I’m fuming after I was fined £60 – even after I bought a ticket… I’m trying to appeal it but it’s just a waste of time
A MOTORIST has been left fuming after she was slapped with a £60 fine even though she says she bought a ticket.
Poole Quay Car Park already has a notorious reputation with locals as being one of the smallest and hardest to navigate car parks in the area, but it seems payment issues might soon be added to this list of problems.
This is certainly the case for Eleanor Spry, from Upton in Dorset, who was “wrongfully” issued a £60 parking ticket despite correctly purchasing a ticket, she claims.
Eleanor said she took every measure to ensure that she correctly paid for the ticket and opted to purchase this digitally without the need for a printed ticket.
However, it was not until she checked her banking app to find that the name of payment was issued under Water Gardens Parking, a car park in Hemel Hempstead, and not for Poole Quay Car Park, which is operated by Britannia Parking.
The firm went onto issue Eleanor with a parking fine, claiming that she had not paid, despite her proof of payment.
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It has left Eleanor annoyed and frustrated by the situation and she explains that the appeals process is particularly draining and time consuming.
She told DorsetLive that the whole incident has been a “kick in the teeth” especially after the trip to Poole Quay was meaningful for the family.
In a statement, Britannia Parking said it takes complaints about its services “seriously”.
It added the firm is a “responsible car park operator” and advised drivers to “take care” when typing in the site code if paying by phone.
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Eleanor, a copywriter and graphics designer, had taken her foster family for a day trip to mark her last day with her foster son before his move to a new family.
Yet, less than a week later, Eleanor was hit with a parking fine, which she feels memories of her day trip with her family has been tarnished with the stress of appealing the fine.
She said: “The reason we went was because we’re a foster family and our foster son was leaving for his next placement, which was a good thing.
‘A KICK IN THE TEETH’
“It’s a good thing for him, but it’s also big thing for us because this was our first fostering experience. So, we were just going out as a family to cheer ourselves up ahead of that happening, but it’s all been a kick in the teeth.”
Eleanor has stood her ground and will appeal the fine after she claims that she has correctly paid for her ticket and supplied all relevant evidence to appeal.
Despite regularly contacting Britannia Parking as well as the company who distributes the payment machines, she feels that her appeal is not being heard and says she is “stuck”.
She feels her situation is unique after taking to social media in the hopes that the someone else might have experienced the same thing, only to find no-one else had.
She said: “I posted in a local group because there was someone in front of me and someone behind me, so if it was a machine glitch, it would have been more than just a single transaction, it would have been multiple transactions, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.”
Eleanor’s banking app shows the wrong name of the car park as name of payment, however the time and date of the payment is correct and in line with the ticket she purchased originally.
But because the name of payment differs to Britannia Parking, Eleanor claims that the parking company are unable to help with her enquiry.
‘DON’T SEEM TO UNDERSTAND THE SITUATION’
She said: “Even in my appeal, I’ve said that I’ve made the payments, but the payments have gone somewhere else. They don’t seem to understand the situation themselves because they’ve told me they do not know this place and that they’re not affiliated with any local company.”
However, Eleanor makes clear that she purchased the ticket from the machines inside the Britannia Parking car park on the premises. She says that because everything was completed digitally, she finds herself in a “difficult position”.
“I have not played anywhere I paid at their machine on the premises. But it’s really difficult,” she said.
“We don’t have the paper ticket. So I don’t know whether they’re just gonna say without that there’s no evidence.”
Eleanor even went to the machine distributor to find out if there was a specific issue with the payment machine as a different means to try and resolved the issue. But she was met with another brick wall with this enquiry.
“I’ve contacted the manufacturer that distribute the actual physical machine, and they’re refusing to disclose anything because I’m not the client tenure car parking,” Eleanor said.
She argues that the situation with Britannia Parking is frustrating as she feels there has been no support for her appeal. “This is what I find the hardest is when I’ve explained the issue and explained it clearly supplied all the evidence,” she said. “They’re not willing to engage or take anything other than their explanation that ‘oh no, you’ve done something wrong’.”
She added that the parking company has not been helpful in escalating or dealing with the appeal.
Eleanor said: “They didn’t even enquire, they didn’t even try and understand what I was saying. They just provided a stock reply saying ‘We’re not affiliated with local businesses'”.
‘IT IS OUT OF MY CONTROL’
Eleanor claims that she has thought of every possible scenario to see if she had mistakenly done something wrong when purchasing the ticket, but claims that the situation is “out of her control”.
She explained: “I couldn’t have foreseen it.
“If there was something that has flashed on the screen, and it says ‘can you confirm you’re in this car park?’ and I’d ignore that, you’d probably think there might not be any point challenging that, but it’s none of that.
“At no point could I have possibly known that my payment has been allocated to the wrong location. At least that’s how I understand the situation.”
She argues: “I don’t have £60 to spend on a fine that I didn’t incur. Appealing is a lot of time and effort, and it takes up a lot of headspace.”
A spokesman for Britannia Parking said that it “takes all concerns about our site very seriously”.
They said: “The Poole Quayside car park is a surface site operating on a pay on arrival system and is long-established in our portfolio of sites.
“Payment for parking can be made by card at the pay machines, or by using the pay by phone service and following instructions provided within the car park. Customers are advised to take care to ensure the correct site code is used when making payment using pay by phone.
“In the event that a customer receives a parking charge notice, full details of the appeals process are provided on the reverse.”
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They added: “Britannia Parking is a responsible car park operator and manager of 30 years’ standing. We take all concerns about our sites very seriously.
“We are a member of the British Parking Association and operate strictly in accordance with the industry’s Approved Operators Code of Conduct.”