To think this parking fine is really unfair?

[chickencurryandnaan]

I had lunch with a friend today. We went to a cafe in town. The parking situation isn't ideal, but you can typically find a space. I drove around a few times without luck, so I decided to park in a nearby paid car park. FYI I don’t normally park there.

I didn't have enough change on hand, but there was an option to pay online. Now, it’s well known that this town is notorious for its poor wifi. The council is working on a solution, but for now, the wifi is dreadful and often fails to work properly.

I spent around a few minutes in the car park attempting to complete the payment, but I had to walk over to the cafe to access their WiFi in the end. When I returned to my car, I found a penalty notice for £50. It's so frustrating because the notice states that my car was observed from 12:44 to 12:50 pm, and I was still in the car park during that time (I know this because I texted my friend to ask if the cafe had WiFi). It seems the traffic warden must have been watching me trying to pay! I ended up completing the payment just minutes later at 12:53 (I have a receipt for this). I also paid for an extra 30 minutes to cover the time I parked and walked to the cafe.

Am I being unreasonable to feel that this is quite unfair and that they shouldn't offer online payment given how poor the wifi is? Has anyone been successful in disputing a charge like this? It’s a lot of money for the sake of 10 minutes.

Appeal it.

That'll get dropped on appeal no problem.

Appeal it with evidence that you did pay.
I was once issued a fine because I had paid and displayed a ticket. I had bought one pit accidentally put it upside down on the dashboard. The fine was cancelled and I was given a stern warning to always make sure it's the right way up.

You can't say they shouldn't offer the online option as it's probably something offered to all the car parks run by the same company. Now you know the signal is poor you can run across to the café or wherever to pay more promptly too. Or bring cash.

You will need to be clear in the appeal whether you mean WiFi or 4G signal because you're saying WiFi for both but I think you mean 4G when in car park and WiFi in the cafe (most towns don't have free WiFi!)

Just appeal it with screen shot of timing payment went through and just say that it was delayed due to poor connection but you paid. I’ve had it before when app didn’t process and didn’t realise until end of the day (9 hours later!) and charge was overturned

I would appeal it, explain you had to leave the car park to get reliable WiFi.

If it's One Parking Solutions or similar then you may have a fight on your hands as they are a bunch of grabby bastards, but it's worth appealing.

Also, I do know from personal experience, that if you have a strong and reasonable case and are willing to play brinkmanship, OPS have got as far as Court and then withdrawn on the day a couple of times. They also don't like it if you do a Defense and Counterclaim.

Thank you for replying and apologies, yes I do mean 4G (so 4G at the car park and WiFi at the cafe). It’s actually a council run car park, not a big company and the council are fully aware of the issue.

BBC News - Private parking rules to change after 'five-minute fines', sector confirms - BBC News
www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2p57zdzw9o?app-referrer=deep-link