Parking Ticket - Advice please
Discussion
Hi all,
I visited a rural pub a couple of months ago with my family, and parked in their car park. I had never been to this particular pub before as I was in a different part of the country for the weekend. We ate in the pub, paid, and left. Nothing unusual.
I then receive a Parking Charge Notice from a private parking enforcement company saying the usual stuff. I contravened the parking regulations of the pub car park and I owe them £100.
Confused as to what I had done wrong, I phoned the pub who said they had "Loads of trouble with people getting parking tickets" and "it was a nightmare". They apologised to me and said that bar staff had been forgetting to tell customers to enter their car reg numbers into an iPad device on the bar to register for the car park.
They gave me the email address for the pub chain, and said I contact them with the details and they would get the ticket cancelled for me.
I contacted the pub chain, twice, with zero response.
I then appealed to the parking enforcement company saying that the business in question has acknowledged that I was a customer and confirmed the ticket isn't valid, and should be cancelled. They rejected my appeal and said the 'debt' was now being passed to debt collection, and possibly court if required.
I am aware that courts do award in favour of parking companies these days if you are one of the unlucky ones they pick to actually take to court, and people have ended up with CCJ's, so I am not simply ignoring this, but I do want to fight it off.
Any advice given the slightly odd scenario?
tl;dr - Parking ticket issued - The business who own the land says it was in error and I shouldn't have received it as I was a customer, but can't be arsed to cancel it with the parking company.
I visited a rural pub a couple of months ago with my family, and parked in their car park. I had never been to this particular pub before as I was in a different part of the country for the weekend. We ate in the pub, paid, and left. Nothing unusual.
I then receive a Parking Charge Notice from a private parking enforcement company saying the usual stuff. I contravened the parking regulations of the pub car park and I owe them £100.
Confused as to what I had done wrong, I phoned the pub who said they had "Loads of trouble with people getting parking tickets" and "it was a nightmare". They apologised to me and said that bar staff had been forgetting to tell customers to enter their car reg numbers into an iPad device on the bar to register for the car park.
They gave me the email address for the pub chain, and said I contact them with the details and they would get the ticket cancelled for me.
I contacted the pub chain, twice, with zero response.
I then appealed to the parking enforcement company saying that the business in question has acknowledged that I was a customer and confirmed the ticket isn't valid, and should be cancelled. They rejected my appeal and said the 'debt' was now being passed to debt collection, and possibly court if required.
I am aware that courts do award in favour of parking companies these days if you are one of the unlucky ones they pick to actually take to court, and people have ended up with CCJ's, so I am not simply ignoring this, but I do want to fight it off.
Any advice given the slightly odd scenario?
tl;dr - Parking ticket issued - The business who own the land says it was in error and I shouldn't have received it as I was a customer, but can't be arsed to cancel it with the parking company.
I do have proof that I was a customer that day (It is on my bank statement from my debit card and on my Apple Pay history).
I did not overstay. I simply did not enter my reg number into the iPad on the bar, as the pub staff forgot to ask me to do this.
I have told the parking company the following:
1) That I was a customer that day and have proof.
2) That I have a recorded phone call with pub staff where they admit it was their fault and that I shouldn't have received a ticket, and that the ticket should be cancelled.
The parking company sent me a stock response of 'Your appeal is rejected'.
Edit, I think at this stage I will just leave it and see if they actually take me to court. If they do, I have various bits of proof that the ticket should have been cancelled.
I did not overstay. I simply did not enter my reg number into the iPad on the bar, as the pub staff forgot to ask me to do this.
I have told the parking company the following:
1) That I was a customer that day and have proof.
2) That I have a recorded phone call with pub staff where they admit it was their fault and that I shouldn't have received a ticket, and that the ticket should be cancelled.
The parking company sent me a stock response of 'Your appeal is rejected'.
Edit, I think at this stage I will just leave it and see if they actually take me to court. If they do, I have various bits of proof that the ticket should have been cancelled.
Edited by Mont Blanc on Monday 23 September 13:33
Mont Blanc said:
Hi all,
I visited a rural pub a couple of months ago with my family, and parked in their car park. I had never been to this particular pub before as I was in a different part of the country for the weekend. We ate in the pub, paid, and left. Nothing unusual.
I then receive a Parking Charge Notice from a private parking enforcement company saying the usual stuff. I contravened the parking regulations of the pub car park and I owe them £100.
Confused as to what I had done wrong, I phoned the pub who said they had "Loads of trouble with people getting parking tickets" and "it was a nightmare". They apologised to me and said that bar staff had been forgetting to tell customers to enter their car reg numbers into an iPad device on the bar to register for the car park.
They gave me the email address for the pub chain, and said I contact them with the details and they would get the ticket cancelled for me.
I contacted the pub chain, twice, with zero response.
I then appealed to the parking enforcement company saying that the business in question has acknowledged that I was a customer and confirmed the ticket isn't valid, and should be cancelled. They rejected my appeal and said the 'debt' was now being passed to debt collection, and possibly court if required.
I am aware that courts do award in favour of parking companies these days if you are one of the unlucky ones they pick to actually take to court, and people have ended up with CCJ's, so I am not simply ignoring this, but I do want to fight it off.
