DEAR MiPERMIT, LOVE LETTER #2 FOR BATH ENGLAND

Dear MiPermit,

Thank you for explaining how to park my car in your car park, and how to pay for it online.

It was a good plan given the time of day.

I wanted to park the car like a normal person, plug a meter, and walk away.

Except it’s not that easy.

Why would I expect it to be that easy?

Me: I’m looking for a place to park my car. Is this it?

MiPermit Lady: Yes, this is a car park, as you can see, and at this particular time you’ll have choices to make.

Me: Then I’m in the right place.

Lady: It’s the right place, yes of course. You can park here and pay by downloading our app, but this is a short term car park so you can park here, then leave for half an hour and comeback for the 0ver night fare and tomorrows morning at eight you’ll need to leave again, find a place to park on the street to eat up time, then come back. It’s very simple, really.

Me: So I park, leave, comeback, then leave again, comeback, and leave the next day and comeback?

Lady: Yes, perfect. I believe you’ve got it.

Me; And I pay online.

Lady: Do you know how to pay online.

Me: My wife does.

Lady: Will she be with you?

Me: I’ll call her.

Lady: It sounds more complicated than it really is.

Me: Maybe you could help?

Lady: If you don’t get it right someone like me will check and give you a ticket. But you seem competent enough.

To show my competency I tried three times and failed, asked another driver for advice, then called my wife who came over to hear me explain about leaving, coming back, leaving, coming back, and said, “Let’s find a long term car lot.”

It was further away with dear MiPermit app asking the same questions to pay.

I found the app I downloaded in my iPhone search with it halfway filled out, but with the wrong car license number.

The wrong license number but I got through the pay process, then called customer service.

Jo asked if I could tell her the license number, the wrong one. I couldn’t.

She asked for the last four digits of my credit card, but still couldn’t find my payment in the database.

The next question was how long did I pay for.

Three days, I said.

Me: Three days.

Jo: What day are you leaving town?

Me: Saturday.

Jo: Then you only needed to pay for two days.

Me:

Jo: Let’s start over. I can help you now, or you can do it yourself.

Me: Let’s do it now.

Jo: I can’t find your payment because our transactions don’t post until midnight, but I can refund you the three day fee when it comes up.

Me: So I might be double paying.

Jo: It’s possible.

Me: Okay, let’s give it a shot.

Jo: Start with giving me the correct license plate number.

(I did.)

Jo: This is a blue MG SUV?

Me: It is.

 

 

I haven’t gone back to check, but when I get ready to leave tomorrow I hope I don’t find a booted car.