Jobsworths; players of the year

[Gob]

Traffic wardens slapped tickets on cars which were left abandoned inside a police cordon during the London terror attack.



Penalty charge notices were issued to a number of vehicles left near Borough Market, where several people were stabbed on Saturday.

Enforcement officers were seen putting penalty charge notices on windscreens after some streets reopened earlier.

Transport for London (TfL) said the fines "should never have been issued".

It apologised for the "insensitive mistake" and said the charges, which can be up to £130, will be cancelled.

[Big RR]

Not quite the same thing, but I once was in court during a terror "drill" and could not move or get to my car (to feed the meter) because the streets were blocked off. When I got to my car it was ticketed; I raised it with one of the cops present and he said it was the traffic enforcement people, not them. I guess I could have gone to court, but them time involved wasn't worth it and I just paid the fine (which was small; if it was on the order of 130 pounds I would have gone). Some people just don't think (or maybe they do).

[oldr_n_wsr]

They (the gov, local or whomever) count on a certain number of people doing exactly what you did BigRR.

I find some doctors do similar. They put in for insurance, get what they agreed to for being part of the insurance, then send me a bill for the difference (or somepercentage of it). I call the insurance and they tell me we don't have to pay as the insurance paid what was agreed upon. Call the doctors office and they then say, "oh that was a 'computer error'".

Credit cards try similar also. "oh, your check didn't clear in time". Bull!!! sent it out two weeks before it's due, with ample money in the checking account, plenty of time to get the check and apply it to the account.... Call them up and they always have deducted the interest charges. doen't happen much, maybe once every two years or longer, but still...

[RayThom]

... Credit cards try similar also. "oh, your check didn't clear in time". Bull!!! sent it out two weeks before it's due, with ample money in the checking account, plenty of time to get the check and apply it to the account.... Call them up and they always have deducted the interest charges...

o_n_w, I'm curious. Do you still pay your credit cards -- and other bills -- with written checks? Many years ago I went to online payments for everything I owe, except for rent.

As soon as I get an email notice from a creditor pertaining to billing I immediately pay it. When confirmed, I copy the confirmation number to my online check register prior to balancing the account. The whole process takes about a minute -- plus there is no postage involved which saves me about $5 or more a month. BTW -- I still get all bills by mail to alert me but that's merely my backup system to avoid credit card late fee problems. Easy peasy!

It's the wave of the future, my man.

[Joe Guy]

oldr hasn't even graduated to cassette tapes yet. Give him time.

[oldr_n_wsr]

o_n_w, I'm curious. Do you still pay your credit cards -- and other bills -- with written checks?

Yes I do. Always have and unless forced to, always will. Someone has to keep the post office in business.
Never did online banking although years ago the credit union had telephone banking where you could transfer between accounts and get balances and such over the phone. Used it once or twice.

And I have been a victim of multiple identity theft attempts. How? I don't know but every couple of years someone tries to open credit cards in my name. So far they've gotten nowhere. This last time an address and name showed up which I forwarded to the police and the fed department the banks told me to contact.
Go figure

oldr hasn't even graduated to cassette tapes yet. Give him time.

I'll have you know that back in the day, I was quite the audiophile. Still have my old stereo equipment (turntable, amp, tuner...)
Now I even have a cd player in the car. and USB hookup and some other hookup I can't identify (apple iPad,Pod?).
I listen to aa cd's mostly. But my sister, the born again christian, has sent me some Joyce Meyer cds that don't suck. (well some do, but many don't).
na na

I design electronics for you guys. I don't need nor buy much of it.
When I was at motorola I was part of a team that made a cellphone. They would rib me that I did not have a cellphone at the time. The GUI guys needed to have/use the cell phone in order to get the customer experience and design the interface for ease of use and all that wiz-bangon the screen.
I didn't need one in order to design the power control circuitry for it. <<I take no credit nor blame for battery problems>>>

[rubato]

"...
o_n_w, I'm curious. Do you still pay your credit cards -- and other bills -- with written checks? Many years ago I went to online payments for everything I owe, except for rent.

... " .

I've been 'transitioning' to electronic payment but one thing I don't like about it is that you lose that monthly reminder of how much you are spending on each bill. It is easy to ignore the email confirmations especially for regular charges.

I think for someone who is learning how to budget writing paper checks is better.


yrs,
rubato

[Lord Jim]

o_n_w, I'm curious. Do you still pay your credit cards -- and other bills -- with written checks?


Yes I do. Always have and unless forced to, always will.

I'm having a hard time remembering the last time I wrote a check...

[Gob]

Cheques, (note spelling,) are on their way out here.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/la ... 7f3e385c47

[dales]

Paper checks here.

I don't trust electronic bill pay.

[RayThom]

Paper checks here. I don't trust electronic bill pay.

Yeah... my parents were the same way. There could be no payment transaction unless there was a tactile relationship with the written, dated and signed instrument that was then sealed in a stamped envelope and dropped off in the neighborhood postal collection box with the hope that it would be received on time.

Those were the days, my friend.

[Bicycle Bill]

"...
o_n_w, I'm curious. Do you still pay your credit cards -- and other bills -- with written checks? Many years ago I went to online payments for everything I owe, except for rent.

... " .

I've been 'transitioning' to electronic payment but one thing I don't like about it is that you lose that monthly reminder of how much you are spending on each bill. It is easy to ignore the email confirmations especially for regular charges.

I think for someone who is learning how to budget writing paper checks is better.
yrs,
rubato

There's a difference between e-payments (which is a self-initiated payment using online resources like your financial institution's bill-pay function or the billing company's website) and automatic payment (where you give permission for the amount due to be drafted automatically from your credit/debit card or your checking account on a specific date).  You can still get a paper bill rather than an e-bill and pay it online — not to mention that even with an e-bill you can usually download/print out a .pdf of it.  And if you were going to take the time to write a check, stick it in an envelope, and mail it anyway, you can use that same amount of time to write down a record of the e-payment in your check register.

Voila!!  Paper bill is your reminder/record of the amount charged; notation and confirmation number in the check register (and its subsequent appearance on your bank statement) is proof of payment.

-"BB"-

[Econoline]

...and once you've made the online payment you can still file the paper bill in an old-fashioned manila file folder, if you want.