Initialparking Reviews 633

Initial seem to have created a system to generate parking fines.

They use camera systems but purely to catch you out rather than allowing you to pay the correct parking fee when leaving.

We made a genuine error and were slightly late back to the car resulting in a £60 fine which felt excessive.

In April I parked my car at St Michael’s Mount & Long Stay Marazion Car Park and attempted to pay the £5.10 fee via the JustPark app. I selected the duration and hit "pay," but due to poor signal (and rain, while managing my child alone), I didn’t double-check for a confirmation. It turns out the payment didn’t go through, and despite explaining the situation honestly and apologetically, Initial Parking still rejected my appeal.
As a single parent traveling with a child in challenging weather, I did my best and have a clean 6.5-year history of always paying for parking, including every other stop on this same trip (with proof). A friend who parked with me at the same time completed their payment in the app, and we only realised later that mine had failed.
I wasn’t trying to evade payment-just made a genuine, understandable mistake. I even offered to pay the original £5.10, but they showed no empathy or flexibility. It's deeply frustrating to be treated like a serial offender over a first-time, human error.

Would strongly advise others to avoid this car park if possible. One mistake and there’s no room for fairness or compassion.

No option to pay online as stated, resulted in 30 minutes outstanding which I offered to pay and appealed this. Was told to either pay the fine or if I appeal again they will raise the fine from £60 to £100. This is a scam.

Lowther Street Parking - Carlisle

Paid to park in town to go and give blood at local blood donation. Returned back to car with couple minutes to spare and left. Was held up leaving car park due to how busy the car park was. People struggling to park their massive SUV's in the smallest parking spaces known to man.

Was apparently over my parking by 10 mins.

Disputed the parking charge and was told it was still valid as i could have bought additional time before leaving.

I wasnt parked i was driving around the 1 way bloody car park trying to leave.

Over £100 to go give blood. THANKS!!!!

This company will fine you if at all possible, I have had their machine be faulty and they have tried to fine me, fortunately on that occasion I had taken photos. I have been fined on 2 other occasions, unfortunately I had no evidence and they will not look at their cctv footage, it is up to you to provide evidence. This company should not be allowed to run a car park. Be very careful if parking on their car parks, and take photographic evidence every time.

We parked in the Slate Quarry Car Park in Canaerfon. The payment machines were not functioning properly. Each time I entered my registration details I got a message stating "transaction cancelled". On my 4th attempt, I was able to purchase a ticket without my registration number on it and clearly displayed the ticket in my window as per the "pay and display" rules.
We left within our allotted paid for session.
On my return home from holiday, I received a PCN for £100 for not paying for parking (£60 if paid within 14 days). I made an appeal to this and provided evidence of my payment made on the day. The appeal was rejected on the grounds that I had not inputted my registration number correctly and was offered a reduced £20 charge to pay. There is no phone number to contact anyone to discuss the issue that the payment machines were not in working order on the day I visited and I feel that I have been "forced" to pay £20 on top of my £8.50 that I paid on the day. This is an absolute SCAM! I would avoid using an Initial Car Park anywhere else in the UK.

Very poor service, as I could not speak to anyone about a fine . I waited outside the car park at Lamorna Cove Beach car park in April. I did not go in the car park. I appealed the fine and it was rejected. All I can think is as I turned around the cameras picked up my number plate. I was careful to not park on what I thought was the car park land. A very poor company that charges people who actually were not in their car park but were waiting on the road. I would recommend that you do not use or go near these car parks.

We parked at the Lands End car park in early June as part of a month long break. We were really disappointed to receive a parking fine when we got home and to add insult to injury we had no chance to pay before the increase from £60 to £100.
I contacted Initial and explained why we hadn't paid. I have to say that they were really responsive. Within 24 hours they responded and cancelled the fine. I cannot say how relieved and delighted we were. Thankyou Intial.

Parked at Fistral Beach, couldn't pay at machine with money and no internet service. Tried calling 2 times but got cut off each time. Found another machine. We were late for the family meal due to trying to park. Paid for 3 hours and left before the time was up. Letter in the post from Initial Parking £60 for the time it took to get the ticket which you cant pay for anyway. Emailed to contest it, didn't receive an email back from them although they said could have gone to Spam email even though I had an email of confirmation about my email from them. Bill went up to £170. I have a small family with and autistic child and we struggled to pay for the Easter holiday. It's their setup which caused the delay in getting a ticket. I felt no other option other to pay because the price would have gone up to 280, which we can't afford and potential court action. This has caused a lot of stress and we have to pull back from some much needed activities and possibly food costs due to the charge.

Disgusting, predatory and dishonest company. Deliberately make it difficult to pay and show absolutely no flexibility, nor a shred of common sense or human decency. Do something useful with your lives instead of making the world a worse place. Any employee of this company should reconsider their life choices, absolute leeches.

