PAYBYPHONE error

boygould

Hi,
I recently parked twice in a car park I have used many times in warrington and paid using the Paybyphone app as I always had done previously. I subsequently got two PCNs for separate events. Fine, I thought. Appeal and show evidence of payment...which I did.
My appeal has been rejected with very little detail, except that i did not have a valid ticket.
However subsequent investigation shows that the Paybyphone app & webpage has the wrong (old) account number in it (still the case today) and does not show the new account/location when you search via the map, or under locations in warrington. Therefore despite paying in good faith using the location on the App I am still served a PCN and parking eye reject my appeal.

I have contacted pay by phone and asked them to resolve and taken a screenshot of the locations to prove I have done everything I can. I am hoping that they sort but what are the chances?
I am guessing that my only recourse now is POPLA as these organisations are faceless. Is there a specific part of the PoFA cover this sort of thing or am I reliant on someone being reasonable?

thanks so far

Redx

I doubt that any of the above will help your claim or appeals

PE wil state that it is up to you the user of these apps to ensure that payment is made for the correct vehicle at the correct location, meaning that PE received no money, hence the pcn,s arriving

I doubt that POPLA will uphold your appeal based on the above either , they would think the same

if Parking Eye did indeed receive money for these 2 events, then a judge may take a different view, in court

ideally you try to get a settlement based on somebody being resonable , like maybe PE or the landowner , otherwise it seems doomed to failure if nobody deviates from the set path


I doubt that POFA covers this issue, but if PE failed POFA on timescales then the keeper is not liable, but if they adhered to POFA, then the keeper can be held liable

boygould

Bearing in mind successful previous payments using the same service (the last in November) for the same location it is clear that the account number has changed locally but not on the App or website.
I feel it is totally unjust that PAYBYPHONE have taken my money for the wrong account (still active today) and I get no warning til the PCN arrives.
There were and are NO warnings that this number has changed locally or on the webpage.

I have raised a ticket with PAYBYPHONE.

Redx

I hope you get this admin error sorted out between yourself , paybyphone and Parking Eye , but until Parking Eye cancel those pcn,s they remain live

Coupon-mad

I would let Gemma Dorans at the BPA know urgently about this, as she is helpful in getting issues resolved and often gets the PPC to cancel where something is unfair:

gemma.d@britishparking.co.uk

boygould

Firstly thanks for your responses, now here is what happened . . .

*) I appealed to CPP/Parking Eye which was denied as they simply said I did not have a valid ticket and did not consider my receipts (albeit with the old location number) as being valid.

*) I then appealed to Popla and at the same time emailed Gemma from the BPA as suggested - - As did a friend of mine who had the same issue at the same car park.

*) In the meantime Parking Eye submitted their evidence back to Popla which (cut short) just stated that other people used Paybyphone successfully on the same day so the error was on my part.

*) I emailed Gemma again for an update and informed her that the Paybyphone app/web was still taking money for the wrong location nearly two months later.

*) Today I (and my friend) received confirmation that our PCNs have been cancelled.

As Parking Eye had submitted their 'evidence' to Popla, I assume that it is Gemma and the BPA's involvement that forced Parking Eye to reconsider.

Although I am bitter about Parking Eye's lack of consideration and the time this has taken, I am very thankful to this forum and Gemma for ultimately sorting it out. Thanks guys!

:beer:

The_Deep

PE ARE VULNERABLE IN COURT DUE TO SIGNAGE, READ THIS

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5972164/parking-eye-signs-oxford-road-reading

[FONT=Times New Roman, serif][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Nine times out of ten these tickets are scams, so consider complaining to your MP, it can cause the scammer extra costs and work, and has been known to get the charge cancelled.

Parliament is well aware of the MO of these private parking companies, many of whom are former clampers, and on 15th March 2019 a Bill was enacted to curb the excesses of these shysters. Codes of Practice are being drawn up, an independent appeals service will be set up, and access to the DVLA's date base more rigorously policed, persistent offenders denied access to the DVLA database and unable to operate.

Hopefully life will become impossible for the worst of these scammers, but until this is done you should still complain to your MP, citing the new legislation.

[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2019/8/contents/enacted[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]

Just as the clampers were finally closed down, so hopefully will many of these Private Parking Companies.[/FONT][/FONT]

Coupon-mad

I emailed Gemma again for an update and informed her that the Paybyphone app/web was still taking money for the wrong location nearly two months later.

Has that issue been resolved too, so it can't happen to anyone else?

a car park I have used many times in Warrington

Can you show us a link to the location and webpage and state here in a reply what the site is called so we can find it when we search for this post in future if others start getting sued over it?

Could you also state which date(s) you and the friend were caught by this error, so we have the date of the issue as well as the location?

boygould

Here is the link for Winmarleigh St in Warrington.

m2.paybyphone.co.uk/parking/start/location?locationId=89092

The only way to pay correctly is to input the new location ID directly. If you use the map function or other search the only location ID you will find is the old one 89092.
The old ID is still accepting payment today 31/01/20 ... my PCN dates back to the 5/12/19, and the car parked without issue in Nov 19. Note that I raised the issue with paybyphone (I have a ticket reference), with the landowner, Parking eye and the BPA early Jan yet the issue persists.

Ta

Coupon-mad

You need to send that to your local Trading Standards.

boygould

For info, here is my email to local trading standards - (not the best perhaps, but hey-ho).

I wish to complain about the car parking facility operating at Winmarleigh Street in Warrington owned by CCP and currently controlled by Parking Eye/CPP. My wife uses the facility regularly and uses the PayByPhone app to pay electronically rather than carry cash. This she has done on many occasions without issue.
However following two parking events on the XX & XX Dec 2019, I received two Parking Charge Notifications from Parking Eye/CPP. I was very surprised as I had the receipts for the correct time and date, so I naturally appealed to Parking Eye/CPP only to have my appeal refused on the grounds that I did not have a valid ticket.On further investigation I found that the location reference which PayByPhone uses had changed shortly before the XX December 2019 as the controlling company had changed (previously Ranger Services). However there was no signage to indicate of the change and worse, the PayByPhone app was still taking payment for the old location number (89092). Indeed if you used the search function with PayByPhone you can only find the old location for the site and therefore think you have paid successfully only to receive a PCN sometime later.

When I realised the issue I raised a ticket with PayByPhone (xxxxxx) and contacted the British Parking Association (BPA) as not only did I want my PCNs to be cancelled, I was concerned about others being caught in the same trap - That was on the xx Jan 2020. As of today 5th Feb 2020 the situation still exists where the only location listed for Winmarleigh Street on PayByPhone when searching for Warrington car parks is the incorrect one. This incorrect location is still taking money for parking.! ! ! ! The ONLY way to pay correctly is by entering the location number directly. I know of others who have been caught in the same way and I feel that this situation could be considered deliberate - Parking Eye and PayByPhone have had more than two months to sort the issue and it is an error which they (likely) profit from.

In my personal case, only intervention from the BPA cancelled the PCNs. Parking Eye had refused my appeals and were contesting my subsequent appeal to POPLA.! Hence without the BPA's intervention I likely would have been ordered to pay £200 due to Parking Eye's misleading payment method.

Please can you investigate this issue so no one else suffers from what (in my opinion) is deliberate deception by Parking Eye.