Parking company ombudsman/regulator?

CliveOfIndia

Last week my wife parked in a car park run by Horizon.  The only way to pay was by downloading their app, which she did.  Tried to make a payment, and got an error message saying the transaction was unsuccessful.  Tried again, same message.  Tried several more times using different debit/credit cards, each time it said the transaction was unsuccessful.

Lo and behold, upon checking the accounts, each transaction was in fact successful and she'd paid 8 times for the same parking.

She got me to phone them to complain, it's impossible to speak to anyone, it tells you to send an email, which I did.

To date I've received no reply, nor even an acknowledgement that the email is being looked at.

My question, therefore, is who can I escalate this to - is there some kind of ombudsman or regulator?  They do say they're part of BPA, would the BPA have any clout?  Or is there another organisation I could complain to?  This is in Scotland if it makes any difference.

To clarify - she didn't get a PCN and is not trying to get out of paying the correct parking fee, we just want 7 out of the 8 transactions refunded.

KeithP

Get the credit card company or companies to refund seven of the eight charges.

MSE's Chargeback article will help.

CliveOfIndia

Thanks @KeithP that's really helpful, I'll do that

Coupon-mad

Are you complaining because you are the registered keeper?  If not, then the complaint must come from your wife.

You have to exhaust the complaints procedure of the PPC before you can complain to the BPA but they are not a regulator.

CliveOfIndia

Coupon-mad said:

Are you complaining because you are the registered keeper?  If not, then the complaint must come from your wife.

You have to exhaust the complaints procedure of the PPC before you can complain to the BPA but they are not a regulator.

Thanks.  I am the RK but I didn't realise it made a difference (as it's not a disputed PCN, just a complaint about their app and being overcharged).  I'll try the BPA, then try a chargeback as suggested by Keith if I get no joy.

Thanks to both of you for the advice.

KeithP

@CliveOfIndia, did you get the money refunded?

CliveOfIndia

KeithP said:

@CliveOfIndia, did you get the money refunded?

Yes, I did a chargeback (well, a few actually, one for each of the cards that we'd tried) and got the money back.

Sorry not to have updated this thread earlier !