Saturday, June 07, 2008

£1.50 for seven minutes of parking?

It frequently seems like many of the services that exist in this world are specifically designed so that people who work can't take advantage of them. Need your gas meter read? Well, the guy only works 9-5 on weekdays. Need to visit the doctor or dentist? Well,they're open 9-5 on weekdays (maybe).

And then there's the postal service. Now, these guys are fine, provided you're only ever receiving junk mail and bank statements. However, the moment you need to have a parcel delivered... you get a little card saying "Sorry, you were out", as if that comes as a surprise to them. (Perhaps it does - I've noticed that the delivery is getting later and later in the day.)

Still, that would be fine. All you have to do is go and pick it up at the collection centre, which is only a couple of miles away. And which is only open... Actually, that's not true. It opens at 7:30 and stays open until lunchtime, six days a week. So, it's a hassle to go during the week, but it is possible. And it's also possible to go on a Saturday, which is nice.

Or it would be, if there were any parking nearby. But no! There are various supermarkets around, but they are for customers only, and you can't get out without either buying something or paying for the parking. And then there are the pay-and-display car parks.

So, I went to one of those, intending to pay for the smallest possible length of time, get in, and get out again. Of course, the smallest possible length of time is 2 hours, at a cost of £1.50, and the total length of time it took me to get my parcel was seven minutes. (Of course, the pay and display charges start at exactly the same time as the collection centre opens. Anything else wouldn't be sporting.)

I'm not terribly happy about that. I'm just hoping that the parcel with the other half of my delivery is thin enough to fit through my door.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think that we're really lucky over here because we only pay for parking in the city center and that is on the streets at the meter - you can usually find somewhere else to park just in the side roads for free. I know my mom is always complaining about the parking and the cost of it.

Steph/ven said...

I don't actually mind paying for parking, for the most part - it takes up a whole lot of space (and, usually, buildings that have to be maintained) which could be used for other things.

However, when I have to stop somewhere for a very brief stay, it's rather galling to have to pay for 2 hours of parking. Especially since the machines don't care about complexities in charging - they could just as easily be set to charge 10 pence for 10 minutes.

Anonymous said...

Yes, it is all about greedy people getting as much as they can from the general public instead of being fair. I can see how annoying it would be. We do have the meters here where you can put 25cents in for 10 minutes, so you can keep the costs down that way. Greedy greedy people taking advantage!