Had a bad yesterday; had to go to Bristol and Cardiff (in that order), so used the Severn Road Bridge. A colleague in bristol said "Toll bridge is £4.90", which as I had £8 on me I thought that would be fine. I'm in a Citreon Belingo van....so I get to the toll booth, bloke says "£9.60 please". I only had £8, I had no cheque book, they don't accept credit cards....so what did mr Jobsworth tell me to do?? "Hang on whilst we close the barriers, then follow that Disco over there, he'll take you to the other side of the motorway, then go to Avonmouth (about 20 miles away). There's a cashpoint there, get some cash and come back!"
I was made to feel like a naughty schoolboy, and all the drivers were incovenienced whilst they shut the barriers as I was escorted across the carriageway, big flashing lights on the Disco, so had a 45 minute 40 mile detour whilst I got some money. Thank god for TomTom who sent me straight to the cash point in the middle of Avonmouth.
Three points:
a) Why is it so damn expensive? b) Why don't they take cards? These days with chip and pin, the transaction could be done in less than 5 seconds. c) Why don't they have a cashpoint in the big office next to the toll booths? Even if they charged a £1 to get cash out, I'd have paid it instead of wasting nearly an hour out of my day.
Bet if I was in a Citreon belingo with seats in it (i.e. a car) I'd have only been charged £4.90.
Rant over.
Paul
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