Security News > 2021 > June > British tourists charged £1000s for pier visits in billing blunder
British seaside resorts are famous for their piers, walkways that stretch out over the sea so that visitors can get the feeling of being "At sea" without actually boarding a boat and risking sea-sickness, and without even having to set foot on the shingles/gravel/mudflats/sand of the beach at all.
Fortunately for the operators of the Palace Pier in Brighton, England, a relaxation in English lockdown rules from early April 2021 meant that visitors could return.
English piers aren't particularly cheap to visit - they do require a lot of maintenance, after all, as the numerous ruined examples around the British coast will remind you - but a trip to one, even for the whole family, certainly isn't supposed to cost thousands of pounds.
As reporters from the UK's Guardian newspaper report, a few unlucky visitors who went to the Palace Pier shortly after lockdown restrictions lifted did indeed end up getting charged that much.
It's tempting to ignore missed payments in the hope that the vendor simply neglected to charge you and therefore that you "Got a freebie", but it's more likely that something went wrong, and you might end up getting billed later on when you don't expect it.
Cash takes up a bit more space in your wallet than a credit card, but most local vendors we know readily accept cash even if they have signs out preferring card payments during the coronavirus pandemic.