Smart Parking Technology Reviews 

Received a £100 parking charge from Smart Parking even though I'd paid for 4 hours. Their ANPR cameras showed me on site for 10 minutes longer than the time I'd bought. They rejected my first appeal without answering my main points, so I appealed to the IAS. Smart Parking then cancelled the charge, citing mitigation.

If you get one, here's what I'd check before paying:

1. Dates. If no ticket was left on the vehicle, the Notice to Keeper must be delivered within 14 days of the day after the parking ended (Schedule 4, Protection of Freedoms Act 2012). Mine was dated after that deadline.
2. ANPR times record entering and leaving the site, not time in a bay. The industry Code of Practice includes a 10-minute grace period, so ask what grace period was applied to you.
3. Appeal in writing as the registered keeper, don't volunteer who was driving, and don't pay, because paying ends your right to appeal.
4. Keep your proof of payment, and go to the IAS if your first appeal is rejected.

Worth challenging if you think you have a case.

Smart parking, you must be having a laugh, they seriously must be lacking in brain cells and common sense.
Got a £60 fine for unknowingly pressing wrong button while typing vehicle reg into machine, on appeal they even commented that the proof that I had paid was acceptable, but still refused to cancel the fine,
Reading some reviews on here , I think I'm wasting my time trying to argue it out with these low life con men/women

The one payment machine on site wasn't working. I spent 20 minutes standing in the rain trying unsuccessfully to download the useless Ringo app to pay for my parking before giving up and leaving. For the pleasure of 20 mins in their company Smart Parking have charged me £60. They issued the parking fine on Sept 21 giving me 14 days to pay - I received it on Sept 29. I see I'm not the only one to complain about machines not working. I'll now be avoiding any car park "managed" by this bunch of rip off merchants.

Unscrupulous company.
I had the unknown misfortune of using their parking facilities. I attended a car show in Monmouth and was directed by show marshals to park in a field. The route was temporarily taped off the usual main route which avoided any parking information! Weeks later I received a fine. Yes, for parking in a field!! I disputed the ticket by putting forward my case. Several weeks later I received an email from debt collectors ; Debt recovery plus. I didnt receive anything regarding the appeal what so ever. I contacted the debt recovery. The bloke was rude and extremely aggressive,he said I had lost my appeal and threatened court action. I wrote a complaint email to both but neither responded and the threats continued from the debt collector. I emailed IPC (parking association) but they were not any help either. I finally had a reply from Smart Parking admitting they hadnt sent me the appeal decision and not giving me any further opportunity to appeal. They also failed to acknowledge my complaint after 14 days and failed to respond to my complaint within 28 days as per the own guidelines! The fine was subsequently cancelled.
I think this happens all the time and people get scared into paying it by the debt collector. Do not give in or give up. There are some excellent templates online to use when sending them an email to complain. Good luck!

Do not use their car parks, they do not work to UK parking industry standard standards and you will be issued with unfair fines.

I have appealed a parking charge due to a faulty machine. I have photo evidence of the faulty machine as after inserting cash, I was not issued a ticket. I then looked over the machine to find that a drawer at the bottom was hanging open. This was also explained to the independent appeals service. I have asked for evidence of the machines maintenance logs for that week and for them to check the cash intake for that day. On all attempts to ask for these, their reply has not once mentioned it, or my photo evidence. They have completely dismissed everything and now I am receiving letters from a debt agency. I am in the middle of seeking legal advice. This company is so ignorant and dismissive and it feels like the IAS are working with them to take money of people, as they also ignored my evidence during the independent appeal.

Wow!!! What a money making machine they have here, and how little support we have as a consumer! Disgusted that my dispute for being 10 mins over my parking time (train was late back) even though I’d paid for an 8 hour ticket and even though it states on their terms and conditions a 10 min grace. I disputed it, got no reply, then a debt collection letter for £170!!!! I’ve called citizens advice, seems I can get help but it would end up in court and my fees may rise dramatically. It’s the whole principal of the thing!! I didn’t try to avoid paying my ticket at all. I will never use one of their car parks again!! I’ve been duped out of £170 by a greedy money making culture of a company. Disgusting and 100% unfair!!!! How are these still trading?

Business strategies are set up to make money by sneaky, clever and fraudulent way.

I appeal the PCN submitting the bills from the restaurant I had parked into, I checked next day, I couldn’t find find my PCN on their websites, happy days,

After a months and a half, I went to my junk folder, there was a email mentioning dept???… and so on, I checked there was a charge of 170 GBP from debt collectors, they are different body.

When I enquired they said my appeal time was already over as it has already crossed 14 days, so it has increased and will keep on increasing if I didn’t pay.

I never received the letter of rejection of my appeal, later on I came to know the information about my appeal outcome was sent through donotreply(at)citysmarti.coil

Now point to be noted, the above email domain has no any word like [parking] written,
It should be either city parking.co.uk or smart parking.co.uk

Who would check donotreply (at)citysmarti. Co .uk with incorrect spelling [smarti] in junk folder. (Trustpilot doesn’t allow email address, so I modify it).

I had no option other than to pay 170 GBP for a parking fine.

My appeal shouldn’t have been rejected on the first stance.

Terrible organisation with outrageous charges.

If you are a company thinking about using Smart Parking to manage your car park, consider the impact on the reputation of your company.

