Parking Eye - Pay When You Leave

Glastoun

I'm parked in a hotel car park, £1 per hour which is fine as it's in the middle of town. But it's run by Parking Eye and operates on a pay when you leave basis. There's no ticket on the way in, and from what the receptionist said you enter the number of hours you stayed into the machine on your way out.

Is this a common business model for Parking Eye? I assume they'd do car checks, so are they waiting for people to stay all day and then enter '1 hour' on their ticket so they can send them the £90 fine/charge/invoice? How would they even associate the ticket with the car reg, unless you have to enter it on the machine?

Herzlos

There's probably some ANPR system that records the license plate on the way in, and on the machine you enter it on the way out and it tells you what is owed.

They'll still ding you for extortionate charges if you mis-pay it (wrong registration number) or visit the car park twice in the same day (first entry with last exit = overstay), or if you just don't pay (or cheat it).

But it's a much fairer system on the whole as you can't be hit with overstay charges.


I doubt it's a common approach for parking eye; their money comes from invoicing violations for £60+ a time and not parking itself, so it's probably something the hotel has required.

Umkomaas

They use that system at Burton Hospital (Google Burton Hospital/ParkingEye) and read the chaos that system is causing with the very sick, vulnerable and, in some cases, the dying and their families!

bod1467

It depends on WHICH Pay As You Leave scheme they use:

1) The machine tells you how much you owe = OK, and is what the shopping centre at East Kilbride uses for example.

2) You have to guess how long you have parked = Not OK (and is what Umkomaas is referring to)

Guys_Dad

If you mean that you are still in the hotel, then get the receptionis to cancel the ticket before you leave!

Herzlos

bod1467 wrote: »

It depends on WHICH Pay As You Leave scheme they use:

1) The machine tells you how much you owe = OK, and is what the shopping centre at East Kilbride uses for example.

2) You have to guess how long you have parked = Not OK (and is what Umkomaas is referring to)

I didn't realise that there was one that made you guess, that's terrible. I like the one at EK, though, when I remember which car I'm driving.

Glastoun

It's a guess how long you stayed machine. Is that 'not OK' from a 'not fair' perspective, or 'not OK' from an 'against regulations' perspective?

I don't really have a problem with it, but thought it unusual and can see how it would cause problems. There is a button/barrier system on the way in, and it looks like it used to give out tickets to put in your windscreen but that part of it has been taped up.

bod1467

From a 'Not Fair' perspective, in terms of it is designed to entrap motorists into either underpaying (and being sent an extortionate invoice), or overpaying to avoid getting an extortionate invoice - win-win for the parking company; lose-lose for the motorist.

It is not against any regulations though - mores the pity.

Glastoun

Well that was strange. No NPR cameras on the way in, couldn't see any cameras around the car park, no barrier on the way out, and even though the receptionist told me to pay when I left for however long I'd stayed, the machine still printed the ticket as if I was paying for the next 8 hours, rather than the last 8 hours.

I've kept the ticket just in case PE do roving checks and claim that I didn't pay for the actual clock time that I stayed, but think maybe the hotel aren't that bothered about the parking as long as they get a bit of income from it.

The_Deep

Sounds an odd way of going about things. At all of the hotels I have stayed at, the cost of parking, usually a set amount per night has been added to your bill when you leave.

bod1467

I stayed at the Aberdeen Marriott last week. They use ParkingEye. Parking is free for guests but you must register your vehicle on arrival. Granted there is a notice at reception (and a console for entering details) but the receptionists don't always point this out.