Can you think of a reasonable explanation for this?

[ChesterDrawer]

Friend phoned in complete panic.

Opened post this morning and it was a parking fine. Not her car her husbands. In a hotel car park. Mid afternoon when he should have been at work

I’m trying to calm her down and think of some kind of reasonable explanation other than “yep he’s having an affair”

Anyone got anything?!! He’s office based, 40 mins from hotel.

I'd ring the hotel and ask to double check if there was a booking for a room on the date, one way to try and find the truth before he has chance to deny

Does she always open his post?

There’s always one. 🙄

The fact she’s jumped to conclusions is more telling than any “evidence”. If the PA said he had no meetings out of the office, and she didn’t say he’d called in sick, then he was due to be in the office. She needs to ask him.

Calling the PA is a sure way to get the gossip flowing, though.

She should screenshot it, then glue it shut and leave it in sight. See if he opens it and explains...

Does she always open his post?

Yes, because that's the most important issue here

No need to be a twat. If it was the dh’s car a parking fine would come addressed to him. How many women here routinely open their husband’s personal letters? Sounds dodgy to me

Does she always open his post?

There’s always one

No, apparently there’s two of you

If he was a guest in the hotel he wouldn’t have been fined?!
Nipping in somewhere and no parking, thought the car park would be free?

Are there any payments to the hotel on his bank statement?

This sounds like an affair. However it could be a last minute meeting /lunch. Does she have other reasons to be suspicious?

I open all the post. Unless a handwritten envelope.

I do the majority of the house admin. If there is something coming that Dh doesn’t want me to see he’ll say, don’t open any post I’m expecting something.

We don’t have secrets. It’s not a big deal unless you make it one.

She needs to talk to him really. There could be all sorts of explanations- affair is only one.

I work in HR and held some meetings off site in a hotel meeting room last week. They won’t have been in diaries and PAs/Secretaries shouldn’t have known about them as they were around a particularly sensitive and confidential subject.

If you don’t log your car reg when you get there they send you a ticket.

I admit that this is a very specific situation however.

I'd tell him about the fine and ask interrogate him casually as if not paying attention.
Make a huge song and dance about the fine itself, but paying attention to any explanation about why he was there.

I’ve had one of these with the completely wrong date on before (it was dated the following day). Has he had a meeting there another date and the letter is dated wrong?

Honestly the pa would have known about most of these suggestions and there’s a photo of the car - it’s not cloned plates. It is probably what she’s afraid of

Ring the hotel and ask if he stayed there on this particular day?

Those speeding awareness courses tend to be in local hotels. Maybe he was attending one and didn't want her or work to find out.

This so fits the saying ‘when you hear hooves, look for horses not zebras’. Course he is having an affair.

Actually I'd just give him the fine without making a fuss and see how he reacts.

Hotels can issues fines even if your staying there
and haven’t registered your car
Check how long he was there for it will say on that fine the exact time
Even just driving in / out by mistake in some hotels can get you a fine by parking eye
He could have gone in to use the toilets , bar , restaurant

I’d ask him first without giving the game away “have you heard of the hotel xxx in XX town? Is it any good.”

See what he says.
He should hopefully say yeah I park there on Tuesdays and get a car share with mr. xxx to the office or somesuch!

If he denies all knowledge and says he’s never been there you then produce the fine and say “really?” By then you’ll know he’s a liar or it’s cloned plates. Is there anything unusual about the car like does yours have a sticker or umbrella on the parcel shelf that proves it’s his not a cloned car? See what he does next. If it’s a clone he should go to the police. If he does nowt he’s a cheat.

Tell her to go to the hotel with the fine and say I have received a parking fine whilst I was a guest can you give me a copy of the invoice to dispute this fine . If there is an invoice she has her answer .

A driving awareness course might explain why a pa wouldnt know, but a normal dh would surely tell his dw.

Anything else would be on his diary.

I'd ask him outright and check the reaction

I got a speeding fine in Yorkshire while I was at work in Wiltshire. There was a photo of a very similar car to mine but the C of the numberplate looked like an E because the screw was in the middle. The computer got confused and I ended up with the fine. Police were ok about it though and scrapped the fine.

Tell her to go to the hotel with the fine and say I have received a parking fine whilst I was a guest can you give me a copy of the invoice to dispute this fine . If there is an invoice she has her answer

I don't think that will work as she clearly won't be Mr Parking Fine. Without going into all the ins and outs of parking fines aren't they usually administered by separate companies to the hotel and if you don't follow their procedures the hotel probably won't be able to help.