Reading Council PCN for entering wrong Ringo location

nosnevets

Hi everyone, first post here - be kind!

I've had a couple of PCNs before and just paid them because I didn't feel it was worth the hassle, but this one is different because I really feel like I have been wronged here.

On the 23rd Feb this year I parked on Abbey Street in reading in a pay and display zone. I went to the machine, made a mental note of the Ringo location number and returned to the car to help my kids get out whilst also paying for the parking on the app. The app presented me with 3 nearby locations, none of which were the location I had parked in - but I did not realise this at the time. One of the 3 options had a location number almost identical to the one on the machine (9472 vs 9427) and I chose this by mistake and proceeded to make payment.

I returned within the time I paid for but found a PCN on the windscreen. Thinking they would understand that this was a genuine (and easy to make) mistake I requested the cancellation of the PCN via the council's website:

Hello,

I would like to challenge this parking charge because I paid for my parking via the RingGo app.

On returning to my car and discovering the PCN I checked in the app again and discovered that I had selected the wrong location, because of the 3 that it suggested to me as 'nearby', none were for the location I parked at, but one had an almost identical number apart from two of the digits were transposed (9472 vs 9427 on the machine I parked at) and I had mistakenly selected that one thinking it was the correct one.

I have photographs that document all of the above if they are required.

Thanks

Rob

They responded on the 26th Feb with the following:

You were parked in a Pay & Display bay without clearly displaying a valid Pay & Display ticket, therefore, the PCN has been issued correctly.

I can confirm a parking session was purchased however, the session was for Kings Meadow car park (9472), but the vehicle was parked at Abbey Street (9427).
...
It is the driver's responsibility to ensure the location selected for parking is correct.
...
I have considered the particular circumstances of your case and regret to inform you that the reasons given in your letter are not sufficient grounds for the cancellation of the PCN.
...
If you still wish to dispute this PCN, the DVLA registered keeper will be sent a Notice to Owner who may make formal representation against the PCN.

I have now received said Notice to Owner and am hoping for some reassurance that proceeding with formal representation is the correct thing to do? I can't believe that if this went to court the council would get away with it...

Any advice much appreciated :beer:

Rob

beamerguy

You need to go to ...
http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showforum=30
for council tickets. They will give you help, this board covers private tickets.