Quote of the day 12th April 2014

"Do not free a camel of the burden of his hump; you may be freeing him from being a camel."

(G.K. Chesterton, "Orthodoxy")

Comments

Jim said…
Off topic again sorry - just they were making a big thing on the radio the other morning about councils "over vending" on parking. This is where lets say 1hr costs 80p, and you put in a £1 coin as you dont have change, then the machine gives you neither change or the extra 15 mins parking time. apparently councils are making a lot of money this way. personally I think that the take a ticket on entry and pay for amount of time you actually parked on exit are a much better system. Also it would be better at places like the hospital, where you dont know how long you are going to be there so you have no idea how long to pre pay parking for.
Chris Whiteside said…
Must say I share your preferences on car park charging - there are often good reasons why one is not certain how long one will need to park.

The other thing which often drives me mad when trying to park is the company which runs the service at many car parks, especially at stations, to pay for parking via your mobile phone.

When you first use this company, it is very convenient. But if, like me and like many other people, you keep your mobile phone number longer than your cars or credit and debit cards, you've had it.

Because the company is entirely automated - it's the second hardest company in the universe at which to contact a human being (after Google) and their systems recognise your mobile phone and remember the car registrations and bank cards associated with that phone number.

If you still have the details of the bank card they remember for you, you and key in the registration for a different car. But if your bank card has expired and you've torn it up (as the banks recommend) or if you've lost it, and you no longer have the details, or cannot remember which of your past cards you used to use with the "Park by phone" system, it is utterly impossible to get their idiotic and infuriating machines to accept a new car or bank card. Or to contact a human being and get them to do so.

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