Parking ticket machine question.

[Dave7]

Took MrsD for her pre-op at hospital today.
Your arrival is caught on camera and you pay when leaving......type your reg in and put the correct money in.....simps.
BUT
The 1st 30 minutes are free.
Up to 2 hours is £2.50.
2-4 hours is £3.50.
My question is.......does the 2 hours start AFTER the free 30 minutes or is the free period negated and the 2 hours starts from scratch ?

BTW we were borderline 2 hours so stuck the extra pound in......not worth trying to save a pound and being find 50

 

[Beebo]

No qualifications to comment but I suspect the free 30 mins is included in the 2 hours.

 

[T4tomo]

agree with above, if you leave within 30 ins no charges, otherwise....
if its payw hen leave it should be clever enough to calculate you owe £x, after you've put your reg in.

 

[Salty seadog]

If you're in and out within 30 minutes, no charge.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

ALl the hospitals round here - and shopping centres - tell you how much you owe
If they work by camera you type in your reg and it looks up your arrival time and works out what you owe

There is no working it out yourself

Then you have a certain number on minutes to leave - and in hospitals it tends to be fairly generous so people with limited mobility have a chance to get to the car and leave etc

 

[Craig the cyclist]

They do this in Bristol. If you get back to the car within 30 minutes it says no charge, and you get 10 minutes or so to get out. You can't go back within 30 minutes , enter your reg to pay, be told you owe nothing, then go back in for 3 hours!

There should be no working out for you to do as ebikeerwidnes says.

 

[oldwheels]

In Aberdeen there was a max time of I think 4 hours. If you were delayed for a good reason you got issued by the ward with an extra pass which gave you unlimited time for the normal maximum charge which I cannot now remember but pretty much in line with Dave7.

 

[vickster]

Why would you pay more than the machine asks for when paying to leave? A much better system than pay and display which is just daft for hospitals! ANPR is great, saves on wasteful tickets too

 

[Dave7]

ALl the hospitals round here - and shopping centres - tell you how much you owe
If they work by camera you type in your reg and it looks up your arrival time and works out what you owe

There is no working it out yourself

Then you have a certain number on minutes to leave - and in hospitals it tends to be fairly generous so people with limited mobility have a chance to get to the car and leave etc

Not this one......you have to calculate it.
I was reasonably sure I was (marginally) within 2 hours........but not sure enough to chance it

 

[Dave7]

In Aberdeen there was a max time of I think 4 hours. If you were delayed for a good reason you got issued by the ward with an extra pass which gave you unlimited time for the normal maximum charge which I cannot now remember but pretty much in line with Dave7.

Problem is now..... its no longer run by the nhs, they have sold it to specialist parking firms.

 

[Dave7]

Why would you pay more than the machine asks for when paying to leave? A much better system than pay and display which is just daft for hospitals! ANPR is great, saves on wasteful tickets too

That is the point......the machine does not tell you what you owe..... you have to calculate it.
So today we arrived aporox 0830 (didn't check as we were told it would only take us one hour).
When leaving it was borderline 2 hours so I couldn't take the chance.

 

[vickster]

That is the point......the machine does not tell you what you owe..... you have to calculate it.
So today we arrived aporox 0830 (didn't check as we were told it would only take us one hour).
When leaving it was borderline 2 hours so I couldn't take the chance.

Really? You didn't say that...how extremely peculiar! What happens if you don't pay enough? The barrier doesn't rise?

 

[Dave7]

Really? You didn't say that...how extremely peculiar! What happens if you don't pay enough? The barrier doesn't rise?

No barrier.
You get a letter with a 50 quid fine

 

[Beebo]

That is the point......the machine does not tell you what you owe..... you have to calculate it.
So today we arrived aporox 0830 (didn't check as we were told it would only take us one hour).
When leaving it was borderline 2 hours so I couldn't take the chance.

What if you can’t remember when you arrived?

 

[vickster]

What if you can’t remember when you arrived?

Maybe the machine says?
Frankly I’d be complaining to the hospital PALS team about such a ridiculous system!