Grumpy boring story about Dart charge

[FakeConcern]

This dates back to when I bought the XM & went North through the Dartford tunnel. The new "system" had just been introduced so I went online to buy the right to take the Citroen Seefer through the tunnel. I completed the form filling & bank details giving only to get an error message. So I phoned up, no you haven't paid, so I paid over the phone, by the way do you use Firefox? Yes. Our website has problems with Firefox. Thanks for telling me!

 

(told you it would be grumpy & boring!)

 

Next week my daughter took us in her Clio to collect the XM. I paid for her car & the return with the XM online using Internet Explorer, no problem.

 

Fast forward to last Thursday when we get a nice demand from Dart charge for £75 for Clio going North, £75 for Clio going South & £75 for XM going south, WTF?

 

Have a look at bank statement & sure enough no money has gone out to Dart charge for that date. However for the previous week £5 has gone out twice! So the Firefox payment for the Seefer did work so did the phone payment, however none of the IE payments that all claimed success worked.

 

After reading the fine demand again we found that a second letter says "We recognise the new Dart Charge scheme may be unfamiliar to you. Therefore if you pay the outstanding £2.50 the PCN will be cancelled" In other words, we know our "system" is crap and might let you off if you can manage to contact us

 

So not too bad in the end despite having to hold on the phone for nearly 15 minutes and all sorts of other problems such as their inability to let me pay for more than one vehicle at a time, or use one debit card for more than one payment at a time(?) or to refund the overpayment for the Citroen Seefer, only give me a credit I can't see and don't want.

 

 

[garbaldy]

What a coincidence as I've just received the very same penalty as it was after 6am when I drove past,

The letter says pay 3 poond within 14 days and that's the mater closed,

I must have been on auto pilot as I never even saw the sign I just thought they had dropped the charge

[Bamboocarman]

Working quite a bit on and off in the South for many years, I travel back and forth to my home in the North regularly; usually via the Dartford crossing.

 

Since the new charging system was introduced, I always travel via the Westward Heathrow direction of M25 to and from Sussex.

 

Have read and heard of various problems with this new payment method; knowing a little inside info on Civil Service / Govt  / contracted out 'Crapita' style outsourced IT systems, can't say I'm surprised at all of the grief arising.

 

Sometimes wonder how many other drivers now avoid the bridge/tunnel altogether?

[Chas4545]

The few times I have used it I paid ok, and no fines, but the queues !!!! - I use the channel tunnel and am seriously thinking that I would be better off going back to the ferry from Southampton and staying off the M25.

 

Or move back to France where roads are good.

 

The Dartford tunnel is not a nice place to be in a small car.  (Scared me silly last time)

[inconsistant]

Something boring i know about the dartford tunnel is that the M25 doesn't form a continuous loop around London, as it stops either side of the crossing, because only the police have authority to stop people on motorways so in order to stop drivers to collect a toll from them it couldn't be motorway. I think it's officially an A road or something.

[ChinaTom]

I had this a few weeks ago - I had been abroad and knew that the tolls had gone, but 'assumed' that the fee was the same as the Congestion Charge in the way it was collected. I have autopay set up for CC, and being abroad, I had missed any radio-news warnings that it was not connected. Found that out by way of a £70 fine. The letter arrived ONE day before the deadline to pay before escalating to £110. Went on-line immediately to pay, but the reference number on the letter was a different vehicle to my own, although the reg number and photo were definitely us. Called them up. and they said they'd look into it and check back in the morning on-line to pay (£110!!!). 

 

Seething at this point!

 

Anyway, checked back the next morning and the charge had been reduced to £2.50 if paid immediately; the numbers all matched, so good end to that!

[NorfolkNWeigh]

I actually registered the 4 most likely cars I've got with Dartcharge and prepaid a tenner . They're supposed to top up via direct debit when it gets to a fiver, note I say supposed to.

For some reason their system is incapable of taking money from my bank and I've had 3 emails a day for the last month or so saying ' Failed credit card payment' .

As I was going to France on Thursday I topped it up with the same card I'd registered with no problems, I've since had 3 emails telling me I've had a failed payment, but when I check my account its in credit and Thursday's trip was debited ok.

Presume it's the same robbing bastards that do the Congestion charge so expect it to go up every year to cover the collecting of the charge. It will take longer for these cunts to recoup their costs than the price of actually building the bridge.

[AlabamaShrimp]

Why isn't it free?

[Pillock]

Because free things don't make money for big companies who spent a lot of money buying the rights to charge money for a thing that got paid for years ago.

[vulgalour]

More reasons not to head south of the Watford Gap.

[Pillock]

If I have the time, and I often do since I can just sort of bumble through a conversation with the boss about "travelling" and they don't really know where I am and what I'm doing anyway - I head over the Woolwich Ferry. I get some really childish kick about going on a boat, in my car.

Also, if I'm headed over t'bridge I'm likely to be going to Erith which is pretty easy from Woolwich. 

 

And it's free.

 

And since you don't get a receipt from the bridge or tunnel, I can claim I went that way and pocket a fiver.

 

If anyone from work is reading that, it was theoretical.

[coalnotdole]

I drove passed a few times over new years in blissful ignorance of any change ( I assumed it was free due to the roadworks / festive period.) a few weeks later I read an article about the changes and belatedly signed up an automatic account. several more weeks went by but in the end they took the toll money and managed not to send a fine....

 

On balance I'm more concerned about the hadecs 3 system catching up with me than I am the toll...;

[HH-R]

Sounds like the usual balls up that these systems always are... what's the betting that it's run by Crapita?

[cort1977]

  On 25/04/2015 at 23:38, coalnotdole said:

I drove passed a few times over new years in blissful ignorance of any change ( I assumed it was free due to the roadworks / festive period.) a few weeks later I read an article about the changes and belatedly signed up an automatic account. several more weeks went by but in the end they took the toll money and managed not to send a fine....

