Archived Topic
Topic ID 5693
24/12/2010 by Donostia
Never shopping in WGC again
Farcical new number plate recognition payment system in Howard Centre car park .
After joining a queue 20 deep half hour later you get to the payment machine , where to find a picture of your car you type in the reg. About 20 pictures of different cars then appear on the screen with a vague similarity to your reg , as in 90% of the people in front of me mine wasnt amongst them , i join half a dozen other irate people trying to give their money away but unable too , and form a lynch mob , quickly finding a poor car park attendant .
Immediately realising nailing this poor bloke to a cross is not going to get me anywhere i take his leaflet on how to pay online.
That doesnt work either .
I await the £70 fine.
Merry Christmas Welwyn Garden City , but my New Years money is going to Hertford , Harlow , Stevenage , Brookfield .....
0 replies
Archived Replies
Reply ID 78573
25/12/2010 by villager
Had exactly the same problem today! What if you've parked for 55 minutes and the length of time you have to queue means you go over the hour limit and instead have to pay for 3 hours parking (the next pay bracket)??!! A true farce.
Reply ID 78581
27/12/2010 by CLB
Went there today - long queues, but you can pay online when you get home via parkingpal.co.uk. Was quite easy, and means as long as you know your entrance and exit time (i.e. you get out before your first hour is up) then you'll only pay for the length of your stay, not any hanging around. Looked liked you could also pay in advance and have some sort of season ticket for it there too. This could be famous last words if a fine comes through in the post in the next month!!
Reply ID 78582
27/12/2010 by James007
quote:
Originally posted by CLB
Went there today - long queues, but you can pay online when you get home via parkingpal.co.uk. Was quite easy, and means as long as you know your entrance and exit time (i.e. you get out before your first hour is up) then you'll only pay for the length of your stay, not any hanging around. Looked liked you could also pay in advance and have some sort of season ticket for it there too. This could be famous last words if a fine comes through in the post in the next month!!
Parking never sounded easier [V]
Reply ID 78595
30/12/2010 by azzza
quote:
Originally posted by CLB
Went there today - long queues, but you can pay online when you get home via parkingpal.co.uk. Was quite easy, and means as long as you know your entrance and exit time (i.e. you get out before your first hour is up) then you'll only pay for the length of your stay, not any hanging around. Looked liked you could also pay in advance and have some sort of season ticket for it there too. This could be famous last words if a fine comes through in the post in the next month!!
Yes, I was there today and went all round the carpark and couldn't get parked ...I exited 15 mins later .. will I get fined?
Reply ID 78596
30/12/2010 by Donostia
quote:
Yes, I was there today and went all round the carpark and couldn't get parked ...I exited 15 mins later .. will I get fined?
Someone asked that exact question when i was there and the answer they was given was YES .
Reply ID 78597
30/12/2010 by Donostia
quote:
Originally posted by villager
Had exactly the same problem today! What if you've parked for 55 minutes and the length of time you have to queue means you go over the hour limit and instead have to pay for 3 hours parking (the next pay bracket)??!! A true farce.
From what i witnessed parking for 25 minutes will see you over the hour never mind 55 minutes .
Reply ID 78599
31/12/2010 by JohnSmith
You have to pay a 25p "service charge" for the privilege of paying online.
Reply ID 78600
31/12/2010 by exiled_in_Reading
why on earth would anyone pay one of these fines in the circumstances described?
Reply ID 78602
31/12/2010 by Marilyn
I have spoken to someone today who says as long as you know your car reg you can pay cash like you used to I hope that is correct as I have no intention of paying on line.
Reply ID 78603
31/12/2010 by newcomer
quote:
Originally posted by Marilyn
I have spoken to someone today who says as long as you know your car reg you can pay cash like you used to I hope that is correct as I have no intention of paying on line.
When we went on Wednesday, the queue to the payment machines was halfway across the bridge to M&S! Whether this is due to unfamiliarity with the new system or the fact it doesn't work very well or whether queues were always this bad I don't know. I paid online at home. I'll also let you know if I get a fine!
Reply ID 78604
01/01/2011 by hertford born and bred
As Said..Park in the car park at the other end of the Howard Center..Still Council run "Ticket, pay at machine System"
Reply ID 78605
01/01/2011 by Woody
quote:
Originally posted by hertford born and bred
As Said..Park in the car park at the other end of the Howard Center..Still Council run "Ticket, pay at machine System"
The southern car park is not council run, which is why it has not changed. It is owned and operated by the Howard Centre.
The parent company is Land Securities who, with a national portfolio of retail centres (including the Galleria, Hatfield), have greater experience of operating car-parks and retail centres than Welwyn & Hatfield Council.
A successful centre demands that customers have a positive shopping experience, which includes ease of parking, in order to promote high rates of repeat custom*. It is debatable whether Welwyn & Hatfield Council motives, in changing their operating system, have been driven more by the desire for cost efficiency than in enhancing retail experience. Having previously undertaken work for Land Securities, I am sure that they will not be impressed by the current chaotic scenes at Hunters Bridge and they will be maintaining a keen eye and dialogue with Welwyn & Hatfield council on any impact to footfall. As a FTSE100 company, their voice will be significantly louder than that of our independent retailers, whose protests sadly fall on deaf ears.
(* Please take note East Herts District Council.)
I can't help thinking, though, about all this fuss over pay-on-exit parking. Let's hope it never comes to Hertford, eh? [}:)]
Reply ID 78608
01/01/2011 by Donostia
quote:
A successful centre demands that customers have a positive shopping experience, which includes ease of parking, in order to promote high rates of repeat custom
When i mentioned to the car park attendant that this experience has rather put me off returning to WGC , he replied that i was the 500th person to say that in 2 days , now he was obviously exaggerating for effect but you get the gist .
Its a crying shame really because for a Hertford bloke who hates shopping WGC is fantastic .
A ten minute drive away , with John Lewis , Debenhams , Marks , Argos , Next , Burtons...etc all within a 2 minute walk of each other , you can do your Christmas shopping and be back in Hertford within an hour . [:D]
Reply ID 78610
01/01/2011 by Steve
quote:
Originally posted by Donostia
A ten minute drive away , with John Lewis , Debenhams , Marks , Argos , Next , Burtons...etc all within a 2 minute walk of each other , you can do your Christmas shopping and be back in Hertford within an hour . [:D]
And if you add in a visit to Waitrose you can park for free!
Reply ID 79085
24/01/2011 by Donostia
Well a month on and no fine , obviously they couldnt find my picture either !
Reply ID 79086
24/01/2011 by azzza
quote:
Originally posted by Donostia
Well a month on and no fine , obviously they couldnt find my picture either !
Yes .. no fine here yet either!
Reply ID 79087
24/01/2011 by Donostia
Christmas amnesty ?
Reply ID 79099
24/01/2011 by SMT
Used this car park last week; my car was the first picture that came up. All very straight forward (obviously wasn't a busy time!), but printed a receipt just in case [;)]
19 replies