Private Parking Tickets discussion

roddydogs

So I can safely use Mcdonalds to go shopping, and ignore any tickets 100% for certain?

Crabman

roddydogs wrote: »

So I can safely use Mcdonalds to go shopping, and ignore any tickets 100% for certain?

Yes, provided you're disguised as Ronald McDonald

trisontana

Another stupid news-article in our local paper today. Headlined :-

Big Mac - and a big fine
With the first paragraph:-

A woman hit with a £100 fine for exceeding a parking time limit at McDonald's at Newark says more should be done to let customers know

The "f" word is repeated several times in the subsequent article. The parking company in this case is UK Parking Control.

To add insult to injury the same article has this gem:-

A Grateful pensioner has praised Morrisons for getting her £40 fine refunded..

I am in two minds whether to contact the paper to put the record straight. Will it do any good?

peter_the_piper

If you don't then you'll never know.

Oopsadaisy

Eaglewoman wrote: »

Hi, I would just like to check certain info about private parking company charges. If what I have found out is correct it may help others.

My info is that the taking of digital photographs without the permission of the person having their image taken is illegal.

You need to go back and check your sources [was it a bloke/lass down the pub???lol].

There's nothing illegal about taking someone's picture [in the UK anyway].

If that was the case ALL CCTV would be illegal, and the gov would be in deep doo-doo [since they are the biggest users/takers of pictures].

Oopsadaisy

trisontana wrote: »

I am in two minds whether to contact the paper to put the record straight. Will it do any good?

Er, very unlikely. Most journos are too thick to grasp the point you would be making.

roxanne3000

Hi
i recieved a parking ticket today from a company called City Centre Services, it states i was unauthorised to park where i was which was on private land at a unused factory, there were plenty of other cars parked around me but none had tickets on them.
i contacted the company which was through a private mobile number that was on a sign not on the ticket. i dont think there was any cctv but im not sure and im not sure if they took a photo of my car either.
i just want some advice on whether its a genuine company or not and whether to pay the fine as i dont want to end up in court.

trisontana

This is not a "fine", it's an invoice from a private company, and you have not broken any laws. Do not contact the company again and ignore any correspondence from them.

As for court. the only court they can take you to is the Small Claims (civil) court. But that is very unlikely to happen. This is because they can only claim for nay actual material loss that the landowner has suffered. In this case no loss was incurred and so they cannot claim anything from you.

For further reassurance please read the other threads on here that deal with private parking tickets.

ClaphamMan

New member - joined just to post my recent expeerience.

The car of which I am the registered keeper was parked at a North London McDonalds for nearly four hours. I have checked, the driver was in the McDonalds for the whole time meeting a friend and eating/drinking McDonalds fare and the car park was "free" on private land, with the car correctly parked in a marked space..

A few weeks later I received a letter from the nice people at Met Parking Services asking me to contribute £50 to their company as my car was in the car park for longer than they like. Following a quick search on the internet, I ignored it.

A week later I had another letter from the nice Met Parking Services people, asking me for £100 - I ignored it.

Three weeks later I had another letter from the nice people, now they wanted £125. I ignored it.

Two weeks later and as a valued customer, they sent me a special letter, all in red. Very nice - I have it framed. This one wanted £150.

Ten days later I had an new admirer writing to me - Roxburghe, the debt collectors. Their letter reminded me that I was expected to pay £150 within 7 days, and said that if I did not then they would be passing the matter to their solicitors who would "review (my) case for potential legal action. Guess what - I ignored it.

Then a week or so later a reputable firm of straight dealing solicitors wrote to me. Graham White Solicitors they are called. They had heard that I was expected to pay £150, and said they were writing to inform me that the letter constituted a notice of intended litigation. Should legal action be taken the nice solicitors told me to take note of the costs that would be incurred and gave me a helpful illustration, adding up to an additional £207 odd. Further, were judgment to be registered against me I may have problems obtaining credit in the future, and this would remain the case for six years. And if that were not enough the may instruct some Bailiffs to pop round and seize some goods from my house. I looked forward to that, so I ignored their letter.

Two weeks later they wrote again, this time adding "FINAL WARNING" in big black capitals - so helpful of them. They said they would be refering the matter in seven days. I was assured that the matter would not go away without solution or resolution. That was comforting. I ignored it, safe in the knowledge the matter would not go away.

The nice people must have referred the matter to someone in the office who knew my phone number as they called me to discuss something or the other. I ignored the call.

They called again. I was out.

And they called again. I ignored it.

That was now three or four months ago. I know the wheels of our legal system move slowly, but I have heard nothing more. I miss the letters. I was very interested in the very careful use of language, suggesting that I was going to be the subject of legal action, visits by Bailiffs and having my credit record damaged. But none of those things seem to have happened.

I think they don't love me anymore.

Coupon-mad

What nice heartwarming story - MET parking wasting lots of money on someone who is never going to fall for their scam!

:T