back to article Please pay for parking – CMOS batteries don't buy themselves

Every little bit doesn't help in today's edition of our final run of 2021 Borks: The 12 Borks of Christmas. It is the Hove branch of the UK grocery retailer Tesco feeling the pinch today as a number of Register readers and your correspondent separately spotted the same bit of sick signage outside the store. Carpark screen …

  1. spireite Silver badge
    Holmes

    Having for years had motherboards that had Award/Phoenix as the BIOS, I then bought the first (of several) with American Megatrends as a BIOS.

    I sincerely thought I'd bought cheap knockoff boards, after all nobody would seriously call themselves American Megatrends..... would they?

    1. jake Silver badge

      It was a legal maneuver to make renaming the initials "AMIBIOS" unnecessary. The original name of the company was Access Methods Inc. The founders had a difference of opinion, and split up. One side got the name, the other got the BIOS. The new name is a reflection of the childish bickering that was going on between the former partners at the time (or that's how I read it in the trade press at the time ... mid 1980s).

      1. Ken Moorhouse Silver badge

        Re: The founders had a difference of opinion, and split up.

        They should have chosen ANIMIOS under the circumstances.

  2. spireite Silver badge
    Alert

    Paid parkng Tesco....

    Tesco introducing paid parking always seemed a bit pointless....

    For example, the Tesco Wellington Extra @ Slough (please don't judge, I'm still taking treatment) has these. Now, in it's case, across the road was the Queensmere Shith.... Shopping Centre

    Tesco mandated that you had to get the voucher from them, free for two hours (but you had spend a fiver instore). One pack of bumwipes, sorted.

    That seemed an appropriate purchase for being in Slough

    1. David 132 Silver badge
      Happy

      Re: Paid parkng Tesco....

      That seemed an appropriate purchase for being in Slough

      Ah yes.

      "Come, friendly bombs, and fall on Slough...

      ...I still haven't practiced pronouncing it enough."

      :)

      1. TimMaher Silver badge
        Coat

        Re: Friendly bombs

        ... it isn’t fit for humans now.

        Which is why they tried to get it re-named as “Upton Royal”... because it backs onto Upton Park, from where you can just make out Windsor castle in the distance.

        I lived and worked there. Slough, not Windsor castle.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Paid parkng Tesco....

      My dad’s local Tesco has a two hour free limit, camera controlled. There are all blue badge bays and my dad, who’s 92, has a blue badge. Last week he nipped in to get some oranges and forgot to put his blue badge on the dashboard - probably in the store for no more than 15 min (he doesn’t walk fast). A few days later a letter arrived demanding £60 for contravening the parking rules. The letter has a phone number to call to appeal… he tried calling but it wasn’t a valid number. Going online is the other option but (having looked at the page) he needs to send them a photo of his blue badge (I live several hundred miles away so it will be a struggle talking him through transferring a photo to his laptop or tablet to them upload); even then, there’s no guarantee they’ll accept the appeal as the parking signs say blue badge must be clearly displayed. He’ll pay the fine and start shopping at Lidl!

      1. spireite Silver badge

        Re: Paid parkng Tesco....

        Seriously, no need. Get yourself over to Pepipoo - the private parking people will probably fuck it up.

        Also, if a regular shopper at Tesco and the car park only serves Tesco, management COULD cancel it.

        ...and three - don't admit who the driver is....

      2. Andy Taylor

        Re: Paid parkng Tesco....

        Don't pay the parking scammers, especially those who believe compliance with the Equality Act is providing some blue badge bays.

        There is probably a reason why cameras and signs disappeared abruptly in the article - no planning permission.

        Several greedy parking companies have altered the "free stay" limit only for it to be discovered that free parking was a condition of planning department.

        pepipoo is great, also MoneySavingExpert forum and several Facebook groups (but beware the ones that provide poor advice).

        In short, if you get a private parking charge:

        Complain to landowner. Escalate to CEO if needed

        Ignore the "discount".

        Appeal as Keeper/Hirer of the vehicle

        Do not reveal who the driver was.

        Expect any appeal to be rejected by the parking company

        Use POPLA secondary appeal service if offered, but don't just repeat the original appeal.

        Do not use the "IAS" appeal service, it finds against the motorist about 85% of the time

        Ignore debt collectors - they are unregulated and cannot buy up the "debt" because it's not really a debt.

