Do Service Charges Piss You Off?

About once a year I get a ticket for an expired parking meter and last week I got nabbed. Parking makes the city of Toronto a fortune so I swear we have these parking enforcement creatures lurking on every corner. In any case, I don't dispute that my meter expired so it's my fault. Time to pay the piper, so I read the back of the ticket to see how and where to pay. For some unknown reason you can't just walk into a bank and pay your ticket. They have to make it as inconvenient as possible and add idiotic service charges. 

These are the options:

1. Payment by Touchtone Telephone and an administrative charge may apply (of course it will!)
2. Payment by Mail (do not send cash)
3. Payment in Person and a service charge may apply (of course it will). There are only 4 civic centres in the city where you can make payment
4. Payment Online and an administrative charge may apply (of course it will!)

I don't get it. First of all, let's cut the crap. The administrative charges (AKA service charges) do apply, so what's with the "may" apply crap. Let's have a look at these options and see how stupid this is. The only option where there is no service charge is by mail. When you pay by mail (and you can't send cash), you will more than likely send a cheque. This means that someone has to open the envelope, find the ticket the payment applies to, deposit the cheque in the bank and wait for it to clear. This VERY cumbersome process has no service charge attached to it. But if you pay by phone with a credit card, online with a credit card or in person with a credit card or cash you have to pay a service charge, which by the way is $1.50. I paid online by credit card and they charged me $1.50 which means that I was charged a service charge for "self-service" and they got immediate payment with no touchpoints. Can someone explain this stupidity to me??? And what can we do about it? Nothing; you can't fight city hall.

You know, someone actually complimented me on my driving today. They left a little note on the windscreen. It said "Parking Fine".

Tommy Cooper 

Make someone smile today.

Geri