Motoring Discussion > Dartford Crossing Debacle Computing Issues
Thread Author: tyrednemotional Replies: 27
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 Tue 1 Aug 23 11:49 
 Dartford Crossing Debacle - tyrednemotional
...is anyone else watching this?

I have a paygo account which covers my infrequent crossings. I am supposed to have received two emails informing me I should revalidate my card for the foregoing, as the administration is moving from one organisation to another.

I was aware of this, as it has cropped up over months on a number of forums I frequent, but I only received one email, and that at the last minute, informing me I should re-validate after the 28th July.

I tried, and of course, in common with everyone else I was informed that the site was down until the afternoon of 30th July. It was.......and still is (at least for me and many others).

It's not of any immediate concern to me, as my next crossing is at least a month away, but the world and his wife are suffering the consequences, both on re-validation, and more importantly payment (the lack of which attracts a PCN).

Apparently, the deadline for payment for existing crossings is to be extended, but the authorities won't be drawn on just exactly what the new deadline will be.

The whole thing is an organisational and public relations nightmare. Payment requests put you in a queue (people are reporting waiting times literally of hours, and many are simply giving up). Who the hell decided to make the change on one of the busiest weekends of the year? Can you imagine what it's like having gone on holiday (many people crossing will be on the way to the Continent) with the prospect of having to pay by a given, but currently unspecified date, to avoid a PCN hanging over you. I certainly wouldn't want to be sat on the web for hours trying to pay.
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 Tue 1 Aug 23 11:59 
 Dartford Crossing Debacle - sooty123
No can't say I've seen this issue in the media/online etc.
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 Tue 1 Aug 23 12:04 
 Dartford Crossing Debacle - tyrednemotional
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-66370666

www.facebook.com/dartcharge

(some of the comments, when expanded, are "amusing").
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 Tue 1 Aug 23 12:10 
 Dartford Crossing Debacle - Boxsterboy
Yes, I'm in the same boat (actually maybe a boat would be a better way to make the crossing??). Infrequent crosser, got the email on 20th July and have done nothing about it. The email said they wrote to me recently (but the way Royal Mail are, who knows?) To be honest the email came with such short notice I suspected it was a scam, and the fact that I've had no follow-up reinforced this. It was only the news stories that made me realise it was genuine!
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 Tue 1 Aug 23 12:25 
 Dartford Crossing Debacle - Bromptonaut
There's a thread on HJ's forum.

I'm crossing next week en route to Le Shuttle for a week in France. Car only on this occasion. I think I've still got an account - they confuse me by shutting it if we don't use the Dartford Crossinhg for 12 months - but cannot check either that it's still open or confirm I've added the Fabia to it.

Given the availability of Portsmouth crossings plus fact that M20/M26/M25/M40 is as viable to us as M1/M25 then eith M2/A2 or M20 it wasn't uncommon, even before the pandemic, for us to go a year without using it.
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 Tue 1 Aug 23 12:36 
 Dartford Crossing Debacle - tyrednemotional
>> I think I've still got an account - they confuse me
>> by shutting it if we don't use the Dartford Crossinhg for 12 months - but
>> cannot check either that it's still open or confirm I've added the Fabia to it.
>>

I had an account (which needed to be kept in credit) but they closed it during Covid due to lack of use. (I got a refund of the balance, and a I know number of people appealed and had it kept open).

It was the only "frictionless" payment method when I opened it, and it did offer a small discount on crossings, which given my infrequent use was of little consequence.

I've therefore subsequently opened a "paygo" account. No need to credit it, just register a payment method and registration number(s). No discount on crossings, but probably more appropriate for infrequent use. That's the payment method I need to re-validate.
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 Tue 1 Aug 23 14:12 
 Dartford Crossing Debacle - CGNorwich
I wouldn't panic. Nobody's going to give you a fine.


"On Tuesday, a spokesperson for National Highways said: "As things currently stand the deadline for paying for crossings is open ended.
"We feel that it would be unfair on road users to set a hard deadline at this stage due to the ongoing technical system issues."

They added they will communicate a final date and give road users sufficient time to pay for their crossing once the system is functioning as normal again.

per BBC News
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 Tue 1 Aug 23 17:10 
 Dartford Crossing Debacle - tyrednemotional
...I'm sure some accommodation will have to be reached with those who have been unable to pay, but that is hardly the point.

