nh]

Remeber that skit on Seinfeld? Anyone who would dare complain about the Soup Nazis' soup got no soup -- for a year!

It was very funny. It was really a farce about the business owner who would broach no criticism of any kind about the establishment. From reading this forum lately, it seems that we have surrogate Soup Nazis here who want to enforce a no-complaint policy with regard to Lakes Region businesses. I think trying to get people to shut up will back-fire on the businesses themselves and hurt all of us as consumers.

First, like anyone else I have to use my judgment about weeding out the personal vendettas from legitimate consumer complaints. It is not always easy to do. In the case of NASWA and the garbage in the water, it is pretty clear that this is not a disgruntled employee but a caring customer who wants the business to improve.

Second, consumers have a right, if not an obligation, to share their good and bad experiences with other customers and prospects. I like reading great reviews and I also appreciate it when someone tells me a place is horrible. They are performing a community service by sharing their thoughts. It is up to ME to understand that one comment is not the final verdict on anything. That's one reason why, the more comments here the merrier! Over time a pattern emerges and the consensus tends to be positive or negative. It helps me and other consumers make better decisions.

This feedback helps the business. If you own or have managed a business as I have, your mind and attention are going in fifty directions at once. Nothing like a pointed comment from a customer to get you to act on something that was avoiding your attention. I would rather know about a problem than lose business without knowing why.

"Back in the day," customer evaluations were shared at parties, on the golf course, at the beach. Thanks to Al Gore and the invention of the Internet, we now have great places like this forum and a larger community to express ourselves. Some people here don't seem to like that idea. While I would not want to only be treated to bad restaurant reviews, this forum is part of the larger community and a perfectly appropriate place to vent, praise, warn, and invite. It is the obligation of company management to seek out and solicit feedback, positive and negative. If I ran a retail business in the Lakes Region, on a routine basis I would be searching this forum for my business name to find out what people are saying, perhaps respond, and certainly correct any problems.

While it would be neighborly for a customer who is loyal to a business to speak directly to management, it is not their obligation to do so. Some of the comments here make it sound like we as customers have that duty. We do not. It is management's job to manage. That includes getting customer feedback. It seems to me, when all is said and done, NASWA is not managing their business.

Now that I am done, if I am still allowed to have soup, I'll go with the corn chowder.

Thanks!

[SIKSUKR]

Ditto SKY-NH

[jetskier]

Originally Posted by sky_nh

Remeber that skit on Seinfeld? Anyone who would dare complain about the Soup Nazis' soup got no soup -- for a year!

It was very funny. It was really a farce about the business owner who would broach no criticism of any kind about the establishment. From reading this forum lately, it seems that we have surrogate Soup Nazis here who want to enforce a no-complaint policy with regard to Lakes Region businesses. I think trying to get people to shut up will back-fire on the businesses themselves and hurt all of us as consumers.

First, like anyone else I have to use my judgment about weeding out the personal vendettas from legitimate consumer complaints. It is not always easy to do. In the case of NASWA and the garbage in the water, it is pretty clear that this is not a disgruntled employee but a caring customer who wants the business to improve.

Second, consumers have a right, if not an obligation, to share their good and bad experiences with other customers and prospects. I like reading great reviews and I also appreciate it when someone tells me a place is horrible. They are performing a community service by sharing their thoughts. It is up to ME to understand that one comment is not the final verdict on anything. That's one reason why, the more comments here the merrier! Over time a pattern emerges and the consensus tends to be positive or negative. It helps me and other consumers make better decisions.

This feedback helps the business. If you own or have managed a business as I have, your mind and attention are going in fifty directions at once. Nothing like a pointed comment from a customer to get you to act on something that was avoiding your attention. I would rather know about a problem than lose business without knowing why.

"Back in the day," customer evaluations were shared at parties, on the golf course, at the beach. Thanks to Al Gore and the invention of the Internet, we now have great places like this forum and a larger community to express ourselves. Some people here don't seem to like that idea. While I would not want to only be treated to bad restaurant reviews, this forum is part of the larger community and a perfectly appropriate place to vent, praise, warn, and invite. It is the obligation of company management to seek out and solicit feedback, positive and negative. If I ran a retail business in the Lakes Region, on a routine basis I would be searching this forum for my business name to find out what people are saying, perhaps respond, and certainly correct any problems.

While it would be neighborly for a customer who is loyal to a business to speak directly to management, it is not their obligation to do so. Some of the comments here make it sound like we as customers have that duty. We do not. It is management's job to manage. That includes getting customer feedback. It seems to me, when all is said and done, NASWA is not managing their business.

