I NEED HELP re a Central ticketing parking charge

Coupon-mad

jenny78 wrote: »

:Tthis my first time in the forum, ive been reading all the other info regarding private car parking fines, and hopefully ignoring the ticket will be ok. my mums also very worried. £85 is alot of money to pay. thankyou for the reassurance.

Please tell your Mum not to worry at all.

Would she worry if someone in your family received a few obvious phishing emails from Nigeria, trying to extort money from you? Hopefully not because you could explain that they don't cause any harm if you delete them, as it's a scam. PPC fake tickets are like scam emails and the letters that follow just like more of the same...

When looking at other threads, did you find the whole sub board (all relevant threads)? Here:

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

Do make sure that you and your family are well aware that this is a scam, show them the preview of the letters the registered keeper will receive (post 1 of thread 1 on the link, look at the examples so you know what is to come). Just want to be sure that no-one else in your family sees the debt collector headed paper letters saying you owe an invented 3-figure sum, and falls for the scam.

Debt collector letters are no longer scary when you are ready for and expecting the next one (and can match it to our thread, word for word). You can see from the examples in the first thread linked that it will certainly be just a standard letter-chain and that the company have not singled you out for their threatograms - these letters are how their scam works.

Now relax, and tell as many people as you can about the scam so that they never just pay a private parking ticket! Spend the £85 on something nice for you and your family instead.

Coblcris

The blue badge scheme does to apply to private car parks. There is no requirement to produce it in such a case.

urfankhaliq

bhoogenberg1 wrote: »

I have also been hit with a fine from these plonkers - I had parked motorbike between bays in a "free" car-park in a shopping centre whilst I literally went into the shop for 5 minutes to pick up a sandwich to take back to work for my lunch. Got a ticket for "obstructive parking" despite not being in anyones way....

..anyhow, got the standard £60 fine, followed by letter for £85, then £135, then £181 threatening debt recovery if it wasn't paid. I didn't answer any of them. Hey-ho got a letter from Roxburgh debt agents. I rang them and told them to pretty much !!!!!! off, not to contact me as I would consider it harassment as I had not comitted any offence or owed them any money. Suprise suprise, I have had a letter from Graham White solicitors saying I now owe the £181 and if I do not contact them in 7 days they will go to county court to seek judgement - if this happens it will be £181 plus up to £200 costs. I am assuming this is all part of the scam? It is unbelievable how companies can get away with this crap! To top it all, the stick wallet they attached to my bike fairing now won't come off as it has welded on there - maybe I ought to take them to small claims court to replace it!!!!

Hi do you have any updates on this? I got a ticket yesterday from central ticketing...

steve1500

Going to be lighting my fire very soon, now that the nigfht is drawing in. Got lots of paper from Parking Eye, Excel, etc to get it started.

In other words ignore - don't talk to them

Coupon-mad

urfankhaliq wrote: »

Hi do you have any updates on this? I got a ticket yesterday from central ticketing...

There doesn't need to be an update, we know what happened. Nothing.

We deal with these queries every day and everyone who ignores these fake parking tickets just gets sent debt collector letters then the whole scam stops. On the odd occasion there's a phone call or two if the debt collector can get a number for the rgistered keeper - but they can be told where to go as this is NOT a fine, no debt, no case to answer, no Bailiff, no Court and no CCJ.

There is so much info on the internet about private parking tickets - and this scam has been covered on Watchdog TWICE already this year - so please don't think that it's just us saying to ignore it.

The whole MSE parking board is linked below, there are hundreds of current threads just like yours, with everyone ignoring the scammers! Happy reading, you'll find the Watchdog youtube clip on a top thread and also pictures of the exact letter-chain of threats the company and their pet debt collector will send to the registered keeper before they give up:

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

pepipoo fightback forums parking board:

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showforum=30

Consumer Action Group parking board (scroll down to the mustard yellow headings to read threads but don't use the templates, not worth a stamp. Never acknowledge a PPC fake ticket, NEVER appeal):

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...ffic-Offences&

Or just Google 'do I pay a private parking ticket'? that will find results from the forums telling you the score. It really is safe to ignore, we've all done it and it's just a bogus ticket anyway.

Please stop worrying, these fake tickets are meaningless and only useful as paper aeroplanes. Nothing happens to your credit rating and Central Ticketing don't do Court, only mail threats.

Don't believe the letters, relax and tell your friends & family about this scam!

elliejo

well ive had 2 letters from Roxburghe and just got my first from Graham White, the amount has gone from £65 original parking notice, to £147 and £207.25 will be added if i dont pay in 7 days, that was 2 weeks ago ooopppsss lol,
I came on here when i first got the ticket in July and did as every 1 else has done and ignored them but this letter does say.......

notice of intended litigation before legal proceedings are issued in the county court.

getting a bit worried now so ive popped on here to re read the posts and i feel alittle better but i hope im doing the right thing and i don't end up with bailiffs at the door.

trisontana

You will be pleased to know that "Graham White" (aka Michel David Sobell) is being investigated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority for sending out these sweetening letters.

