12:34 pm, January 22, 2024
Luxury car dealer Tom Hartley has hit out at Transport for London for billing him more than £2,000 in low emission zone charges for a car that was ‘off the road’.
The Derbyshire-based supercar dealer says TfL took the money from his account automatically and he has not been able to get it refunded.
Hartley says the car in question – a Land Rover with the number plate TH2 – had been off the road since April last year awaiting repairs at a local dealership and not been ‘anywhere near London’.
The used supercar dealer boss told Car Dealer that the authority had not responded to his requests for help getting the issue resolved.
‘How many other people are in similar situations where the charges are wrong and they have just taken the money out of accounts? It’s shocking,’ he told us.
Hartley was also forced to publicise his case on his social media channels – including Twitter/X, Instagram and LinkedIn – in a video this weekend.
will “TH” be visiting you this wk end ? & @TfL get you act together !!#th#alwaysgrafting#thedealmaker#iconic#hartleyestate💐#knightsbridge#london
“The Worlds Only Car Dealer Hall Of Famer” pic.twitter.com/a2mTiSylIz
— Tom Hartley (@tomhartleycars) January 19, 2024
‘I know the Post Office saga has been on television a lot with computer mistakes, well I have got a similar thing I have been dealing with but not quite on that level,’ he told his thousands of followers in the post.
‘We registered with London transport to pay an automatic charge for visiting London and they took out of my bank on standing order £1,800 for six visits at £300 a time for a car that wasn’t even on the road.
‘It’s unbelievable. My point is how many people have been charged and don’t know because they haven’t checked?
‘It’s obviously a mistake and I have been begging for the money back – and I still haven’t got it back yet. I think it is disgusting.’
Since making the above video, Hartley said he’d been billed for ANOTHER £300, taking the total amount wrongly deducted to £2,100.
TfL said it would be investigating the case, but failed to respond to Car Dealer’s queries in time for our deadline.
