John Duffill has a beef with Tauranga downtown parking meter number no 4452.

And he's a 'bit annoyed” in an understated sort of way.

John Duffill and short-changing parking meter no 4452. Photo by Bruce Barnard.

That's because 4452 on The Strand diddled him out of 50 minutes worth of parking that he'd paid for and exposed him to a parking infringement notice.

'While it may be legal it just seems wrong,” says John.

And he wants to know is it a ‘rogue' meter or are motorists being fleeced by all parking meters in the CBD? How often does it happen? Are motorists being unjustly fined for exceeding time limits? And if there's no warning on the meters, why isn't there?

This is how parking meter 4452 attacked John's sense of fair justice.

Last Saturday John and his wife went to the movies. It was 10.47am exactly when John parked near Rialto cinemas. He pumped $6 into the meter – for three hours at $2 per hour.

John thought he'd paid up to 1.47pm – plenty of time to see the movie and be back at the car before the traffic wardens started circling.

But nothing is ever as it seems. Closer inspection of Bruce's receipt from money-grabbing meter 4452 reveals yes he had paid $6 – but no, he didn't get $6 worth. The receipt stated parking was paid until 1pm.

His first $2 worth of parking expired on the hour at 11am – just 13 minutes after he'd paid.

'I rightfully expected the first hour to expire at 11.47am because I'd paid for a full hour.”

The second and third hours also expired on the hour but John got what he paid for.

He's more curious than angry.

'The meter ran out at 1pm and we didn't get back to the car until 1.30pm thinking we were safe. I would have been really p****d off had we been issued a parking infringement notice.”

But John's grievances stand. 'It seems if you want to get your money's worth you have to park on the hour. And if there is information on the meter warning motorists, then I didn't see it.”

No there isn't information on the parking meter. The Weekend Sun confronted 4452 on The Strand and all it says is 50cents for 15 minutes, $1 for 30 minutes and $2 for 60 minutes – nothing about the first $2 only taking you to the top of the first hour and leaving you exposed to a parking infringement notice.

'I was blown away when I saw what the meter had done. It seems the Tauranga City Council is making money where it shouldn't. It's a silly thing to do and I wonder if they are human?”

The Tauranga City Council gave The Weekend Sun a written response which didn't answer our questions. It said: 'All on-street pay and display machines in the CBD issue tickets that expire depending on the amount of money paid by the customer”.

Well not all of them at least! John gave 4452 the $6 for three hours parking and got two hours and 13 minutes worth. However, we'll accept TCC's invitation to investigate more thoroughly. Watch this space.