Pay and display machine not working.

[freakyleaky]

My better half parked in a council owned car park on Friday. When she attempted to buy her ticket she found the machine was not working.

She left the car there for approx 30 minutes and when she returned found the car park witch issuing a ticket.

She explained the situation and the witch phoned her supreme wizard who advised my BH to buy a ticket from the now working machine and send it in along with the ticket and that would be the end of the matter.

 

The witch refused to give her name or the name of her supervisor.

 

I am slightly dubious about this being the end of the matter.

 

Any advice before sending the ticket off would be gratefully received.

[nick20045]

Was there no other ticket machine available. Most council car parks I know have at least two machines. I would check if there was another machine. If there was, most probably the excuse is going to be that she could have used the other one. Maybe a bit of a walk but it was working.

[freakyleaky]

It had 3 machines and she tried all 3 along with 2 other woman who were trying to buy a ticket at the same time.

[nick20045]

I am not really "into" parking meters. Round my area we pass the parking ticket from one car to the other i.e. If I am driving out and somebody is driving in, I give them the ticket I had so they can use the rest of the time on it. :D

 

Any way of checking who services the machines when they go faulty? If yes, then they should have a log on their report. Might be also worthwhile contacting the Council to see if they have anything reported regarding the machine breakdown. I would take it that if all 3 went down the same time, then it was a power failure. Check with local electricity operator and see if they may have a log of a power failure round about that time/date in that area. Asking shops that are close by as well may help but do not take the word of one shop keeper. Ask a few. Do not forget, power is transmitted 3 phase so whereas one shop may be on one phase a few doors down another may be on a different phase. e.g. Shop on blue and neutral phase (240v) had power but shop on yellow and neutral had a power cut.

[freakyleaky]

The car park attendant/traffic warden/council revenue raising officer or whatever they are called these days didn't dispute that the machines were'nt working at the time and after speaking with her manager agreed that the ticket should be cancelled.

The only thing I am worried about is having no proof that this was actually said as no names or numbers were given at the time.

I am confident there will be a record of the machines going down. It was probably a software issue. There will be a log somewhere.

 

Thanks for your help Nick.

[freakyleaky]

I remember doing the same with the tickets until they installed these machines where you have to type in your car reg.

[Jamberson]

I think you've done as much as you can. You'll need to appeal the PCN in writing if you haven't already. Whether that's the end of the matter remains to be seen - they might decide to uphold the appeal, they might not. It could go either way.

 

If you haven't sent the letter yet, then it's worth asking them to check for other PCNs issued to vehicles at the same place/time, which will corroborate the malfunction - you won't be the only ones I'm sure. I wouldn't worry about having a record of the conversation you had - it has no real bearing on the case. However if the person you spoke to was the same person who issued the PCN, she might have made a note of the problem, which will help.

[freakyleaky]

Thanks Jamberson.

I am sure she won't have been the only one to have been issued a ticket that day even though the machines were only down for a short while.

 

I just hope it's not another time consuming pointless waste of paper and stamps which will drag on for months. They (our local council) seem to preffer to do things that way.

[nick20045]

They (our local council) seem to preffer to do things that way.

How the heck are their solicitors going to get some experience (mostly at getting their backside whooped)? Most councils will have a couple of solicitors who are fully trained. The rest are what we will call "work experience". :D:D Damn! I haven't had a case yet where I sued the council and did not win. :lol:

[lamma]

buying a ticket that showed a time later than that on the PCN would be a waste of time and is guaranteed to fail at adjudication. the attendant was misleading you down the path to paying up.

[freakyleaky]

buying a ticket that showed a time later than that on the PCN would be a waste of time and is guaranteed to fail at adjudication. the attendant was misleading you down the path to paying up.

Thats what I was thinking. Any ideas on the content of the letter when I send this in??

[lamma]

CEOS are supposed to check the machines are working when they enter the car park - and check for clock differences. ask for CEO notes

[crem]

CEOS are supposed to check the machines are working when they enter the car park - and check for clock differences. ask for CEO notes

 

As the machines only seem to have been offline for a short period of time, this may not have helped the OP on this occasion.

[green_and_mean]

CEOS are supposed to check the machines are working when they enter the car park - and check for clock differences. ask for CEO notes

 

They obviously were working or a ticket would not have been purchased.

[freakyleaky]

They were working by the time she got back to the car park.

[Jamberson]

It's a purely discretionary situation so emphasise good faith, and try and "win over" whoever happens to read your letter by appearing as the good guy.

 

You wanted to buy a ticket and attempted to, but were unable to. If they cross-reference the PCNs issued at the time they will see you were genuinely unable to.

 

You had no intention of evading the parking fee. You met a very friendly and helpful parking attendant who you explained the problem to. As a gesture of good will and fairness, you purchased a ticket after the PCN was issued, to demonstrate that you were in no way trying to avoid paying. You're very concerned that a PCN was issued, but understand why the attendant issued one - they weren't to know the problems you encountered.

 

Please would they be willing to reconsider on this occasion, as you are an honest motorist, and were not trying to avoid paying.

 

Yours sincerely...

 

All you can do is hope Ebenezer Scrooge isn't dealing with appeals that day.