Hi All,

Malls in Christchurch over the past few months have started to impose time limits of parking at the mall e.g.: 120 minutes by means to deter people from using it as free parking spot for other activities. I’m not a big fan of going to the mall to look about, I typically research things to death online, then shoot in and out as quickly as possible. We’ve been caught a few times with $40 fines for exceeding the 2 hour limit (for legitimate shopping), and I was venting at a mate who told me this wonderful story.

A lady from NZ Bank shot into a Christchurch mall, and was greeted with a $40 fine upon returning to the vehicle for being there for 2.5 hours. Given the industry she worked in, she understood the costs incurred by businesses of depositing cheques, so rather than sending in a cheque for $40, decided to send in 40 x $1 cheques.

So here’s the maths:

Cost of parking fine for browsing and purchasing goods at the mall -$40

Cost to Mall Management of depositing a cheque – 0.65c (40 x 0.65)

$40 - $26 =$14

(fine) - (bank fees) = (satisfaction)

The individual received a letter with the 40 cheques in it stating that the fine was wiped – priceless.

Nick