Private Parking Tickets discussion

peter_the_piper

Don't bother to argue, ignore them and when they send you an invoice--ignore them some more. They will then send another threatening letter so ignore even more. You will then get a debt collectors begging letter so any guesses what to do next?
That's right you ignore them as well. Continue with this until they give up.
Sounds like a cooking recipe doesn't it?
They give up after about 5-6 tries if you ignore them, and try a further few timed if you contact them in any way.

Coupon-mad

joanne1505 wrote: »

I am totally perplexed as to how i should argue this and i am going to as i only did my shop and was back at my car at 13:55 less than an hour after i entered the car park.

Don't be perplexed and don't argue, as the others have said this one is easy!

Ignore it, there is no real fine just a request for you to pay some money you don't have to pay. It's a scam, there is no fine, no debt and no effect on your credit rating.

I only had to see the word Sainsburys in your post to know this was about a fake ticket. Lots of Supermarkets allow these scammers on their land and they just don't want to know or care about what goes on.

Nor do Sainsburys acknowledge the fact that neither they nor their agents can actually fine anyone. I wrote and complained to HO about my local Sainsburys using Euro Car Parks and issuing a leaflet claiming they could issue '£50 fine' (which they cannot). Sainsburys ignored me and when I then spoke to the Duty Manager at the store he didn't have a clue that these are not even enforceable charges - he really thought the tickets were real!

Have a look at the first thread on the sub board here, click on the links in the first post in the first thread:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.html?f=163

You'll see that your case is simple.

All you have to do is ignore the letters( aka threatograms) when they arrive and then the scam stops. Think of it as like deleting a series of phishing emails, do not fall for this scam and do not contact the scammers further.

Now forget about it and just come back to check the letters as they arrive against the copies shown on that link - do post again if you get anything different but it's unlikely as this scam is very predictable.

If you are still not sure then read plenty of other threads below the first one - it's a real eye-opener how horribly common this extortion is in this Country.

Coblcris

I concur with the above posters.

Connaught

Here is my story. My employer leases a building which comes with a certain number of parking spaces. For some reason, the landlord decided to let Town and City Parking in on the act about 9 months ago. I have no idea why because everything seemed to work well enough. Anyway, last September I was booked for parking outwith a defined parking space (a visitor had parked in my space while I was out for Lunch). The ticket says that I was booked under "contravention Code F" which is parking on a double yellow line. There is no double yellow line.

Anyway, thanks to this thread I have maintained absolute silence. I have received 2 solicitors letters so far. Once the process (scam) has finished I will post the letters on here.

My point is that in my case no-one has suffered any loss since this is not like a supermarket carpark. Also, I was parked on ground leased by my employer so I think it's a bit rich for the landlord to allow scam merchants to harrass me in this way.

To any faint hearted victims out there, stand up to these criminals, follow the "ignore" advice on this excellent thread and don't let the b*****ds grind you down!!

Connaught

Just as a follow up to my post above, a story to warm the cockles of your heart and hopefully to bolster the confidence of Waiverers.

My brother is a solicitor in Glasgow. He and his wife recently bought a riverside flat along with which comes a car-parking space below the building. So, to be clear, he OWNS the flat AND the piece of ground (the parking space) in the basement of the building.

Not all of the flats have been sold, and the developers were getting annoyed at some owners using more than one space. Their solution was to bring in a PPC. All occupiers were then issued with "Parking Permits" to allow them to use their own property. My brother, being a lawyer refused out of principle. He called the developer to explain that not under any circumstances would he be displaying a Permit in his windscreen to allow him to park on his own property.

The developer asked him to comply but he again refused saying that surely a better approach would be to give the PPC a list of all the numbered spaces that were not yet sold. That way they could let the PPC try their luck with people parking in spaces they did not own, leaving people like my brother to enjoy their own property.

Can you see what's coming next?

The Tickets started to appear on his windscreen. These were quickly dispatched to the ground. One after the other (I know litter is bad but he was making a point!)

The letters started to arrive and these were all ignored (he doesn't scare easily).

His next move was to write a letter to all of his neighbours, one copy each in all of their mailboxes. The letter explained who he was and to contact him if they too had had problems. Many did.

Then something strange happened. The developer called him up saying that they had dispensed with the services of the PPC and that all outstanding "fines" had been cancelled.

He never did use his "permit".

Alx*27

In fact OPC have taken a few people to Small Claims Court last year and the most recent one was on pepipoo.com in February. OPC lost in 5 out of 5 known cases so far.

6 out of 6 now.

essex-kel

hi ill try to keep it short!! i live in a housing assosiation property with a private residents car park for which we have permits. about a week and a half ago i parked my car as normal outside my gate and the security firm (which appear once a year!) appeared i had to run in my house and retrieve my permit from my kitchen,i said i would be 5 mins which i was i came back out and he had clamped me. I refused to pay and 5 days later they towed my car away. This morning he hammered on my door asking for £1000 i laughed and told him to clear off he was very rude and abrubt i was a bit scared being on my own anyway he threw a form at me and told me to sign it and took my car key he asked for the log book which i refused. My question is what can i do now? can i fight for my car back which i know is not worth much but its the princible i asked to clear the car and he said no way! im really angry! can they get away with what they done? thanks kelly

Connaught

Why not report them to the police for theft? Up here in Scotland it is illegal to clamp under those circumstances. I fail to see what legal right they have to remove your car though.

Alx*27

Best off starting your own thread.

Your best bet would be jointly suing the housing association and clampers for the cost of the car. We'd need to see all signage and paperwork.

Coblcris

kel,
Start your own thread.
This is a serious criminal matter.

The exact terms of your lease agreement with regard to parking will be extremely relevant.
We need to know them.

Whatever they say they will not abrogate the criminal actions that have taken place.

Did he take your car key from did you give it to him when he asked ?

We need the full facts so take your time when recounting everything and be accurate.