Bloomin Parking Ticket

[Sp!ke]

That may be the case, although it does accept money in increments rather than being in whole hour chunks, in which case it works the parking in minutes at 2p per minute.

Even if that was the case, I'm not after change or anything and my £1.32 would have taken me up to 18:30 and my 1.08 extra would have covered the futher £1 fee.

I think I am going to appeal it on the basis that there was no contravention.

If they want to try and say that they use some other method of calculating the charges then at the very least, this should be made clear.

It seems to me like they want it both ways. The machine gives no change and seemingly the suggestion is I should have paid for a whole hour for my 6 extra minutes rather than accounting for that 6 minutes out of the further £1.20 that I paid (20P more than the necessary £1 to cover the evening.

Deliberately misleading? I wonder how many others get caught by this.

Common sence would say that I paid over the required amount until 18:30 and then I correctly paid the further £1 thereafter.

[del320]

Conditions of use no 3:

" - a vehicle remains parked after the expiry time shown on the ticket."

As stevesey has already asked, what was that time?

Simple as...

[nigel cross]

I expect that its £1.20 an hour minimum charge for even part of that hour, so it should be £3.40.

But who knows these local councils seem to be a rule to themselves.

[andy_k]

First of all, did you check the expiry time on the ticket? My guess is (if it's anything like the ones down here) that your ticket would have expired at the end of the time you paid on the daytime tariff as that is when you parked the car.

The evening tariff starts when you park after 18.30

I don't believe that you can buy a ticket which crosses two tariffs

[Sp!ke]

You may well be right... the expiry time on my ticket says 19:24. However, if I parked after 18:30 and put in a pound, who'se to say thet the expiry time on the ticket will be any later bearing in mind the machine works out the times at £1.20 per hour.

Had the signage adequately made that clear, I would have paid the extra and saved myself £59 out of the £60 fine.

Simple mathematics shows that I paid for my time parked. If the council want to make up other conditions of parking then this should be made clear or the contract I entered into to park the car was unfair.

[andy_k]

I think the sign is pretty clear

The '£1 per visit at these times' being the clincher.

Your 'visit' started outside of those hours so you have to pay the daytime tariff.

Had you arrived after 6.30, then you would be eligible for the reduced rate.

I wouldn't waste my time appealing that one - I suspect you are backing a loser

[Sp!ke]

I'm not sure I agree. There are clearly 2 parking tarrifs. One tarrif for hours parked before 18:30 and another lesser tarrif for times after 18:30.

I understand your point and it may well be that you are correct. However it doesnt actually stipulate the conditions you speak of and hence my reasons for possibly falling foul the (rather absent rules) and getting a ticket.

Do you consider the signage to be adequate?

[andy_k]

Sorry Sp!ke, in this case, I think the signage is more than adequate. I couldn't even deliberately misunderstand it if I wanted to

It makes no reference to parking after 6.30 p.m. What it clearly states is 'visits at these times'. Your visit started outside these times so you pay the tariff applicable when you park

It also says that no change is given, so if you overpay the daytime tariff it will keep your money.

There's no provision for part hours, the price is a flat £1.20 an hour, not 20p for 10 minutes.

What you should have done is sat in the car park until 5.30, paid your £1.20 for the hour then come back, driven around the block and bought an evening ticket

[Sp!ke]

Part of the term of my parking was "during" a time period where lesser charges applied - this is clearly stated.

If I park at a meter at 18:45 which operates until 7.00 according to your logic, I should continue paying to park beyond the 7 o'clock time because I parked there 'before' the parking enforcement ended.

Its an illogical argument in my mind.

The machine allows for part hours and lets face it, everything else in life including the ticket I received, counts in minutes. Its absurd to impose a penalty based upon a condition that isn't made clear at the time you pay (or enter into that contract).

[andy_k]

Originally Posted by Sp!ke

Part of the term of my parking was "during" a time period where lesser charges applied - this is clearly stated.

Where?

[andy_k]

Originally Posted by Sp!ke

If I park at a meter at 18:45 which operates until 7.00 according to your logic, I should continue paying to park beyond the 7 o'clock time because I parked there 'before' the parking enforcement ended.

Its an illogical argument in my mind.

In my mind that is an illogical argument which bears no relevence here

If parking restrictions end at 7 O'clock then you pay up until the restrictions end but that wasn't the case here was it?

At 6.30, a whole new tariff starts for people who's visit begins after 6.30 not for people who've been there a couple of hours beforehand.


The key word is visit not period/term of parking because that's a whole different thing

[ringway]

I'd say that to play it by the book would be to wait the 6, minutes for the evening tariff to commence and then buy the ticket for the evening parking.

However, this is all-but unworkable because it is always going to be a pain in the butt to return and then buy another ticket.

The fact that the "extra" was paid clearly shows good intention and based upon that alone I would challenge the fine on that premise and the fact of how inconvenient it is to have to return to pay again because of a time change.

The easy way out and THE solution to the problem is to find someone who bought the evening tariff ticket and get that ticket from them and present it when submitting the claim.

Harsh decision though in my opinion.

[Sp!ke]

You're being argumentative now.

Page 1 of this thread, about half way down there is a picture. It clearly states different charges during different times of the day.

What it does *not* say is that in order to satisfy the requirements of paying the lesser charge after 18:30 I must arrive at the car park after this time.

If this is indeed the case and you're assumptions are correct (and they can only be assumptions), then it should surely state this clearly?

Quite simply, my defence is such that the contract terms are not adequate for the contract to be legally binding.

I made every effort to follow the instructions afterall.

[andy_k]

Originally Posted by Sp!ke

You're being argumentative now.

As usual, if somebody disagrees with you, it's them that are being argumentative.

If you don't want people's opinions or suggestions - Don't ask for them

Originally Posted by Sp!ke

Page 1 of this thread, about half way down there is a picture. It clearly states different charges during different times of the day.

What it does *not* say is that in order to satisfy the requirements of paying the lesser charge after 18:30 I must arrive at the car park after this time.

If this is indeed the case and you're assumptions are correct (and they can only be assumptions), then it should surely state this clearly?

It clearly (in bright red letters) states that it is £1 per visit at these times.

the ticket you bought clearly states that your visit began at 17.24

What is it that I am missing here?

Originally Posted by Sp!ke

Quite simply, my defence is such that the contract terms are not adequate for the contract to be legally binding

Good luck with that one, as much as I hate parking tickets I really don't think you have a leg to stand on

Originally Posted by Sp!ke

I made every effort to follow the instructions afterall.

No you didn't, you bought a ticket which expired at 19:24 and stayed in the car park beyond that time (see right hand column on conditions of use). Usually, on the machine, it displays the expiry time before it issues the ticket. On every single machine down here it says something like 'check expiry time before printing ticket'

Anyway, I'm not going to be argumentative any more - I'm off to bed.

if you choose to appeal, good luck. If it were me I'd take it on the chin because you'll probably find these parking appeal guys a lot more 'argumentative' than me

[Sp!ke]

I interpret £1 per visit to mean something else entirely.

I understand it to mean that one cannot purchase a £1 ticket and then use it for multiple stays throughout the evening. You have to pay each time you re-enter the car park.

I appreciate the point you are making but I simply disagree.

It does not say anywhere that in order to satisfy the requirements of the evening rate that I have to enter the car park after this period.

I will be fighting this ticket and yes, I may well lose. (initially) It doesn't mean to say that it is right however and if common sense and logic prevails, it is clear that I paid for each and every minute of my stay.