Dartford crossing
Having paid for and made two trips over the crossing, I was very alarmed to receive a £70 penalty notice this morning.
Luckily we always print off a paper receipt and was able to quote the ref number, at which point the young lady was very apologetic, unable to understand how the mistake was made.
Morale......have a ref number and be able to quote it.....PHEW!
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Good Morning GL
We had a similar experience with parking in a hospital car park. On two occasions we were sent a parking penalty notice by the car park operators, Parking Eye, I think they were called. On the first occasion I challenged the fee which doubled because I appealed. Although I had discarded my ticket as the charge was applied on leaving, there was no need in my mind to keep the ticket, fortunately the appeal was upheld as there were a whole host of people complaining to the press at the time that the company were charging folk that had paid correctly for parking.
The second occasion happened a few months later after my relative had a long stay in the hospital. The same company sent a penalty notice 8 weeks after I had parked in the hospital car park. Having learnt about this unpleasant company, I kept all my tickets after the first incident and was able to contest the penalty once more.
Unfortunately this bunch of mercenaries did not even have the decency to apologise for their first or second error.
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Not had a problem with the Dartford crossing yet but it is not for the first time I have heard this. Thanks for the warning.
By the way how did you pay for it, by phone or in advance over the internet? I don't have an account but have always paid in advance before a journey using the internet.
peedee
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I haven't had any problems (yet, touching wood!). I am fortunate in that I have 2 shops in my locale that sell the pre payment tickets and prefer this method as I get a receipt. I am not a frequent user so don't want to set up an account. I currently have 1 crossing in the bag due to a change of plans earlier this year meant I came back via a different route. The tickets last for 12 months.
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We set up an account as the crossings are so much less. Just put the minimum £10 in and ticked that I did not want it to automatically top up. This triggers at below £10. So just need to remember to put more in when required.
When you cross it lists your number plate with the time. So would be easy to contest any penalty. You can add quite a few cars to your account. I was even able to add the brother in laws French plate, when they came to visit.
I just checked and my account also shows the dates the plates were added. So could also be used if you were sent a penalty notice and your vehicle did not show on your account as crossing. As clearly it should have been charged, as it is listed.
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The new Liverpool crossing will be free when paid for in 2040.Yipee !!
Did I read somewhere once that the Dartford bridge would be free when paid for, so they stopped calling Dartford a toll bridge and now call it a congestion charge, they are even considering supposedly a new bridge. I'd suggest if we've paid for it ( years ago ) to relieve the congestion remove the booths and consign them to history.
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Indoors...they have removed the toll booths probably around 5 years ago now and traffic jams have definitely got worse going from Kent in Essex( via tunnel).It has made it better Essex into Kent (using bridge).
The new crossing is planned for about 3 miles east of Gravesend which is a tunnel.
I have an account of manually topping up to £10 only to receive an urgent e mail from the Dartford Crossing saying this e mail requires your urgent attention on opening the e mail it stated please top up your account to £10.How is that urgently?
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I have an account of manually topping up to £10 only to receive an urgent e mail from the Dartford Crossing saying this e mail requires your urgent attention on opening the e mail it stated please top up your account to £10.How is that urgently?
I have just over £7 in ours, so won't top it up for a bit. As we don't make many crossings in a year, I just ignored it. However, if you are making a couple of trips a day I suppose it is fairly urgent, as £10 won't last long. Once you are out of credit you get a penalty notice.
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The government web site is headed
Pay the Dartford Crossing charge (Dart Charge)
No mention in that of congestion, does it say it somewhere else?
Since they removed the toll booths I am not sure what more they can do as regards congestion. It's just pressure of traffic.
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Just like the Mersey tunnels when they opened!
They cost £30 million to build and will be free when paid for.
80 years later, tolls now in excess of £30 million per year, still not paid for, still not free.
Dont you just love these type of deals!
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We used the crossing on the 29 October. Paid for two crossings before we went via the internet. Came home yesterday to a penalty charge notice. I also saved the receipt, good job I did. Now have the hassle of proving that I had paid in the first place.
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When you do JD, claim compensation for lost time and inconvenience. I did this recently with BT, a saga too long to bore anyone with. Having had to make numerous calls, online chats and emails, I told them I wanted to be compensated, in addition to the refund. Reply was that they didn't normally do that, however, in this instance I would receive £10. And indeed, when the cheque arrived, it included this amount. No harm in asking (well demanding, really, as by then I was in very imperious mode). Did make me feel slightly better.
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The new Runcorn bridge has sent out 35,000 fines in the 1st month of use. I haven't used it myself but a friend who has says the signage telling you how to pay is very poor so consequently drivers are missing the signs and then having to pay a £40 fine.
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