Insignificant/ Significant things that BYP or just wind you up a little

[Yorick]

By 'ell, it's Grumpy Time in here today

grumpy-cat-meme-00-300x300.jpg (17.97 KiB) Viewed 628 times

[Mr. Dazzle]

I drive two cars on a regular basis. One has 'traditional' 55W halogens (2006) and one has the very latest and greatest 2 megapixel 'digital matrix' LED lights (2023).

I know which I prefer Every time I drive the older car in the dark I end up getting out to make sure there's not a bulb blown

however, no-one else can see a fucking thing when you're coming towards them

They turn off around on coming cars, it's quite magical...this pic looks like an exaggeration, but it really is that neat/stark. They even selectively dim at the bottom when it's wet to reduce reflections.

[Mussels]

Old cars with non LED headlights. FFS they are like candles and I nearly pulled out on one last nght thinking the lights were reflections of street lights! HTF do people drive at night with only with those dim things to light the way??

Every winter I think about slapping a light bar on my car, as my commute consists of 45 minutes of unlit country roads, but there really is no need, even with weedy 55 watt old fashioned bulbs I can still see perfectly well.
Maybe its time for you to pop into specsavers or ask for your bus pass to be issued early.

When there is no other light you need very little of your own to see where you are going, your eyes adjust and it's fine.
Until you meet this coming the other way, it nicely demonstrates how you don't need direct glare to blind you.

[Count Steer]

Parking penalty charges and the appeals process. Got back to the 'shopping trolley' to find car park attendant warden standing behind it and a ticket on the windscreen. 'Woah!' says I, 'I paid on the app'. He looks a bit annoyed and says something about their rubbish system and I show him confirmation of booking on my phone.

I'd booked the wrong car in. Doh. He's v nice about it but can't rescind the ticket and tells me to email the council at the address on the back of the ticket. So I get home and do that. Get a confirmation that they try to respond to emails within 14 days....UNLESS it's an appeal against a ticket, in which case it's up to 30 days. The charge goes up from £50 to £75 after 28 days.

I'll pay up after 27 if I haven't heard from them. If I stop using the app I'll save 30p each time so it'll only take 167 parkings to claw back the £50. I'll need a large bagful of 20p's though.

Sod's Law though...never used the wrong car in the app before, was only gone 15 mins - and they must have heard I got £50 on the Premium Bonds this month. *sigh*

[Mr. Dazzle]

I'll pay up after 27 if I haven't heard from them. If I stop using the app I'll save 30p each time so it'll only take 167 parkings to claw back the £50. I'll need a large bagful of 20p's though.

I thought about this, but I don't ever have cash - so I'd need to go out of my way to obtain coinage, which invariably means withdrawing notes and then buying something, which means I'd probably be nett down

Plus I CBA.

[Rockburner]

Parking penalty charges and the appeals process. Got back to the 'shopping trolley' to find car park attendant warden standing behind it and a ticket on the windscreen. 'Woah!' says I, 'I paid on the app'. He looks a bit annoyed and says something about their rubbish system and I show him confirmation of booking on my phone.

I'd booked the wrong car in. Doh. He's v nice about it but can't rescind the ticket and tells me to email the council at the address on the back of the ticket. So I get home and do that. Get a confirmation that they try to respond to emails within 14 days....UNLESS it's an appeal against a ticket, in which case it's up to 30 days. The charge goes up from £50 to £75 after 28 days.

I'll pay up after 27 if I haven't heard from them. If I stop using the app I'll save 30p each time so it'll only take 167 parkings to claw back the £50. I'll need a large bagful of 20p's though.

Sod's Law though...never used the wrong car in the app before, was only gone 15 mins - and they must have heard I got £50 on the Premium Bonds this month. *sigh*

I use a couple of those payment apps to save carrying fecking change with me at all times, and the really annoying thing is that they never send you a text or a reminder when you're 5 minutes away from the end of your allotted time,Over xmas we got a ticket because we'd missed the end of the period and hadn't extended the permission. bah humbug!


