akshay67

I parked at a meter, but the meter was broken. Traffic warden comes along and slaps a ticket. I see him and (politely) tell him the meter was broken. He said it's too late now and that I should have phoned the council up to check before parking - wtf?!

I now have a ticket - I plan to write a letter to the council...and advice on where I stand and what I should write?

ajm

What a joke. I would sellotape a 50p onto the letter and say "here is the money that I tried to put into the meter but couldn't because it was broken!!!"

yoza

What ?

You didnt follow him around the block and smash his face in ?

Shame on you.........

On a more level headed note, write to the council or better still go in person with a photo of the 'out of order' meter, and its serial number.

If the world was a fair place you will probably get off with the ticket.

boxst

Hello

I think you'll find that if the meter is broken, you cannot park there.

Have a read of No 08 in this list: http://www.parking-appeals.gov.uk/Re...CNconCodes.asp

Steve.

Ringpeas

The joys of owning a car eh!

akshay67

I didn't know this and nowhere did it say on the meter 'if this doesn't work, don't park here' - can I use this in my defence?

Tiggs

if no ones at the checkout doesnt mean you can leave the shop without paying.....you parked in a place that costs money, you didnt pay.......in effect..you looted that slot!

ajm

Trust you!

Ringpeas

Hardly a fair comparison LOL

If you come to a set of trafic lights that are out of order - do you just sit there until someone comes and fixes them

Brendan Hughes

Au contraire. In a parking place, you're always expected to pay (yeah, except sundays and nights). Traffic lights are a 50/50 chance of stop or go.

Tiggs

i've never used lights where you pay to go through them....nice example.

akshay67

The point I am making is that I was not aware that you can't park there if the meter is out of order. Not many people appear to be either as all the spaces were taken and the warden was having a field day!

Leslie

The other point of course is that since attendants now have a bonus system based on the tickets they hand out as well as a minimum quota in order to keep their job, then they will slap a ticket on you at the least excuse.

I think it is very poor that things have come to this sort of attitude all for the sake of getting as much cash out of us as possible. I certainly think it is unfair to give you a ticket if there was no cover on the meter with a notice to say you can't park there.

At least where I live we have got a warden who will help you find somewhere to park rather than give a ticket out if he has the chance. This sort of helpful attitude is one of the good reasons for living in a more civilised part of the country. Some people would call it old fashioned of course!

Les

Ringpeas

Tiggs, I was talking about breaking a rule smartarse

If they maintained the meter there would be no problem.

If there were signs saying do not park if meter out of order then fair enough. Otherwise you use your best judgment, seems highly unfair to ticket someone for this.

mad_dr

What about a toll bridge? The bridge is crossable - no barriers or obsructions, but there's no-one in sight to take your money. Any better? Oh and there's no other way round (as I expect there were no other spare spaces to park in).

Ringpeas

I think Tiggs would be under the bridge, with the other Trolls

ajm

LOL!

mad_dr

LOL

Dracoro

Think of the Dartford bridge. The booths are AFTER you've crossed. Suppose everyone's supposed to just sit there causing an almighty traffic jam. This contravenes the highway code rule 'make good progress' and 'don't obstruct others' etc.

Although tecnically you shouldn't park there, you'd hope that a parking warden would just say 'ok mate, on your way, remember next time' etc. but they are under strict orders from the powers that be to do everyone, no excuses. quota's probably in operation too. They may as well be robots and humanity is, by definition of the job, been stripped from them.

Jess

Same thing happened to the wife. I sent a letter to the council informing them that my wife lost the money she had put in and had tried to find a warden, they basically replied that she shouldn't of parked there if she could not pay the parking fee.

W*****s

ajm

Parking is at a premium in this country, the onus should be on the council to make sure the machines are working. This "if I can't have the money then no one can park in an otherwise completely servicable parking space on PUBLIC property" is nonsense and the council concerned should be ashamed of themselves.

If I were you I would write to them explaining the circumstances and offer them the value of the parking ticket for parking in the space and no more. If they place any importance on not wasting public money by hunting you down hopefully the charge will be waived!

Brendan Hughes

You're basing this on the fundamental assumption that he has some sort of right to park there. He doesn't. He might have desperately needed to, but he still has no right to. If all spaces were full, would you defend him if he was fined for double-parking? Of course not. The shop analogy stands. He might have been starving hungry, and desperate for food, but taking food from a shop without paying still makes him a thief.

mart360

donr park in my neck of the woods..

they opened a new multiplex and a private company got the parking ..

if you got done and towed... have a guess what the cost was ....



100.................nope






















200.....................nope






















400......................keep going

















800 ........................your havin a larf







































900.................kin hell























tada..............................£1000!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



there was a major protest, with the cinema owners threatening to pull out of the area.. the council took it over in the end


of note.. all the carparks used to be pad and free from 4 or 5 pm...


untill they opened a trendy wine bar, and the one behind it became private and 24hr a day charges applied!!!!!!

no one knew until they came out of the pub, at 11,00 and found themselves clamped..

the guy had them all about 20 in total...


£65 that will do nicely




be warned..



Mart

bioforger

iTrader: (1)

Just write a letter to your borough council they will let you off on this. I had a similar incident as the machine would not accept my pound coins. So I went back later with change So I had 2 tickets on display. I even bought the 2nd ticket in time so that 1st ticket hadnt expired. I still got a penalty though Wrote a letter and it was dropped. But they actually said if it happens again they wont drop it! Hang on a minute why dont u just fix yer feckin machines!

Suresh

The behaviour of the jobsworth warden in this case perfectly illustrates why I am right in almost always parking illegally, by either not bothering to fill the meter or just parking where I shouldn't. I do it all the time and haven't got a ticket yet. If I do, I'll probably just pay it and chalk it down to experience or maybe contest it and waste some useless desk-jockey's time.

My local council are complete muppets and have seriously p1ssed me off with their road planning activities, so this is my childish revenge.

So the lesson is : acting like a total chav and getting away with it is the way to go

Suresh

LG John

The exact same thing happened to me the other week (ned had jammed plastic in the payment slot). I wrote a polite and professional letter explaining the circumstances and enclosing the ticket - with no payment obviously. Edinburgh City Council are renowned around these parts for being total b***ards when it comes to parking tickets and appeals, etc so I am giving them one chance to be reasonable.

If they write back saying I still have to pay it then I swear on my best mates life I will send them a picture of me holding my mates 10" hunting knife in one hand and the £30 in the other with a footnote saying, "Come pry it from my cold dead fingers"