I recently found out that I have a £170 parking fine from Excel Parking. DCB Legal is now involved, and they’re claiming I never bought a ticket. The thing is, I actually did buy one. However, I stayed longer than I should have—by 40 minutes. Should I let DCB Legal know this information? I’m worried that if I do, they’ll know my position if this goes to court. Believe me, the last thing I want is to go to court, but I also don’t want to pay the £170, and I’m unsure how serious their threats are. I just want this whole situation to go away.
My argument is that the app simply doesn’t work. It didn’t work for me, otherwise I would’ve extended my time. My barber has the details of 10-20 customers on her phone because the app doesn’t work for anyone. It’s a consistent issue, and this could help prove that the problem lies with the app, not the users. Last time, she said a customer didn’t manage to pay within the grace period (10 minutes) because the app didn’t work in time. After it eventually worked, she managed to appeal, and they won. They have a very strict 30-day appeal process, and after that, they won’t hear anything you have to say (in my case). This shows they’re aware that the app has issues.
As a broke uni student, I seriously don’t have the £170 to pay for this fine. What should I do? Should I just pay the damn thing to avoid more stress, or do I have a leg to stand on? I really don’t want to go to court over this, but I’m at a loss for what to do next.
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