AIBU in hating those parking tickets...

[TiggyD]

...where you have to type your registration number into the machine? It stops you passing a half used ticket to somebody else, which I assume is the point, but I think ticket giving is a great thing. It's a random act of kindness that in a small way makes the world a happier place. To stop people doing it is to stop people being kind.

[MrsHathaway]

Every ticket that's passed on costs them in lost revenue.

Say one in ten people passes on their ticket. The company has to recoup the lost revenue by increasing the ticket price.

I know that it's a nice thing but I really think it should be an exception (see someone desperately running into the hospital with child dripping blood, stuff ticket at her) rather than the rule.

[Minisoksmakehardwork]

I agree op.

Using our hospital parking as an example, I pay £2.60 for a minimum of 3 hours parking (shortest ticket time). But I'm only there an hour. Persons 2 and 3 do the same. In a 3 hour period, 9 hours of parking have been paid for. So the company has gained 200%

If we were to share the ticket, the company would be paid for the hours used only. They wouldn't be losing revenue because they would be paid for 100% of the parking time, just making less profit.

[DiegeticMuch]

The council car park near me upgraded to this reg number system a few years ago. However, they didn't upgrade the machine to one that gives change or accepts card payments, no, of course they didn't.

So, people can neither offer their partially used tickets to other drivers, nor pay the correct price without the exact change.

[TiggyD]

I agree with the OP. (It's not sockpuppetting if I don't change my name).

Private business profit making car parks have some kind of excuse, but council car parks are different. They should be happy about spreading love in their area.

[TalcAndTurnips]

I live in a Resident Parking Permit area and have little booklets of parking scratchcard vouchers for my visitors that entitle them to park all day (they work out at less than pound each). All other people wishing to park nearby have to purchase a pay and display ticket from a machine; to park all day would set you back £12.

If I have a visitor who leaves after just an hour or so, I take their voucher and loiter around the ticket machine in order to press the valid voucher upon the next unsuspecting person who is about to pay to park.

Usually people are pretty happy to have free parking for the rest of the day. One bewildered elderly couple, however, thought I was trying to sell them something dodgy and kept edging away with a vague look of suppressed terror on their faces. It's a free parking voucher, I insisted. You don't have to pay to park, just put it on your dashboard.

After what seemed like about forty minutes of waggly-hand explanation - and the chap shooing his wife away protectively go back to the car Marjorie - the penny finally dropped. I walked away vowing to never bother again. He went and put the voucher on his dashboard (Honda Jazz natch) - last thing I saw was the same chap going back to the machine to buy a ticket just in case.

Fuck 'em, I say. Ungrateful parking bastards.

[austenozzy]

I use the council's parking app for almost all the car parking I have to do (can be transferred between car parks which can be handy), but I never quite trust it, and always look for a ticket when I get back to the car!

[TalcAndTurnips]

Is that RingGo, austenozzy?

I have the same irrational fear, but I do get a text which would constitute proof.

On the app, it is good fun to enter random four-figure numbers to see what parking location comes up. The long winter nights just fly by.

[Balletgirlmum]

I hate them because my car is fairly new & I havnt memorised the reg yet.

[Fabellini]

I've just been issued with a charge through the post because I didn't enter my reg no. correctly on their machine. I paid for my parking, the photos on the letter they sent me are time stamped and I am well within the allotted time I paid for, and they have been able to check that yes, I did pay, but because I didn't manage to enter reg no correctly (friend actually did it as she offered to pay for parking as we had taken my car to go shopping), they are demanding £100!
So I'm with you OP, I hate them

[malmi]

I'm going to say YABU.

A car park will have a projected level of revenue based on the number of expected cars visiting, length of stay, and the fee band structure. There will be a minimum amount which each car should contribute to the overall revenue.

There are various costs to cover, including staffing, maintenance and possible ground rent or lease. Some of these vary according to how busy the car park is.

These costs will be taken into account when planning revenue and deciding on the fee band structure.

Cars parking without paying are contributing to the costs incurred but not the revenue. The way the revenue model operates is that every car pays at least the minimum fee. That's why it says that tickets are non transferable on the terms on the sign.

Two cars parking for one hour each do not generate the same costs as one car parking for two hours.

[NattyTile]

Car park near us moved to this, due at least in part to some particularly aggressive chaps who would pick up any chucked tickets and try to sell them directly to other packers, getting very cross if people refused and put money in the machine instead.