Yes you may get some parking revenue, but at the expense of customer goodwill and future earnings

Extremely disappointing experience with Smart Parking
I am extremely disappointed with my experience with Smart Parking.
I received a parking charge after parking at a car park in Porthcawl while collecting my partner's brother, who had been staying on the grounds. I accept that I should have paid for the parking, and I was genuinely trying to do so.
The problem was that when I attempted to make the payment, Smart Parking's system repeatedly stated that the charge could not be found. I entered the reference details around 5–7 times and received the same message every time.
I then contacted Smart Parking by email and provided screenshots showing the problem I was experiencing. I received no response.
Instead of the issue being resolved, I subsequently received a letter demanding £170. I contacted Smart Parking by telephone and was told that I had no choice but to pay the full £170, which I did.
I find this incredibly frustrating. I was not deliberately avoiding payment. I attempted to pay multiple times, encountered an apparent problem with their system, and contacted the company for assistance with evidence of the problem. My correspondence was not answered, yet the charge was allowed to escalate.
I am now making a formal complaint and requesting that the circumstances are properly investigated and that the additional charges are reviewed.
I understand the purpose of parking charges, but when a customer makes genuine attempts to pay and contacts the company because their system will not allow them to do so, I would expect some reasonable assistance rather than being ignored and subsequently presented with a £170 demand.
Very disappointing customer service.

One of the worst organisations I have had the misfortune of dealing with! Very dismissive of evidence submitted during appeals process and during the phone call the operator yawned loudly as if he was bored! Rude, unprofessional and operate more like scammers than a legitimate outfit. They simply want your money and that's about it, irrespective of any evidence you submit! They take so long to reply to your queries, you will get referred to their debt collection team. At this point you won't get any intelligible response! I just paid the £170 up from the initial £60 (because they took so long responding) to avoid having to deal with them a second longer. On the plus side... Nope, there is none! Just avoid dealing with them full stop!

Just seen these robbing b#%stards on Rip off Britain!! How can they still be operating!! Disgraceful! I tried fighting them for years after clearly displaying my disabled badge and eating in the establishment which I provided a receipt for! My local MP managed to get it stopped for a year or so but the threatening letters came again! I really wanted to see a face behind the company at court but I received a latter on Christmas Eve after years of requesting to go to court! Obvious the court in Northampton was shut, someone they managed to give me a CCJ before the court reopened when I got through after Christmas! Embarrassing corruption at its finest! The people who run this will rot in hell and their karma will bite them hard one day! Worst company that hasn’t been shut down, total scammers praying on the old and vulnerable! AVOID PARKING AT ANY OF THEIR CAR PARKS AT ALL COSTS!! Ps. I see you scum bags have removed the company on trustpilot that had tens of thousands of 1 star reviews not one above 1 star. In reality the company would be minus 100 stars if people could score your blatant robbery and scaremongering with a legal loophole to allow you parasites to keep stealing decent people’s money!!

I received a parking charge 27 days after it allegedly happened. We were on holiday and I drove down the side road that leads to the car park, which is actually about 4 spaces for the use of customers at a small restaurant. I did not use any of those spaces, I never actually left my car. I didn’t even turn the car engine off. I remained in the car with my 2 autistic grandsons whilst my daughter rushed into a local Tesco for a quick shop for food. 16 minutes is the time that I was there. But having read the reviews of this company, and because I have enough stress in my life, I have paid the fine. Because we all know that this company don’t care about anything other than extricating money from anyone.

£60 fine for less than 1 minute over - adequate appeal documentation supplied but not upheld - most expensive 1 minute of my life. Dreadful company - adds to the general stress of life . Making normal people suffer. I hope you are happy

This company is a money making scam they charge for unloading n load under 15mins.

They are rude and won't even listen

In extending my parking by phone I inadvertently clicked on the carpark adjacent to the one I wanted to extend, - both had similar names to add to the confusion. On receiving a penalty notice I realised my mistake and appealed, after all, I had actually paid for parking albeit next door. Appeals team turned it down, playing it by the letter of the law. End result - I lose £60 and they lose my custom forever more. Don't even get me started on their locations where phone signal is so bad you can spend 10 mins trying to pay...Note to anyone in Appeals reading this, try to run a business on human terms because in the very near future AI is coming for your job if you don't.

unpleasant and onerous to appeal. they took FAR too long to answer.

Ruthless parking company, exacting ridiculous amounts of money for small overstays -- £80 for running over 10 minutes -- £8 per minute - worse than central london - for kid friendly Willen Lakes. Robbers, Thieves - should be ashamed of themselves. As should the Parks Trust for associating with this company.

It would be zero but have to put one. Fined for parking in a carpark where their machine wasn't working. Other people rang to report it but still nothing done. Nothing but a money grabbing company

Scummy company, gave me 12 tickets even though i was registered on an authorised list to park at my own workplace. Even got an email from their national account manager saying they would cancel the tickets. now 18 months on they are threatening bailiffs. I am now going to try and get their licence to operate removed. Please can other people who have had run-ins with these morally devoid parasites do the same thing. The world would be a better place without smart parking.com. Report them to the BPA, do the right thing. there are enough people here to prove without a shadow of a doubt that these low-life's should not be operating in our world, they need to be urgently cancelled.