Just waved goodbye to perfectly good money through my own stupidity

[Reluctantadult]

I reckon dh & I have £120 in parking tickets heading our way. Dh drove mil in her car and didn't realise the car park had a time limit. I realised, but didn't tell dh, then misread my watch and was 20 mins over. Its got apr number plate recognition so think it's automatic. Feeling gutted, what a pair of idiots. We were shopping for cut price kids school shoes in the outlet 😭

Anyone else who might as well have waved goodbye to their money today?

I needed to change a flight so went through the change your flight option to find one the same price as the one I’d booked. There was a £46 admin fee that I paid to change it. Searched again after and booking a totally new flight would have cost me £33 🤦🏼‍♀️

This is the bench mark for saying goodbye to your money. Christ.

Just found a load of receipts that I didn't put through expenses before I left the company last month. Probably a few hundred pounds, but I can't bring myself to add them up because it will make me feel more of an idiot if I put a number to it.

I got a parking ticket on a work day pita at a venue. Street was empty when I parked in a perfectly legal spot but then another car parked on the opposite side of the road meaning it became an obstruction. I think it turned out you couldn’t have a car parked on both sides but by the time the parking attendant arrived they wouldn’t have known who caused the obstruction. I’m not sure if the other car also got fined.

Years back I was training an absolute misogynistic knobhead who refused to take training from a woman. One site we were at we had to park in a car park that had a limited time slot. Should’ve been okay as I worked at that site frequently and always got out in plenty of time when I was on my own, but knobhead decided to be himself, despite my warnings about the car park. I thought we had just about scraped it but I noticed a traffic warden approaching as we left. Fast forward a few weeks and I got a fine through the post with extra for not paying within 14 days. Turns out we had been late and knobhead had seen the ticket on my car and binned it without telling me. I apologised and said I knew nothing about the first ticket so was able to pay the reduced rate fine. Knobhead moved on to another area and, because he was a knobhead who thought he knew better than everybody else, very quickly got sacked for letting his mates into a secured area and theft.
Total Knobhead.

@NotAHouse yep, been there done that. Now moved, he found the blind, still doesn't fit any windows.

Can't work out why every time he cuts something now I shout 'measure twice cut once'. He shakes his head grumpily.

Also, paid on the app to park. Came back to a ticket. Found out there are multiple companies and I had used the wrong app. Head to pay even though I could proved I had intended to pay. 😡 lesson learnt.

Well almost. Went away, paid to park, started to walk out of car park and remembered we had changed cars. Luckily in time to buy another ticket 🙈

Once overstayed in supermarket car park. I had classic car so told shop it had overheated and I'd had to wait till it cooled down. I lied ha! Ha! Got one back!!

Got a puncture in asda car park and didnt change to The spare soon enough so instead of a repair for £22 its a new tyre at £145 😭

I went to a show with my mum in a city near her. She parked and rang me to say where. I wen to the same car park to fin the police had shut the road leading to it. I was running out of petrol and now after having to change route rang my mum to say I was lost. She stayed on the phone and got the police who had shut the road to redirect me.
A week later I got a ticket for driving in a bus lane. The police man directed me through it!

DH raked up £600 in ULEZ charges within a week, when he started a new job, following Satnav directions. Poor signage. He tried to explain and contest it but they said ignorance was no excuse! 😔

I was in a car park on holiday and it was a pay on exit one. Spent ages reading the sign when I arrived. Forgot to pay when I left and tried to call the company later that day but you can't speak to anyone, just automated pay a fine and no email address. So I just have to wait for the fine to come through.

Didn't tax my car as had moved house and just forgot to change car over. Car got clamped as no tax £180 to get released, £80 fine for not taxing car.... And car is free to tax in first place 😩

Oh you’ve just reminded me we drove two cars through the dart tunnel and back over the bridge and I totally forgot to pay last week 🙈😨 really can’t afford a fine right now 😓

op - contact the store you made a purchase in and they will contact the car parking management to cancel any penalty

I bought a jar of honey from a roadside artisan place while on holiday in Norway the other week. Miscalculated the exchange rate, thought it was £2.50, it was actually £25. For a jar of honey.

Can’t bring myself to eat it.

@expat101 was it the Le Creuset stuff? I thought it was too good to be true.

Agree totally with ignoring private parking fines. They have no legal standing. Council is different. When I became suddenly disabled I had a smart new blue badge but was not used to the signs. Parked in front of a rubbish skip, behind another car, where I thought the sign said "only disabled". The skip covered the word "loading" so I was parked half on "loading only" and half on "disabled parking"... Had to pay half the fine, but still annoying.
Would like to give a thumbs up to Cambridge council however. Took DD to an appointment and arrived near midnight in pouring rain with hardly any traffic about. Unwittingly followed the satnav to our hotel over their nice empty bus only roads! The postie delivered a hefty fine when I came home, but I called Cambridge council and the operator I spoke to could see the rain and how dark it was on the photos of my car, and understood I had never been there before, so waived the fine. Just thought I should share a positive result.

Not today, but if it makes you feel better, we got a ticket in a bloody motorway services for overstaying the two hour limit - who does that?! In our defence, it has a playground AND soft play, and no-one really wants to get back in the car with a bored 19mo!

It happened to me and I saved all my tickets and showed the company who controls the park as proof that I spent all that time buying stuff in the retail stores, and the fine was waved. Good luck OP

Could have saved £10 on a purchase using blue light discount but forgot to enter the discount code 🤦‍♀️ (it's a non refundable/returnable/transferrable)

I recently got three letters in the post of a photo of my car stopped illegally therefore 3x fines.
I had dropped a child off at a new foster placement in an area 40 miles away and I only know the main road through the town. She lives in the middle of the countryside that is a ma,e of turn iffs and junctions
I was confident I knew the way to the main road, especially after tbe second time but got lost each time. It was dark and raining on two occasions so I pulled up in a well lit industrial area. I didnt see a solid red line which means no parking ever!!!
Tbe social worker can visit her next time, I'm done with going there!!!🤣

Not car related, but yesterday I clicked on what I thought was the official link to get the ESTA for travel to the US, and unwittingly had clicked on an affiliate link. Paid the £104 thinking 'oh that's more than I remember it being'.
Only when I went to Google did I realise I'd submitted not direct on the gov website.
First time I've ever, EVER, made that mistake, and paid £104 rather than $21.

Luckily it was legit (in terms of the ESTA was approved) but still. Expensive lesson in not double checking.

Me!
Apparently I was there for 7 hours! Also rescinded by the store. It was made easier as I had been dropping ds to work and picking him back up again.

Dd had a ticket in the same retail park at a coffee shop. She had been longer than the three hours but was genuine. They’d been shopping then sat on a lap top in the coffee shop. I knew from the experience above they could rescind it but bastard Starbucks refused, even though they had a receipt!

I also got a ticket in a car park I’d used for years. Didn’t realise they’d changed it around and different bits were operated by different companies. I’d bought a ticket for the wrong bit, despite my car being actually next to the other companies machine. Apparently that was for the section that backed on to mine. I was NOT HAPPY!

Check before you pay! A lot of parking fines are actually invoices and they can do fuck all esp if poorly sign posted etc