We’re supposed to have Ofcom to investigate stuff like this.

Crocodile tears

It’s privatised. It’s paid for by taxes, but most local authorities put it out to tender and private companies bid for the contract. So, ultimately, some public money ends up in the pockets of shareholders.

It’s the same with speeding fines and parking tickets, and the white collar criminals that call themselves car park management companies. Many folk just pay rather than appeal, thinking that the time it takes to appeal will mean they end up paying full price, but I’m pretty sure the clock is paused during the appeal process.

They were council enforcement rather than police. I suspect if she appealed she would have been let off, but some folk think then they’ll have to pay the full amount because they missed the early payment discount window, which I don’t think is the case.

Also, what’s the difference between this and pouring coffee in the kitchen sink at home? Those enforcement officers were just chancing it.

They are supposed to, except that the water companies just chuck half of into rivers, untreated, to protect their profit margins, and until very recently got away with it scot free.

Reminds me of the start of La Haine.
https://youtu.be/4rD05HsmtIU

I’ve been boycotting Amazon (UK) for a few years now. It’s not easy! Sometimes it doesn’t take much longer to source items, but other times it takes way longer. I have limits though, and occasionally I end up caving-in and just using Amazon, but it’s getting rarer all the time. Now I use them once or twice per year. I tried using onbuy for a while, but we got a couple of faulty items from them and their support completely ignored me, so I stopped using them. Generally, here are some of my most common alternatives:

general stuff and gifts: Argos, ebay, etsy
tech: overclockers, ebuyer, scan.co.uk
electronics: John Lewis, AO, Richer Sounds
books/dvds: hive.co.uk, Waterstones, WH Smith
pharma: boots, simpleonlinepharmacy, well
household: Robert Dyas, Dunelm, John Lewis
pets: zooplus
spare parts: buyspares.co.uk

And for a wishlist alternative I use wishlist.com. (edited to fix formatting)

Another variation of this is when you used Google, and the responses to the post say “Use Google”, or links to lmgtfy.