Dartford Crossing charge

[jonty14]

Hi. Anyone else had unfair penalty charges from these money grabbing so and so's? I paid for my toll online. Got a receipt. A while later got a penalty charge notice. My number plate was not recognised. I have a German registered car. The reason they gave me was that I used spaces when entering my registration details into their website. There was nothing to tell me I couldn't. I have appealed and waiting for a reply. It is a shame you can't pay at a toll booth like before.
Be careful when using the Dartford crossing!!Jon

 

[Trainfan344]

Hi. Anyone else had unfair penalty charges from these money grabbing so and so's? I paid for my toll online. Got a receipt. A while later got a penalty charge notice. My number plate was not recognised. I have a German registered car. The reason they gave me was that I used spaces when entering my registration details into their website. There was nothing to tell me I couldn't. I have appealed and waiting for a reply. It is a shame you can't pay at a toll booth like before.
Be careful when using the Dartford crossing!!Jon

It is a shame, I mean, I miss queueing to cross the bridge!

 

[tony_mac]

Try the forums pepipoo.com; you will find others in the same position.

 

[radamfi]

Whilst southbound there is an obvious improvement, northbound it is actually worse than before. The capacity constraint is the tunnel bores rather the toll booths. In addition, there is a new safety system which stops traffic momentarily to intercept vehicles that are not allowed to enter the tunnel. That kicks in surprisingly frequently.

 

[flymo]

During a visit to UK in June I took that route in a hire car to Rochester. Paid 2.50 the following afternoon at a convenience store and got the receipt. Then a few weeks later the hire company sent a penalty notice to the hire company saying it was not paid. Sent them a copy of the receipt and have heard nothing since.

Looks like a few issues with recognizing payments by the look of it.

EDIT:

I looked online at the payment record and it had the crossing date and direction wrong on the record for my car. It had the crossing Northbound on 23/4 when I crossed Southbound on 25/5. The payment date was correct and it was the same day actually not the following day as I thought .

Looks like a total cock-up of biblical proportions or else the last guy in the car did not pay and this payment was thought to be that. The rental agreement shows when I had the car and it was not on 23/4 !!.

 

[ralphchadkirk]

Used it twice a day for over a month with a Dart account for work. They don't tell you however (if you're not on auto top up) that you don't have any money left in the account (apart from one email which goes into junk mail) and nor do they alert you to any unpaid for crossings. So I've just received 5 PCNs. However they do let you just pay the full crossing charge if you're quick at replying.

 

[maniacmartin]

It worked flawlessly for me, paying online in advance.


However, a friend of mine bought a used car and the website refused to let her make a payment and didn't give a reason why. After calling she learnt that the car's previous owner had some sort of disability which meant that they had an exemption from having to pay the toll, which only their callcentre can reset.

One wonders why this isn't linked into the car registration records at the DVLA so that the flag gets reset when a car is sold.

 

[TheEdge]

One wonders why this isn't linked into the car registration records at the DVLA so that the flag gets reset when a car is sold.

One wonders what was wrong with normal toll booths. Why does the inexorable onward march of technology have to make everything automatic and online? In all my years using the Severn Crossings never did I think "This would be so much easier if I'd gone online in advance to pre-pay my toll". I tended to think, "Ah, here comes the toll booths, pass me the £5 note".

 

[meridian2]

I think the reason the booths were scrapped wasn't because of the 'inexorable march of technology' but rather because the ever-increasing amount of cars passing through demanded it.

 

[Tetchytyke]

One wonders what was wrong with normal toll booths.

The fact it took an hour to get through the queues?

 

[carriageline]

The fact it took an hour to get through the queues?

To be honest, i see much worse queues going towards Essex than before. Coming back is a lot better though. I haven't used it in a while.

What did confuse me though, is each crossing seems to be cheaper? I only pay 1.something for each crossing. I did register my account ages ago, and im sure it said you get a discount for doing so. Does anyone know more about that?

 

[ComUtoR]

One wonders what was wrong with normal toll booths.

They considered that the toll booths were part of the problem with the congestion through the tunnel. They were removed to create free flowing traffic.

Of course, they buggered it up.

FYI the local MP is on the case with the company that runs the tolls. They whole payment system is beyond broken.

 

[eastwestdivide]

Does the lower speed through the tunnels contribute to things backing up when it's busy?
Four lanes on the approach road and four through the tunnels, so if there are no interruptions for non-compliant vehicles, it "shouldn't" be too bad if the speeds remained constant.
Any traffic modellers out there? (no, not makers of bus kits, the other sort of modeller)

 

[radamfi]

Does the lower speed through the tunnels contribute to things backing up when it's busy?
Four lanes on the approach road and four through the tunnels, so if there are no interruptions for non-compliant vehicles, it "shouldn't" be too bad if the speeds remained constant.
Any traffic modellers out there? (no, not makers of bus kits, the other sort of modeller)

I am a transport modeller and have worked on models involving the Dartford Crossing. Usually you assume a capacity of about 2000 vehicles per hour for each lane of a motorway, however the capacity of the Dartford Tunnel is lower because of the lower speed limit and the traffic lights for non-compliant vehicles, so we estimate the capacity of the tunnels at under 6000 vehicles per hour.

 

[eastwestdivide]

Thanks radamfi - that makes a lot of sense.
How to mitigate it though? Extend a 50mph limit further south from the tunnel approach? Would that only move the problem further out, or would it spread things out and prevent the bunching and eventual queues?

 

[radamfi]

Thanks radamfi - that makes a lot of sense.
How to mitigate it though? Extend a 50mph limit further south from the tunnel approach? Would that only move the problem further out, or would it spread things out and prevent the bunching and eventual queues?

Extending the speed limit further south would probably help a little, just like with roadworks with 50 mph limits. There are proposals for a new crossing, either a new bridge just west of the Dartford crossing, so that there would be a bridge and a tunnel in both directions, or a bridge further east, linking the M2 and A13 or A127.

 

[asylumxl]

I got charged twice using the Dartford Crossing once. It seemed such a palaver to undo I left it.

Cynic in me wonders if all these issues are deliberate..

 

[coupwotcoup]

I recall reading that there are over 250,000 toll fees owed by foreign vehicles since the booths went. Surely, keeping one open would have made sense, no?
Despite the owners tub thumping about chasing up all owed monies, is it likely that they are ever going to claw back the missing half a million and rising quid?

 

[asylumxl]

I recall reading that there are over 250,000 toll fees owed by foreign vehicles since the booths went. Surely, keeping one open would have made sense, no?
Despite the owners tub thumping about chasing up all owed monies, is it likely that they are ever going to claw back the missing half a million and rising quid?

They covered the costs of construction long ago, so I doubt they'll be worried about losing a little revenue.

 

[EssexGonzo]

They covered the costs of construction long ago, so I doubt they'll be worried about losing a little revenue.

Especially when there are so many law-abiding locals who have set up the autopay system. To be honest, there's no other sensible way to do it even if you only use the crossing a handful of times a year. So much cheaper too.

 

[Tetchytyke]

I recall reading that there are over 250,000 toll fees owed by foreign vehicles since the booths went. Surely, keeping one open would have made sense, no?

Not really, unless you barrier all of the lanes up. The dishonest who know they can evade it will continue to evade it. One of those things.

 

[coupwotcoup]

So half a mill and rising is the gift that keeps [not] giving...I'm sure les beans (sic) counters might be asking a few questions soon.