Parking charge whilst car in hands of meet n greet - complications

danthemoneysavingman · 24 October 2016 at 4:26PM

Hi,
and apologies if this specific situation has been addressed before but I have not been able to find it thus far...

we got home from holiday in August to a 'parking charge notice' from MET regarding being in Gatwick MacDonald's for over an hour - yet we were getting on a plane at the time.

We contacted the Meet n Greet company who said they would deal with it - we sent them a copy of the letter from MET.
However, we just received 2 letters to us (now Oct'16) stating the charge is outstanding and we must pay ...

I have contacted the Meet n Greet company who said they would've raised the appeal stating the charge should be issued to them or they cant pay it, yet this hasn't been done (one way or another). They suggested I raise an appeal now stating this.

I am wondering what it is best to do. Can I raise an appeal now, 2 months later, stating they must follow it up with the Meet n Greet company? Is it too late? How best to word this? Am I going to get stuck with this penalty??

I would very much appreciate some help on how to proceed as this is causing me much anxiety now :-(

Thanks in advance

Carthesis · 24 October 2016 at 4:48PM

This is tricky.

Have you got anything in writing from the Meet'n'Greet company? If not, you should attempt to get it. Also, keep any receipts from said company, and anything that demonstrates you were out of the country (i.e. copies of electronic flight vouchers).

Personally, I would contact MET, using a modified version of the wording on the **NEWBIES** thread. Send them copies of the meet'n'greet invoice, and copies of your flight information. Point out to them that, although you're the RK, you were not the driver at the time and are unable to identify the driver as the car was in the care of the Meet'n'greet company and you and your family were on a plane off somewhere on your holidays. Send them the registered business address of the meet'n'greet company as the identified driver, and let them sort it out. That way you've identified the driver (as a corporate entity who is liable), meaning they shouldn't be able to pursue you under PoFA.

Secondly - you need to get back onto the meet'n'greet company, and tell them **IN NO UNCERTAIN TERMS WHATSOEVER** THAT YOU HAVE EVIDENCE THAT WHILE YOUR VEHICLE WAS IN THEIR CARE, IT WAS BEING USED BY MEMBERS OF STAFF FOR PRIVATE PURPOSES! They've clearly used your car to drive to MaccyDs for lunch, and you should be very very very angry about this, especially as you have proof that it was done! Get on to them and give them an absolute rollocking. Inform them that you are demanding both

a) that they pay the fine that their employees have incurred to prevent liability falling to you;

b) that you will expect suitable reparations for the misues of your vehicle and the abuse of the trust you placed in them by leaving your vehicle in their care. Inform them that, should suitable reparations not be forthcoming, you will be taking the matter significantly further for breach of contract.

Be angry about this by all means, but direct your anger at the meet'n'greet firm. They're the ones who have caused this.

danthemoneysavingman · 24 October 2016 at 4:52PM

Thanks very much I'll follow your advice and post back when possible.

Coupon-mad · 24 October 2016 at 4:55PM

Wow that is awful - similar to stuff exposed by Watchdog & the Daily Mail about these Meet & Greet firms before. I've used them and often wondered what they do with my car.

In fact I have a distant relative (by marriage) who works for one of the Meet & Greet firms at Gatwick. Eeek!

Guys_Dad · 24 October 2016 at 5:06PM

You should simply have told the PPC that the keeper of the car - and driver- was the Meet and Greet company and your invoice or arrangements from them would be your proof. This plus any air tickets you may have. But you should have acted sooner instead of relying on a company that had already broken their terms with you when they used the car instead of storing it.

Your letter to the PPC should make it perfectly clear that the keepers at the time were the car storage lot.

Do the meet and greet belong to any trade association? They should be informed

DoaM · 24 October 2016 at 5:20PM

That's why I take a photo of the odometer when I leave the vehicle. (I've used meet-n-greet a couple of times, and will be again next month). Touch wood, so far, there's been no issues ... the vehicle has come back each time with less than 1 mile extra on it.

danthemoneysavingman · 25 October 2016 at 11:24AM

I have been lucky enough to find my boarding pass and baggage receipt from the date of the charge, the hand-written receipt from the meet&greet company dated that day, and an email of the flight itinerary.
Sure hope this is enough evidence!

The MaccyD's is odd, it is in fact on the airport ring road, but why he was there for over an hour is a curiosity. I cant see us using that company again - their loss as we'd used them problem-free for many years up to now :-/

Carthesis · 25 October 2016 at 11:31AM

danthemoneysavingman wrote: »

The MaccyD's is odd, it is in fact on the airport ring road, but why he was there for over an hour is a curiosity.

Not that odd - they've clearly used your car for private transport to get lunch.

danthemoneysavingman wrote: »

we'd used them problem-free for many years up to now

You mean you'd used them without catching them in the act in this way for many years now...

