EXCLUSIVE I was fined £100 for buying the wrong parking ticket but I couldn't understand the machine because it was in Welsh

Daily Mail​

23-04-2025

A woman has been served a £100 charge by a parking firm – even though she says the ticket machine was in Welsh and she could not change the language settings.
Freelance journalist Claire Hannah, 53, of Wigan, Greater Manchester, said her 'lovely' day trip to Betws-y-Coed, north Wales, turned into a nightmare.
She visited the picturesque village in the Snowdonia National Park with her sister on March 9.
The 53-year-old told MailOnline: 'It's very pretty, beautiful place. Parked in a lovely car park outside a lovely church.
'Went to the machine – spent quite a while faffing around with the machine trying to get a ticket because I couldn't understand it because it was in Welsh and it wasn't working properly, didn't appear to be able to change the language or anything like that.
'So, I just bought a ticket, displayed it on my windscreen and we went off, trotting around Betws-y-Coed, up the river, went in the pub, went to the local shops, this, that and the other. Came back to the car, went home – and it was a lovely day.'
But about 10 days later, on March 18, her fond memories of her Welsh day out came crashing down when she received a Parking Charge Notice (PCN) from the firm that manages the site.
Initial Parking charged her £100, on a 28-day deadline, for not paying for her time in the car park. After she provided evidence she bought a ticket, it was reduced to £20 – but this time for not keying in her registration number correctly.
Initial Parking charged her £100, on a 28-day deadline, for not paying for her time in the car park. After she provided evidence she bought a ticket (pictured), it was reduced to £20 – but this time for not keying in her registration number correctly
Miss Hannah did not even know drivers had to enter their registration number – and even on the photo of the machine Initial Parking itself sent her, there is no visible field to do this.
She said: 'I didn't know what I'd done wrong because as far as I was concerned, I had a ticket displayed on my dashboard.
'I didn't have a clue. You think if you've got a ticket displayed on your dashboard? Fine.'
The initial notice Miss Hannah received said the £100 charge would be reduced to £60 – 'this amazing discount, this really kind discount', Miss Hannah joked – if she paid within 14 days.
She appealed on the grounds she knew she had bought a ticket – and the money had come out of her bank account for that, the evidence for both of which she sent to the firm.
But this appeal was rejected just two days later – but now, on the basis she had wrongly keyed her registration number into the machine.
She did not know she even had to enter this, due to the machine being in Welsh, along with the fact she did not see any signs instructing her to do so.
The charge was then reduced to £20 to penalise her for a 'major keying error' instead.
The initial notice Miss Hannah received (pictured) said the £100 charge would be reduced to £60 – 'this amazing discount, this really kind discount', Miss Hannah joked – if she paid within 14 days
She ended up just paying the £20 charge – five times the original parking charge of £4 – so that the whole ordeal would be over: 'I'm annoyed at myself for paying it.'
'For me, when it got to £20, it wasn't about the money, it was just the principle of it. Because I paid for a ticket and they were threatening with a debt recovery agency if I don't pay', she said – with such threats mentioned across several communications seen by MailOnline.
Miss Hannah was not the only one struggling with the ticket machine that day: 'There were a few people faffing about with it. I'd love to know how many other people got tickets that day.
'It wouldn't go from Welsh to English. So, I was actually quite proud of myself when the ticket came out, proud because I'd got a ticket in the Welsh language!
'I thought, "I don't understand it but I still got a ticket! Check me out!"'
Initial Parking sent her a picture of the ticket machine in the car park in question, to back up their assertion there was a functioning button to press to change the language settings.
But this picture is dated from November last year – while Miss Hannah's battles with the machine happened months later.
Miss Hannah said: 'There's so many people who would feel threatened with [a letter saying], "£100!"
'And you see this £100 and everybody's skint, aren't they? Then it goes to £60, then it goes to £20, and you think, "Oh, it's only £20". But how many people are saying, "It's only £20"? It's really underhand.'
Her parking nightmare has meant she would not now go back to Betws-y-Coed and risk experiencing another similar ordeal.
She said: 'If this was the way you treat your locals and visitors, I don't think it's great. We spent money in your local economy.'
And she pointed out that on Trustpilot, the firm has only an average of one star, across around 500 reviews: 'It's put a lot of people off going back anywhere.'
A spokesperson for Initial Parking told MailOnline: 'Information on how to change the language from Welsh to English is detailed on the machine inserts that are installed on each machine directly to the right of the payment screen – once the motorist presses the "grey flag button", the language will then change to English.
'As clearly stated on the very large BPA (British Parking Association) approved signage which is located next to the payment machines, motorists are required to enter their full, correct vehicle registration when making payment for parking.
'As per the evidence the motorist provided, the registration the motorist made payment for was "Y1" therefore the terms and conditions of the car park were breached.
'Neither of these characters appear in the motorist's vehicle registration as such it was not possible for this payment to be linked with their vehicle, and a parking charge notice was therefore issued correctly.
'Upon receipt of the motorist's appeal, as per the Single Code of Practice, we offered a reduced fee of £20.00 in line with the codes guidance on Major Keying Errors.
'The motorist made payment of the £20.00 and the case is now closed on our system.'