Evology Parking

The user flow is awful and repetitive. Constantly looping you around. And if you don’t log in before you add all your information prepared to be disappointed when the app forces you to log in and then wipes everything. Want an sms reminder? That’s 25p, want an sms confirmation? Another 25p. Oh, in a rush? How about making a charitable donation before you pay? Geolocation to find your car park? Nah, can’t find you… anyone who chooses this for their customers parking payment experience will lose customers.

On our way to a meeting and the person we were meeting with called 8 minutes before arrival to advise that there was a new car park nearby that was ideally placed but we would need the Evology App. It took some time for the app to download and then I was presented with two options. 1) Pay to Park and 2) Autopay. The app wouldn’t find the car park when the name was entered into the search box so I opted for autopay instead. A £50 deposit was taken by Evology with an auto £25 tip up as required which I thought was a bit steep to put it mildly but nevertheless made the payment. After the event I didn’t receive notification of the parking fee being charged against my deposit and queried why this was to be told that Autopay didn’t apply to that car park. As the app wouldn’t identify the car park this was not obvious from the app and I cannot see well enough to read the car park signage (I am no longer a driver for health reasons). I was advised by Evology that they couldn’t take the parking fee from the money I had already paid to them and despite my asking them not to refund anything until this is resolved they have refunded the £50 and I am now expecting to receive an expensive excess charge fee. I was told by Evology that the fact that not all Evology car parks are autopay is stated in the app. It is but only in small letters some way down and at the bottom of the page after the “set up autopay” box. I am deeply unhappy about the app which is confusing, unclear and badly laid out (which lead to this particular confusion) and about the business practices of the controlling company, which comes across as only being interested in making as much money as possible out of would-be customers. Once this issue is over I will delete the app and never use Evology car parks again. The worst experience I have had with a parking app to date by far.

The app worked well enough, but something to beware of. The car park I used had signs saying that you either pay at the machine before exiting the car park by entering your reg no (ANPR controlled), or pre pay using the app. As I was on holiday visiting the area, and unlikely to use the car park again, I decided against the app and would just to pay on exit. However, on return to my car, all payment machines were not working, leaving me unable to pay for my parking. Quite a few other people there with the same issue as me too. Tried calling the number on the board, but it was an automated number for paying fines only.🤷‍♂️ Reluctantly downloaded the app to try and pay for my parking, only to discover there is no way to pay for time already spent in the car park. You can only pre pay on the app. I bought a pre payment ticket as a genuine attempt to at least pay for the time I had spent in the car park in the hope it would avoid me getting a fine in the post. I contacted them via WhatsApp today explaining the situation to be told as a “goodwill gesture”, they will not issue me a fine on this occasion 🤣🤣🤣 I followed their instructions in the car park regarding payment options, and made an effort to pay for my time by purchasing a pre payment ticket through the app. Not my fault their machines were not working, so not sure how they think it was a goodwill gesture not to issue me a fine. I would have thought that they should be thanking me for my efforts to pay. I’ll be making sure I avoid any car parks run by this company in future.