        Respond to Letter Before Claim if received, demanding all information including authority to issue charges and pursue them through the courts

        Defend court claim if issued.

        Wait for parking company to discontinue or have your day in court where there is usually a good chance of winning.

        Parking companies rely on people not knowing the law to extract payment. Sadly it works.

        1. herman

          Re: Paid parkng Tesco....

          Who the hell will sue a 92 yo??? The judge will come down on them like a ton of bricks for harassing a senior citizen.

          1. spireite Silver badge

            Re: Paid parkng Tesco....

            You seem to not realise that the parking shysters have no morals - they would sue their own dead grandparanets for parking in plot 42 of St John the Baptist if they could.

          2. Andy Taylor

            Re: Paid parkng Tesco....

            Parking companies have no shame.

            I recently helped a lady who had overstayed at a car park when heavily pregnant and unable to move around quickly. She had to endure discussing her personal medical history during a court hearing before the case was dismissed. This was despite telling the parking company from the outset that she had a medical need for more time.

            I won't name the company but they are one of the largest and most litigious.

            Recent statistics show that around 89% of County Court claims are not defended. Based on the number of hearings in 2020, that's around 90,000 claims or around £18 million in default court judgments for an outlay of around 300k in court fees. Not a bad return.

          3. Roland6 Silver badge

            Re: Paid parkng Tesco....

            TV licence 'collectors'.

            There are many media reports of them aggressively targeting the over 75's, since the demise of the free for all TV licence for the over 75's...

      3. JimboSmith Silver badge
        Stop

        Re: Paid parkng Tesco....

        A mate was on holiday with his wife and family when their hire car broke down in a thunderstorm one evening. She was going with their boys to meet him at the restaurant when the engine died. With six inches of dirty water on the road she locked the car, left an explanatory note under the wiper and left it where it was by the side of the road. She took a taxi with the children to the restaurant and then afterwards back to the hotel. The next day it was still there but the police had ticketed it as underneath the water was a painted disabled parking space. They still couldn't start the car the next morning and she made a trip to the police station to argue against the ticket. They didn't believe her (she says were also quite rude) and asked a patrol car to stop by and check. The officer met her husband and saw the note now firmly stuck to the windscreen. The officer confirmed it wouldn't start, said their hire company were crap and they ripped up the ticket for her. As she says herself she was very lucky.

        1. Vulture@C64

          Re: Paid parkng Tesco....

          It's not quite as simple as that because Tesco/Sainsbury's etc moved into the town centres and tried to soak up as much business as possible, making it hard for smaller retailers to survive. Hence the derth of pound shops, mobile phone shops and charity shops in the areas surrounding supermarkets in town centre locations and very few if any food/clothing shops.

          At least the supermarkets can help with parking for those very few shops that survive in the vicinity !

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Paid parkng Tesco....

            "Hence the derth of pound shops, mobile phone shops and charity shops in the areas surrounding supermarkets in town centre locations [...]"

            Our large Tesco and its car park seem to support nearby pound shops, mobile phone shops and charity shops. Effectively free parking when combined with the weekly food shop. The plethora of dark long-shuttered shops are the legacy from big name chains like BHS, M&S, Debenhams, Waitrose, Boots...

    3. gerryg

      Re: Paid parkng Tesco....

      I don't own shares in Tesco however is the solution that Tesco remove the car park? I presume carparks cost money to run (never mind opportunity cost of provision). Also if the car park is full because of people not shopping at Tesco, Tesco customers get to pay, eventually, by increased prices and Tesco loses customers because they can't use the shop. It's not as if the provision seems to be appreciated.

      Someone pays, somewhere

      1. lglethal Silver badge

        Re: Paid parkng Tesco....

        It depends a bit if they own the land or are leasing.

        If they own the land, once the car park is built its a sunk cost with a very minimal maintenance budget (maybe every 5 years they'll replace the worst looking area), and some minimal land taxes.

        If they lease the land, then yes they are paying yearly rent, but the cost for the parking lot would be dwarfed by the building costs. So it's really not a great cost.

        For me, the only time they can really justify adding a charge is if they have a quite small parking lot which regularly gets filled. A filled car park does mean shoppers will go elsewhere. However, that's really rare.most of the time they're just trying to scam more money off their customers.