Edit:
Just took a look into the settings on one of the apps.. and yes there IS an option for reminders.... but only via SMS, which are (of course) chargable! Why not code in a reminder to the app itself so when you're in an area with fuck all signal you still get notified!! Double Bah Humbug!!

[Horse]

I'll pay up after 27 if I haven't heard from them. If I stop using the app I'll save 30p each time so it'll only take 167 parkings to claw back the £50. I'll need a large bagful of 20p's though.

I thought about this, but I don't ever have cash

I used a car park in Cornwall.

Two pay machines.

One bagged, out of order.
The other suggests that, due to poor phone reception, users pay by cash.

It also has a stuck-on note saying that the cash bit is broken, so to download an app.

And there was a big sticker over the T&Cs.

20240117_154825.jpg (1.25 MiB) Viewed 541 times

[Rockburner]

I'll pay up after 27 if I haven't heard from them. If I stop using the app I'll save 30p each time so it'll only take 167 parkings to claw back the £50. I'll need a large bagful of 20p's though.

I thought about this, but I don't ever have cash

I used a car park in Cornwall.

Two pay machines.

One bagged, out of order.
The other suggests that, due to poor phone reception, users pay by cash.

It also has a stuck-on note saying that the cash bit is broken, so to download an app.

And there was a big sticker over the T&Cs.

20240117_154825.jpg

Sometimes the notice for the App has a QR code to make it easy to download......

Queue scammers who stick a different QR code over the original and post up a dummy app that collects personal and bank details.

[Count Steer]

I'll pay up after 27 if I haven't heard from them. If I stop using the app I'll save 30p each time so it'll only take 167 parkings to claw back the £50. I'll need a large bagful of 20p's though.

I thought about this, but I don't ever have cash - so I'd need to go out of my way to obtain coinage, which invariably means withdrawing notes and then buying something, which means I'd probably be nett down

Plus I CBA.

Ditto, but I reckon if I asked my bank branch to get me £20 in 20p's and gave them a day or two notice they'd do it (they don't actually carry much in the way of coins). PO used to be able to provide coinage (they have/had a cash handling unit - quite profitable it was too). Shops must still be able to get change from somewhere?

[Count Steer]

Parking penalty charges and the appeals process. Got back to the 'shopping trolley' to find car park attendant warden standing behind it and a ticket on the windscreen. 'Woah!' says I, 'I paid on the app'. He looks a bit annoyed and says something about their rubbish system and I show him confirmation of booking on my phone.

I'd booked the wrong car in. Doh. He's v nice about it but can't rescind the ticket and tells me to email the council at the address on the back of the ticket. So I get home and do that. Get a confirmation that they try to respond to emails within 14 days....UNLESS it's an appeal against a ticket, in which case it's up to 30 days. The charge goes up from £50 to £75 after 28 days.

I'll pay up after 27 if I haven't heard from them. If I stop using the app I'll save 30p each time so it'll only take 167 parkings to claw back the £50. I'll need a large bagful of 20p's though.

Sod's Law though...never used the wrong car in the app before, was only gone 15 mins - and they must have heard I got £50 on the Premium Bonds this month. *sigh*

I use a couple of those payment apps to save carrying fecking change with me at all times, and the really annoying thing is that they never send you a text or a reminder when you're 5 minutes away from the end of your allotted time,Over xmas we got a ticket because we'd missed the end of the period and hadn't extended the permission. bah humbug!


Edit:
Just took a look into the settings on one of the apps.. and yes there IS an option for reminders.... but only via SMS, which are (of course) chargable! Why not code in a reminder to the app itself so when you're in an area with fuck all signal you still get notified!! Double Bah Humbug!!

Mine (RingGo) let's me know when there's 10 mins left....do I want to pay more? (I usually need less than 1hr but sometimes can get held up...particularly if it's a docs surgery trip). If you do add time straight away, the clock starts again ie you lose 10 mins AND you pay the 1 hour rate again rather than the reduced rate for 2 hours. Bloody thieves!

PS I think Dorking changed recently so it never costs more on the app than it would cash.

