THE MONDAY MOAN - A once a week spot for us to moan about the stuff that perhaps we should all be moaning about that little bit more...
I parked in a Broadstairs centre car park while on a visit to my fathers. Here are the attempts to pay for a ticket through THANET COUNCIL's portals:
At the car park using the card only machine three times. Then it failed I took a photo of the machines screen proving I had tried. The only other method was via an app that I was not prepared to download.
I tried using the online service and this didn't work - I took a screen shot of the error as evidence.
By phone using the number on the website - the number took me to a Santander payment portal that never once mentioned Thanet Council or the councils parking charge department
By phone using the number on the back of the parking fine - I got to an automated message that told me to hang up and dial the SAME number - a permanent loop of madness!
I obviously complained but to no avail. There is no way out of paying a council parking fine unless the staff agree that you have a case and in this instance, despite my attempts at paying there was no kindly council worker who had the humanity to let this one go. So I eventually found a way in and paid the fine, not because I thought this was fair but because life's too short.
And so I ask where is the empathy in the people that people the departments of every council and who's wages are paid for by the taxpayer and who are our 'servants' and not our 'lords'.