Meteor Parking PCN

Debt_Free_Chick · 17 May 2009 at 7:50PM

I have a parking ticket - hands up, I failed to display the permit.

Here's the story.
I park at a Southeastern railway car park. This is managed by Meteor parking.

I buy "scratchcards" - a book of 30 permits. When I need to park, I tear off a permit, scratch out the date and put in the windscreen.

Last week (thursday), I was perilously close to missing the train and in my panic, I forgot to display the permit.

I now have a £90 fine, reduced to £45 if I pay quickly.

Or I can appeal - and if I do so, it will be to grovel for a goodwill gesture as this is the first tiime in 6 years of commuting from this station that I've failed to display a permit. Meteor should have a record of me successively buying scratch cards so they can see that I'm a "serial customer".

Any thoughts, please?

I assume that this is not a Fixed Penalty Notice, even though the plastic wrapper claimed this. Does the "fine" have any legal validity at all?

Thanks

bargepole · 17 May 2009 at 8:32PM

Debt_Free_Chick wrote: »

... Does the "fine" have any legal validity at all?

No. Private companies such as Meteor cannot fine you, they can only send you an invoice for an alleged breach of contract. Since you had already paid for parking, they have suffered no losses, and cannot impose any form of "penalty" under contract law.

Appealing to PPCs is a complete waste of time, there is no independent appeals process, and all it achieves is saving them the £2.50 to get the RK details from the DVLA.

Ignore all their threatograms, letters from dodgy "debt collectors" and bogus solicitors, and they will give up after 5 or 6 letters.

Debt_Free_Chick · 17 May 2009 at 8:49PM

bargepole wrote: »

No. Private companies such as Meteor cannot fine you, they can only send you an invoice for an alleged breach of contract.

That makes sense.

Since you had already paid for parking, they have suffered no losses, and cannot impose any form of "penalty" under contract law.

That makes even more sense! I had actually scratched the card (and still have it) but omitted to display it.

You're right - there is no loss as I've paid them for the scratchcard and no longer have it available to use another time.

You're a star - thank you! :T

Paulgold27 · 24 June 2010 at 11:07AM

Hi,

I usually pay for parking on a daily basis if I drive to the station but on this occasion I was also very close to missing my train.

I therefore didnt have time to queue to get change and to pay for the parking and when I returned had a parking fine on my car.

Is there anyway in which I can give them a retrospective payment as I have never not paid for parking at this station before.

Regards

Paul

AlexisV · 24 June 2010 at 1:17PM

You can either:

• ignore them and ignore their threatening junkmail
• send them a cheque for a pound, or a pound coin (or whatever you owe them) and then ignore the threatening junkmail you will receive regardless

taffy056 · 24 June 2010 at 2:20PM

I wouldn't pay them a single penny, they are trying to scam you. And what they are asking for is completely ridiculous.

Coupon-mad · 24 June 2010 at 7:20PM

Paulgold27 wrote: »

Is there anyway in which I can give them a retrospective payment as I have never not paid for parking at this station before.

As others have said, private tickets are not real PCNs and you don't have to pay them!

Watchdog covered this last month, and their legal bod helpfully confirmed what we already know on here about what to do with fake parking tickets (whether you have 'contravened their rules' or not):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAIcdi9niHA

You will receive debt collector letters telling you to pay up, see examples here of what to ignore:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/....php?t=2214803

Relax and forget about it, even if you get more letters (as per our examples, we can predict you'll get the same). But to be proactive - if the scam letters get tiresome - you may like to report the company and their debt collectors for harassment:

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/en...=03_harassment

But don't forget this is NOT a debt, NOT a fine, just a mickey mouse ticket. Nothing happens, your credit record is NOT affected, so don't fall for this con!