[Horse]

If I stop using the app I'll save 30p each time so it'll only take 167 parkings to claw back the £50. I'll need a large bagful of 20p's though.

Ditto, but I reckon if I asked my bank branch to get me £20 in 20p's and gave them a day or two notice they'd do it (they don't actually carry much in the way of coins). PO used to be able to provide coinage (they have/had a cash handling unit - quite profitable it was too). Shops must still be able to get change from somewhere?

I collected a parking certificate ('not wholly within a bay', but I had paid) in Cumbria.

Couldn't argue it, so paid the £30. In several £1.50 cheques. Hopefully it cost them business banking charges to cash them in

[Rockburner]

Parking penalty charges and the appeals process. Got back to the 'shopping trolley' to find car park attendant warden standing behind it and a ticket on the windscreen. 'Woah!' says I, 'I paid on the app'. He looks a bit annoyed and says something about their rubbish system and I show him confirmation of booking on my phone.

I'd booked the wrong car in. Doh. He's v nice about it but can't rescind the ticket and tells me to email the council at the address on the back of the ticket. So I get home and do that. Get a confirmation that they try to respond to emails within 14 days....UNLESS it's an appeal against a ticket, in which case it's up to 30 days. The charge goes up from £50 to £75 after 28 days.

I'll pay up after 27 if I haven't heard from them. If I stop using the app I'll save 30p each time so it'll only take 167 parkings to claw back the £50. I'll need a large bagful of 20p's though.

Sod's Law though...never used the wrong car in the app before, was only gone 15 mins - and they must have heard I got £50 on the Premium Bonds this month. *sigh*

I use a couple of those payment apps to save carrying fecking change with me at all times, and the really annoying thing is that they never send you a text or a reminder when you're 5 minutes away from the end of your allotted time,Over xmas we got a ticket because we'd missed the end of the period and hadn't extended the permission. bah humbug!


Edit:
Just took a look into the settings on one of the apps.. and yes there IS an option for reminders.... but only via SMS, which are (of course) chargable! Why not code in a reminder to the app itself so when you're in an area with fuck all signal you still get notified!! Double Bah Humbug!!

Mine (RingGo) let's me know when there's 10 mins left....do I want to pay more? (I usually need less than 1hr but sometimes can get held up...particularly if it's a docs surgery trip). If you do add time straight away, the clock starts again ie you lose 10 mins AND you pay the 1 hour rate again rather than the reduced rate for 2 hours. Bloody thieves!

PS I think Dorking changed recently so it never costs more on the app than it would cash.

The main gripe is that they use SMS to send you your "running out of time" notice - which both costs you money (you pay for the SMS), AND is not guaranteed to reach you in time (if you are out of signal range... eg in a shop/cinema etc)

[ZRX61]

Conducting 7 or 8 searches of the garage for a small bag of M4x10 c/s allen screws over 3 days.. & looking for same at Lowes, but not having my fucking glasses to read the labels in the hardware aisle before finally finding the bag RIGHT FUCKING THERE on my workbench.

[Mr. Dazzle]

I use a couple of those payment apps to save carrying fecking change with me at all times, and the really annoying thing is that they never send you a text or a reminder when you're 5 minutes away from the end of your allotted time,Over xmas we got a ticket because we'd missed the end of the period and hadn't extended the permission. bah humbug!


Edit:
Just took a look into the settings on one of the apps.. and yes there IS an option for reminders.... but only via SMS, which are (of course) chargable! Why not code in a reminder to the app itself so when you're in an area with fuck all signal you still get notified!! Double Bah Humbug!!

Mine (RingGo) let's me know when there's 10 mins left....do I want to pay more? (I usually need less than 1hr but sometimes can get held up...particularly if it's a docs surgery trip). If you do add time straight away, the clock starts again ie you lose 10 mins AND you pay the 1 hour rate again rather than the reduced rate for 2 hours. Bloody thieves!

PS I think Dorking changed recently so it never costs more on the app than it would cash.

