An app used by drivers to pay for their parking fees has gone down this morning, January 22, sparking chaos for hundreds of motorists during rush hour. RingGo, one of the leading digital parking services in the UK, has confirmed “intermittent issues” after frustrated drivers took to social media to raise concerns.
Motorists began posting that there were problems with the app just before 7am ahead of the morning rush hour. This prompted motorists to get in touch with RingGo directly who stressed they were dealing with a problem and working to get it fixed. Down Detector confirmed an issue, highlighting that “user reports show problems”.
One motorist, Ann, got in touch with RingGo's online live chat, telling the agents that she had spent 20 minutes trying to access the site to pay her parking fees.
The RingGo operator replied: “Apologies, we are experiencing intermittent issues at the moment but we are working as quickly as possible to resolve this. Thank you for your continued patience. We are working as quickly as possible to resolve this.”
Other social media users quickly shared their experiences, with the issues continuing well after 8am as many parked up in busy city centres to start their day.
@AdaKer175 posted: “Like many others trying to use @RingGo_parking this morning, not working for me. Parked at Norman Place, Reading at 8:15am, happy to pay but everything is down! App and website!”
One of the error messages received by a road user trying to pay for their parking was posted online, with drivers told there was a problem with "processing requests". The message read: "Looks like something went wrong processing your request. Try restarting the app. If the issue continues, delete and reinstall the app before trying again.”
Meanwhile, other motorists were more concerned about whether they would receive a fine if the left their cars without paying. Failing to buy a valid ticket would usually result in individuals being slapped with a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) and a fine of between £50 and £100.
@FantomKen wrote: “@RingGo_parking Your app is not working. I have no other means of paying for parking. Will I now get a fine?”
@JayJayCorker added: “@RingGo_parking app isn't working, website isn’t working - i’ve been deleting apps and resetting passwords for the last 30 min, still nothing. Customer chat also unavailable - i’m assuming fines issued in this time won't be valid?”
@NathanJames explained: “Parking app and website down @RingGo_parking. Not acceptable when trying to pay for parking, which if we don’t do, will be slapped with a fine. Sort it out.”
George Chamberlain, External Communications Manager UKI, RingGo, said: “We are currently experiencing a disturbance to our internal systems which is affecting the RingGo service. Restoring normal service is our highest priority and we are investigating the situation. We apologise for any inconvenience this might cause our customers. We have informed operators of the issue and asked them to suspend parking enforcement until the issue is resolved. Where available, Pay and Display machines remain operational.
“We will continue to share updates with our users, for more information please visit the ringGo.co.uk website.”
