Dartford crossing charging

Dis86 · 25 Jun 2018 at 15:00

Merlin5 said:
Did you still end up having to pay dart charge then?

I just called them again to make sure the person I spoke to last night had actually sorted things properly.
Spoke to some real unhelpful moron who just gave short answers. He said it shows I made two crossings and that I've been refunded £2.50. I said "what are you talking about, I made 3 crossings and never got told about any refund." He said I'll have to email them if I want any more information. I said "eh? Why should I email dart charge for your **** ups. They sent me email confirmation of my payments, why wouldn't they email me if they were going to refund me?"

In the end I just put the phone down on the idiot, rang back and spoke to a polite helpful woman who told me all my 3 payments had now been correctly allocated to all 3 crossings and that I won't receive any PCNs. I told her they need to sort out their website errors to which she agreed and said she would pass it on to her superiors.

After 2 months and a direct letter from the dvla...yes.

Sirrel Squirrel · 25 Jun 2018 at 15:26

Zatoichi.uK said:
Apparently you get one free crossing if you forget to pay according to their website, well you did around year ago.

This is still true, you can pay for a return crossing. I got caught out the other day because I changed my car and forgot to update my details.

blueboy2001 · 25 Jun 2018 at 15:46

I've forgotten to pay on time a couple of times and always found them to be fair and allowed me to pay late with no penalty.

First time I called I got a friendly guy with a heavy Yorkshire accent, so I commented he didn't sound like he was from Dartford. He replied "Nah mate, we're in call centre in Leeds. We get tunnel on the telly though". Cracked me up.

Admiral Huddy · 25 Jun 2018 at 15:53

Never had any issues but my old man had some problems. Poor old boy doesn't do anything online. I rang, them explained and it was all sorted.. Sometimes an old fashioned phone call works tricks

I'm pee'ved however, as already said, this hasn't become FOC as first promised years ago.

LeeUK · 25 Jun 2018 at 18:48

£2.50 and I thought the Tyne Tunnel was bad at £1.70. Must be because it's Landon.

Scania · 25 Jun 2018 at 19:42

Had no end of issues with Dartford charges, my employer has an account yet they constantly bill us for non payment even though it’s set up for automatic payment whenever one of our fleet goes through the tolls.

Tbh it was no better in the days of the Dart tag when I worked for Eddie Stobart, we had tag equipped vehicles not being charged yet non taggged vehicles (which went no where near the south east) being charged for non payment constantly!

Their administration leaves a lot to be desired imo.

Housey · 25 Jun 2018 at 19:49

I have my latest missed payment bill at home.

Old age....goes like this

Drive towards Dartford crossing. Remind passenger to remind you to pay crossing charge online.

As you get closer and begin to cross, repeat over and over "DO NOT FORGET PAY ONLINE..DO NOT FORGET TO PAY ONLINE"

As you leave the crossing....oo look shiny things....forgotten

I hate getting old.

rebel rebel · 25 Jun 2018 at 19:54

Has the new system made the process of getting through any quicker? The last time I went over the bridge, there were tailbacks for a few miles.

Housey · 25 Jun 2018 at 19:55

rebel rebel said:
Has the new system made the process of getting through any quicker? The last time I went over the bridge, there were tailbacks for a few miles.

I went over the bridge 3 weeks back and it was fine at 2pm ish

I wanted the tunnel so could make some noise but sadly bridge it was.

rebel rebel · 25 Jun 2018 at 20:18

Housey said:
I went over the bridge 3 weeks back and it was fine at 2pm ish

I wanted the tunnel so could make some noise but sadly bridge it was.

Would be interesting to read the info on time it takes to cross now compared to when people had to stop to pay. I always liked the mad dash to the booths after you clear the bridge. Chaos!

Hmm I thought it was bridge when going clockwise, and tunnel when going anticlockwise. At least that's what's always happened when I've had to cross.

Housey · 25 Jun 2018 at 20:22

I was going clockwise

Scania · 25 Jun 2018 at 20:35

rebel rebel said:
Would be interesting to read the info on time it takes to cross now compared to when people had to stop to pay. I always liked the mad dash to the booths after you clear the bridge. Chaos!

Hmm I thought it was bridge when going clockwise, and tunnel when going anticlockwise. At least that's what's always happened when I've had to cross.

They sometimes close the bridge so your forced to use the tunnels for north and southbound.

rebel rebel · 25 Jun 2018 at 20:35

Housey said:
I was going clockwise

Yeah, for a while there I thought they changed it up depending on how busy it got. Was thinking what utter carnage that would be.

rebel rebel · 25 Jun 2018 at 20:38

Scania said:
They sometimes close the bridge so your forced to use the tunnels for north and southbound.

The tunnel had been originally designed to do both ways so I guess thats not too much of an upheaval.

The bridge I presume has never had to change direction?

Gundam God · 25 Jun 2018 at 23:08

LeeUK said:
£2.50 and I thought the Tyne Tunnel was bad at £1.70. Must be because it's Landon.

It links Essex and Kent so less a "Landon" thing and more a being in the south kind of thing. Still pricey like anything car related these days.

VincentHanna · 25 Jun 2018 at 23:10

Yeah it's away from London really.

Kent and Essex are very close but separated by the Thames.

Scania · 26 Jun 2018 at 09:34

rebel rebel said:
The tunnel had been originally designed to do both ways so I guess thats not too much of an upheaval.

The bridge I presume has never had to change direction?

I would imagine in the event of major works being required on both tunnels simultaneously then I’m sure they could organise a contra flow system on the bridge for north and southbound traffic but I can’t think of an occurrence when they’ve ever done it.