I parked in a pay and display car park on my way to Dublin Airport, Mrs C and I were heading to Canada, when I got a ticket. I had paid and had a rece from a ticket machine which was positioned at the edge of the car park adjacent to the footpath. When I returned to the car I seen the ticket but the Traffic Warden was still in the car park so I approached him and showed him the receipt for my payment. He said I had paid to park on the road, there was a two tier parking system. I pointed out that the ticket machine was in the car park, he said it had to be there to keep the footpath clear, he then said this happens all the time and advised me to appeal. By the time we returned from Toronto I had the fine and the time to appeal was up and it stated I had to pay an increased fine as I hadn’t paid within a given timeframe. I wrote to them and told them I wouldn’t be paying and if they took me to court I would sue them and seek full costs.
Suddenly I was allowed an appeal, I went through the whole thing, took photographs of the pay point machine, it had a small sticker at the base which was half missing which had said “on street”. The other machines in the car park didn’t have signs on them string they were for parking in the car park. When I checked how much it cost to park in the car park I found it was cheaper than parking on the street. Essentially they were trying to fine me for paying too much.
Needless to say the fine was set aside.
If you get a ticket, appeal, go to court if you have to. These Car Park companies are bigger crooks than Dick Turpin.
