mynickers

I was parked in a parking space outside my pharmacist a few months back, you get to park there for free as a customer of the pharmacy for 20 mins. It was nearly 6pm when it was gonna be free anyway, and I came back about 2 mins beyond the 20 min allocation, and a little rotter had slapped a ticket on it.

Anyway, I then forgot all about it, when I remembered I had gone beyond the time when you get it half price (£40) and was now in £80 land. When all is said and done, it might only be 2 mins, but the rules are the rules when it comes to parking, and I accept you have to take that on the chin, that said, I just really resent paying £80 for the sake of being 2 mins late for my car. I went down to the office, and tried to charm my way out of it, saying I had been very sick, something I can actually back up by my doctor (even though it’s basically unrelated to my late payment). The guy was very understanding, but was not really able to help, but I had already started blagging, so I had to follow through, so I asked the guy if I could pay £40 then, and £40 two weeks later, he took pity on me, and allowed this, however, it was a verbal agreement, and he made no note of it on his system, I was watching.

Since then I have heard nothing, in fact in general there has been no communications from them. I was thinking if I get a letter through I could just say that as far as I was concerned the guy in the office had said it was ok to only pay £40 due to illness preventing me from making payment before, which will look right because there will be a payment on the system for that amount, and no proof that this was arranged on the basis that I would pay the reminder later.

Do you think I can get away with that, or should I call them up and double check, as I know they’re buggars for sending around the bailiffs? This makes me sound like a right tight ****, but it’s more of a matter of principle. Just another stealth tax on drivers, that said, it’s not worth risking getting the bailiffs around.

Will they write a letter first, can I ring up the DVLA to check, or will this just alert them to the fact I still owe them £40!?

Cheers

Tight **** – aka Nickers.