        1. James Nord

          Re: Paid parkng Tesco....

          > they own the land, once the car park is built its a sunk cost with a very minimal maintenance budget

          Not quite as there are business rates that need to be paid. Very often parking spaces form part of the valuation that is used for business rate purposes.

        2. terry 1

          Re: Paid parkng Tesco....

          Tesco will have to pay the local water company surface water drainage, and based on size, could be a considerable charge per year

        3. Jean Le PHARMACIEN

          Tesco....nicked our car park..

          In my town (Altrincham), Tesco managed to buy one of the large surface car parks (result of prev /slum clearance/) on condition free parking was available after building store.

          Said store (white steel/glass monstrosity with usual 15% over planning size) was built with parking underneath.

          Roll on 15 years and now Ts have put up signs saying you only have 3 hrs parking IF you shop at Tesco. WTF happened to the previous planning conditions?

          Disclaimer: I dont shoo or park there. I LOATHE T's business practices and after buying packs of "fresh steak" on three separate occaisions, only to find each one green inside, I'm also into self-presevation

          1. Gene Cash Silver badge

            Re: Tesco....nicked our car park..

            WTF happened to the previous planning conditions?

            Absolutely nothing, they're still there. They're counting on people forgetting about it. Nothing will get done unless someone digs it up and does it.

            We don't do paid parking in the US. People go elsewhere and the business fails.

            1. Terry 6 Silver badge

              Re: Tesco....nicked our car park..

              American stores, as far as I could see when I've been to visit my cousins in California, seem to be mostly in the spaces between towns, i.e. a strip of the places a shortish drive from the town. Without free parking they'd have no punters. And stores further in still have to compete with those because Americans will just drive to them otherwise.

              This tends to apply in the UK for out of town locations- or those not in a high street location.

              But high street branches are different. They serve more local and less car bound customers so may have more limited parking facilities.

              1. veti Silver badge

                Re: Tesco....nicked our car park..

                Yep, this is one of the transatlantic differences that can be wholly explained by population density. In all but a handful of US cities, the idea of parking at one store while you visit another is just bizarre, because it means a twenty minute walk back to your car.

                British cities are quite another story.

                1. Ace2 Silver badge

                  Re: Tesco....nicked our car park..

                  Most places in the US have building rules that require parking to be added in proportion to the sizes of the stores, as if it would ever be the case that every store was completely full at the same time. You can’t even see the Target from the HHGregg even though they are both in the same complex.

                  Some places have recognized the madness this leads to and have changed the rules, thankfully.

                  1. jake Silver badge

                    Re: Tesco....nicked our car park..

                    Here in Sonoma County, California the shopping mall in Santa Rosa ("the Plaza") and all the surrounding street parking downtown went from free to metered several years ago. Stores downtown reported an immediate drop in traffic. Some started going under. Then Covid hit. Last time I drove through there it looked like a ghost town.

                    1. Terry 6 Silver badge

                      Re: Tesco....nicked our car park..

                      Sounds like the curse of the Beancounter..

                      "Why do we let people park for free? We could make money out of this space if we charge people to use it..."

                      1. skeptical i

                        Re: Tesco....nicked our car park..

                        Some downtowns install parking meters to encourage parking turnover, and to ensure that employees don't park in the spaces in front of the shops and leave customers without that convenience. Not saying that this always works as planned, though.

                    2. MachDiamond Silver badge

                      Re: Tesco....nicked our car park..

                      "parking downtown went from free to metered several years ago. Stores downtown reported an immediate drop in traffic."

                      It's not the cost of feeding the meter, it's the cost of the ticket when it takes you five minutes longer than what's on the meter to get back to the car. In the interval, Murphy's law dictates that a metermaid will have been checking meters and written you a $50 fine for the expired meter. Meters get jammed or don't work correctly, run fast, etc. These days many meter don't accept coins but the bonk to pay mechanism doesn't work either if you even have one of those payment systems (I don't. Nothing financial on my mobe). Stories get written and people avoid parking at a metered spot and instead travel another 5 miles to shops that have free parking. The cost of one fine being far more than the extra petrol over the course of a year.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Paid parkng Tesco....

        Tesco already discriminates. Clubcard prices for the initiated and higher ones for those that aren't.

