| Motoring Discussion > Spat with a warden ! | Miscellaneous |
| Thread Author: Ted | Replies: 11 |
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New Fri 30 Sep 11 22:47
Spat with a warden ! - Ted
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I had an altercation with a very pretty traffic warden today. Are you sitting comfortably ? Then I'll begin. My part-time job, for a national car-share club, basically involves troubleshooting for the 30odd cars we have in Manchester. About 26 of them are parked in marked out bays on the mean streets, rented from the council. The bays are clearly marked, both on the tarmac and by a sign next to them. This afternoon, glorious sunshine, city centre buzzing, I was given the job of attending one of our Fiestas which the customer couldn't access. I have all the spare keys and it's usually a matter of removing the battery terminal to re-boot the system...easy-peasy. I usually give it a minute during which time I noticed two lady wardens noting down the details of the Vitara's tax disc. Our bay holds a Fiesta and a VW T24 van. The van was out so I, naturally, had parked in it's spot. The Vitara is badged up with the same stickers that are on the cars, except mine are on magnetic sheets. So, we have a situation where a fully badged fleet support vehicle is parked in the firm's bay and I've got the bonnet up on the Fiesta and I'm holding a spanner. Fairly obvious what's happening ? You'd think so ! Not to this lass...She told me in no uncertain terms that I shouldn't be there ! My stickers weren't legal ???? 'cos they weren't stuck on and all our cars displayed a permit ! I invited her to take a look, as none of our cars display, or ever have displayed, a permit. The other girl kept quiet....I think she was new. Both very young. Another woman came up, I don't know what she was, but she had a white shirt with epaulettes......maybe a supervisor. They had a huddled discussion and she pulled one of my stickers off to look at it...I blew my top, mildly, telling her she'd no right to tamper with my vehicle...she hurriedly put it back on the door ! I'd had enough by now......I told them to do their worst and give me a ticket if they felt lucky......I said it would be cancelled straight away by City Parking Services, who we have a good relationship with. I got back in the Fiesta to finish off and when I looked back a few seconds later, all three had melted away. I got the impression that the gobby one was training the other and showing off......Lordy, there are enough illegally parked cars around the area any time ! It's this sort of jobsworth that makes me the bolshy sod that I've become. On a much happier not, a week or so ago I had to go and retrieve a Corsa that the customer couldn't get back into it's bay 'cos of a parked car. I found it and drove to the bay where, unfortuately, the parked car, a BMW two seater penis extension, was still there. It had a Fixed Penalty on the screen, though. It's a 2 car bay and our Fiesta was at home, but I calculated that I could get the Fiesta back to about an inch from the Beemer and have room to get the Corsa in. Yes, it worked. Just as I was locking both cars, a truck pulled up by the side of me........It was City Parking. He asked me to move our two cars up a bit, got his HIAB out and scooped the Beemer up onto his flatbed ! Oh joy...oh rapture ! I moment of joy in my day ! Ted |
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New Fri 30 Sep 11 23:17
Spat with a warden ! - -
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I have an old mate who has a certain way with words too. A few years ago now he's unloading cars outside a car rental depot, couple of urchins sitting on the fence watching him, as they do. One of 'em pipes up, 'hey mister a traffic warden is putting a ticket on your truck'. My mate, 'tell him to stick it up his......' Three guesses what the kid said to the warden..;) |
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New Fri 30 Sep 11 23:23
Spat with a warden ! - Ted
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I like that ! Could hardly say it to a lady, though. I'm an English gentleman ! She might have had the painters in ! Ted |
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New Fri 30 Sep 11 23:48
Spat with a warden ! - -
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I've almost never had a problem with wardens over the years, if i had to unload somewhere and there was a warden about i'd have a quick word in their shell like and nine times out of ten they'd be helpful. They were in most part proper wardens though, not the new jobsworths who seem to be paid piece work and have in some cases an attitude. Think the last time i picked a ticket up was in Croydon about 18 years ago, firm paid, luckily i don't have to do that sort of work any more, can't recall any more. My lad gets them most times he ventures into London, he passes them to his boss, who passes them to the company needing the cars. |
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New Sat 1 Oct 11 18:02
Spat with a warden ! - PhilW
