Tag: Frustration

Have you ever known that something is just off, to the point that it stinks, but you just can’t seem to pinpoint why, or where it’s stinking from?

It can be just so annoying to see or be in such a situation.

So, what can be done, if you see, or find yourself in such a situation?

Forgive … ???

I am actually being serious here.

If there is a stink, then it can start to affect us, to the point where we can start to be led, by the stink, so that we can then end up doing all the wrong things, such as, … (well, I’m not going to list them, but I hope you get the idea.)

I’m going to be repeating myself here a little bit now, but if something works, then it can be good to go over it again.

Rather than let the stink be the driving force behind our actions, can we make the choice to forgive, so that we can try to get past anger, in order to try and find understanding. Forgiving, can be the key to the door, that makes room for the heat, or stink, to leave, and invites Jesus into the the situation in a better way, so that we can then hear His words to us, that much more clearly.

Instead of holding onto the wrong end of the stick, we can then put it down, quench our hand, and then pick it up by the right end. Then, we have a hot stick, that we maybe able to use in a more positive manner that may bring about a change to the situation???

If we can just start the process, by forgiving.

With that in mind, I’m going to ask for you to forgive the parking person who put the parking penalty notice onto our car. I’m also going to ask that you forgive the authority who set the trap, that we fell foul of.

(The next bit can probably be considered a bit of a rant, but hopefully there’s enough good stuff above, to make this a worthwhile post??? Hopefully normal service will resume, for next week’s post. 🙂 )

Yes, we got caught out by some crazy terms and conditions, that meant that the advertised “Free Parking”, turned out to be, not quite as free, as it was displayed.

In the London Borough of Havering car parks, and certainly the one we used, there is some supposed “Free Parking”. There is a ticketless ticket machine, where you need to input your number plate, so that you can be entitled to the, supposed “Free Parking”. Failure to enter your number plate, is very likely to result in a penalty charge notice (parking fine) being issued, for the “Free Parking” that is displayed. I was missing this small print detail until I saw the letter that someone had attached to the display board highlighting the said small print that I had been missing. (Thank you to that person, you saved me from getting a parking fine for that reason.)

Now, I do think that the above small print detail is bad enough, when we are talking about some supposed “Free Parking”, but there’s more to come.

My wife is disabled, as such she has a Blue Badge, so that means that we can park is the designated Disabled Parking… ??? …

Well, she can actually, … if she follows ALL of the terms and conditions, as specified by The London Borough of Having.

What this means is, if my wife is with me, in her mobility car, which is tax exempt, then she is permitted to use the designated Disabled Parking… ??? … (Provided that we comply with ALL of the terms and conditions of …) (Yes, there’s still a bit more to come to this bit.)

But, if my wife is with my Mum in her car, which is not tax exempt, then my wife, who would be in the car, with my Mum, may Not be allowed to make use of the designated Disabled Parking… ??? (Confused, so am I.)

In the terms and conditions, on London Borough of Havering’s web site, it states that only a tax exempt vehicle is permitted to use the designated Disabled Parking… ???

So, if my wife is in her car, she is allowed to make use of the designated Disabled Parking, but if my wife is in a different car, such as my Mum’s car, then she shouldn’t make use of the disabled parking, as she could get a parking fine???

Why!!! … ???

(I will offer some of my thoughts into the Why, in a bit, but first… there’s a little bit more. … 🙂 )

Any how back to what happened. So, me and my wife were at said car park. We were parked in the designated Disabled Parking, we were complying with the terms and conditions (so we thought), as we had entered our number plate into the machine, and had obtained the ticketless ticket, (in the future we will be taking a photo of the ticket that is displayed, and I’d suggest that it could benefit you, if you did likewise) that logged our arriving time and gave us a time that we should have left by, which was longer than the three hours that her clock dial says she is limited to. So, we didn’t need to display the said clock dial, … as we have the ticket less ticket instead… ??? … (So we thought…)

So me and my wife, went for our walk around the park, and on this day, we were trying to be a bit more brave and was giving out a few of our, “Gift from God” gifts, which meant handing the people we came across, a sum of money, which was wrapped up with a message of “God Loves You” on it. (We have been leaving them in random places, to be found.) We had been rather successful, and had successfully handed out a few said gifts. So, we were feeling really good about things, having had a pleasant time in the park, successfully telling a few people that, “God Loves You”, to then come back to our car. Where we then saw the Parking Penalty Notice… ???

But, we have a Blue Badge, and we have a ticket from the ticket less ticket machine, and we are parked within the bay? …

WHY!!! ??? …

You may have guessed the Why already by now. No valid Clock Dial was displayed???