        I applied for a clubcard once. They rejected my application and didn't bother to say why. My credit rating was excellent.

        It was only later that I found out that the reason for the rejection was that I didn't owe anyone a bent penny. I have three credit cards and cash in the bank but no... Tesco needed me to be in debt in order to approve me for their [cough][cough] loyalty card.[1]

        There is a reason why I avoid the place when I go shopping (along with ASDA where the staff don't have a clue where things are in their own store).

        [1] I have encountered this once again when applying for the GHIC (EHIC replacement) card. Living in the same house for almost 20 years is not good enough to show that I am a UK resident. no debit? Then the computer says no...

        numpties.

        1. JimboSmith Silver badge

          Re: Paid parkng Tesco....

          I think you might be mistaking the bog standard Clubcard with something else. My clubcard is ancient and non contactless and I didn't have to give them a shred of financial information to get it. I picked up a leaflet with one in and gave them the address to send the vouchers to.

          I remember when the scheme first launched they had loads of clubcard (so magstripe) cards available to take from within the store. This in turn lead to a proliferation of nefarious types taking loads of them. They would reprogram the magstripe with pilfered card details often skimmed from legitimate ones. These then would be used in cash points or anywhere else where they wouldn't attract attention using a cloned card. The police weren't amused because getting hold of magstripe cards was a barrier to this type of card fraud.

          1. Jellied Eel Silver badge

            Re: Paid parkng Tesco....

            I suspect it was a credit card, not a Club card. After Tescos started replacing regular promotions with card holder exclusive ones, I bit the bullet and got one. All it asked for was name and address. But noticed lately there seems to be less stuff on special.

            Kinda curious how it's working out for Tescos, ie admin costs vs plain'ol loyalty points. Or if there's a disloyalty effect by having members only discounts made obvious on the shelves.

            1. Terry 6 Silver badge

              Re: Paid parkng Tesco....

              It's about the data. It's always about the data.

            2. captain veg Silver badge

              Re: Paid parkng Tesco....

              > All it asked for was name and address.

              So that's your identity right there. Postcode and date of birth is enough for a 99% match.

              -A.

              1. JimboSmith Silver badge

                Re: Paid parkng Tesco....

                Never gave them my date of birth and who says I gave them my home address?

              2. Jellied Eel Silver badge

                Re: Paid parkng Tesco....

                They didn't ask fo date of birth, and if they had, I would have used a fake one. But I'm aware of the risks. I guess it would also be possible to reject a basic Clubcard request, if Tescos had a flag for misuse with that name/address combo. I also know Tescos were an early adopter of data collection and aggregation via a system called 'Cyclops'. And if you pay by card (or phone), they'd know who you are anyway.

                But at least with a Clubcard, I get 50p off roast chicken & thyme crisps when they're on offer. Luckily for my waistband, that's not constantly. Now, if only they'd have the jumbo bags of pickled onion Monster Munch on promo...

          2. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Paid parkng Tesco....

            It appears that placing an online order for home delivery automatically created a Tesco Clubcard number for me. They didn't send me a card to use in an on-store purchase though.

          3. MachDiamond Silver badge

            Re: Paid parkng Tesco....

            "I think you might be mistaking the bog standard Clubcard with something else."

            Must have been a credit card. The loyalty cards are handed out left and right so they get your details and can track your shopping. It's not really that surprising how much somebody can learn about you from what you purchase on a regular and not so regular basis.

            I've found a bunch of loyalty cards that I use and give my friend's telephone number at a few places where I know they have a card. They get all of the points and I'm not handing out my information. It has to throw a wrench in the data to have two separate households in two different locations using the same loyalty account. I have even, gasp, given false information if the discount is worth the time to fill out the form. The vast majority of the time, it isn't.

            1. Ken Moorhouse Silver badge

              Re: two separate households in two different locations using the same loyalty account

              I have one loyalty card for the supermarket I do our weekly shop. (I remember when it was launched with the Nectar branding, I had 000's of unclaimed points on it from my credit card and got a few almost free week's worth of shopping by redeeming those points). One day I bought something from another branch of the same supermarket chain and was loudly told by "the system": "sorry you can only use your card at your home branch". This was for a supermarket about half a mile from our regular one.

