Westminster parking... 4 months on.

[BillyC]

Westminster started charging for motorcycle parking in August, and now it's time for many to want to renew their permits. Mine was up for renewal today... the poor experience of which led me to submit the following feedback to Westminster - probably wasted my time, but I thought I'd share it with you good people!

I wanted to renew for 3 months... but in the chose to only pay for today.

Having found it relatively easy to purchase a 3-month motorcycle permit when Westminster started charging for motorcycle parking in August; it now appears impossible to interact with.

Having called this morning, I wanted to renew my 3 month permit after it expired yesterday. My only options are for 1 day, or 1 week; and no further information - rather poor I'm afraid.

Your website here is confusing, contradictory, and offers little help. It's simply a PR exercise in my opinion. Clearly the thousands of pounds raised by this "charge" have done little to provide *any* facilities, let alone make it easy for anyone to pay.

I should have received a notification of the expiry of my previous permit - nothing. Had I been less organised, I could have received a parking ticket today, if I were trusting you to keep up your end of the bargain and tell me when I needed to renew. I wonder if I'd paid the extra 10p to be reminded by text, if you'd have forgotten to do that as well.

To summarise. Your organisation of this "trial" is extremely poor, and considering the funds raised, scandalous. I feel completely duped because this is not easy to pay, or even communicate with you... it seems you're pushing many motorcyclists into a situation where they can't pay for the option they want, and will receive parking tickets while trying. Sort it out - it's a mess. Or, better still... scrap the whole scheme and save yourself a lot of hassle, cost and unpopularity.

Has anyone else had problems renewing the 3 month permit?

No, but I'm happy print out your rant and hand-deliver it to the head of parking, who works in the office next to ours!

Originally Posted by CoolGirl

No, but I'm happy print out your rant and hand-deliver it to the head of parking, who works in the office next to ours!

You could also take him a nice cup of coffee laced with Strychnine*


*only joking, of course. Rat poison's too good for 'em.

[Sid Squid]

Originally Posted by CoolGirl

No, but I'm happy print out your rant and hand-deliver it to the head of parking, who works in the office next to ours!

I think calling it a rant is rather harsh, this is now a commercial issue - and let us not forget you have effectively no consumer choice about who your parking supplier will be - if their service isn't up to scratch, and Bill is not the only person who has related similar poor, (I'm being nice), practice to me, they should be roundly and soundly criticised.

Westminster's reckless stupidity in causing this ridiculous situation in the first place should not go uncommented. If anyone seriously believes Westminster had any intention of improving bike parking they're naive at best. The scheme exists for one reason only, (and it's not the money, but that's certainly a sweetener), - it's to make biking less attractive so you'll not go to Westminster and add to their unfortunate statistics, numbers that could so very easily be improved by a few sensible steps, like bikes in bus lanes, that the very anti bike Westminster council will have to be forced into. It's a vile attitude, by a vile body that won't introduce a proven and simple safety measure.

And they smell bad, too.

[Spiderman]

Good on ya for sending it Billy, the more people who let businesses know about their shoddy service the best a place it would be for all of us.
And yes Westminster council, like all councils is a business. We ay them for services they provide and if those services are below par, promise or expectations then we shoud let them know and see if they fix it.

Whats most amusingly come to light is jusy how hypocritical ALL these councils are with our money. They keep harping on about how they cant afford to do this or that until we've paid in advance for it.... and then in the recent Icelandic banks fiasco it emerges they have millions of our money sitting about doing fek all but earning them interest.

So how come they dont use that money instead of just sitting on it?

[mr.anderson]

Now am i being really stupid (likely) or is it impossible to buy a 1 week, 1 month or actually any permit from there thieving barstewards?

Really, I cannot see where to buy a permit?

F*ck.

Billy, did you ever get a reply?

[BillyC]

Yeah... all the options are cunningly disguised as a useless toolbar along the top of the website.

However, they did let me off the ticket I got on Monday last week.

So how do you get a pemit if you don't have a debit/credit card?