At least that’s what I’m thinking the reason is. The parking notice just stated, …

Parked in a designated disabled person’s place without displaying a valid disabled person’s badge in the prescribed manner

Code: 87

…

Well, we were not so happy. We couldn’t understand it. We have a valid Blue Badge, and we had a valid ticket. So Why would we need to display a valid Clock Dial as well???

Because it’s listed in The London Borough of Havering’s terms and conditions, which I found out about, when I searched for them online, when I went home to try and find out how I could appeal against it. (It’s not on the car park notice board’s terms and conditions though, if anything, the notice board points you to use the ticket less ticket machine.) (It’s the clause at the bottom of the board, as seen in the blog post photo.)

When I saw that term and condition on the web site, I just thought, “it’s going to be easier to just pay it, so that we can then just pay the reduced rate.”

I know that it’s wrong on so many levels to do this. That it just Stinks!!!

But, as a carer of my wife, who is disabled, we have enough battles to face, so this is one, we just need to let go of. (Other than write this blog post, in the hopes that others maybe better informed about the trap of the terms and conditions, and then be able to avoid them.)

But the question still remains.

Why!!! … ???

Why would they do this?

Why would they take something that is meant to make life easier for those who face extra troubles and hardship, and turn it into a trap, that means that those who are more vulnerable in society, could fall foul of, and then need to pay a fine, for not knowing ALL of the terms and conditions that they should, quite rightly known about (???), and should be following???

I’m thinking that the answer to the “Why” is quite obvious, when we have just a little think about it. … “and then need to pay a fine” … ???

London Borough of Havering. Really???

Are your funds so short, so that you need to be so sneaky, and set up these traps, that are catching out how many people???

How many people have been caught out by the supposed “Free” parking, because (like me, for a while), didn’t realise that you Must enter your registration plate number, when you go to use the said “Free” parking?

How many people have been caught out by the, using a disabled parking space, with a valid disabled badge, hopefully with the correctly displayed clock dial, but by being in a vehicle that wasn’t tax exempt?

How many people have caught like us, by having a vehicle that is tax exempt, that has a valid Blue Badge on display, that also has a valid ticket, which then meant that, as I thought incorrectly, the parking dial clock wasn’t needed, as we had a valid parking ticket instead?

It makes me wonder, if you had a valid parking ticket, that gave you a parking entitlement for longer than three hours, and you had the parking dial clock correctly displayed, which time do you then go by???

Do you go by the parking ticket which could be longer than three hours, or do you go by the three hours of entitlement that the dial clock displays??? Is this yet another trap that has been set? If yes, then how many people have been caught out in this trap? If yes, then would that mean that if a disabled person wanted to park for a period of longer than three hours, that they would be better off if they then just used a standard parking space???

I don’t have the answers to these questions, and by now I’m starting to get a bit bored with this myself now, so I’ll try to not go on for too much longer.

But, I do feel that it needs to be said.

It Stinks!!

And as such …

Shame!

Shame on you, London Borough of Havering!

Shame! … Shame!! … Shame!!!

And because I’m actively trying to Forgive you for what has gone on, me personally, I’ll try to leave it there.

If you think that the authority in question has acted in a less than respectable manner, then would you like to have some kind of say about the matter?

You could possibly share, like, or even make a comment about this post on any platform that is available to you?

Doing so, might just be a a little bit more productive, than just being upset by it.

Getting the word out, might possibly help someone else to, Not get caught out by the, such Stinky Terms and Conditions, that appears to be in use???

________________

A few days after I wrote this, I was cycling through the park, when I came across some parking attendants in the car park. Yes, I did have a conversation with them, and hopefully I didn’t get too hot under the collar. But someone else was speaking to them, and it appeared that there might have been a fault on the ticket less ticket machine.

The need to take a photo of the ticket less ticket, is all the more apparent to me now. If the machine displays a ticket, but doesn’t register it, then how are you meant to prove that you had a ticket???

So, if their system isn’t working correctly, and you do all that you are meant to do, and you still get a parking ticket, and you can prove it, you still have the hassle of challenging it.

Is there any compensation in place, for incorrectly issued penalty charge notice’s that should not have been issued?

If not, should there be?

If London Borough of Havering could loose money from incorrectly issued penalty charge notices, then would they take a bit more care over issuing them?

My final thought on this today is, If London Borough of Havering, is using the “Penalty Charge Notices”, just to raise revenue, instead of encouraging good behaviour, then, doesn’t that just … Stink!!! … ???