Free Traffic Legal Advice

Post the PCN as per:

https://www.ftla.uk/civil-penalty-charge-notices-(councils-tfl-and-so-on)/read-this-first-before-posting-your-case!-this-section-is-for-council-tfl-dartme/

This is common mistake as a company should not have been allowed to call itself PayByPhone. You have paid for parking in a different borough/town but you should have seen this on the app.

Post the PCN as per:

https://www.ftla.uk/civil-penalty-charge-notices-(councils-tfl-and-so-on)/read-this-first-before-posting-your-case!-this-section-is-for-council-tfl-dartme/

This is common mistake as a company should not have been allowed to call itself PayByPhone. You have paid for parking in a different borough/town but you should have seen this on the app.

Do you think I have grounds for appeal?

The photos are online.

The sign states:

*****
Pay by phone
02030460010

No mention of an app, simply a telephone number. So OP, the location number is 6019 and I suggest you repeat exactly what you did on the day but this time as a dummy run up to the point of payment and either take snapshots of these screens and post here or describe.

There are a couple of stickers under the sign, one of which refers to APCOA and another to RingGo. You could deal with these upfront should it be necessary because IMO any motorist who acts upon info in a sticker on or near a parking device in London wants their bumps feeling. Act upon what's embedded in official traffic signs alone and here it states as above. Your feedback will tell us and you whether you should have spotted clear warning signs in this process before paying.

@stamfordman @H C Andersen Do you think this is sufficient to send as an appeal?

On the 30/07/2024 I parked in Bromley. The signage closes to the car stated :
“Pay by phone
02030460010
quoting location
6019”
The official signage clearly states the PayByPhone app should be used with code 6019. 
Once I had parked my car I immediately initiated my parking via the PayByPhone app using code 6019. This location number exists in the app and as you can see by the screenshot attached it does not indicate that code 6019 is shared with any other locations or systems.
Location codes should not be reusable IDs or shared within systems with regard to any official Council parking locations. Location codes should also not be replicated across signage across locations. Both of these factors indicate that there is a lack of regulation or location code management.

On revisiting the site I found 2x discrete stickers beneath the official sign that mention 2 different parking systems - APCOA and RingGo.
Official signage should be up to date and inline with the system that is managing the space and the system that the public are meant to use to pay for the duration of their stay.

According to official signage I paid for the duration of my stay on the evening of the 30/07/2024 and thus should not have received a PCN. The signage at the site lacks regulation and compliance.

..which is what I was trying to get at with the OP in my last post.


OP, you neither phoned the number nor did you pay sufficient attention while you were processing your request. It happens.

I suggest you change your approach to try and head-off their counter-arguments.

Perhaps:
I saw the sign and not unreasonably read Pay by phone as PaybyPhone, a common parking service provider to London councils. I did not phone the number, because this has a cost, instead I logged into my PaybyPhone app which processed my payment accordingly. It now turns out that the location number 6019 is not unique among service providers or to this location but instead exists with at least two in London, one at the location and the other in Barnet. Mistakenly, I paid to park in Barnet.

After I found the PCN I saw the APCOA and RingGo stickers on the post. I don't know whether their purpose is to inform motorists but frankly after the well-publicised problems experienced by Westminster Council with 'scam' QR codes on ticket machines I would disregard any information given in such a manner and instead rely solely upon the information embedded in the traffic sign.


Somewhat longer but as far as I can see brings into play every reason why they might say 'no' and is intended to give them cause to say yes, even if on a discretionary basis.