Furious drivers baffled by parking apps plead with firms to let them deal with a human

Furious motorists have slammed parking app firms for failing to provide anyone to talk to when they have complaints.

Drivers bemoaned the ‘appalling’ lack of customer service after they were left grappling with automated voice recordings or diverted to chat bots.

Some have described spending hours trying to speak to a ‘human’ while others have simply given up and driven elsewhere.

It comes after the Daily Mail revealed how more than two million drivers will soon live in ‘parking meter deserts’ as pay and display machines are increasingly being scrapped by local authorities.

In their place, many councils are installing cashless meters or instructing motorists to pay for parking through apps like RingGo, PayByPhone and MiPermit.

More than half of over-65s do not feel comfortable using apps, according to a Consumer Intelligence poll commissioned by the Mail this month

Yet more than half of over-65s do not feel comfortable using apps, according to a Consumer Intelligence poll commissioned by the Mail this month. And firms offer little assistance to those who may struggle to use them – even if their systems have crashed.

Consumer expert Martyn James said: ‘I have seen a significant increase in… drivers who cannot contact an app’s customer service team if there is a problem.’

He added: ‘Firms need to understand that not everyone is as comfortable [using them] and there needs to be an option to speak to someone if there is a problem.’

Gas engineer Rohan Ataa has nearly half a dozen parking apps installed on his phone, as his job requires him to drive all over the country. However, he encounters problems with them on a ‘weekly’ basis – from payments being rejected to systems crashing.

Earlier this month he had to leave a note on his van in Colchester, Essex, when his MiPermit app was repeatedly unable to process his payment.

Mr Ataa, 36, said: ‘I have experienced appalling customer service when using these apps. It only adds further stress to my day.’ Britain’s biggest parking app RingGo has up to 515,000 users.

But when the Mail visited its website, no obvious customer service helpline was available.

Many councils are installing cashless meters or instructing motorists to pay for parking through apps like RingGo, PayByPhone and MiPermit 

Instead, customers were instructed to raise a query online or use its ‘virtual assistant’ chat service available through the app.

University student Ann Ismat uses RingGo when she attends lectures in Plymouth city centre.

Ms Ismat, 45, once spent two hours trying to get through to someone who worked for RingGo on the phone. Even her tweets to the firm on social media have received no responses. She said: ‘This is a car park I am using up to four times a week. I already suffer from anxiety and having to use this app makes it so much worse.’

RAC spokesman Simon Williams said: ‘It’s bad enough that drivers have to use multiple apps to pay for parking and the option of using cash is fast disappearing, but not being able to speak to someone should there be a problem creates a whole new level of frustration.’

A RingGo spokesman said: ‘We have a help centre both in app and on our website, as well as FAQs, live web and app chat agents, and call-backs available during core hours to assist customers.’