If I used the crossing on Saturday taking my Mrs on a day trip and forgot about the charge. Telephoned today to make the payment only to be told it was late and no payment could be made. The guy checked to see the status of my alleged crossing only to tell me there was no record of my vehicle having passed either way.

Got me thinking, with such a short window to pay how much are the thieving blighters making off the disproportionate fines? Anybody been stung with one as have heard it's £70 per crossing which would make a very expensive return trip.

 

I've had a few friends go over and forget to pay. They've rung up days after the due date and got told because it's their first time, the fine would be wavered. That was last year though when the updated toll system was still quite new.

A friend got fined £35 each way the other day for not paying - awaiting to hear the outcome of that one.

 

I crossed a few months ago and totally forgot to pay afterwards. They contacted me and I just had to pay it retrospectively, I didn't have to pay the fine.

 

My dad crossed last year just after they put the system in and forgot but they just let him off as it was still new, don't think they'll let you off anymore though.

 

It's such a narrow payment window and as a highway signage designer their signs are at best crap. It's almost like the system is geared towards issuing fines rather than collecting crossing payments

 

happened to me so i phoned them up and as it was the first time they let me off.

aint been back since

 

I've have an account set up, as use it often, when they don't shut the fucking thing due to a light breeze or broken down push bike!

I've not always been charged using it, especially if sitting between to lorrys!

 

Aye, bloody stupid that you have to pay within a day.

As I knew I would be using it on the way to the channel tunnel and would probably forget to pay afterwards I put my card details into their online system so it took a payment automatically when I crossed.
Didn't even realize I'd passed a toll as I crossed it either, very easy not to notice and then get a fine. What a scam.

 

if your register for a payg account it simply takes payment when you use it, only took a few mins to set up and saves all this aggro

 

That's what I did as someone told me about it beforehand.

Trouble is when you don't even know you've used it, there's not much to indicate you've just used a toll road and will be fined unless you pay within a day, especially when you're watching other traffic and trying to figure out which lane to get in etc.

Although fair enough that they let you off the first time, presumably because of the points I just mentioned. I reckon you could cross it multiple times by the time they let you know about the first fine though.

 

Had to cross it last year, for a work training course, as it was an overnight stop and I was running a bit late, I thought I'd save Sky some money and pulled over for 20 minutes so I'd cross after the 10pm cutoff... I assumed the company were paying, so didn't give it a thought on the way back and, about six months later got stung for 35quid! And it was my first crossing!?
Next time, I'll cover the plates up! Lol

 

One big con. The charges are originally set up to pay for the cost of the bridge/crossing to be built. Would have been paid for many years ago now

 

Same with all such things, like speeding etc. It's all geared towards maximum profit and extortion !

 

http://www.highwaysindustry.com/toll...ey-didnt-make/

 

If the want to automate such things, then they should be providing you with evidence of your vehicle passing any tolls in order that you can pay a correct amount, and doing so in a sensible timescale of passing the toll.

And as with the above article....anyone falsely accused and harassed should be entitled to compensation due to their sheer incompetence....and if it's found to be deliberate, criminal charges should be brought against those issuing the tolls.

 

Just another money making scam

 

Clearly Highways England have an awful lot to answer to but will no doubt bring the shutters down and just carry on being a shower of shit!

 

http://www.highwaysindustry.com/how-...wsletter+No272

 

Have a word with your government. Ours abolished toll crossings.....

 

indeed-no toll bridges in scotland now,ableit the forth road bridge can be a complete shambles
i digress the simple thing to do is keep a record of all appeals and any costs etc inc your time and proceed to a small claims court if overcharged /ripped off
bill your time at a sensible hourly rate-they probably wont even defend it..or on reciept of a summons will sort it out..

 

They do. They send photos. My daughter borrowed my company car, got lost going to Lakeside and ended up going over the bridge, doing a u-turn and back again under the tunnel. Someone told her that if you come straight back within a certain time they don't charge (good joke) so next thing I know I'm being chased by my firm to sort it out and pay any fines.

Contacted the toll people, gave them the reference and they said there would be no fine to pay (first time offence?). All in all, very happy with their customer service. As for the principles of paying a toll on something already paid for...that's a different matter.

 

So you're saying they do send photos to every motorist they claim has passed the toll prior to them needing to make any payment ? Which would be the safe option for them to ensure to cock ups.

Certainly from posts above, it doesnt sound like this happens, nor does it on the M50 toll around Dublin.