Any advice given the slightly odd scenario?
tl;dr - Parking ticket issued - The business who own the land says it was in error and I shouldn't have received it as I was a customer, but can't be arsed to cancel it with the parking company.
When the company rejected your appeal they should have given you a reference for the independent appeals body POPL. That's your next step. If you lose there it not binding on you. But if you win it is binding on the PC.I visited a rural pub a couple of months ago with my family, and parked in their car park. I had never been to this particular pub before as I was in a different part of the country for the weekend. We ate in the pub, paid, and left. Nothing unusual.
I then receive a Parking Charge Notice from a private parking enforcement company saying the usual stuff. I contravened the parking regulations of the pub car park and I owe them £100.
Confused as to what I had done wrong, I phoned the pub who said they had "Loads of trouble with people getting parking tickets" and "it was a nightmare". They apologised to me and said that bar staff had been forgetting to tell customers to enter their car reg numbers into an iPad device on the bar to register for the car park.
They gave me the email address for the pub chain, and said I contact them with the details and they would get the ticket cancelled for me.
I contacted the pub chain, twice, with zero response.
I then appealed to the parking enforcement company saying that the business in question has acknowledged that I was a customer and confirmed the ticket isn't valid, and should be cancelled. They rejected my appeal and said the 'debt' was now being passed to debt collection, and possibly court if required.
I am aware that courts do award in favour of parking companies these days if you are one of the unlucky ones they pick to actually take to court, and people have ended up with CCJ's, so I am not simply ignoring this, but I do want to fight it off.
Any advice given the slightly odd scenario?
tl;dr - Parking ticket issued - The business who own the land says it was in error and I shouldn't have received it as I was a customer, but can't be arsed to cancel it with the parking company.
Can you try the pub chain again, maybe phone them and tell them how far it has got?
If they are supposed to cancel the ticket for you as requested, point out that it has only got this far because they haven't responded to your emails. Hopefully they should still be able to cancel it at this stage.
If they are supposed to cancel the ticket for you as requested, point out that it has only got this far because they haven't responded to your emails. Hopefully they should still be able to cancel it at this stage.
GasEngineer said:
Can you try the pub chain again, maybe phone them and tell them how far it has got?
If they are supposed to cancel the ticket for you as requested, point out that it has only got this far because they haven't responded to your emails. Hopefully they should still be able to cancel it at this stage.
I shall indeed contact them again, but I was just trying to get ahead for the next step if they continued to fail to respond.If they are supposed to cancel the ticket for you as requested, point out that it has only got this far because they haven't responded to your emails. Hopefully they should still be able to cancel it at this stage.
Mont Blanc said:
GasEngineer said:
Can you try the pub chain again, maybe phone them and tell them how far it has got?
If they are supposed to cancel the ticket for you as requested, point out that it has only got this far because they haven't responded to your emails. Hopefully they should still be able to cancel it at this stage.
I shall indeed contact them again, but I was just trying to get ahead for the next step if they continued to fail to respond.If they are supposed to cancel the ticket for you as requested, point out that it has only got this far because they haven't responded to your emails. Hopefully they should still be able to cancel it at this stage.
Write to the parking firm CCing the pub and provide evidence you did buy something in the pub.
If not cancelled then
a/ Pay it
or
b/ ignore all further letters until they send a letter before action. Then supply the info they want
To me the golden rule in these situations is, what loss did the business/parking company incur from your offense? The answer here is nothing. It's not a pay and display, you can prove you were a paying customer and you did not overstay. If the matter goes to court, what loss of income can they legitimately claim? I suspect the fine being in the hands of debt recovery is b
ks and nothing more will come of this. Easy for me to say of course.
ks and nothing more will come of this. Easy for me to say of course.Mont Blanc said:
I do have proof that I was a customer that day (It is on my bank statement from my debit card and on my Apple Pay history).
I did not overstay. I simply did not enter my reg number into the iPad on the bar, as the pub staff forgot to ask me to do this.
I have told the parking company the following:
1) That I was a customer that day and have proof.
2) That I have a recorded phone call with pub staff where they admit it was their fault and that I shouldn't have received a ticket, and that the ticket should be cancelled.
The parking company sent me a stock response of 'Your appeal is rejected'.
Edit, I think at this stage I will just leave it and see if they actually take me to court. If they do, I have various bits of proof that the ticket should have been cancelled.
I think you have all you need in order to be successful should it go to Court . I am surprised to hear you say that these cases go in favour of the Parking Companies because it certainly wasn't my experience when I experienced something similar . I think you are approaching things in the correct manner , the ball is in their Court so let them get on with it .I did not overstay. I simply did not enter my reg number into the iPad on the bar, as the pub staff forgot to ask me to do this.
I have told the parking company the following:
1) That I was a customer that day and have proof.
2) That I have a recorded phone call with pub staff where they admit it was their fault and that I shouldn't have received a ticket, and that the ticket should be cancelled.
The parking company sent me a stock response of 'Your appeal is rejected'.
Edit, I think at this stage I will just leave it and see if they actually take me to court. If they do, I have various bits of proof that the ticket should have been cancelled.
Edited by Mont Blanc on Monday 23 September 13:33
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