              What would previously have thrown a spanner in the works was the donation of points - for those without loyalty cards - to the next person in the queue at the checkout. I think that loophole has been tightened up as I've not evidenced it for some time now.

        2. katrinab Silver badge
          Meh

          Re: Paid parkng Tesco....

          I think you applied for the Clubcard credit card rather than the regular Clubcard. Anyone can get a Clubcard.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Paid parkng Tesco....

            Nope. I would never apply for a Tesco Credit Card. It was a clubcard.

            Computer says NO! strikes again.

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: Paid parkng Tesco....

              You know when everyone tells you you are wrong it's usually because you are. A clubcard is not a credit card and requires no checks or validation. You literally just put some basic information and they just give it to you.

              https://secure.tesco.com/account/en-GB/register?hasClubcard=false&isClubcard=true?icid=CCAC_Header_Week_25_Join

              Computer says yes if you know how to use it.

            2. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: Paid parkng Tesco....

              Is your name Donald?

  3. Lost In Clouds of Data
    Facepalm

    Rebork

    The irony of El Reg borking up the 12/26 link above is not lost on this reader...

    https://www.theregister.com/2021/12/26/bork/ ?

    Should it not be https://www.theregister.com/2021/12/26/ill_just_pay_the_parkin/?

  4. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

    Press F1 to Continue Shirley?

    "the problem here could well be a failed CMOS battery resulting in the re-entry of the time and date."

    Do some systems boot into the BIOS config if the checksum doesn't match these days? My recollection is that they normally report

    Time and Date Not Set

    CMOS Checksum mis-match

    Press F1 to Continue or F2[*] to Enter Setup

    [*] other keys are available.

    1. Tom 7

      Re: Press F1 to Continue Shirley?

      Keyboard not found. Please press ESC to continue.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    1) Never ever engage with a Private Parking company by phone. Always in writing

    2) Never identify the driver. Any appeal is by the Keeper, who recounts what the driver did, saw, etc.

    3) If appealing via a PPC's website, watch out for sneaky menu choices which mysteriously default to the appellant being "the driver"

    4) It ain't a "fine". It's an invoice

    5) Bitching to the manager (not customer disservice) often works, especially once Lidl are made aware of Dads Protected Characteristic.

    6) There is a rather excellent online forum at forums.pepipoo.com who seem to make a habit of winning cases, especially like your Dad's

    1. Ptol

      Parking law changes

      Be careful about following advise from old forum posts about private car park tickets.

      Many years ago, the law was ambiguous. Car park enforcement businesses were operating in an environment where a properly prepared defence and counter suit, well presented at court would defeat them every time. Then someone poorly presented their case, lost - and their case was taken to appeal, with a well funded legal team. That set a precedent that made it much simpler to present cases in district court.

      However, some point around 2015-2016 a specimen case was taken to the UK Supreme Court to get an overall ruling. There were some aspects of the specimen case which greatly favoured the private parking lobby, but even still the judgement was exceptionally favourable to the private parking industry.

      As a result, I would advise against following any strategies published from before the Supreme Court ruling, that have not been properly tested afterwards.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      On point #1, it actually depends.

      A few years ago, I went to a concert in Leeds and my mate who lives up that way who I went with directed me to a car park. It was ANPR entry and exit, and you had to enter your reg number (in the absolute pitch dark) to get the ticket. Only one tariff was available - overnight. I paid by debit card at the machine.

      A week later, I got a ticket for overstaying. We'd gone in at just before 7pm and left at just after 11pm.

      My lease agent pays fines immediately to prevent escalation, so it fell to me to argue it with UKCPS - the scammers responsible.

      They ignored all my letters and emails, and it dragged on for a few months.

      I finally phoned them on the number they specifically said not to use for appeals, and they refunded me there and then with no further questions (obviously they were aware of the backstory to do so). Mind you, I was rather aggressive with them.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Check your lease agreement. If it sez they will pay "Fines" you would have been on a potential winner for an immediate refund and a grovelling apology from the lease co, as a private parking ticket is NOT a fine (nor is it a penalty). It's just a spurious invoice.

        To clarify:

        fines may only be issued by courts;

        penalties may only be issued by statutory bodies such as police and councils;

        invoices are issued by private parking companies.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          My wording was anomalous. They pay PCNs immediately to avoid escalation.

