Hey,
On the 22nd of May, a driver used my car at a car park in England, prior to a healthcare appointment they couldn't affort to miss.
They parked at the car park, and tried to pay using the machine, which failed with some kind of 'declined' error twice in a row. The account had the funds, and they didn't have another card the machine would accept.
They downloaded the parking app and tried to pay on their phone, which also failed with the error "Validation Failed". They have a screenshot of the app open with their details and this failure message. It doesn't contain a date, but the image metadata does contain a date.
Since they couldn't pay, they went to my medical appointment (approx 1 hour).
When they returned, they tried the machine again, and managed to pay for tge vehicle. They got a 2 hour ticket, and had been present 1hr and 10 mins.
They've gone to the bank to try and get evidence of the failed transaction, but they are wiped from a record after approx 48 hours, so no dice. They do however have a statement which shows my succesefull payment prior to them leaving the car park.
They've go the usual £60 fine, increasing to £100 should they not pay shortly, or if they decide to contest (which is obviously predetory and designed to prevent the parking company from being held to account, but that's a whole other argument...).
My question is, should they contest this? It feels as though they've done everything they can to try and pay for this parking, and they actually DID pay prior to leaving, but outside of what they assume is a 15 minute window they are supposed to pay in.
What are their chances? Is it worth it, or should they pony up the £60 whilst they can?
I appreciate that one CAN sometimes ignore these sorts of things, and they just never get enforced, but they'd rather not roll the dice on a CCJ when they can afford a £60 fine, even though they feel like it's unjust.
Anyone with experience of specific expertise offering me an insight would be really helpful.
Car park in England, Date 22/05/2024, Company is Civil Enforcement Ltd.
Thanks.
