Friday, 16 January 2015

The Hammersmith & Fulham Council Parking Ripoff Scheme

It might have been going on for years, but I just noticed it during the winter holidays while shopping on Kings Road.

There are Pay at meter parking bays in the area at an hourly rate of £2.80 and a minimum amount of £1.40 for half an hour.

HOWEVER the machine does NOT give you pro rata minutes, only multiples of 30 minutes and just keeps the rest of the money. How does it work in practice?

You need half an hour, so you must insert £1.40 for that. You only happen to have a £2 coin so you insert it hoping you get around 40 minutes. But no! You get the same parking time as for £1.40.

I'm no expert in legal terms, but I would call it a 60p unlawful income for the council straight away.

Say you find another 50p coin in your pocket, so you insert it hoping you get nearly an hour? Or at least 45 minutes? Wrong! You still get 30 minutes, as you can't afford a whole hour for an exra 30p. This is £1.10 the Council has now stolen from you.

Now imagine this for every hour, every day, every week on every bay. There should be thousands of pounds of unlawfully collected money in LBHF's accounts.

How clever.

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