As it stands, "the deadline for paying is open-ended", but it isn't, is it!

In reality, the deadline is sometime in the future that as yet remains undefined. In theory then, anyone who has an outstanding charge needs to keep either trying to pay it (still not working properly) or keep checking whether the new deadline has been announced.

That's not something I'd want to be doing, and certainly not if I were somewhere on my holidays (particularly overseas).

The whole process has been a disaster, and I can vouch for the fact that the communication has been abysmal.

I was advised to re-validate my payment details on/after 28th July, and I still can't. Neither can I easily pay any outstanding charge.

It would be far more encouraging to make an announcement now along the lines of "all payments due up to the point where the systems are fixed will have a new deadline of (say) the last day of August".
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 Tue 1 Aug 23 17:57 
 Dartford Crossing Debacle - CGNorwich
All you have to do is wait until they advise you the system is working and pay them then. Their problem. No need to stress.
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 Tue 1 Aug 23 18:14 
 Dartford Crossing Debacle - tyrednemotional
...advise how?

The communication to date has been abysmal (are they going to 'phone everyone....?).

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 Tue 1 Aug 23 18:39 
 Dartford Crossing Debacle - CGNorwich
They know your name and address. As I said , their problem.
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 Tue 1 Aug 23 18:52 
 Dartford Crossing Debacle - tyrednemotional
...well that'll work well for all those on holiday...

Let's assume, as looks possible, that when things clear they re-instigate the "pay by end of next day" rule to avoid a PCN.... (That turns from their problem into your problem).

If they intend to notify people by post and advise them of a new (realistically extended) deadline, then why not just say what it will be now? The complete lack of clarity is what everyone is complaining about.
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 Tue 1 Aug 23 19:05 
 Dartford Crossing Debacle - CGNorwich
" then why not just say what it will be now? "


Non-account holders who use the crossing between Thursday (July 27) and August 14, will have until the August 15 to pay the charge.

"We apologise again for the inconvenience which was due to essential system updates," said the National Highways spokesperson.

Seems clear enough
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 Tue 1 Aug 23 19:17 
 Dartford Crossing Debacle - tyrednemotional
...OK, I can see that wording on a couple of news outlets (updated to add that around 15:00 today) but not on any Dartford/National Highways official channels.

I've just managed (after a wait) to successfully re-validate my payment method. As I thought, my account has no name and address on it.
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 Tue 1 Aug 23 21:08 
 Dartford Crossing Debacle - CGNorwich
I’ve had two encounters with Dartford Crossing authority. On the first I forgot to pay until a week into my overseas holiday. I was resigned to a fine. When I got home I indeed had received a letter but rather than a fine they advised that since I had no previous record of non payment they would accept the standard charge.

The second time was a year ago when I received a notice of a penalty for a crossing for which I had a receipt. I sent off the appeal form with a copy of my receipt and the charge was duly cancelled.
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 Tue 1 Aug 23 16:03 
 Dartford Crossing Debacle - Fullchat
The Humber Bridge has had similar issues. Reduced its payment booths and introduced a 'tag' lane.
During peak periods the queues for payment can be horrendous. The debit swipe validation seems to take an eternity compared to say the Tube which is instantaneous by comparison.
There may be a element of regulating traffic flow, but according to booth staff that's not the case.
You can choose to use the 'tag' lane without a tag but have to log onto their website and pay.
There have been occasions when the website is continually unable to process the payment and after several tries you sort of give up and put it the bottom of the list. Next thing they are levying a 'fine'.
Progress I suppose :(
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 Tue 1 Aug 23 16:05 
 Dartford Crossing Debacle - Bromptonaut
>> The Humber Bridge has had similar issues. Reduced its payment booths and introduced a 'tag'
>> lane.
>> During peak periods the queues for payment can be horrendous. The debit swipe validation seems
>> to take an eternity

The debit card swipe on the M6 toll is similarly slow. Given up and just shove the card in the slot.

Same parking the Mayorhold in Northampton.
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 Tue 1 Aug 23 21:28 
 Dartford Crossing Debacle - Zero
At some stage, my account was disabled. The effect of this is that when I try to reopen it, it wont. If I try to open a new one, they say I have one, (both car reg and email address) and use that.

When I try and pay for a crossing manually, it says I have an account that is disabled. I tell the authority and the charge gets cancelled.

Its very weird.

That was the old system.

