Parking on Buckingham Place, BS8

Plenty of parking available in Bristol on the day despite the indications on the JustPark website that virtually ALL spaces were full in that area near the attraction we were intending to visit at that time. Pre-booked the same morning, paid and arrived at what appeared to be the closest option. Just as an afterthought, before we started the 20min walk, we went for a quick drive to work out the best way to our destination and there, to our surprise, found a parking space in the shade right next to PLENTY (like 30+), of similarly shaded spaces.... and for 1/10th of the price we had already paid. Literally; spaces everywhere right on site.... Justpark's parking availability map is perhaps a tad problematic in that it appears to have NO relationship to the reality on the ground. How are free spaces actually identified and updated to their map in real time anyway? I should have thought about this before making my booking.... Drones? Human spotters? Universally distributed sensors relaying to the JustPark system via satellites? Systems integrated with public and private ticketing machines analysing traffic movements in and out of carparks? Boom-gate collations? I think not. Their parking availability 'map' appears to be nothing more than a list of their registered providers (i.e. people who have a parking space out the front which they rarely or never use and who are happy to take a random cut of the action whenever it arises). Whether or not such maps are inherently misleading and/or inherently contain misinformation (i.e.; given the virtual impossibility of a current and truthful correspondence between the reality on the ground and the suggested availability depicted in such maps) is not my concern. However, (or should I say- of course), given that our allotted booking time had already started only just before we arrived, there was no opportunity for a refund (despite the fact that we didn't use the space for more than a moment to check out our options). Please note, I do not want a refund - this would make me feel like more of a mug for using this service than I already do (please ref boom gate collation fantasies and such above). Utter rip off - do not use this service as a pre-booked option - ever, ever, ever. Better to have a go at finding somewhere to park first and if everything is genuinely full, then, and only then, and I would suggest as a very last resort, check if a space in an area you have already identified as suitable for your 'parking needs' is indeed listed on JustPark, and then book it - if you are genuinely desperate and are prepared to pay (in the common vernacular), an 'eye-watering' sum.

Excellent - a 5-star experience