On 18 Apr 2014 at 11:41am Jobs Worth wrote:
Stopped on school hill to get a takeaway sandwich. Ticket machine jammed so couldn't get even a 15 minute ticket. Wrote a note on windscreen to let wardens know machine broken. Got back 10 minutes later to find two wardens putting ticket on car. Drew their attention to my written notice on windscreen and to the jammed machine but they refused to rescind as I apparently should have noticed the telephone number on the ticket machine to ring in such an event. Didn't have a mobile so not sure how I was supposed to do this, perhaps start up a little bomb fire and send smoke signals to parking office.
On 18 Apr 2014 at 11:50am Jobs Worth wrote:
Did get them to back down but still think this wasn't fair.
On 18 Apr 2014 at 12:38pm rods Tiger wrote:
Is the Parking Shop still on School Hill or has it already moved to the old undertakers ?
Just asking.
On 18 Apr 2014 at 3:21pm reasonable wrote:
They have been caught (again) being naughty. challenge the ticket on the grounds that you took reasonable efforts to get a ticket and they should have a photo of your car showing the note about their machine. It is not your responsibility to check that the machine is working, or to runs around phoning people up. let us know how you get on. Parking is supposed to be about being fair.
On 19 Apr 2014 at 8:53am Mike wrote:
Is there just 1 machine for the whole of school Hill? I suspect there's more and therefore you should have used an alternative. It's not that complicated.
On 19 Apr 2014 at 12:44pm reasonable wrote:
who knows? parking is not supposed to be a cat and mouse game , with people running around up and down a steep hill playing hunt the required equipment. Yes, maybe this person should have tracked down the possibility of there being another machine, in the same way the machines should be maintained. A note was left, it is reasonable, and parking is supposed to be about enabling people to use facilities, not about trying to rack up every penny in profit, and making people feel like criminals. If you want to live in a world where everything is policed to the last penny then you are welcome to it, but I would rather we lost a couple of pounds in parking revenue than live in a world where we have to run around looking for ticket machines. The bottom line is that the car was parked in a proper space, and the Parking people were informed of the problem with a machine. That is a nice environment to live in, rather than one in which everyone is avoiding Lewes and living in fear of a ticket.
On 19 Apr 2014 at 3:55pm oldbutintouch wrote:
Appeal the ticket, and if refused, take it to the tribunal stage. ESCC invariably fail to defend at the second stage of appeal, so you are unlikely to have to attend. What is surprising is that, following the dismissal of the two original managers, Messrs. Crawford and Williams, and the removal of their hard-core of aggressive wardens [exiled to Brighton!], two years ago,the scheme has settled down and become a lot fairer and more reasonable. The current management and wardens generallyact in a far more "Lewes" manner than the original paramilitaries. Still, the price of freedom etc., we must keep a close watch and make sure that there is no return to the bad old days.
On 19 Apr 2014 at 4:47pm Lewes person wrote:
when you say 'dismissal', do you mean 'dismissal' or did they just leave?
the scheme is certainly fairer now, although I think the infamous "I am never wrong" Mr Robbins that ESCC foolishly ended up relying on as some kind of Lewes parking guru, is responsible for the mess that Merlin is uncovering.
On 20 Apr 2014 at 6:51am Annette Curtin-Twitcher wrote:
Getting a ticket from the next nearest machine can be your undoing, as the tickets aren't necessarily valid for where you park.
I made the mistake of parking opposite the bottom of Watergate Lane and getting a ticket from the nearest machine. I came back 10 minutes later and found a parking ticket on my car. Some jobsworth of a warden had actually watched me put the wrong ticket on my car and not bothered to tell me it wasn't valid for the space I was in.
I agree they've got a lot better. One let me off paying while I popped into the bank to pay a cheque in the other day. He said as long as I was gone less than 5 minutes, it was ok.
On 20 Apr 2014 at 1:56pm Oldbutintouch wrote:
Good question, Lewesperson. Crawford was sacked(I have been told), but Williams, the more senior, was moved - unsure where. I understand that ESCC ordered the cull because they were worried that the Lewes fiasco would impact their roll-out of the scheme to Eastbourne, Uckfield etc. Too much bad press resulting from the lunacy of NCP during those early years. The problem is that none of the councillors will say what went on - perhaps Merlin or John Stockdale will tell us on this forum one day!
On 20 Apr 2014 at 4:50pm Lewes person wrote:
Thanks, that is interesting. So we still have the crappy scheme masterminded by people who ' left' . It would be nice to get the truth from our Councillors, since it is our Council paid for by us. Yes maybe a Councillor would tell us what has been going on, as I had no idea it was that bad. Councillors are responsible to the electorate, not the Council, but are always having trouble remembering it. I always think that a bit of honesty is better in the long run. At least we have a couple of Councillors here, tackling the continuing (and it seems, inherited) parking mess.