Dear LPG,

I am now 88 years old and, like more and more people of my age and according to the law, I still remain a very competent driver.  That said, I am not as good at dealing with things on the internet.

So when I received the annual renewal notice for my parking permit, which arrived by letter, I was very disappointed to find out that there was no mention of paying the fee anyway other than online. 

I called the appropriate office and firstly was made to listen to the expected recording which also informed that the only way to pay is electronically.  When I finally was connected with their customer service advisor, I was given this nugget of information for the third time, but after some conversation with the advisor, and continued insistence from me, I demanded to speak to the supervisor.  Finally after continuing to maintain my position, that I was ready to pay but unable to do this online, I was told that in some cases it is possible for these people to accept a debit card payment which was the final outcome.

I am lucky, I could have got my son or daughter to do this for me, but I feel that I should not have to bother them every time I want to achieve something so simple.  I know that there are many people in my position who are not fortunate enough to have family members or friends able to go online or argue their case.  -

I think that we all know that accepting such a payment by cheque provokes admin fees.  I would have been willing to pay an extra £1 or so for the privilege of paying without all the aggravation I was made to suffer. 

The adviser I first talked to told me, more than once, that ‘the local authority ‘want’  this to be an online service’.  But surely what the consumer ‘wants’ and sometimes really ‘needs’ is also important here?

So please note, all you older drivers who have not mastered the internet yet, that the council will take a card payment for renewal of a parking permit if you are not competent enough to go online, and are willing to make sufficient noise about it.

 PB, Lee.