A MAN hit by a £100 parking fine says he should not have to pay because a city parking system failed to take his money.
William Johnson had parked at Tybridge Street Retail Park Car Park when he had called Euro Car Parks to make an over-the-phone payment after realising there was no option to pay with cash or contactless.
He said he gave the company his card details but claims they failed to make the transaction.
He is now faced with a £100 fine, which he is in the process of appealing.
"It should not be assumed that everyone has a bank account to make a credit or debit card payment or that everyone possesses a mobile phone or smartphone," he said.
"It looks like the payment did not go through - it does not appear in my bank statements - but Nationwide does have a record of a payment attempt at the time.
"However, they were unable to give documentary proof of this.
"I am now relying on the telephone call records to prove my case.
"It is not my fault their system did not work.
"I think this is a very poor way of paying for parking, fraught with potential pitfalls.
"It uses the minimum of manpower to keep costs down and is akin to the self-scan machines in supermarkets."
Worcester News has contacted Euro Car Parks for a comment.
Mr Johnson said he has proof that he called the company on July 9 to make the payment, and he used his phone keypad to type his card details in, as the recorded message requested.
He had not put how long he was supposed to be in the car park but assumed the company logged this with numberplate recognition and then would charge him accordingly.
"I would imagine that this is not a good set-up for the retail outlets on the retail park that rely on trade from visiting drivers, either," he added.
"I have an ongoing appeal against this, but I would like to warn your readers of this because I would not want other drivers to have to go through what I have."
In a letter sent to Mr Johnson, Euro Car Parks said after checking mobile payments and pay-and-display machine audit reports, no transactions were found for his vehicle registration.
Euro Car Parks added: "After interrogating the back office about all payment methods, we could not locate a pay-and-display ticket matching your vehicle registration number.
"The parking charge notice has been issued correctly and remains payable."
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