Dick Fordham loves Rye. He has been visiting for years and most recently he came here in September from his home in Lake Frederick, Virginia, USA. A long way to come but the trip was worth the effort to see his extended family. Whilst he took away many pleasant memories of his visit to East Sussex his experience of visiting Rye was not the best.
Like many others before him, he decided to park in Wish Street car park. Why not, it's in a great location to be able to visit all the tourist attractions the town has to offer, many of which are a short walk from there but his experience is one we have heard about many times before. He feels cheated, so much so he felt compelled to write to Rye News to vent his displeasure and with his permission we are able to print his comment and stark warning, and his photograph with him in front of the parking meter. It reads:
"Avoid this car park and all others operated by Euro Car Parks at all costs ... and I do mean costs. I visited from the USA in September 2024 and was subsequently the victim of the ongoing scam to charge for entry and exit times with no consideration of the time it takes to get a ticket from the machine.
"In all good faith I paid £4.20 for four hours' parking from 12.00 noon to 4.00pm. I returned to my car and exited the car park at 3.57pm - and then was charged for the entry and exit time which was in excess of the 4 hours, due to the time it took to get a ticket from the machine.
"To Rye Town Council I would say that unless you are taking a cut from this scam and have no scruples about doing so, I would revoke whatever license you provided for this company and get rid of them from your town."
When I contacted Dick to seek his permission to publish his comment and photo he responded with the following.
"I checked the date /time stamp on the photo and it is dated 27 September - 11:43:18
"I paid £4.20 for 4-hour parking from 12 noon to 4pm. The fine I received was for a 19 minute overstay, with the exit registration plate photo stamped at 15:57, so I left 3 mins before my time was up, but took @19 minutes to queue for, and find out how to get, a ticket. Cost me a £60 fine and a £42 admin fee from Hertz.
"I used to spend every summer weekend in Winchelsea and Rye as a kid back in the 60s and have been bringing my kids and grandkids back ever since. I make the trip from USA - almost every year for the last 20 years. What a shame to have such a blight on this unique old treasure.
Thanks for highlighting this issue - all the best, regards, Dick Fordham."
How much leverage Rye Town Council have over this operator will be interesting to ascertain. Rye News have already been in contact with Euro Car Parks Wish Street car park fines as there have been many others who have suffered the same fate. The issue is, the clock starts ticking the moment you enter the car park NOT from when the ticket is issued and, despite the fact that there is no signage explaining this, the time on your ticket is largely irrelevant in their eyes and be warned, they will issue you with a fine. You have to decide to either pay it or not until someone somewhere does something about it.
This is not just happening in Rye, an article in the Telegraph this week highlights the same problem in Margate where a pensioner was fined for staying just a few seconds over her allotted time.
New rules are being introduced as we speak The start of fairer parking and it can't come soon enough. It will take time to get all the 'ducks in a row' and won't change over night but the situation should improve before too long. One thing is clear: until it is changed, visitors like Dick and many more who plan to come to or return to Rye, may think twice about parking here or perhaps coming to Rye at all.
