Varstechnology Omdömen 113

Vars technology are not to be trusted beware!
They do everything they can to scam people. I received a fine for two address! One I had never visited .The second one they could not say what the contravention was. It turns out to be a parking fine at a place I was not parked at. They sent this fine 15 months after it was supposed to have happened, and gave me no chance to appeal but added and extra £79 to the fine now £179.
They then involved a debt agency who offered to escort me to a cash machine to get the payment. Then a text to remove my car off the road.
This is on going. The debt agency does no reply to your letters.

Something (I don't know what) went wrong when I paid for my petrol because the first I knew of it was a demand for double the amount I thought I'd already paid. I am still in doubt since the date quoted looks unlikely.

There is no 'customer facing' contact, no service desk, no point of contact, no opportunity to appeal and find out what went wrong - only the incremental increase of fine if it isn't paid.

I will never use this petrol station again since this is the kind of tactic they employ when things go wrong.

It means that the customer is left to pay for glitches in the petrol station's technology - has NOTHING been learned from the Post Office technology debacle?

This company have contacted me saying i have been fined 75 pound for not paying petrol 15 pound. I had filled my petrol up and as the banks were down at this time (barclays) my card declined not realising, so i promised id come back next day to pay. I did so, i returned with the money the man in the garage said he has no note of me oweing money so he cant take it off me. I then recieved a letter from THIS COMPANY, saying i had ignored there last letter they had sent. WHEN THEY HAD NOT SENT ME ANY LETTERS PREVIOUS. Then charging me 75 pound. I will not be paying it as this is no fault of mine. Theives

As someone who used to work for VARS I can assure everyone that they are a legitimate company who don’t pursue anyone unless directed so by a forecourt. Even then the evidence needs to be conclusive. They work tirelessly to make our parking and forecourts more safe and even work with the Police, other security companies and the DVLA.

If you’re angry it’s likely you messed up and need to own your mistakes a little better.

I was issued a drive off notice 18 months ago. I refused to pay it as I had paid for the fuel. I sent 28 emails requesting evidence of the drive off. They kept saying provide evidence ( receipt ) of payment. I told them it was their responsibility to prove my guilt not my responsibility to prove my innocence. I sent over 20 emails requesting evidence of a drive off. They avoided the requests totally and kept bumping up the charges and sending intimidating correspondence which is enough to scare the majority of people into paying. Anyways to cut a long story short I said this is not going to get resolved unless we go to court.

Then I start to get letters from their legal team - the "cant pay we ll take it away" people from the TV show. They proudly flaunt this on their correspondence to intimidate you into paying. I told them not to contact me as they have no legal right to demand or insist on the payment of a debt that is disputed or incorrect ( until a court makes a judgement ).

Eventually I did a court date. Their case was full of inaccuracy and incorrect info ( I could even go as far as saying blatant lies ). I filed a defence which tore their case apart and highlighted the way they bully and intimidate people into paying up. They even use terms like "legally owed debt". How is it legally owed if I am disputing it and the court hasn't issued a verdict/decision. Such wording cannot be legal and is designed to scare people into paying. Im sure many innocent people end up paying.

Their case had zero evidence except allegations and accusations - that too from a person on the forecourt whos name sex race they do not know nor have a statement from.

So on one hand the judge has me standing in front of him testifying that I made the payment and on the other he has an allegation from a person unknown without even a written statement. On top of that they provide ZERO evidence ( what they claim to be evidence is not evidence and what they present as evidence doesnt even exist for example signs notices etc ). Who do you think the judge is going to believe?

Anyway on the day of the hearing they ( DCB ) did not turn up to court - they had sent a notice of discontinuance. They were so afraid to turn up in court because they knew they would lose I would claim costs and on top of that it would mean that the judgement would set a precedent for others to go to court and defend their cases. I would definitely have hammered it out on social media and other platforms

The irony of it is that no one has done anything wrong - VARS are acting on the information provided by the forecourt or its cameras DCB are acting on the information passed onto them by VARS so they are all doing it legally - however their practice is open to scrutiny and the fact they are passing off everything as fact without carrying out due diligence on the information might be open to question. The fact they pass everything off as facts and evidence knowing full well it may not be is questionable and definitely worth taking to court. They know full well what they are doing but doing so within the law.

Anyways I bullied the bullies!!!!!!

Let them intimidate and scare you. Let them take you to court. Let them keep asking you for evidence. You do not have to provide anything - remember they are not the police. THEY HAVE TO PROVIDE EVIDENCE NOT YOU. Let them take you to court - unless they have the evidence all their fancy letters and threats wont stand up in court.

Also I would suggest find out the company who owns the petrol station/forecourt/parking spaces for whom VARS are acting and write to tell them of the practice. This will make their clients aware of the unethical/heavy handed practices.

