Mobile Phone Parking in Chippenham

Hi jonnyboy012, Please don't come away with the idea that I am anti-technology. As a senior systems engineer for a cellular telephony equipment manufacturer, I was part of that mobile revolution you refer to. The thing I have a grave doubts about is our glorious council's ability to make an utter dogs dinner of it all, like they have of the considerably simpler "Pay your fines over the web" service. It's not the technology that's at issue here, it's the council.

Mobile phone payments simple effective, and gets rid of the change issue, great idea, yes systems have to work but people as per the previous comments were the ones 20 years ago , saying why do I want a mobile phone - look where that argument went !

Elsewhere, payment of fines using a web page has been an easy to use and reliable technology. So, I'm afraid their ability to make a costly and time consuming minefield out of even the old school paper system, as testified to by your good self, does not fill me with hope for 21C systems like mobile pay. Given the habit of secrecy of our wonderful authority I would very much doubt if we will get to hear of any problems with the mobile system, the payment web page or anything else we are paying them to do. I'm afraid I will be taking the safe path and 1) Avoiding the mobile pay system like the plague 2) Paying any further parking fines I inadvertently rack up by ringing them up and making them send me a receipt by return of post and 3) Planning my journeys and shopping so at to avoid using car/bike spaces that come under the Chippenham parking authorities, until such time as this divisive and counter productive 1st hour parking fee is rescinded. I guess this will be to Sainsbury's and Morrison's gain and the small businesses of Chippenham town centre's loss, as predicted by all when they brought in the 1st hour charge in the first place.

I think people across the UK would have had similar experiences with their local authority when it comes to parking enforcement. I've certainly had problems with the Wiltshire system - I was given a ticket for overstaying when i'd actually been away for several hours and come back again to a different space! It was hard to prove and lots of hassle. And I see what you mean about new technology causing more problems, but in my experience of these payment systems elsewhere they've been ok, so we shall wait and see how many problems it throws up in Chippenham!

You...Have...Got...To...Be...Joking!!! With my recent experience of our wonderful parking authority and their familiarity with matters electronic, I wouldn't trust them. Simple as that. Unless I can be furnished with a solid object of some sort with a start time and a duration printed on it, then I simply don't trust them to get it right. And when they *** it up, who is it that gets to pay them even more money in fines for their mistake, why it's us of course. I got pounced on for being about 8 minutes late back to the car in Emery Gate a couple of months ago. The baby took priority, but fair enough I suppose. So I mumbled about the ticket, but logged into their web page to pay the fine. I put ticket number, CC number and such in and thought no more of it. Then my other half got a snotogram through the internal mail for her company car and non payment of fines .. a potentially serious problem at her firm. I logged back into the page and had another go at paying, and this time got back onto the council by phone They made superficially sympathetic noises. They agreed to send a receipt for the payment I had just made and asked that I send them a written account of the problem the first time round. Which I did. I'm sure you are already way ahead of me with respect to their written response. Yes, of course, they couldn't find the bank transaction, so I must have been lying. They had already verbally admitted that they had had dozens of similar complaints about the web front end failing to make it clear if there was a problem, but no, their kit couldn't "Officially" be malfunctioning. Ever. it must be my fault and I must be lying. So, as I say, if you think I would trust them to get something as complex as mobile based payments right, you have another think coming.