To be annoyed at parking apps?

[antelopevalley]

Spent a lot of the day at the minor injuries unit with DD who has broken a bone.
The only parking space available nearby was a car park where you could only pay via a parking app. I have used the parking app that is common where I live, but this car park used a different one.

I spent 20 minutes downloading the parking app and trying to pay, only to get stuck on the pay screen whirring. I tried again a few times, each time I could not get it to go through. I gave up and asked a passerby for help about other parking and was directed to a small car park on a side street.

To make matters worse, as the entry and exit for the car park is controlled by cameras, I still had to pay for the first car park or risk a fine. There was of course no one I could talk to, so had to send a message on whatsapp. After a lot of back and forth, they gave me another way to pay for the parking I did not use.

It has just annoyed me so much today and made the whole thing much more stressful. Why can you only pay for parking via an app? How is this accessible, especially if connection or the app is poor so it does not even work!

DD is fine by the way, plastered up and on her tablet telling all her friends about her "ordeal".

Private companies are entitled to function however they like.

If they choose to operate in a way you don’t agree with them don’t use them (as opposed to using them first and expecting them to change/adapt to fit your preferences)

Yes there are so many different options around when using a minor injuries unit.

The car park is the car park, often theres no parking around local streets and even if there was, the person might not be able to walk that far (being tht they are visiting a medial centre after all).

But how do you know that until after the event @CarlCarlson, so you're missing the point  @antelopevalley had to pay for the rind she was in there even though she couldn't actually use the app

I think it's just a sign of the times. I just prefer it when they have the option for cash/ card as well as online. The times it becomes tricky is if there is no signal

I am fine if they have a card or even a pay by telephone option.
Does this even meet the DDA requirements?

Personally I think all parking machines should be pay by card.

I agree - try using a car park in Cornwall that has a different app to the one you use 30 miles away (different council so different system), no pay by card cashless and no bloomin phone signal!! All these lost souls wandering around up hills waving their arms, phone in hand.

I am always surprised so many MNers think this.

There is a whole raft of legislation that any company has to comply with.

The relevant bit here being the Equality Act. We've had threads on here before and discussed the fact that being app-only is potentially discriminatory to the disabled and elderly. All car parks should take coins and/or cards. Some say you can phone them, but often there is just a recorded message so it's pointless.

How is it discriminatory against those groups? Plenty of people in those groups can use apps.

Equality Act. But no, I don't think so. Someone needs to bring a court action though.

How is it discriminatory against those groups? Plenty of people in those groups can use apps

If an activity or behaviour unduly affects people with a particular protected characteristic, then it is discriminatory.

Elderly and disabled people are more likely to struggle with an app, therefore it is a breach of the Equality Act.

Was it Y-Pay? everywhere round here uses RingGo, which works perfectly fine. There is one car park that uses Y-Pay, never got it to work so just don’t visit that place anymore. Tried letting the company know and never got a response. Why can’t there just be machines that take cash/card. I don’t want to download different apps everywhere I go.

It's ridiculous.

In 2022 there should be a machine that accepts card and cash, and the option to pay online if preferred.

@Sapphirejane It was! And I already had ring go downloaded.

I also do not want to download lots of apps that eat up my data and use up my memory.

I find that every car park I go to uses a different fucking app. I don’t want a phone full of parking apps.

There should always be an option to pay by card. Not everyone has a smart phone or the ability to download and work an app.

Parking apps are my absolute nemesis. It is absolutely ridiculous that I’ve had to set up a parking app folder on my iPhone for the FIVE different apps I have on there. The NCP one is the most shit because in the barrierless car parks you have to say you’re parking there before you drive in. A lot of the underground ones don’t have mobile phone signal either.

I don’t think it’s very fair either to assume that everyone has a smart phone / charged / got signal etc and think they should also have the option of paying with change.

@CarlCarlson and plenty more can't!!! The app should never be the only option. Especially at a MIU!

@antelopevalley - then you are definitely not being unreasonable. It’s not you it’s the app. Stupid thing.

There was free parking directly outside the minor injuries unit, but very little and all the spaces had gone.
I actually cared about the stress levels it induced more than the money.

YADNBU! I too hate that everything needs an app now and each car park seems to need a completely different one to be downloaded.

FuckEmCarl would be a great username

Only issue is that you don't know you can't use their payment method until you tried and failed. Wasted time and wasted money as OP still has to pay.

I really dislike all these parking apps.
Too many of them and they don't always work as they are supposed to.

I do not like having my card details stored in my phone either.