Now that I am done, if I am still allowed to have soup, I'll go with the corn chowder.

Thanks!

I find that the good businesses react to negative feedback by addressing the problem. Poor businesses focus on denial and vilify the customer. The NASWA has always been an interesting place to sit and have a drink...the food quality has been questionable for years and there are a lot of posts on this forum about that. Without the beach and water, they really do not have much to offer. I would think that keeping a clean beach and docking area would be a tantamount concern to the business.

In terms of feedback...good, bad, indifferent we are about letting everyone voice their opinions...most are thoughtful and well founded.

Jetskier

[twoplustwo]

...for sky. Very well said.

I also think it's a lot easier to take negative reviews with a grain of salt than it is to handle ???? CAPS LOCK net-screaming at people.

[ITD]

Stopped at the Naswa on Tuesday and saw an employee cleaning the water, he was doing a pretty good job. He was using a kayak to scoop the debris into and it was pretty full.

Personally, I think we need to be careful here criticizing a place for this, all it takes is a change in wind direction for a lot of crap to blow in. What about the slobs who dump the trash in the lake in the first place? I also saw many people fishing nearby, sometimes the fish don't make it. As far as weeds, pineneedles and leaves, its pretty hard to keep a beach free of that stuff especially with the high water levels we've had.

Anyway, looks like they read this forum and are trying.

NO SOUP FOR YOU!!!!!!!!! Just kidding........

[TiltonBB]

Sky,
Great, well written post except the part about Al Gore inventing the internet.

That was a joke, right?

[Gatto Nero]

Originally Posted by TiltonBB

Sky,
Great, well written post except the part about Al Gore inventing the internet.

That was a joke, right?

Joke? What joke? You mean to tell me that Al didn't invent the Internet?

[Rose]

Originally Posted by TiltonBB

Sky,
Great, well written post except the part about Al Gore inventing the internet.

That was a joke, right?

Reread. He didn't say Al Gore invented it. From Gore's Wiki entry:

Internet pioneers Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn have also noted that, "As far back as the 1970s, Congressman Gore promoted the idea of high speed telecommunications as an engine for both economic growth and the improvement of our educational system. He was the first elected official to grasp the potential of computer communications to have a broader impact than just improving the conduct of science and scholarship [...] the Internet, as we know it today, was not deployed until 1983. When the Internet was still in the early stages of its deployment, Congressman Gore provided intellectual leadership by helping create the vision of the potential benefits of high speed computing and communication. As an example, he sponsored hearings on how advanced technologies might be put to use in areas like coordinating the response of government agencies to natural disasters and other crises."

[Woodsy]

Back in 2000 when Al was running for Pres...

"In his September 26, 2000 town hall meeting held as part of MTV's "Choose or Lose" series before a group of students at the Media Union at the University of Michigan, Gore joked, "I invented the environment." The students erupted in laughter." He was discussing the internet at the time.

This was quickly construed into "I invented the internet" by comedians and political pundits all over the nation... Jay Leno & Dave Letterman had field day with Al.

On a more serious note, he was a geek congreeman back in the late 70's and did manage to get some serious techie/internet bills passed! Just do a Wikipedia on Al Gore & internet and all this info pops up...

Woodsy

PS: The original internet started as as a DARPA project....

[winnitru]

Quite by coincidence we stumbled upon the NASWA yesterday. With as much time as I spend on this forum, it seems unbelievable, but it is true; I had never even heard of it. But it had a funky, beachy vibe and we were intrigued.
We had a delicious lunch. The boys had burgers and nachos and I had a salad with chicken and pears. Quite good "boat drinks" as well. Our server was adorable, perky and attentive. ( a big plus when insisting that the teen age sons join us for a boat ride and lunch! ) I am happy to report that the environs were clean and well kept. And the people watching was fantastic! I look forward to returning.

[TiltonBB]

The Al Gore internet claim was funny during the 2000 Presidential campaign.

George Bush asked why, if Al Gore invented the internet, he started every internet address with WWW?

Great line!

[Aquadeziac]

I was through the Channel yesterday on my jetski and it was nasty in general. Looked like someone emptied bags of lawn clippings all over, mostly South of the NASWA. I had to beach my machine by the Weirs docks and clear my intake grates because my machine was starting to heat up. Its worse than Smith Cove. I won't soon be taking my ski through the Channel again. As for the NASWA food, I haven't had the opportunity to eat there this year yet but the food was decent last September.

[Old Hubbard Rd]

Stopped in the Naswa today with the family. The water at the docks and beach were spottless!! NOTHING gross floating around. GREAT JOB Naswa crew!!