Tweet
Good evening,
Found this forum whilst Googling for some advice on the following issue, it would appear many people here have extensive knowledge of consumer rights so it may be better to just ask the question.
Two days ago I commuted into work by motorcycle, as the bays around my workplace were full I opted to park in a private car park operated by NCP. When my work day finished, I went to collect my bike and pay my ticket.
When you are leaving an NCP car park on a bike, making payment is not a trivial task. You have to use an assistance button on one of the payment machines to speak with an operator who will then check on CCTV to ensure you are indeed a motorcyclist and not the driver of a car / van etc looking for a cheap exit. The cost in this particular NCP car park was $6 (apologies it's in dollars, I have an American keyboard on my work laptop and can't figure out how to get the pound symbol).
I was asked by the operator to insert payment, I used a $10 note which should have left me with $4 change, this change would be going into my petrol tank to get me home as the bike was running in fumes. I attempted once and the machine spat the money back out, on the second attempt it took the money and issued me with a credit note. It did not return the money I had put in. According to the operator on the machine this was due to an error with the machine and I could send them an email and reclaim the cost of the credit note.
The problem is that left me with no money at all for fuel. I had a car park assistant come around and open the machine, he was unfortunately unable to recover the money either.
I did not know anybody local leaving with me extremely short of options, in the end I paid $70 for a round trip to my house in a minicab and back to the car park with my bank card. I needed my bike early the next morning and couldn't leave it overnight.
This incident has left me fuming and I'd like to find out if I've any means of recourse not just for the $10 I'm owed but also the $70 it cost me to get my payment card. In my view, if a shop keeper took my money and refused to give me my change it would be theft, I believe this is tantamount to the same as these machines are programmed by humans and this routine must have been thought about during their development.
If at all possible, I'd like to take the issue further. I can imagine NCP are making a small fortune from these "credit note" tickets as people likely often do not bother attempting to claim the money back or lose the ticket. It strikes me as an underhanded tactic and not a fair way to operate a business. As far as I am concerned there is no reason not to have the machine dispense the original note back or its equivalent in coins (the machine does have the ability to give change).
Looking forward to reading your replies.
Sincerely,
Jake
Found this forum whilst Googling for some advice on the following issue, it would appear many people here have extensive knowledge of consumer rights so it may be better to just ask the question.
Two days ago I commuted into work by motorcycle, as the bays around my workplace were full I opted to park in a private car park operated by NCP. When my work day finished, I went to collect my bike and pay my ticket.
When you are leaving an NCP car park on a bike, making payment is not a trivial task. You have to use an assistance button on one of the payment machines to speak with an operator who will then check on CCTV to ensure you are indeed a motorcyclist and not the driver of a car / van etc looking for a cheap exit. The cost in this particular NCP car park was $6 (apologies it's in dollars, I have an American keyboard on my work laptop and can't figure out how to get the pound symbol).
I was asked by the operator to insert payment, I used a $10 note which should have left me with $4 change, this change would be going into my petrol tank to get me home as the bike was running in fumes. I attempted once and the machine spat the money back out, on the second attempt it took the money and issued me with a credit note. It did not return the money I had put in. According to the operator on the machine this was due to an error with the machine and I could send them an email and reclaim the cost of the credit note.
The problem is that left me with no money at all for fuel. I had a car park assistant come around and open the machine, he was unfortunately unable to recover the money either.
I did not know anybody local leaving with me extremely short of options, in the end I paid $70 for a round trip to my house in a minicab and back to the car park with my bank card. I needed my bike early the next morning and couldn't leave it overnight.
This incident has left me fuming and I'd like to find out if I've any means of recourse not just for the $10 I'm owed but also the $70 it cost me to get my payment card. In my view, if a shop keeper took my money and refused to give me my change it would be theft, I believe this is tantamount to the same as these machines are programmed by humans and this routine must have been thought about during their development.
If at all possible, I'd like to take the issue further. I can imagine NCP are making a small fortune from these "credit note" tickets as people likely often do not bother attempting to claim the money back or lose the ticket. It strikes me as an underhanded tactic and not a fair way to operate a business. As far as I am concerned there is no reason not to have the machine dispense the original note back or its equivalent in coins (the machine does have the ability to give change).
Looking forward to reading your replies.
Sincerely,
Jake