          One time I was charged for jumping the toll at the Dartford Crossing - except the car that did it was one I'd handed back several weeks earlier, and I had tracker evidence where I was at the time. They refunded that one immediately as it was a mistake on their part.

          In the case I mentioned earlier, the fee was refunded to the lease company, and they subsequently refunded me both the fee and their own charge to me (it goes without saying there is an admin charge for any tickets they have to manage).

          The advice is not to ignore these charges, but to deal with them through the appropriate channels.

          And if you're self-employed that is very sound advice, since the last thing you want is to find you have a County Court judgement against you through non-payment of 'an invoice', because those are much more difficult to get rid of.

          The advice about ignoring them is completely wrong.

          1. Inventor of the Marmite Laser Silver badge

            "The advice about ignoring them is completely wrong."

            Dead right. It hands them a default win on a plate and you end up with a CCJ, which torpedoes your credit rating for years unless it is paid in full within 30 days

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Facepalm

    For want of a battery

    The irony is that Tesco sells the batteries the computer needs. £7.50 for a four pack.

    https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/288149297

    1. Allan George Dyer
      Coat

      Re: For want of a battery

      @HildyJ - "£7.50 for a four pack."

      They knew they were in-stock, but didn't want to pay the rip-off price?

    2. Neurons for Kryton

      Re: For want of a battery

      How much - £7.50 !

      Farnell's £0.369 each + VAT each - ok min buy is 10+ and min order of about £40 (normally spend more than that though) - however you get a branded Panasonic battery and not some cheap and nasty made somewhere in the backwoods of beyond !

      https://uk.farnell.com/panasonic-electronic-components/cr-2032-bn/cell-lithium-cr2032-220mah-3v/dp/5219590?st=2032

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Happy

        Re: For want of a battery

        You can buy a two-pack of Duracells for £1.60 (80p each) on Amazon.

        And a pack of 20 - also on Amazon - of unbranded ones for £4.20 (21p each).

        I use them in several devices, from a bio monitor to kitchen scales. I can't remember the last time I had to plug a BIOS battery (well, I can, but it was someone else's - several of them - back when people kept PCs forever and a dead battery appeared to brick the machine).

        £7.50 for four is just stupid (almost). But I can't get fussed over 21p or 80p. It depends how long they're likely to last, and in the kitchen scales it is years and years less than in a PC.

        Mind you, you were considered a God back when you'd slot in a new coin cell and resurrect their computer. They'd gaze adoringly at you as you pressed several keys to enter the BIOS with new battery in, reset the time, and then they had their computer back as good as new. But let's not get into how much you would charge for doing that back then at hourly and call-out repair rates ;-)

        1. Ken Moorhouse Silver badge

          Re: But let's not get into how much you would charge

          John Wayne Ltd:-

          Hmm - cost of updating your pc from 1.1.1990 to 1.1.2022. That's 32 years at the extra-special rate (just for you) of £1/hour, plus materials...

  7. dave 81

    I stopped shopping at the local ASDA for years.

    The local ASDA, with the same reasoning, introduced a pay and display parking scheme, with a ticket nub that you could take a get a refund for with your shopping.

    My problem with that was two fold. One, as a expat who grew up not in the UK, I don't like pay and display, the effort of having to park, divine the future and guess how long you will be, get a ticket and return to my car, then go on about my business has always seemed onerous. Two, the fricking ticket machines were at the opposite end of the carpark to were there was available spaces. Having to walking the entire length of the carpark 3 times before even entering the store? Nope.

    So I simple stopped shopping there, and went elsewhere. It was over a decade later that I learned they had abandoned the scheme at some point in favour of the standard 2 hour parking. I still mostly shop elsewhere.

  8. Daniel von Asmuth
    Childcatcher

    BIOS Version: 1.0

    what could possibly go wrong?

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Make ‘em pay, even if you don’t

    If the fine is, say, £60 make sure it costs them that much in administration.

    Ask for proof, in separate written letters, ask for ID of the driver, ask for photos, ask for their company details, ask for a set of the relevant parking rules, etc.

    Look for any inconsistencies or errors in their accusation, question each one of them. If the pics are blurry, say they are insufficient, etc. if the time stamp is out, question it.

    Make them run around for you. String the bastards along as much as possible.

    Accept nothing, no denial and no contrition.

    Then just stop answering all their requests.