EmilD · 11 May 2011 at 6:48PM

I parked in the Brighton station car park on the 28/4/11.
When I drove in the entance, the ticket machines were all covered up. I drove to the exit to check the machines there: they were also covered up. I therefore reasonably assumed that parking charges would be suspended as there was no way of obtaining a record of entry and exit, subsequently no way of establishing a charge.
I received a pcn in the post today with photos of my car and times of entrance and exit, asking for £90 or a discounted £50 for early payment.
I would like to go way beyond appealing - I think they should be investigated. They will have sent pcns to every car that parked there that day, amounting to a lot of potential revenue.
Nice way to make money- make it impossible to get a ticket, and then get photos of you entering and leaving.
Apparently, I can appeal by post or email. Email would provide me with a record of the appeal date (I've been given a full 7 days) and I don't trust registeerd mail.
I visited their web site and navigated to the appeal email link, only to be told the link wasn't active. I found a telephone number to ring and I was put through to an answerphone.
I think the whole thing stinks. :mad:

torontoboy45 · 11 May 2011 at 7:01PM

EmilD wrote: »

I parked in the Brighton station car park on the 28/4/11.
When I drove in the entance, the ticket machines were all covered up. I drove to the exit to check the machines there: they were also covered up. I therefore reasonably assumed that parking charges would be suspended as there was no way of obtaining a record of entry and exit, subsequently no way of establishing a charge.
I received a pcn in the post today with photos of my car and times of entrance and exit, asking for £90 or a discounted £50 for early payment.
I would like to go way beyond appealing - I think they should be investigated. They will have sent pcns to every car that parked there that day, amounting to a lot of potential revenue.
Nice way to make money- make it impossible to get a ticket, and then get photos of you entering and leaving.
Apparently, I can appeal by post or email. Email would provide me with a record of the appeal date (I've been given a full 7 days) and I don't trust registeerd mail.
I visited their web site and navigated to the appeal email link, only to be told the link wasn't active. I found a telephone number to ring and I was put through to an answerphone.
I think the whole thing stinks. :mad:

of course it stinks! it's meteor! (if that's who you're referring to here). but why get beat up about these cretins? my spirit guide tells me to ignore meteor (I've had 2 from them). suggest you do the same - or read the shedload of posts on this board (just as reliable as my spirit guide, I promise).

SodG24 · 11 May 2011 at 7:41PM

EmilD wrote: »

I parked in the Brighton station car park on the 28/4/11.
When I drove in the entance, the ticket machines were all covered up. I drove to the exit to check the machines there: they were also covered up. I therefore reasonably assumed that parking charges would be suspended as there was no way of obtaining a record of entry and exit, subsequently no way of establishing a charge.
I received a pcn in the post today with photos of my car and times of entrance and exit, asking for £90 or a discounted £50 for early payment.
I would like to go way beyond appealing - I think they should be investigated. They will have sent pcns to every car that parked there that day, amounting to a lot of potential revenue.
Nice way to make money- make it impossible to get a ticket, and then get photos of you entering and leaving.
Apparently, I can appeal by post or email. Email would provide me with a record of the appeal date (I've been given a full 7 days) and I don't trust registeerd mail.
I visited their web site and navigated to the appeal email link, only to be told the link wasn't active. I found a telephone number to ring and I was put through to an answerphone.
I think the whole thing stinks. :mad:

As posted on the separate thread you started :

Indeed it does stink but luckily for you you've come here so you will know not to pay it. They are scammers through and through and you should ignore them. I'm pretty sure that where that car park was built is land owned by Network Rail / Brighton Station therefore it is them you should complain to. If you go back see if the signs say who Meteor are acting on behalf of - it's them you need to complain to if it isn't Network Rail.

Other than that, ignore, ignore and ignore and join myself and Coupon Mad as the city's crusaders against the scum that is PPCs.

System · 11 May 2011 at 7:54PM

Meteor use Roxburghe & Graham White so you will get the series of letters shown in the thread pointed to by coupon-mad

Meteor Parking PCN

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