It seems to rely on people paying regardless of whether a vehicle has been detected or not and they provide no means of checking if the vehicle has passed through either.

 

No, they send the 'fine' and photo evidence, same as speeding fines I guess. 99% pay on time

 

As I thought.

Until they provide solid evidence a vehicle has passed prior to requesting payment, the system will be corrupt

At worst they should at least offer motorists a means of checking if their vehicle has been detected and when prior to making any payments.

But they dont, deliberately, so they can falsely charge etc

 

Is a photo (two in fact) not solid evidence? Are you suggesting they randomly send fines to car owners who have never been near the bridge?

It's not a matter of being detected. Rightly or wrongly, if you use the Dartford crossing you should pay. The fees are declared and by crossing you have contracted to pay the fee. It is not an issue of only paying if you 'get caught'.

We all sometimes 'get away' without paying for something or escape a fine. Doesn't make it right? How many of you would walk out of a restaurant after a meal without paying if you could get away with it?


As I said, the letter refers to a fine but they were good about it and all I had to pay was the £2.50 (which I never got back from my daughter !!)

 

Having re-read Stevietubo's comments let me be clear. Only those who do not pay on time are sent fines and photos. His suggestion that everyone who uses a toll system should be, in effect, invoiced with evidence, to avoid corruption is, in my opinion, stupid. That would add millions to the costs for no real benefit.

True, someone could put on false plates, whizz over the toll and the true owner would get fined, no different to speed cameras. A small risk but not the discussion here.

Sorry Mr Turbo but you seem to exist in a paranoid world where you believe every government agency is out to scam innocent people using every angle possible. Feel free to share the evidence of all the people falsely charged with using the Dartford crossing, the M6 toll-road, the Seven crossing etc.

 

Wake up.....they are out to scam the hard working from their money and squander it everywhere.

 

I don't mind paying for something I use, even though the toll should have been abolished years ago. The very short window of payment, no mention of the charges value on any approach and the limited signing leaves the system open to ridicule. There are a number of cases where innocent drivers have been fined and the operator just won't acknowledge their balls up

 

typical goverment high handed approach
like the sorn fiasco when this online thing started-i was sorning vehicles i bought on day of purchase using the green slip-they were sending me red letter fines a few months later-mistakes they said lol aye but if i had not had the reference numbers the incompetent gits would have let me pay the fines...

moving on we have dvla -lost untold folks motorcycle entitlement-even folk who could show it on the licence copies etc were being told they would have to re-sit tests-pure joke,sadly its on us as the general motoring public

 

Any case where innocent motorists have been harassed, threatened with fines or worse, when they know it's deliberately false then those involved should be charged with fraud/extortion as well as harassment. Just palming it off as a mistake simply is not good enough.
There should be no excuse for deliberate or malicious harassment of innocent motorists in order to try and extort money from them. Anywhere else that would be considered criminal !

 

I don't get what your saying here. you think that motorists should have access to their data so they can see if they've been clocked crossing before deciding whether to dodge payment or pay retrospectively ?

 

Of course they should be able to verify if they've been detected crossing before payment is made.

 

why would they help people dodge payment ?

 

you mean, why would they help ensure correct payments and no false accusations, threats and penalties against innocent people ?

 

because the French are kind like that

I believe it's French owned, we should deport the owners after voting to leave the eu! or something like that

 

id expect to pay if I'm using something I'm meant to pay for. I wouldn't expect to be able to log on and see if ive been detected crossing before deciding whether to pay or not, that's just silly. likewise I would expect a photo proof as in the post above if I received a fine for non payment.
there will always be errors in any system but only an idiot would pay a fine without proof if theyre sure they've done nothing wrong.
i just googled Dartford crossing for some images.assuming theyre the proper pics if anyone can pass through their unaware its a toll then they really shouldn't be driving!

 

I have a account set up because I use it a fair bit in the works/company van. I then got 3-4 fines come thru in one go, phoned them up and explained this isn't possible as I have a automatic top up on the account. Turns out when my bank card expired and I got a new one I didn't update the card details for payment to be taken. I ended up having nearly 40 unpaid crossings. I understand that it was my fault but what did annoy me was that they email me regularly but never once emailed to say they couldn't take payment.

 

last I read they were making 1 million a week in fines. Not a bad shout eh?! I want my own bridge.....

 

Exactly what I did, got all the cars registered on the one account so whatever I'm driving it's covered.

 

Question, I have an account set up, but went through out of hours last time. Do I need to make some sort of payment on line or does it automatically come out of my account?