Brilliant scam. Wish I had thought of it !!

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Kate

Posts: 1827
Joined: Jul. 8 2003
From: Living in Granada, Andalucía

Brilliant scam. Wish I had thought o...

A Well-Planned Retirement - From The London Times:

Outside the Bristol Zoo, in England , there is a parking lot for 150 cars and 8 coaches, or buses. It was manned by a very pleasant attendant with a ticket machine charging cars £1 (about $1.40) and coaches £5 (about $7).

This parking attendant worked there solid for all of 25 years. Then, one day, he just didn't turn up for work.

"Oh well", said Bristol Zoo Management - "we'd better phone up the City Council and get them to send a new parking attendant . . . "

"Err . . . no", said the Council, "that parking lot is your responsibility."

"Err . . . no", said Bristol Zoo Management, "the attendant was employed by the City Council, wasn't he?"

"Err . . . no!" insisted the Council.

Sitting in his villa somewhere on the coast of Spain (presumably), is a man who had been taking the parking lot fees, estimated at £400 (about $560) per day at Bristol Zoo for the last 25 years. Assuming 7 days a week, this amounts to just over £3.6 million ($7 million - or $280,000 every year for 25 years)!

And no one even knows his name.

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Emilio Maya Temple
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000CA6OBC
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jul. 13 2009 12:33:35

Munin

Posts: 595
Joined: Sep. 30 2008
From: Hong Kong

RE: Brilliant scam. Wish I had thoug... (in reply to Kate)

Reminds me of The Shawshank Redemption.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jul. 13 2009 12:54:21

Pgh_flamenco

Posts: 1506
Joined: Dec. 5 2007
From: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

RE: Brilliant scam. Wish I had thoug... (in reply to Kate)

This guy exploited a gap created by two bureaucracies. I doubt this could have happened if the lot had been someone’s private property. I saw something about the coin collectors at the Trevi Fountain in Rome making about $40K USD/year from people throwing coins in the fountain.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jul. 13 2009 13:16:20

kovachian

Posts: 506
Joined: Jan. 30 2008
From: Americanistan

RE: Brilliant scam. Wish I had thoug... (in reply to Kate)

'Tis an urban myth I'm afraid.

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Don't look at me in that tone of voice.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jul. 13 2009 13:23:29

Kate

Posts: 1827
Joined: Jul. 8 2003
From: Living in Granada, Andalucía

RE: Brilliant scam. Wish I had thoug... (in reply to kovachian)

Oh no !!! I should have googled it before posting. An obvious thing sorry for not checking, but I laughed so much I wish it was true !!!

_____________________________

Emilio Maya Temple
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000CA6OBC
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/emiliomaya

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jul. 13 2009 14:36:01

kovachian

Posts: 506
Joined: Jan. 30 2008
From: Americanistan

RE: Brilliant scam. Wish I had thoug... (in reply to Kate)

I think most people who read it wish it were true, and that's why it continues to circulate around the web. I'll bet someone somewhere out there is trying to use this story as inspiration for some kind of mega-scam too!

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Don't look at me in that tone of voice.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jul. 13 2009 16:07:49

omega0684

Posts: 41
Joined: Nov. 5 2008

RE: Brilliant scam. Wish I had thoug... (in reply to Kate)

i would have charged the cars £2 and doubled my profits!

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jul. 14 2009 1:35:23

prd1

Posts: 206
Joined: Jul. 11 2007

RE: Brilliant scam. Wish I had thoug... (in reply to kovachian)

Car parking scam urban myth No.2

A man parks his car and is greeted by a youth offering to "look after it" for £5 while he is away. The man shows the boy a huge Rottweiller inside and says it is more than capable of looking after the car...the youth replies:

"Does he know how to use a fire extinguisher..."

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Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who could not hear the music - Angela Monet

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jul. 14 2009 3:48:05