I was slapped with £50 parking fine thanks to machine blunder – it was so confusing

A DRIVER was slapped with a £50 fine in the carpark of a busy railway station after she made a simple blunder at a payment machine.

She claimed signage at the station was “misleading and unfair”, and warned other drivers so they might avoid facing unnecessary strife.

BPM

Katie Crowe says she paid for parking at a machine located directly behind a sign with instructions for payment[/caption]

Driver Katie Crowe was headed from Exeter St David’s to Totnes on March 22 when she decided to park at the busy train station.

She said she paid at a machine located right behind a sign near her car which detailed how customers could pay for parking.

The driver said: “There was a machine right behind the sign, basically practically attached to the sign, so I paid and took the train.”

Unbeknownst to Katie, the machine was not related to the station carpark, but to a road next to the station.

She said: “About a week later I received a £50 fine from APCOA which came as a complete surprise.

“I went down to the station and realised that the machine behind the sign was not related to the car park area but to Bonhay Road.”

Katie continued: “I submitted an appeal which was immediately rejected. I feel strongly that they should remove the sign and make it extremely clear that the machine behind the sign does not correspond to the parking area at Exeter St David’s car park.

“It’s seriously misleading and unfair to all those parking and using the wrong machine – I bet they’ve had loads of people doing the same and appealing before me.”

A response from APCOA to Katie’s appeal reportedly stated that the company could not waiver the charge.

The letter read: “Although we appreciate the evidence provided, you have paid via the wrong app. When paying by phone you should use APCOA Connect, but you paid using the RingGo app.

“This is a separate company and therefore your payment was allocated to another car park. This means your payment wasn’t valid.

“All payment options are advertised on site. The signage within the car park informs drivers that a PCN will be issued if they fail to make a valid payment.

“As your vehicle was parked in contravention of the terms and conditions of the site we are satisfied that the notice was correctly issued in accordance with the BPA code of practice, and therefore not able to waiver the charge on this occasion,” DevonLive reports.

Katie said she was advised that she could pay the parking charge notice at the discounted price of £50 within 14 days, after which time the fine would be increased to £100.

Or she could lodge an appeal with independent appeals service for parking charge notices POPLA within 28 days, although the charge would be assessed at its full amount: £100.

The devastated driver paid the fine – only for APCOA to later refund the money “as a gesture of goodwill”.

An APCOA spokesperson told DevonLive: “We are sorry to say that unfortunately, the customer’s payment was not valid for the station car park in which they were parked. It was made for Devon County Council’s adjacent on-street parking spaces along Bonhay Road.

“We have investigated and found that the APCOA signage in the car park is in compliance with BPA standards. However, although this was a case of customer error, as a gesture of goodwill we have cancelled the charge on this occasion.

“Any concerns about the clarity of signage on the council’s payment machine should be raised with Devon County Council.”

The Sun has contacted APCOA for comment.