If anyone needs advice Im happy to help.
PS I have NO legal experience or qualifications. Just an ordinary guy who wont be pushed around by people exploiting the system

They will drag this out for as long as possible to add on further fees and actively avoid speedy email responses.

The first incident was from December, this was ultimatley challenged and proven false, they blamed the garage for providing an incorrect date/time! Came back with a November drive as the 'correct' date, asked to prove video footage showing drive off (which they couldn't) - they waited 7 days and stated the claim would be put on hold to investigate my proof of payment. Seven days later they slapped a further £30 fee on for non payment! Once again challenged this fee and that the delay was purely down to them and fee was unreasonable. Fast forward another 7 days and email stating that case was closed, no apology or explanation. Was it because there was no video from garage or did they accept my payment proof, who knows?

Please keep a record of all email interactions and be prepared to stick it out. If you're sure you paid (check bank statements) then honestly let it run its course. County court, debt collectors etc are all smoke and mirrors. Keep interaction polite but firm, they have to prove that you didn't pay, I made sure that I emailed them every couple of days to demonstrate that I was being as 'reasonable' as possible despite them rarely responding. Good luck.

This company have contacted me trying to fine me for parking on a ESSO garage forecourt for a number of hours. I would never park here. I entered and exited the facility on x2 separate occasions and did not park.

This company have contacted me trying to fine me for parking on a garage forecourt for a number of hours. I would never park here. I entered and exited the facility on x2 separate occasions and did not park. Clearly footage has not been reviewed accurately. Currently appealing but very interested to see the other documented and very poor reviews of this company.

They sent a fuel drive off notice for £30.01, firslty with the wrong date and time and I could prove this to the case, they agreed then sent a revised demand saying again that this was no fault demand. I asked for evidence of the non-payment and added my proof of a payment to the gargae at that date and time of more than the £30.01, their email said they would put on hold and contact the forecourt. They have now sent a demand for £60.01 the original amount plus £30 admin as I hadn't paid within 14 days. Still no proof of the non-payment. They are a scam and they have no way to speak to them and do not send evidence of the failure to pay just a photo of my car there at the time!

When visiting BP Abergavenny where i bought some groceries and fuel. it appears that the cashier did not add the fuel to the bill. They have admitted it was their fault after video evidence of me pointint to the pump and the cashier acknowledging it but not adding it to my shopping. I attempted to pay the fuel station for the fuel after the registration of the car flagged an alarm, however they told me that VARS would contact me directly.
The car is not mine, so they can't, and won't. I contacted tehm instead, to let them know it is my debt, and they need to deal with me. This they have refused to do. They have stated that they cannot issue details of the debt to me due toGDPR, whichis completely understandable. I don't need them to give me any details though as I already have teh site location, vehicle registration, amount of the debt and the date whenteh fuel was not paid for. I do not need any personal information regarding the unpaid bill, but apparently I need the reference number to settle the bill.
After an exhaustive back and forth with Tara, i am now no further forward and they are obstructing me from settling my debt, instead, insisting on contacting the registered keeper of the vehicle.
Impossible to deal with. This is what happens when you employ robots following a policy booklet.
I will post a cheque and wait for the computers to take me to court due to alleged non-payment.

Disgusting company. Told my 77 year old father that he had been abusive or hadn't paid for fuel so may be blacklisted. We emailed and asked what he had done as he was very upset by this. He also needed to be able to continue to drive his car. They responded eventually and said his name had been removed but never said what he had been falsely accused of. This is a faceless company with no telephone number and no morals other than making people feel anxious and threatened for no justifiable reason. They need a legal challenge to their obnoxious business model.

My experience was similar to that of Tracy. We were celebrating my father-in-law's 96th birthday. I went to charge our electric car at a garage, but three chargers were broken and the other one was in use, so I drove away after about 20 min. 5 hours later I went back to the same place and was able to charge the car for about half an hour. A few days later VARS wrote to me claiming that I had been parked in the forecourt all day, exceeding their 90 min limit. They had pictures from their ANPR showing my first arrival and my second departure, but claimed not to have a record of my first departure or my second arrival. I sent lots of evidence showing where I had been during the day, including witness statements and a credit card receipt for parking in a different location, but they turned down my appeal, as did POPLA, who obviously just take the side of the parking company. I paid the fine to preserve my mental health, and they put up a screen saying the payment was unsuccessful. I have the receipt from the credit card company so I don't think they will get away with that little scam. I shall complain to everyone I can think of, and will ask the BBC to investigate these frauds.

