Hi, I've just come across this forum and unfortunately I already responded to the PCN. I don't have a copy of the PCN to hand as I'm travelling at the moment but it was an ANPR log. These are the details:
Contravention Details
Notice Serial Number: *******
Vehicle Registration Mark (VRM): *******
Vehicle Make: Ford
Vehicle Model: C-MAX ZETEC
The Site Enforcer had reasonable belief that the above vehicle had committed the following contravention:
Contravention: 101) FAILURE TO PURCHASE THE PARKING TARIFF FOR THE REGISTRATION MARK OF THE VEHICLE ON SITE AND/OR WITHIN THE TIME ALLOWED
Site / Location: Broomhill Rooftop Pay Car Park
Postal Town / City: Sheffield (S10 3BB)
Date and time of recorded contravention: 22nd September, 2024 at 17:37:56
I responded with details of what happened, unfortunately I didn't make a copy of my response (I guess I wasn't expecting to have to fight this!). My response was along the lines of:
I tried to pay but the connect cashless parking website kept crashing. I tried multiple times to pay by card and in the end had to resort to using Google pay. I attached a copy of my bank statement showing that I had indeed been charged for the parking, though I was never sent any email confirmation of the payment.
I did confirm that I was the driver (oops!).
Excel have responded and I've attached their response.
The absolute facts are as follows:
15:31 - entered the car park
16:01 - Finally managed to make the payment! It really did take me half an hour to pay, but it was genuinely due to struggling with the website. I guess if I could prove what time I created my profile on the connect cashless site then I could prove that I was attempting to pay all of this time, but I have no record.
17:37 - left the car park
The terms and conditions on the carpark sign say that you have 10 minutes to pay. Which I missed by 20 minutes.
I have paid for a 2 hour stay - though I was technically in the carpark for 2 hours and 6 minutes.
Their response says about me not entering my registration details when paying. I did do this, and if I log in to the connect cashless site I can see the parking session and it does have my registration number assigned to it.
So I think there are 2 reasons they may be able to argue that the penalty is reasonable. One being that I took too long to pay and the other that I paid for 2 hours but was in the carpark for 2 hours and 6 minutes.
What are my chances of being able to fight this successfully? I don't feel like I did anything wrong here, the issue was that their payment portal wasn't working!
Thanks in advance for your help/advice
