Bath UK Fines Pensioner $815.52 for .40 Parking Underpayment
Wait, it's worse than that… The Bath Chronicle reports that Ilya Galic drove into the spa town and parked in a pay-as-you-go parking lot. He fed a ticket machine £1.20 ($2.38) for his one-hour stay. The meter only registered £1, missing 20 pence (about 40 cents). Galic complained to the parking attendant, who told him the machines often “went wrong,” and promised to sort out the matter. Just to be sure, Galic phoned the parking office, who told him someone would look it. Last month, Galic received a letter demanding a £353.74 ($701) parking penalty payment. A bailiff turned up at Galic’s house to claim one of the family’s cars as payment for the debt. When Galic asked the bailiff to leave, he called the police. Four policemen arrived at his Newbridge home. The bailiff eventually “settled” for £410.99 ($815.52), around six weeks worth of Galic’s pension income (which covered assorted additional fees). A council spokeswoman was unmoved. The authority had not received any complaints in writing, so that’s that.
Glenn is a baby-boomer, born in 1954. Along with his wife, he makes his home in Connecticut. Employed in the public sector as an Information Tedchnology Specialist, Glenn has long been a car fan. Past rides have included heavy iron such as a 1967 GTO, to a V8 T-Bird. In between those high-horsepower cars, he's owned a pair of BMW 320i's. Now, with a daily commute of 40 miles, his concession to MPG dictates the ownership of a 2006 Honda Civic coupe which, while fun to drive, is a modest car for a pistonhead. As an avid reader, Glenn enjoys TTAC, along with many other auto-realated sites, and the occasional good book. As an avid electronic junkie, Glenn holds an Advanced Class amateur ("ham") radio license, and is into many things electronic. From a satellite radio and portable GPS unit in the cars, to a modest home theater system and radio-intercom in his home, if it's run by the movement of electrons, he's interested. :-)
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What the hell is going on in that country? England's citizens are happily pissing away their freedom to Government bureaucrats. What a waste of a great country.
The whole story doesn't make any sense. I don't believe it. I bet ya there is much more to it which is not covered by the paper because the real story would not sell.