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| This is something I always wonder about GB. As you might know, I deliver cars, mainly driven, but I get asked to to drive the 2 car (small) truck and trailer fairly frequently. As far as I'm aware, only one dealer (LR Sheffield) has a place reserved for car transporters to unload and that's only big enough for my little thing (careful!!). How the heck do the drivers of the large transporters (with maybe 12 cars on) find a place to park and unload. Even that gigantic new Audi West London dealership only has room for me round the back (even more careful!) but has nowhere for the bigger transporters, and the road outside is a nightmare. How the heck do you find a place to park up and unload for an hour or so (must take at least that long)?? |
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New Sat 1 Oct 11 18:39
Spat with a warden ! - zookeeper
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| how did you pop the bonnet on the fiesta to disconnect the battery if access wasnt possible? |
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New Sat 1 Oct 11 22:15
Spat with a warden ! - Boxsterboy
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| Ted, strictly speaking the warden was right. Your support vehicle is not a Car Club vehicle in the sense of the parking regs. The problem is the parking regs wording does not take into account the fact that Car Club cars will need service support from time to time. And jobsworths are inflexible! |
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New Sat 1 Oct 11 22:24
Spat with a warden ! - MD
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| Even when bent over? |
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New Sat 1 Oct 11 23:37
Spat with a warden ! - Ted
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I have all the spare keys for the cars at home. My ' support vehicle' has it's registration number on the council's records, together with my other car, the valeters van and the club' own fleet support engineer from Yorkshire. The girl obviously hadn't done much to learn about how the system works. My main point was that she was complaining about a signed vehicle in a bay where those signs applied, with a person working on another signed vehicle, with it's bonnet up in the same bay. If I'd been loading a pile of shopping bags in to mine then I might have understood her view ! She had the nerve to tell me she was only trying to help me ! I should have offered her the spanner and told her to go ahead ! Ted |
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New Sun 2 Oct 11 00:43
Spat with a warden ! - -
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big enough for my little >> thing. ooh, you are awful, but i like you.;) Many main road sites do have more out of the way compounds and prep centres, and they often accept deliveries there. Others it's just the same for all who do (or did, yippee) the job, pull up where you can and simply take them off as soon as possible and drive them in, your truck and trailer won't be a great deal smaller in length..;), multi decks don't need so much more room really, only maybe the length of another single car trailer. The London rental offices are the worse for getting tickets, one of my lads oppo's had a warden hassling him, so to be as quick as possible he dropped the 9 cars on the road...the rental lads didn't take them away quick enough, so instead of one ticket on truck the warden did every car he could which was near enough the lot, it happens. Depending on what your tipping and the type of vehicle it's between half and an hour to offload 11. My record with a 3 deck artic was 9 minutes for 9 cars, at a Man Apt offsite depot. You obviously enjoy it Phil, and the right job can be good. |
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New Sun 2 Oct 11 15:24
Spat with a warden ! - Ted
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Yup, it's a great life on the road although I'm glad I don't need to go too far these days. Leave it to the youngsters like GB !! My ' bete noir ' was a regular single car drop-off at Lendrum & Hartmann. We were using single car trailers at the time and the entrance to their yard was right off a major 4 lane one-way street in Hammersmith.....might have been the High Street. I recall it was like a city street in Beijing....the traffic was non-stop and I had to pull across all 4 lanes to reverse through what was virtually a domestic sized gateway....always with a big yankee car on. They didn't open 'til 8ish , the height of the rush ! Even when you got positioned to do your reverse, there were hordes of pedestrians passing behind you, in spite of the bleepers. I sure wouldn't like to have to live down there ! Ted |
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New Sun 2 Oct 11 15:33
Spat with a warden ! - Old Navy
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>> I sure wouldn't like to have to live down there ! >> >> Ted >> X2 and then some! |
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