For "bailiffs to appear at your door", the case would have to go to court (very unlikely) you lose (very, very unlikely) and then you refuse to pay whatever the judge orders. This is so unlikely that it's not worth worrying about. Please don't confuse bailiffs with debt-collectors. The latter have no powers at all.

Coupon-mad

elliejo wrote: »

well ive had 2 letters from Roxburghe and just got my first from Graham White, the amount has gone from £65 original parking notice, to £147 and £207.25 will be added if i dont pay in 7 days, that was 2 weeks ago ooopppsss lol,
I came on here when i first got the ticket in July and did as every 1 else has done and ignored them but this letter does say.......

notice of intended litigation before legal proceedings are issued in the county court.

getting a bit worried now so ive popped on here to re read the posts and i feel alittle better but i hope im doing the right thing and i don't end up with bailiffs at the door.

Yep, they would say that wouldn't they? It's the only way they can scare some people into paying, by making threats. The letter chain is well known and pictures of all the letters Roxburghe send (pretending to be a Solicitor called Graham White, but in fact it's still Roxburghe) are shown here:

PPC letters, what to expect (pictures of the letter-chains)

So we reckon you just got this one, or something similar?

So next you'll see you'll get one of their many FINAL WARNING letters!! Like these:

http://i34.tinypic.com/xehjt2.jpg

or maybe

http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff370/trisontana/white1.jpg

Then guess what happens? Nothing, they can't send the boys round as they are not Court Bailiffs, to send in Bailiffs they'd have to actually take you to Court AND win AND for you to still refuse to pay even after losing in Court...how likely do you think that is bearing in mind that Roxburghe never do Court?!

There may be a final swansong of a Roxburghe-passing-themselves-off-as-Graham-White phone call if you're lucky enough to get to speak to the scammers, if they've got a phone number for you. Don't panic, tell them to do one if they ring, or have a laugh (see the letter pics thread for a link & ideas for having fun winding up debt collectors if they are stupid enough to harass you).

Otherwise it's just a small matter of ignoring the 'final warning letters' and it should be all over by Christmas.

You'll miss them when they stop writing to you!

elliejo

well you are right i have just recieved a letter saying this is a final warning. but the strange thing is its has asked me to phone them with payment or reasons for with holding payment, i thought they didnt deal with people over the phone so i assume this is so they can get my phone number ? either way im not ringing them. thanks for all the advice people and the reassurance.

Mojo_Jojo_5

I just registered to say a big thank you to all the guys who posted here. I thought I'd put my experience here and maybe it can help anyone. I was ticketed in a car park saying I had left the car park while in fact I was at KFC with my kids having lunch which is on site. When I returned and saw the ticket I was a bit shocked but thought lets rectify this but of course the coward who had snuck up and given me a ticket was no where to be seen. I think they lurk around corners and in shadows waiting for an opportunity.

Still I was lucky enough that before leaving KFC my kids wanted more french fries and the bag I had in my hand had the receipt in it. So I thought no problem, mistake by them I'm sure it will be fine. So I came back and appealed against the ticket sending them a copy of the bill from KFC. Imagine my surprise when the letter came back saying my appeal had been rejected...HUH!!! Even with proof?? And to please pay up otherwise .....etc. etc.

At that point I panicked and was going to pay but my husband said, go online and look central ticketing up and I did and found this forum. I read up on all the posts and that gave me plenty of courage. After this I decided even if I have to go to court I'm in the right and I WILL NOT pay these guys. Letters started arriving then first again from Central ticketing, with increased fine amount and that they will have to pass it on to the debt collectors if I don't pay (as expected), then two letters from the debt collectors. I got a letter from Graham white as well. But a day before his letter arrived I had finally sent out to letters. One to central ticketing and one to Roxburghe collectors.

A short to the point letter saying that since I had proof that I was on site I refuse to pay the fine. I also said that since then they had been harassing me and threatening me and demanding money off me and if they did not cease immediately I will have no option but to contact my solicitor to take up this matter.

My appeal was rejected on the 27th of July, since then I ignored their letters. Then finally wrote to them on the 25th of October. Two days later I got a letter from Roxburghe with a reply "We confirm all further collection activity has been suspended whilst we take our client's further instructions".

Since then...peace and quiet. No more letters and all is calm.

So once again, thanks to everyone who posted I'm sure many like me will benefit from them and refuse to be bullied into paying these fines.