Private Parking Industry Hits back blog discussion

Crabman

craigbass - how do you protect your premises and/or home against entry by unauthorised persons?

Once you have an answer to that, ask yourself what action you could similarly take in order to protect your car park from entry by unauthorised persons.

savemoney

Is there a prize

Let me see

Put a door/window in obvious places

Put some form of barrier like a gate, bollard etc

Where's my prize

Crabman wrote: »

craigbass - how do you protect your premises and/or home against entry by unauthorised persons?

Once you have an answer to that, ask yourself what action you could similarly take in order to protect your car park from entry by unauthorised persons.

Micky

It's simple. Under current legislation the private parking companies (PPCs) cannot issue fines or penalty charge notices, they can only issue invoices. The objective should be to wreck their business model, expert advice available on Pepipoo, generally involves ignoring the invoice but there is fun to be had by dangling the PPCs on a long line.

The continued operation of PPCs is a measure of the tolerance of the average British motorist, can you imagine a similar scam functioning in France or Italy?

bmw318iman

Perhaps if more lenient parking restrictions actually allowed people to shop reasonably the country could fight its way out of the present financial situation.
As it is I do without so many items because couple the price of the item with the parking costs and I can no longer afford as much.
If the parking situation changed in favour of the consumer, all the parking misers could start a legitimate business, or is that too much hard work?

Micky

The BPA cannot even begin to change this type of behaviour - it is demanding money with menace which is a criminal offence.

No, it's blackmail

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1495021/Bullying-car-clampers-jailed-for-blackmail.html

O_Miserly_one

I received the only parking ticket I have ever had in 36 years (and not an "official" police ticket) just over two years ago in Farnborough, Hampshire, at the Solartron Retail Park. There are three car parks in the vicinty of the retail park, the park itself, another a short walk away for B&Q and a council Pay & Display another short walk away for ASDA which, I hasten to add, is a long walk from the retail park so is the best option if you have a lot of food shopping.

I got the ticket because, having shopped in Maplins, one of the Solartron stores, I then walked out of the retail park to go to B&Q instead of driving the short distance.This was a heinous crime and I am sure I would have been hanged on the spot if they had physically caught me. It is the modern equivalent of mob rule and rough justice.

There were very few cars parked in this car park so it was easy for the attendant to lurk unseen until he saw me leaving.

In this case there is a clash between the two ideals - "illegal" parking and environmental concerns. But no-one - neither the council nor the Solatron Retail park are interested in the environmental aspect, so neither am I now and I drive everywhere I possibly can. I felt this ridiculous fine was really unjust, as everyone who gets one probably does, but when I read them, the notices did say this was an offence so I gritted my teeth and paid up. Strangely enough, none of the retailers know who employed the company - just vaguely "the landlord".

I vowed not to go back to Farnborough to shop since that occasion nearly two years ago. I know the retailers in Farnborough don't give a damn whether I go there or not, but it makes me feel good. It's a dump for shopping anyway.

So why would a parking area set aside for customers of the stores, of which I was a regular up until that fateful day two years ago, need to be classified "private" when it is clearly for the use of the public shopping there? It beats me but it does seem counter-productive for shops that are apparently desperate for sales.

Micky

bmw318iman wrote: »

Perhaps if more lenient parking restrictions actually allowed people to shop reasonably the country could fight its way out of the present financial situation.
As it is I do without so many items because couple the price of the item with the parking costs and I can no longer afford as much.
If the parking situation changed in favour of the consumer, all the parking misers could start a legitimate business, or is that too much hard work?

How true, but that would require some form of coherent thought process from local authorities ...

Micky

O_Miserly_one wrote: »

I received the only parking ticket I have ever had in 36 years (and not an "official" police ticket) just over two years ago in Farnborough, Hampshire, at the Solartron Retail Park. There are three car parks in the vicinty of the retail park, the park itself, another a short walk away for B&Q and a council Pay & Display another short walk away for ASDA which, I hasten to add, is a long walk from the retail park so is the best option if you have a lot of food shopping.

I got the ticket because, having shopped in Maplins, one of the Solartron stores, I then walked out of the retail park to go to B&Q instead of driving the short distance.This was a heinous crime and I am sure I would have been hanged on the spot if they had physically caught me. It is the modern equivalent of mob rule and rough justice.

There were very few cars parked in this car park so it was easy for the attendant to lurk unseen until he saw me leaving.

In this case there is a clash between the two ideals - "illegal" parking and environmental concerns. But no-one - neither the council nor the Solatron Retail park are interested in the environmental aspect, so neither am I now and I drive everywhere I possibly can. I felt this ridiculous fine was really unjust, as everyone who gets one probably does, but when I read them, the notices did say this was an offence so I gritted my teeth and paid up. Strangely enough, none of the retailers know who employed the company - just vaguely "the landlord".

I vowed not to go back to Farnborough to shop since that occasion nearly two years ago. I know the retailers in Farnborough don't give a damn whether I go there or not, but it makes me feel good. It's a dump for shopping anyway.

So why would a parking area set aside for customers of the stores, of which I was a regular up until that fateful day two years ago, need to be classified "private" when it is clearly for the use of the public shopping there? It beats me but it does seem counter-productive for shops that are apparently desperate for sales.

Don't think "parking ticket", think "piece of paper that might be a fixed penalty notice (difficult to fight, see Pepipoo), penalty charge charge notice (can be fought, see Pepipoo), or invoice (can generally be ignored, see Pepipoo)"

mpython

@Craigblass

You obviously haven't been clamped for parking in your own parking space - see this thread.
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1865237
If you really don't want people parking in your space (and you're not really a plant from a PPC trying to promote a tenuous arguement the way timeshare companies do on this forum), it'd be a lot more effective to install your own folding post & lock, as people will still park there if there is no physical barrier preventing them. Letting a 3rd party send unenforcable invoices won't stop that but will make unscrupulous people rich.

Coblcris

I would argue strongly that these are not invoices at all.
If they were the would need to be recorded on the companies books as liabilities which opens quite a few interesting avenues.

They are merely 'Notices'.

I know that councils and the police also issue Notices which do require attention. But even they are still just Notices.