In terms of legal cases, here's something I'd love to hear your
opinions on:

Was driving just outside the congestion charging zone, and had to turn
the car around. Dipped into a small alley, came out and went on my way
in the opposite direction. I didn't know if I'd been in the zone or
not when I u-ied the car (was a little bit lost). So... simple enough,
called up TFL and this is how the conversation went:

Me : Excuse me, I don't know what to do, I may have entered the
congestion charging zone, but I can't be sure. Can you tell me if I
have been or not?

TFL: I'm sorry, but we don't have that information.

Me : Really? Ok... so what should I do? I mean, I don't want to waste
£5 if I haven't been in the zone.

TFL: Well, if you don't pay and you were in the zone you will be
charged £40.

Me : So you can't tell me if I've been in the zone or not, but if I
have, and I don't know like you, unless I pay now, I lose £40, and of
course, you're not going to refund me the £5 if I haven't been in the
zone?

TFL: I'm sorry sir.

Now, from a legal standpoint, where does this leave you and me, the
driver? This is flagrant double standards. The REAL reason they
can't/don't want to tell you is that their rate of detection might
only be 75%ish. So, to not lose 25% of their potential revenue, what
do they do? Scare tactics. £10 if you pay after 10, no monthly billing
(again, 25% loss here cos they can only charge what they've detected),
no information for people like me who call and aren't sure if they've
been in the zone or not. I'm sure from a jurisprudence perspective,
this is illegal.

I think it's time someone took TFL to court and addressed these
issues. I'm happy to pay my charge, but it's anathema to me to have to
pay for a service I may have not used under duress.