This new agro sounds exactly like when they changed the congestion charge contractor. That fell apart as well


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 Tue 1 Aug 23 21:31 
 Dartford Crossing Debacle - Bromptonaut
>> At some stage, my account was disabled. The effect of this is that when I
>> try to reopen it, it wont. If I try to open a new one, they
>> say I have one, (both car reg and email address) and use that.

I'm going round in circles like that as I type....

Won't log me in as email address/password do not exist. Assume maybe I forgot the password and ask for a reset. Confirm address and they say I'll be sent a code.

Nothing.

Assume no account but it then won't let me open one as there's already on with my email.

Grrrr.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Tue 1 Aug 23 at 21:34
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 Tue 1 Aug 23 21:41 
 Dartford Crossing Debacle - Bromptonaut
And sorted.

After 3 attempts at reset I got three codes inside a minute.

Pleny credit and both 'lingo and Fabia are on there.
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 Tue 1 Aug 23 22:36 
 Dartford Crossing Debacle - Zero
Highways England have said "the system is experiencing excessive demand causing issues"

Errrr No

How about " The issues are caused by poor capacity planning and testing"
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 Tue 1 Aug 23 22:45 
 Dartford Crossing Debacle - Bromptonaut
Ahh, maybe a bit of light.

The reference to updating payment cards seems to relate to the newer pay go accounts. Mine is the old type with a float of a tenner or so that tops itself up. The top up is a direct debit to our joint current account.

No card involved and, presumably, no need to update.
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 Wed 2 Aug 23 02:35 
 Dartford Crossing Debacle - zippy
>>No card involved....

Same here. Just checked my account and my bank account number (well the last few digits) is still there so hopefully it will be ok.
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 Wed 2 Aug 23 08:56 
 Dartford Crossing Debacle - tyrednemotional
...I wouldn't be too sure.

Mine is a paygo account. I was specifically requested to re-validate (albeit not well in advance like they emailed me a week ago to say they had).

The new system knew my card number, it simply asked me if I wanted to continue to use it (I didn't even have to re-enter the number).

TBF, when I logged in (was finally able to) it did prompt me that I needed to revalidate before I got any further.

A large number of people have the same issue/question with the older type of account with no card attached. I suspect you'll be OK, but the communication has been so bad I wouldn't be entirely confident.
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 Wed 2 Aug 23 09:01 
 Dartford Crossing Debacle - tyrednemotional
>>How about " The issues are caused by poor capacity planning and testing"

...exacerbated by making a major change at the busiest time of the year.

(I've successfully moved a major corporate data centre 20 miles, lock, stock and systems, including diverting a major network node, in less time than that. It was done over an Easter weekend (close of play Good Friday to close of play Easter Monday, as that was the quietest period - and my son was born the same weekend! - which was a surprise, as much of the weekend I thought I was having kittens!).
Last edited by: tyrednemotional on Wed 2 Aug 23 at 09:03
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 Wed 2 Aug 23 09:12 
 Dartford Crossing Debacle - tyrednemotional
...viz-a-viz re-validating accounts, see the attached info from their Facebook page, which could be
taken to mean that you need to re-validate the payment method for both types of account.

www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=759254392876875&set=a.489026376566346

(If you've logged in to a standard account and it hasn't asked you to re-validate, I suspect you don't need to - but you can see why confusion reigns.)

And I still haven't seen any info on their own outlets as to what date any extension of the deadline is to....

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 Wed 16 Aug 23 11:43 
 Dartford Crossing - wotspur
Well w
Hat is ha-owning withthis organisation ??
For years I had an account , but when I hadn’t used it for 18 months , I shut it down and opened up a PAYG account .
Since I used the tunnel on Saturday , I can’t log into my account , as don’t know if they’ve taken payment and try contacting them that’s a laugh
Last edited by: VxFan on Wed 16 Aug 23 at 17:02
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 Wed 16 Aug 23 11:52 
 Dartford Crossing - Bromptonaut
Already a thread on this: {now merged}

www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?f=2&t=30855

They seem to have screwed up while moving their IT provider at peak summer. Suggestion is that where folks have PAYG accounts, which seem to be the ones affected, they'll allow time to pay of the account's not worked as it should.

EDIT: I have a pre loaded account and have crossed both ways since 07 August but neither is yet showing on my account.
Last edited by: VxFan on Wed 16 Aug 23 at 17:03
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