In the merde again .

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van ordinaire
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Re: In the merde again .

Post by van ordinaire »

Just as the designers of those camera placements assume that a front number plate will be in a certain position (when legally, it can be almost anywhere) so those who designed those ticket machines that require a number, assume that they always fit a certain format, whereas there are 5 (6 including NI ones) & apart from the current one within them there are many variations of the number of characters (anything from 2 - 7) & they can't cope with that.

The latest wheeze, if recent press reports are to be believed, is people are getting "tickets" for not paying for the time it has taken to drive round looking for a space & on finding there weren't any, queuing to get out.

The answer is simple, don't use these car parks, at least during times charges apply. If there's no alternative* - go somewhere else.

*unlikely, there's always Lidl's!
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Re: In the merde again .

Post by daviemck2006 »

My nearest Lidl, in Elgin, has ANPR on its car park, and states if you are in their car park for over 2 hours you get hit with a £200 penalty charge.
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Re: In the merde again .

Post by Peter.N. »

Like that are they, I don't think the one at Tain has. It says something like that at Axminster Tesco but still people seem to leave their cars there and go on the train - or they did.

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van ordinaire
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Re: In the merde again .

Post by van ordinaire »

A couple in Inner London suburbs (where they are surrounded by draconian parking restrictions or, even, the only car park & so, an open invitation to abuse) have time limits - but, really, 2 hours is quite generous or one, at least, has some receipt barcode scanners into which you key your registration No - so "it" knows which cars belong to genuine customers. The only exception I know is Paignton [unusual in that it's a former Safeway(?) AND it fronts a pedestrian piazza] which seems to own or, at least, operate the adjoining multi-storey carpark.
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Re: In the merde again .

Post by Peter.N. »

We had a friend staying here some while back and he got a ticket in the main Charmouth car park, he checked into it as he was sure he hadn't over stayed and found that the clock was wrong on the ticket machine, he went and sorted out the traffic warden and asked her how she could be so stupid - she threatened to call the police, he never paid the fine or heard anything more about it.

The only parking ticket I have ever had in my life was in Charmouth, just before I retired. I had parked on the end of a yellow line as the TV I went to see was a large heavy Sony and there was nowhere within carrying distance I could park. I left a large notice in my windscreen as to who I was and why I was there, made no difference. To be fair to our local warden who you very rarely see I think it was someone driving through who had spotted it as I was fairly well known in Charmouth then. I tried arguing with the authorities but it was a wast of time. It cost me exactly what I had charged for the repair. I'm glad I don't have to park there or anywhere else much now.

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Re: In the merde again .

Post by CitroJim »

Peter.N. wrote: 18 Jan 2018, 22:34 The only parking ticket I have ever had in my life was in Charmouth, just before I retired.


I must be lucky, or careful, as the only parking ticket I've ever had was in Durban, South Africa...

Parked outside the British Consulate...

I left the country without paying it... I wonder if they're still after me? Just in case, I've never been back since...
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Re: In the merde again .

Post by Michel »

Peter.N. wrote: 18 Jan 2018, 22:34
The only parking ticket I have ever had in my life was in Charmouth,

Peter


I've had 2 or 3 and I got clamped once in London.

Clamping - I was 5 mins late moving the car outside my wife's house (then my girlfriend) in London, where the road changed from free parking to paid parking at 8:30am, which riled me. I wasn't used to the draconian traffic wardens down there back then. I got one last year for parking well over the time limit in Hitchin, and one some time ago for simply not reading a P and D sign correctly.

I almost got another one outside my wife's house. I dashed out at 8:30.40 seconds to see the traffic warden starting to write one out. I had a bit of a rude go at her, making sure I was always on the other side of the car so I didn't look like I was going to assault her. She was an African lady, going off her accent. I said "You lot are all the same, you *^%king Londoners" (she likely thought I was going to use a racially derogatory term here) and "no wonder outsiders hate the place".

I never got that ticket.
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Re: In the merde again .

Post by Peter.N. »

I worked in London for a year (1954) and it was all new and interesting but I wouldn't want to go there now. I was employed by a Radio/TV/Camera shop in Cheapside, we had a Ford Thames 10cwt van, the one with the engine off centre and could park pretty well anywhere as most of the road was still derelict after the war, there was only the insurance company on the corner of Queen St, our building and the remains of Bow church left in that section of the road, all the rest was a bomb site area, we even had a parking bay outside the shop, that was filled in while I was still there so you could see the way things were going.

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others:-
'96 Jeep Cherokee Limited - the "donor"
'99 Jeep Cherokee Orvis - the green one
'97 Jeep Cherokee Limited - the red one
'99 Cadillac Seville STS
'96 Cadillac Eldorado ETC
& numerous what might be described as abandoned projects!
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Re: In the merde again .

Post by van ordinaire »

Beats me how you got a ticket in Durban, Jim, I don't recall there being any restrictions - or, indeed, much in the way of (non bush bus) traffic. However, I have had tickets in New York (parked on a meter), Zagreb (in a car park), a small provincial German town (in a marked parking space) & Bruge (because I had overstayed a limit I wasn't aware of). In all my years in London I've oly had 3, one I successfully appealed & one was withdrawn - because of some irregularity concerning its issue - before I could appeal. The latest, a year or so ago, was in Newton Abott when in a road I regularly park in, I'd backed into a space, not realising that the car in front was the last one one that was parked where it's permitted, as I couldn't actually see the yellow lines I had parked on.
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Re: In the merde again .

Post by Gibbo2286 »

I flew from LA to Auckland, left Saturday night, arrived 6.0am picked up the hire car, drove to hotel, sign on the roadside say 'no parking Monday to Saturday' so it's Sunday, left the car for four hours while I had a kip, got a parking ticket because it's............. Monday :shock: forgot about flying through the date line.

Auckland officials grinned and cancelled the ticket when I called in.
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Re: In the merde again .

Post by Peter.N. »

I must remember that 'New Zealanders have a sense of humour'. 8-)

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Re: In the merde again .

Post by CitroJim »

Gibbo2286 wrote: 20 Jan 2018, 10:46 Auckland officials grinned and cancelled the ticket when I called in.


Excellent!
Peter.N. wrote: 20 Jan 2018, 11:04 I must remember that 'New Zealanders have a sense of humour'. 8-)
And not only that, an absence of 'Jobsworth' and a sense of fair-play by the looks of it... A very refreshing attitude :)
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van ordinaire
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'05 (yes, really) C15
'97 Xantia Exclusive estate
others:-
'96 Jeep Cherokee Limited - the "donor"
'99 Jeep Cherokee Orvis - the green one
'97 Jeep Cherokee Limited - the red one
'99 Cadillac Seville STS
'96 Cadillac Eldorado ETC
& numerous what might be described as abandoned projects!
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Re: In the merde again .

Post by van ordinaire »

There was a Kiwi couple on my Vietnamese road trip, they were good company, so no doubts about them having a sense of humour.
Citroens:-
'81 2CV Club :cry:
'05 C15 :!:
'97 Xantia Exclusive estate [-o<
others:-
Jeep XJ Cherokees x 3 :?
'96 Cadillac Eldorado
'99 Cadillac STS :|
& the numerous "abandoned projects" #-o
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