 

On balance I'm more concerned about the hadecs 3 system catching up with me than I am the toll...;

  On 25/04/2015 at 23:18, Pillock said:

If I have the time, and I often do since I can just sort of bumble through a conversation with the boss about "travelling" and they don't really know where I am and what I'm doing anyway - I head over the Woolwich Ferry. I get some really childish kick about going on a boat, in my car.

Also, if I'm headed over t'bridge I'm likely to be going to Erith which is pretty easy from Woolwich. 

 

And it's free.

 

And since you don't get a receipt from the bridge or tunnel, I can claim I went that way and pocket a fiver.

 

If anyone from work is reading that, it was theoretical.

Woolwich ferry is great, I get the same kick out of it. Also rotherhithe tunnel can be useful probably only at about 4am mind.

[Angrydicky]

I use the crossing all the time, and haven't had any problems with it. I've got an account I keep topped up with my four roadworthy cars listed on it.

 

Interestingly, it's a bit hit or miss whether the cameras can read the black and silver plates on the A35 and Somerset, so I've had a few free crossings.

[FakeConcern]

  On 25/04/2015 at 22:15, Pillock said:

Because free things don't make money for big companies who spent a lot of money buying the rights to charge money for a thing that got paid for years ago.

 

By us!

[Pillock]

See also Severn Bridge. I recall reading that the tolls were to be dropped once the bridge was paid for, then they just saw how much money is made per day on it and went "fuck it, let's carry on, what are they going to do about it"

 

The M6 Toll I tolerate because you can easily bypass it assuming decent traffic, so essentially you pay if you want to jump queues. Toll bridges however, especially when paid for, are a scam. They effectively encourage me to drive further into London which is mad.

[inconsistant]

  On 25/04/2015 at 22:34, vulgalour said:

More reasons not to head south of the Watford Gap.

 

Shhhh... us soft southerners know about another secret Thames river crossing. You don't even need to leave the motorway!

 

[Lord Sterling]

Wow man, you get charged for driving through a tunnel?

[castros_bro]

  On 25/04/2015 at 19:45, inconsistant said:

Something boring i know about the dartford tunnel is that the M25 doesn't form a continuous loop around London, as it stops either side of the crossing, because only the police have authority to stop people on motorways so in order to stop drivers to collect a toll from them it couldn't be motorway. I think it's officially an A road or something.

 

That'll be the A282, I got a speeding ticket on the A282 when I thought I was on the M25 doing 65mph in the 135,000 mile Felicia.

[FakeConcern]

Update with more annoying Dartcharge incompetence. Last Friday we went to collect an alcohol fuelled ebay purchace by my wife. Hired a van in Eastbourne & set out for Ipswich. We had to que for miles & hours for the crossing as the barriers are still there despite not used any more. I didn't try to pay on the internet after my previous trouble, so phoned up. After lots of messages & taliking to a machine, eventually I spoke to a human, "How can I help you?" "I want to pay for crossing yesterday, please" "Sorry I can't do that, anything else?" "What!!" Apparently the system was overloaded & I had to phone back later, to again take 10 minutes talking to a machine. Managed to pay though, however as it was a hired van I could only pay for 2 crossings without knowing which crossings they were so I hope there are no other outstanding crossings for that van that the hire company will ask me for!

[purplebargeken]

I was at the garage yesterday and a local chap came over waving a letter from this lot and was wondering how to sort it.

 

I explained that he had 14 days to pay the 2.50. He thanked me and went away much happier. 

[Asimo]

I thought I was opening a thread about Daimler dynamos...........

[FakeConcern]

  On 31/05/2015 at 09:59, Sorn Me said:

I thought I was opening a thread about Daimler dynamos...........

SP250 shirly!

[STUNO]

Not too far from here a bridge was built and tolls put in place. Many years later a group of users discovered a little secret. Somewhere in the paperwork was a clause that said something like "tolls will cease when the bridge has been paid for". Except that had not happened and the city was talking about raising tolls due to increased costs etc. A huge uproar started.

Result, toll free bridge and toll plaza removed , that's what I call a win !

The same city put tolls on another road and just about everyone takes one of two alternative routes. The tolled route is always very quiet and must be losing money just to pay staff.

[EssDeeWon]

I have no idea what to do now, so if I want to use the Dartford crossing I have to let them know and pay in advance?

 

This sounds like an absolute nightmare, just for motorists to use a bridge which has been paid for about five times over?

[Alan_Green]

Pay up until midnight the next day.

I accidentally crossed on Wednesday night. I meant to exit just before the tunnel. But roadwork signs said lane 1+2 were closed, which was a lie, and before I knew it I was in the tunnel queue so had to cross. Checked the time half way through. 5 mins past 10. Hmm did I enter before 10pm? Dunno. Called then up next day and after a short time on hold a bloke in Bangalore told me nothing to pay. So must have entered at 10.01pm.

[EssDeeWon]

  On 31/05/2015 at 12:49, Alan_Green said:

 bloke in Bangalore told me nothing to pay. 

 

Don't hold your breath..... I have been told lots of things by blokes in Bangalore, its hardly ever accurate or true though.

[forddeliveryboy]

  On 26/04/2015 at 09:25, Pillock said:

See also Severn Bridge. I recall reading that the tolls were to be dropped once the bridge was paid for, then they just saw how much money is made per day on it and went "fuck it, let's carry on, what are they going to do about it"

 

 

The first ever PFI was the Skye Bridge. The Scots didn't like paying tolls either...

 

[FakeConcern]

If you pay the next day (like I did) it costs £3.00 instead of £2.50 on the same day.