SLATE QUAY CAERNAFON.
Signage indicates Blue Badge is tariff free.
ANPR does not clock the badge so £100 fine.
This is despicable. Preying on the old and vulnerable.

As we parked using a parking app with multiple vehicles registered on there we mistakenly used the wrong car reg. The parking fee was paid correctly for the time used. Made an appeal but not upheld. Insisted on a £20 reduced fee or suffer the original fee of £60 then £100 if not paid within the time.
Absolute charletons.......genuine mistake and the parking was paid for so they benefit from an admin mistake and not non payment of parking!!!!! It shouldnt be allowed.

Parked at Marazion Car Park in Cornwall. The signs say maximum stay 3 hours. We paid for £4 for 3 hours but weren’t ready to leave so paid for another £4 and stayed another 1hr, 13mins and 38 secs. We thought we’d done the right thing but we’re issued a £100 for exceeding the maximum stay. Appealed and sent evidence of having paid twice but the appeal was declined. We received no notification of the fact that it had been declined and the next thing we got was a DRP letter stating that we now owe £170. It’s exorbitant! Our whole week’s holiday was only £220 and now 4 hours parking will be almost as much! And there is no way to speak to an actual human being. Avoid these car parks at all costs unless you’re prepared to be robbed. At least D*ck Turpin wore a mask when he robbed people!

We parked at Lands End at a cost of £8.00 (for the day). We only stayed for 1 hour 13 minutes (our choice) and then got a £60 fine for not paying. We appealed and sent off a photocopy of the parking ticket and the bank statement to prove we had paid. The appeal stated that the registration was not entered accurately. The ticket DID show an incomplete registration number, although it was not obvious that the 2 letters that registered were actually part of the registration number. In fact it just showed MM. Even if it had been incorrectly entered I cannot believe it didn't register 3 numbers and 2 more letters. And surely if this was all it registered the software should have thrown up an error message on the screen. We actually said, when we looked at the parking ticket on appeal, that there was no registration number on it. We still ended up with a reduced £20 fine as per their "terms and conditions" which, of course, everyone reads when they pay for a parking ticket!!!!. Call me cynical, but this seems like a pretty good scam for making money. It looks more like a faulty (deliberate or not) keypad. Be very sure that you check everything on the screen before you press OK. Do not rely on your ticket or bank statement to prove you have paid. Initial Parking must be making a lot of money out of legitimate parking tickets. We actually paid more than £70 for parking in Council run carparks whilst we were there with no problem at all.

Agree with all other reviews on here mentioning the lack of a 10 minute grace period or consideration for customers who have a genuine issue returning to their cars -exactly- on time. I appealed my fine on these grounds having fortunately kept my paper ticket which showed I left 10 minutes late, not 17 as they had stated. I sent this proof to Initial Parking. In the response to my rejected appeal, they still insisted I was 17 minutes late.

Disgraceful company lacking in any compassion and only interested in taking your money.

Praa Sands. Tried to pay for parking, got nowhere with poor instructions, eventually my daughter, very good at IT, network manager, having paid for her parking successfully, attempted to pay for mine. No tickets are issued, might have to pay someone for that, we thought it was paid, Got the letter 11 days later £60 fine. Probably machine was f*****d, no way of knowing you haven't actually paid, no tickets, no cash facility. What's more, poxy site does not work

Paid my £1 to park for a hour !
Apparently I stayed for 1 hour and 2 minutes and 5 seconds!
£60 fine !
Unfortunately thrown my ticket away,so can’t prove I was dealt with unfairly!
Will avoid them or pay by credit card which will give a time etc
These companies shouldn’t be allowed to trade ,they just hope you dispose of old tickets ,before sending you a bill !!

This is in addition to my original review about this despicable parking company, I've had to pay what I perceive is an extortionate fine. I've gone on my works email to to see the local courts results and see that an offender has been fined the same amount £60 for not complying with his sentence. That proves just how disproportionate these fines are, they are making a killing for nothing!

IPL 1090547. If I could give no stars I would, this company is a big fat leech preying on locals and tourists alike. I parked on the Slate Quay opposite Caernarfon Castle at night to go for a meal with family. The hut was closed and we didn’t notice the camera anpr on the board together with tiny small print, we thought it was free at that time!! How foolish! We then received two fines for £60 each if paid within 14 days. So that killed the birthday vibe. This fee does not fit the crime, it’s a total disgrace and Caernarfon Harbour Trust should find a new partner because from the reviews on here there’s no point appealing because they dismiss genuine claims!! I don’t mind paying a reasonable fine but this is disgusting in these times, we certainly won’t be returning and urge others to avoid this car park.

We parked @ Gulls Rock Inn, Cornwall, for a cup of coffee, after displaying our Blue Badge, we then received a £100 fine, which has been appealed/declined by Initialparking, this company is a disgrace and people working for it should be ashamed.
It makes you want to disown Cornwall visits.
Be warned.