PCN Excel Crossley Retail Park, Halifax

[b789]

Yes, that can be normal. A lack of email acknowledgement does not mean the complaint or appeal was not submitted, especially where a general contact form is being used rather than a proper appeal portal with an automated receipt.

What matters now is evidence. You should keep:

screenshots of the completed form before submission

• a screenshot of the confirmation screen after submission, if there was one
  
• the exact text that was submitted
  
• the date and time of submission
  

If there was no confirmation screen and no email acknowledgement, that is not ideal, but it is not fatal. It simply means you should be ready to show that you made a genuine attempt to lodge the complaint and appeal through the only reasonable online route available.

If Excel later try to say no appeal was made, the response is straightforward: their portal was unsuitable because it forced driver-style admissions, so you used the general contact route to submit a formal complaint that also had to be treated as an appeal.

A short follow-up message through the same contact page can also be sent saying:

I submitted a formal complaint and appeal regarding PCN [number] on [date] via your contact form. No acknowledgement has been received. Please confirm receipt and confirm that it is being treated as an appeal under section 11.2 of the PPSCoP and under your complaints policy.

That creates a second timestamped record.