I hate these new 'pay to use the toilet' by mobile app.

harrigran

I have no provision for paying for anything on my phone. Please tell me they don't charge lie this for disabled toilets if I couldn't access one there could be a catastrophe.

I’m the same with car parks. I had to join a local nature reserve because I didn’t know how to pay for the car park. Especially as some places seem to fine you even if you just drive in and out. I’ll be in real trouble if I need to pay for car parking and then pay for the toilet in the car park.Post pandemic I’m struggling enough as it is with going out. Thankfully our dog walking group are meeting at the weekend at a place that has free parking.

I have no provision for paying for anything on my phone. Please tell me they don't charge lie this for disabled toilets if I couldn't access one there could be a catastrophe.

Terrible for people with poor memory 🙄

It's enough to put you off going.
Literally.

Sorry, Ignore me! I’ve just read that the phone scans a bar code.

I’m struggling to understand how an app for a loo works?

You add your payment method to the app as usual , then how does it go from there?

How can an app open a door or a turnstile?

Can LadyInBlue explain please, or someone else who has used one ?

win
"I like clean toilets so am happy they are not vandalized before I need one. I am happy to pay my 20p for a clean toilet."

*How does paying for using a toilet, guarantee it will be clean and not vandalized?
I'm asking because we don't have pay for use public toilets where I am.

Making it difficult to get to a loo is inhumane in my opinion. During the last stages of the pandemic I worked as a census collector for the 2021 census so spent many hours out knocking on doors. There were very few places where you could go to the loo during the day if you were out of the town centre so I often had to drive into the town centre to go. There were 2 options - the railway station, but parking there was impossible, or Tesco where there was free parking for half an hour. On one occasion I was suddenly in need and had a 10 minute drive to Tesco. I was concentrating so hard on 'clenching' that I accidently strayed into the bus lane during the prohibited hours and got a £50 fine. So much for spending a penny!

I haven't come across toilet apps yet but I hope I don't. Car park apps are bad enough!

Today DH and I went to a "nearby" large town for a hearing test. I don't go there often so it was a surprise to find the car park fee had to be paid via an App. I could not get it to work on my brand new mobile but after an hour we managed to get DH's old phone to download it. We had planned on spending that hour doing some Christmas shopping. By the time we arrived at the hearing centre we both needed the loo, which fortunately were free. I add that the council there closed all the public toilets some years ago - about 200 of them in places like parks, town and village centres etc. Like many, when I need a wee, I need a wee pronto!

LadyInBlue

I was out and about and wanted a toilet, I popped into a railway station and found it was a pay by app carry on. I could not use it as I could not get a signal so had to pop into a cafe.

I read in the papers that a young woman had been fined because she could not pay for her parking ticket within 5 minutes as there was no wireless signal and the pay by cash machine was broken.

It is the same in my own home, when I access my online banking account they send me a text asking me to authenticate my log in and it has to be done in 5 minutes otherwise I have to start over again. Sometimes I get the authentication code quickly other times it takes 6 minutes or more which is too late. I now have to turn on my mobile data when accessing my bank account rather than rely on the wireless signal and I always have the mobile data on when out and about but even then it can take longer than 5 minutes for the code to come through to your phone.

I did ask a member of staff in the train station why it was app only and I was told it was because the cash machines were always getting broken into.

The answer is not to turn your Blue tooth off, it does it automatically once you are at home to your own wi-fi, I never ever turn my off and never have a signal problem where I go.

I like clean toilets so am happy they are not vandalised before I need one. I am happy to pay my 20p for a clean toilet.

Good grief,, time for a revolution, methinks!

Greciangirl

I can’t use apps,on my phone and I think it’s abominable that they have now been introduced in public toilets.

This is a new one on me. Heaven help me if I do need a pee whilst out and about.

Oh no. I’m struggling as it is by not knowing how to pay for car parks these days. I only have a pretty rubbish basic phone and don’t use it for banking or anything. The thought of not being able to access a toilet horrifies me with my IBS

Well, if I am as successful at using the lavatory app. As I am at using the car parking app. I shall be constantly wetting myself.

Pay Public Toilets??? Omg~~~ What next!!!

btw: Bladder pads can be a very good thing. [not sure what they're called in different countries]

Good luck out there!!!!!

Don’t like adding apps onto my phone all the time, and I’m not alone. Even my son said he wanted to reduce his apps. However, it’s a struggle against a ludicrous system isn’t it. I ended up being rather rude in Lloyds recently when a woman said, also rather rudely, that she couldn’t help me at all if I didn’t have my isa details on a phone app. I’ll resist it as long as possible.

Never seen that in UK but needed to use a debit card in Norway. That wee cost about £4 equivalent in krona.

I can’t use apps,on my phone and I think it’s abominable that they have now been introduced in public toilets.

This is a new one on me. Heaven help me if I do need a pee whilst out and about.

This is stupid, toilets should be readily accessible and free, many people, not just us oldies, have certain illnesses that mean they could need a toilet imminently, my OH has ulcerative colitis and this afflicts the young too, if he can’t get to a toilet it can be extremely distressing, painful, and embarrassing. He dies have the key thingy to use with disabled loos but if an app is needed for all loos in sone places, that is against a basic human right I would say.

Instead of fancy apps and contactless cards, they would be better having the lady at the entrance who would take your twopence and ensure the toilets were immaculately clean ready for use. Who says apparent progress had made improvements I don’t think so. Living with a bowel condition means urgency and immediate access is vital. Surely this is a human right.

Oh no!

We paid by app to use the most filthy and disgusting toilet we have ever come across, in a touristy village on Loch Lomond. It didn't look as if it had been cleaned for ages, and the queue to enter was long, so toilets were well used. I had never come across a pay by app loo before. We had problems paying for parking by app in a village on the kent coast that gives a French signal on your mobile phone, so you would be using data roaming in order to pay to park.

Never heard of the pay by app for the loo and also never heard of the parking app scam. I use the Ringo parking app a lot but never really check bank statements for parking costs although I do check for other payments. Yet another thing to be aware of now, thanks for the tip.

What happened in the old days if you didn't have a penny? If it's pay per use there will always be issues for some so free toilets are the answer.

What happens if I need to use one of these toilets as I don’t have a smart phone just a neat flip top large numbered doro one which at my age suits me fine.
I well remember the public toilets of my younger days when you put a penny in the slot when it showed vacant turned the knob and engaged showed up.
Then coming out there was always a lady attendant who sat at a table with a vase of flowers and a little dish where you could put in another penny if she offered you a paper towel.
Using the facilities as they were called was an enjoyable part of visiting town with my Nan as they were always kept clean.

LadyInBlue - there aren't too many rail and bus stations in all town centres/shopping centres etc are there ?
My comment was to emphasise my point that I do not think anyone should have to pay to use a toilet and I would happily let anyone into a disabled loo if they were struggling to access facilities provided that no disabled person was waiting in the queue.