Parking meters

Stefanie from Merrilands

Ok,
So I went into town this morning.
Went to pay my parking with my $2 coin.
Hello, sign on the meter saying this meter doesn’t accept coins any more and I need to pay either with a credit card or an app.
Well, I don’t have a credit card and I don’t have a phone.
So I try another meter.
It takes my $2 but doesn’t acknowledge that it’s received my $2.
The next meter doesn’t take my money either.
So I make a note of my parking space number and walk to the council offices and say.
“ I’d like to pay for my parking, this is my number and here’s my $2”
“ oh, we don’t take parking money here , you have to put it in the meter or blah blah blah….’
“ well, blah blah blah….so I’m here to pay for my parking, this coin is legal tender and you are required by law to accept my money”
Oooh, can’t cope with this, staff scurry off and get someone from the parking dept who comes out and is unable to hear the problem and tells me blah blah blah. She then suggests I put the coin in the meter out side the council offices as she knows it is accepting coins.
I tell her it is unacceptable to expect me to spend my time walking all over town trying to find a meter that’s going to accept my coin.
She suggests I just wait for the infringement notice and then write a letter of explanation.
I suggest that she accepts my coin and be done with it.
She refuses to accept my coin so I place it on the counter and walk out.
She grabs the coin and chases me out of the building trying to return coin.
I tell her I have paid for my parking and have a witness to that too as my partner is with me.
As I drive home I ponder on the waste of ratepayers money spent on employing someone to deal with the increase in people defending parking infringements.

So I suggest to all of you who are unhappy with council not accepting coins in parking meters to do as I have done…..and SPEAK OUT .