The main gripe is that they use SMS to send you your "running out of time" notice - which both costs you money (you pay for the SMS), AND is not guaranteed to reach you in time (if you are out of signal range... eg in a shop/cinema etc)

Whatever did people do in the past eh?

[Saga Lout]

I collected a parking certificate ('not wholly within a bay', but I had paid) in Cumbria.

Couldn't argue it, so paid the £30. In several £1.50 cheques. Hopefully it cost them business banking charges to cash them in

Many, many years ago I got a parking fine in Cumbria in similar circumstances. I had followed the signs to "FREE CAR PARK" which directed me to a pay and display . So I paid and displayed, went about my business and returned to find a parking fine: "Not in an allocated bay" on the Cortina's windscreen. Bang to rights, so I went to the town hall and paid the £5* fine, minus the 10p* I'd already paid for the pay and display,

* Hey, I told you it was a long time ago

[McNab]

I was in the Peak district last year and went past Mam Tor quite a lot and used to think "Look at all those cheap skates parking on the road when there's a nice big car park right there".

Then I went to Mam Tor myself and parked in the car park. You couldn't pay by cash or card but had to go on a website to pay. But you can't just pay, you have to create an account, whilst you are standing in the middle of a car park, and then you have to create a password, but that password isn't recognised, and that password isn't recognised, and that password isn't recognised, or that, or that.

Fuck it! I'll park on the road.

[Horse]

I collected a parking certificate ('not wholly within a bay', but I had paid) in Cumbria.

... returned to find a parking fine: "Not in an allocated bay" on the Cortina's windscreen. Bang to rights ...

What really pissed me off - and probably a few dozen other people - was that parking wardens were stood at the top of the access road, happily letting a stream of drivers go into the car park.

Then, when everyone was parked, paid and left to spend more money in the town ... down they went spreading tickets widely.

[Count Steer]

I collected a parking certificate ('not wholly within a bay', but I had paid) in Cumbria.

... returned to find a parking fine: "Not in an allocated bay" on the Cortina's windscreen. Bang to rights ...

What really pissed me off - and probably a few dozen other people - was that parking wardens were stood at the top of the access road, happily letting a stream of drivers go into the car park.

Then, when everyone was parked, paid and left to spend more money in the town ... down they went spreading tickets widely.

I heard it said, but haven't confirmed it, that some councils get more income from parking charges than they do from Council Tax. It seemed so absurd I never followed up on it.

Now, I begin to wonder.....

[Mr. Dazzle]

I can believe it.

Central MK has more than 20k parking spaces, and that's just the city centre. They're between 50p and £2/hour. Presumably at the peak time in the weekends they're making tens of thousands per hour.

But then again....couple of hundred thousand residents paying a hundred quid or two a month in council tax.

It's not clear cut either way.

Edit: Loadsamoney! But it's spent on highways rather than going into the general council pot.

Explains them spiffy new streetlights and surprising lack of potholes.

https://www.miltonkeynes.co.uk/news/pol ... nd-3116931

[Count Steer]

I can believe it.

Central MK has more than 20k parking spaces, and that's just the city centre. They're between 50p and £2/hour. Presumably at the peak time in the weekends they're making tens of thousands per hour.

But then again....couple of hundred thousand residents paying a hundred quid or two a month in council tax.

It's not clear cut either way.

Edit: Loadsamoney! But it's spent on highways rather than going into the general council pot.

Explains them spiffy new streetlights and surprising lack of potholes.

https://www.miltonkeynes.co.uk/news/pol ... nd-3116931

Meanwhile business rates and rent costs are creating High Streets that aren't worth visiting where, even in loadsamoney places a significant number of shops stand vacant. So less people need to park because parking is free at the out of town places and they might as well go there.

Councils are starved of cash by the government and hooked on the teat of car parking money so they put the charges up/'fine' you if you're a mm over a line etc.

You can see how this ends up...empty High Streets and half empty car parks - which, being unprofitable, you may as well sell off...then they'll need to bring in 'Par£ing Permi£s' to park outside your home...while they work out how to charge extra if you park on/in your own drive/ garage.