Get on to them today and complain vociferously. Get on their Twitter feed and their Facebook page to complain about this misuse of your vehicle. Get the contact details of the head office / CEO (www. C E O email.com - remove the spaces. The MSE profanity filter seems to be confused!) and get them involved too.

Lay into them with great vengeance, and furious anger. That's what I'd be doing.

Half_way · 25 October 2016 at 12:24PM

Dear Met parking scum, at the time of the incident I, as registered keeper was not the driver as I was on-board an aircraft at the time.... (assuming their paperwork fails POFA - most ppcs fail)
As you have failed to meet the strict requirements as laid down in the Protection of Freedoms Act sch4, you must now cease and desist from contacting us further on this matter, and we are also making a formal request under the data protection act for you to remove all personal data from your records/systems.
You could also go after the Mc Doanlds stating that their agents MET have failed to comply with the POFA and you are holding Mc donalds jointly and severally liable for the actions of their agents, and you expect them to re-reimburse you at upto £19 per hour in dealing with this as a result of Mc Donalds lack of due diligence in allowing an un regulated parking company in their premises.

As for the Meet and greet other than a complaint as to Why your vehicle was stationary in Mc Doanlds for such a long period of time, your main effort should be telling MET to FRO.

Carthesis · 25 October 2016 at 1:54PM

In this case, I don't even think that's necessary.

Most PPCs ask that you identify the driver. The forum advice is to not do that at all costs, as it becomes harder for the driver to defend. In this case, "naming" the driver as a representative of the meet'n'greet company causes no detriment that I can see, as it gets the PPC off the OPs back. Whether the NtK is POFA-compliant or not is irrelevant in this case, as the OP has no liability.

I'd go with a letter to the MET appeals address (copied in by email if possible):

Dear MET Appeals Service

With regard to the penalty charge notice xxxxxxxxx, I confirm that I am the Registered Keeper of vehicle registration XX 33 ABC. I deny all Keeper Liability in respect of this charge, for the following reasons:

At the time of the alleged offence the Registered Keeper, and all other members of the Registered Keeper's family who have authorisation to drive the vehicle in question, were demonstrably not in a position to be in control of the vehicle. This is because the car had been handed over to a "meet and greet" parking company at Gatwick airport, subsequent to a flight which the RK (and family) boarded.

Please see the attached receipt from the meet'n'greet company showing the time of handover of the vehicle to the representatives of that company. Further please see the flight booking information (and any other evidence you can produce).

At this time, I invoke my right as Registered Keeper to name the driver of the vehicle at the time of the offence, and as such, name [give the trading name, registered company name and head office details of whatever company] as the driver of the vehicle. I am unable to provide further details, as it is not clear to me which of the representatives of that company was the driver at the time. This is a matter you will have to resolve with that company.

As I have now named the "driver" of the vehicle, and demonstrated that the RK was not (and, indeed, could not be) the driver at the time of the incident, under the requirements of POFA you no longer have the ability to attempt to transfer liability. Statements such as "we do not rely on POFA and are working under the assumption that the Registered Keeper was the driver (as held in Elliot -v- Loake) do not apply, as the "driver" has been named, and there is no presumption in law that the keeper is the driver.

I now request that you issue me a letter stating, clearly, that:

a) as the driver has been named, you will no longer contact, pursue, or attempt to pursue me, as the Registered Keeper, for this contractual charge;

b) that any private or personal information you hold on me or my vehicle has been deleted from your systems in accordance with the provisions of the Data Protection Act and the requirements of the KADOE contract between yourselves and the DVLA.

Further contact with me by your company, or any other person or entity claiming to represent your company on this matter will not be tolerated now that I have named the driver, and may be deemed as harassment.

I await your letter detailing your non-pursuit of me as Registered Keeper in accordance with my requirements above.

Yours,

etc.

Where it me, I'd be sending them something like that to get MET off my back. After you've named the driver, then you've discharged your liability as Keeper under POFA, so MET shouldn't be able to bother you again, and if you do, *THEN* is the time to tell them to take a long drive off a short pier.

That way you can focus your efforts on punishing the - in my eyes - much more nefarious and underhand company in this little menage-a-trois - the meet and greet parking company that allowed your car to be used for a few jollies around to god knows where and when while you were on your holidays!

It's only a shame (in a twisted sort of way) that your vehicle didn't rack up some proper parking tickets or speeding fines so you could really go to town on them and notify the courts (although I fully appreciate that would be a great deal of stress for you.)

This is one of the rare cases where the PPC *ISN'T* the scummiest company you're dealing with!!

DoaM · 25 October 2016 at 2:12PM

Further contact with me by your company, or any other person or entity claiming to represent your company on this matter, (other than confirmation as above) will not be tolerated now that I have named the driver, and may be deemed as harassment.

Minor tweak suggested.

Parking charge whilst car in hands of meet n greet - complications

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