I Parked And I Paid. Then they tried to fine me

[boxofbits]

Hi All

On holiday in south Devon, we visited Torquay one afternoon and I used a car park owned by Premier Park Ltd. It was operated by a number plate recognition camera, and so recorded your entry and exit times with no attendant.

When I was about to leave I entered my registration and it requested a payment of £3.80. I tried to pay by cash three times without success as the machine refused to register the cash inserted. Another couple were waiting behind me, so I said you go ahead because I can't get the machine to work. They entered their registration, paid in cash, and guess what, the transaction went through. They wished me luck and went off. I then returned to the car and borrowed my wife's debit card. I tried it twice, then suddenly the amount to be debited appeared on the screen, I entered the PIN and the transaction completed. Fantastic....except I did not get a receipt. About two weeks later I received a Penalty Charge Notice for £60 for non-payment.

I contacted them and explained the machine was clearly faulty, but that it had eventually accepted a payment but no receipt was issued. I used their appeal process and sent a scan of my bank statement showing the transaction for £3.80 and the recipient as Premier Park Ltd. I then received a reply stating that after careful consideration they had rejected my appeal, and I had  'now reached the end of our internal appeals procedure' ! Moreover, there was no record of payment despite my statement showing the transaction and Premier Parking as the beneficiary!

I told them I had no intention of paying the notice since I had paid for the parking. That was then followed by a telephone call from their solicitors demanding that I pay the amount owing of £60. After explaining the whole thing to them, I was told it was probably best to pay it, and then argue my case, and in the same sentence he asked me how would I like to pay, debit or credit card! I promptly told him, do what you like but I would not be paying a single penny. After that I heard nothing.

Ive since learned that private parking firms cannot actually enforce fines, whether in supermarket car parks or in private car parks, but can merely and only issue an 'invoice' . They appear to go to great lengths to mimic the appearance and livery of local authorities, a calculated act of deception in itself, in order to frighten and coerce people into paying excessive amounts to unclamp vehicles or pay parking notices. This article is quite enlightening, and I hope anyone else in a similar situation does not pay the thugs who run these companies. 

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/private-parking-tickets/

Kevin

 

 

Edited March 26, 2020 by boxofbits

[Peter Cobbold]

Torquay businesses will lose out, Why not email the above to their trade assoc. And the solicitors name to the Law Society

And I thought most scammers lived in Asia and were experts at remote diagnosis of Microsoft

[Rodbr]

Sorry to say but this Company employ the same tactics in Carlisle. They are totally dishonest and twisted. Threaten court action while ramping up charges. Say they wrote to you and you've missed the deadline.

You have to ask how they get  operate in prime locations in City centre locations, smacks of back handers somewhere along the line.

[iain]

They are I believe a National, I have had the same experience, used Martin Lewis advice and heard nothing from them.

[Oddball]

I had a similar issue with them in Perth. After they rejected my appeal I contacted the owners of the shopping complex served by the car park. They told me to ignore the demands. This I did and after a few more letters I heard no more from them. Interestingly a few months later they disappeared from the car park. 

 

 

 

[Peter Cobbold]

How do they get contact details from a number plate ? or credit card swipe? They must have soem form of official permission to do that,

[RogerH]

Clearly the GDPR is only there to stifle cars clubs.  Grease the DVLA's palm with silver and anything can be done. - Totally corrupt.

 

Roger

[john.r.davies]

26 minutes ago, Peter Cobbold said:

How do they get contact details from a number plate ? or credit card swipe? They must have soem form of official permission to do that,

See: https://www.gov.uk/request-information-from-dvla

You can ask the DVLA for a vehicle owner's name and address, if you have "reasonable cause".  You will note that includes "giving out parking tickets" and that "Private car parking management companies that give out parking tickets or trespass charge notices can only request information from DVLA if they’re members of the British Parking Association or the International Parking Community."  No doubt Premier Park Ltd. are in that cartel.

John