    They often just give up.

    ** I am not qualified to provide legal advice **

    1. steviebuk Silver badge

      Re: Make ‘em pay, even if you don’t

      Also do a request for right to be forgotten under gdpr.

  10. Dave 15

    Parking

    Councils are the problem. Huge parking charges coupled with parking restrictions to force you into their car parks. They wonder why town centres no longer exist and city ones are almost dead. Used to live near Newmarket, the council decided they wanted car parking charges. People and shops said no. The council said they would have a referendum. Then didnt say when or where, but it leaked to the local paper who published a special late edition. The referendum was held, 95% against the charges. Still the council ignored it and put in the charges. The council have lost money every year since as people dont go into the town and the cost of the barriers, machines and extra wardens cost more than the pittance raised. Half the car park has been sold off to a hotel across the road, a hotel put up on land where apparently there couldnt have been a pub in case kids had to cross the 'busy road'... er... oh well. Anyway, the town is now dead. ALL the large shops have gone. Its a mecca now for second hand charity shops, phones and estate agents. Nothing else to see (apart from some boarded over shops).

    The next town, Bury St Edmunds used to have a thriving market, now thats half the size, killed off by the fact the nearest free parking is now over a mile from it and the car parking is pay and display (as in pay more than you use so we can charge the same place twice) and so expensive people now shop from home.

    Councils, run by bone heads!

    1. Tim 49

      Re: Parking

      Not defending the Council's position here, but Government funding for Councils has fallen by ~50% between 2011 and 2018: "Local government has coped with a prolonged period of real-terms spending reduction which is without parallel in modern times. This large fall in local authorities’ resources has been primarily caused by very significant cuts in central government grants." [1]

      At the same time, there are increasing demands for services such as health provision. People elect MPs who form the Governments that drive these changes, so it's a bit unfair to blame just the Councils for selling land and raising charges where they can. I wonder how many people who complain about "the Council" also cast their votes for the very people who engineer this situation.

      [1] https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmcomloc/2036/203605.htm

  11. Dave 15

    The motorist, cash cow extraordinary

    We pay enormous charges for road tax (now more complicated because your car might do less mpg than the next depending how you drive etc etc etc)

    We pay enormous taxes on the fuel (so why both? Well we have to keep some of the millions not usefully employed in some form of job and it makes the civil servant in charge in charge of a bigger department therefore on a higher salary)

    We pay VAT on the taxes!

    We pay tax on the insurance they insist we must have

    We pay to have some bonehead who often doesnt know their arse from their elbow to check our cars are fit for the road, only to be told the check proves nothing at all except the ability of the government to rip us off for yet more money and allow garages to hold us to ransom for repairs to the lamp bulbs they broke or the oil they smeared over the shock absorbers they will later wipe clean before charging you for a new one.

    We are then expected to pay through the nose to park our bloody cars so we can buy the stuff we need..... which strangely is happening less and less often now and town and city centres are swapping from vibrant to ghost towns full of charity shops and estate agents and the likes of ebay and amazon get richer and richer. I didnt buy ANY Christmas presents in town this year, not one. 10 years ago I bought everyones present in town. I am not the only one.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: The motorist, cash cow extraordinary

      doesn't everyone pay tax on insurance in UK?

    2. Roland6 Silver badge

      Re: The motorist, cash cow extraordinary

      >We pay enormous charges for....

      However, it would seem the cost of environmental pollution, climate change etc. caused by the burning of fossil fuels was not included...

  12. steviebuk Silver badge

    Hove, actually.

    I'll get my coat.

  13. bitmap animal

    Someone can't read a BIOS screen.

    The 25/12/2012 date seen near the top is most likely the BIOS version build date. The System Date is a few lines below and is probably an accurate 12/11/2021.

    Or am I missing something else?

    1. Ken Moorhouse Silver badge

      Re: 12/11/2021 & 25/12/2012

      12 Nov 2021 is a Friday.

      11 Dec 2021 is a Saturday.

      The BIOS date has been correctly UK'ised, but the same conversion has to be applied to the System Date too.

      You would think BIOS designers would get a day off on Christmas Day.

POST COMMENT House rules

Not a member of The Register? Create a new account here.

  • Enter your comment

  • Add an icon

Anonymous cowards cannot choose their icon

Other stories you might like