If I could give a minus star rating I would. Received a parking notification fine early December with a date of notice 28.11.2024, tried to appeal this as my son in law has borrowed my car for a few day, they have 9 month old and really needed transport. He went to the local Spar garage after finishing worked, fueled up, left and picked the baby up from the childminders, then proceeded to pick my daughter up from work at 5pm. He did return to the same Spar Garage shop later in the evening as it closest late shop to where they live. I then get a letter notifying me that he had been at the same site 5 hours!
When I tried to appeal "Evie" was clearly not interested saying that the photos are on the letter as proof, second picture doesn't clearly show my number plate either. Not happy with this I asked for evidence of where the car had been parked for that length of time as their ANPR had clearly failed, not seeing the car leave on the first occasion or enter the premises on the second occasion. Theres me thinking they would do the right thing and speak to the Garage and ask for Video evidence, they were absolutely not interested one little bit, just prompting for me to make payment. I have since been in touch with a solicitor and Cheshire Police because this bully boy culture of a company do not want to help and just want you to pay up, so the Appeal process is a complete and utter waste of time. For my own peace of mind and mental health as I cannot be bothered with any threatening letters, I paid the £100 fine, then their website conveniently came up with an error when I put in my email address to receive proof of payment by email. Luckily my bank statement says otherwise which I have sent them a screen shot of, again to be ignored. It has absolutely angered me to pay the fine but have heard so many story's about this company bullying people and I didn't need the anxiety over Christmas. Its absolutely disgraceful how this company is allowed to operate like this, I am now hoping my solicitor will have a solution. I will also report this to Fraud Action and the ICO, this company needs to be reigned in. I urge others to do the same, the more complaints raised someone has to look at them.

They came after my elderly father who was bought fuel and goods at the garage....the garage didn't charge for the fuel and he didn't notice! Then this lot got in touch with him. £15 for the fuel, £30 penalty then took ages to reply to his query about why this had happened as he thought he had paid....so he got charged even more! I ended up paying it for him as he has minimal funds and even that system didn't work. The money left my account and their site tells me the payment was unsuccessful. Absolute thieves with no morals or backbone....no telephone numbers to contact. They are hiding behind technology and forcing the elderly into further poverty and isolation if they don't understand these forms of communication. I am really disgusted by this and it has really upset my dad. I hope they read this and know what misery they cause by being so utterly devoid of any sense of fairness. Pathetic money grabbing losers.

woeful, faceless, and takes them 3 days earliest to respond to an email. avoid any organisation who is associated to these lizards

Received a DRIVE OFF NOTICE. Utterly shambolic. I will await to see their follow up process. Proof of purchase have been provided. If this ios party whom ESSO wish to use, I will never ever purchase petrol from them again. I have lived in this rea for over 30 years and use the petrol station in question. I have completed the relevant process. I await the outcome, as I will not let this lie (irony in that word) - utterly disgusted!!

13/09/2024. Put £15 of fuel in my car (13.30pm), went to pay, card was declined. Gave name and address to garage, only lived two miles away. Phoned garage and was told it was too late to pay (it was now after 5pm same day) told it had to be reported as a drive off. Would receive letter in the post of who to pay and how much (which I never received). Received a letter from Debit Collection Bailiffs Limited on 15th November 2024 demanding £135.02 or else. Phoned Debt Collection Bailiffs, on hold for 46 minutes, no one answered my call. What has this Country come too.

Thieves, enjoy your £60 most people have to work for there money 👍🏻

VARS incorrectly issued me a 'Drive off Notice' nearly three years ago. They accused me of driving off with 60 liters of fuel—it was a 1.4-liter Vauxhall Corsa with a 40-liter tank!

They completely ignored me when I appealed and failed to even contact a work alibi I provided.

They then passed me onto debt collection that could not be stopped.

I attempted to sue in the courts and was bankrupted by them.

My complaint is currently being reviewed by the ICO.

PLEASE. Contact the ICO and make a complaint! They are looking into this and your additional complaints will help get this rogue company under control.

They have falsefully accused my husband of buying fuel from a Fuel station at Nuneaton and not pay, sent him a bill of of £77.19 and threatened to increase to £137.19 in 14 days.

They have pictured a car different from our car but have quoted our ref. no and also showed a photo of a different person.

The notice of the crime they claimed occurred on the 18/9/24 was sent on 31/10/24 and received from the post 2 days ago.

We DID NOT buy any fuel from said fuel station as we live in Coventry and have a specific fuel station we buy fuel.

Moreover we have not been to NUNEATON since his year as that’s not our route for whatsoever.

Currently my husband who is image conscious is having sleepless nights and emotional distress over this.
Has compounded the issue by tracing the said fuel station using the postcode. On getting there, the attendant could not show him the proof of the debt from their records but immediately made a note of this!

We are not sure if going there in the first place was a good idea !

So we are highly distressed, and are making effort to get the police involved