McDonalds parking ticket while having a fag

samy888

On Thursday myself and the o/h went to Macdonalds. He got out to have a smoke while I went in to order.

As he's smoking a guy comes up and hands him a £100 parking ticket reduced to £50 if we pay within 14 days for breaking the rules not sure what rules reason code is 0024. My husband as you can imagine drops the cigarette and starts effing and blinding, (the timescale is less than two minutes). He comes in and asks to speak to the manager, who said there was nothing he could do.

Now i can appeal but i have to send proof, we didn't end up taking our order as we were quite disgusted, so what proof can we provide?

The ticket was issued by Premier Control Security. Any advice would be much appreciated.

propaintballa

Don't pay it. It's a private parking "Invoice"...

You will get the same response from everyone, you just ignore them, don't even contact them.

They will send letters threatening court action and debt collectors, but it's all rubbish.

This might sound odd, i know. But i got one from a PPC (Private parking company) and i was just about to pay it, when someone told me not to. All is good a year later

Orford

Do not pay.
Do not communicate with them in any way whatsoever, no appeal, no phone calls, no email, no letters
Ignore anything they send you no matter how threatening oir intimidating it might seem at first glance
Eventually after 3 or 4 letters they will give up and go away.

This is by far the easiest and most effecetive way of dealing with them .

trisontana

I like that "code 24" touch. Once again a PPC trying to pretend it's the council or the police.

Coupon-mad

Your OH could have just laughed in the face of the sad git issuing the fake ticket, I would have!

As others have said, private tickets are not real PCNs and you don't have to pay them!

Watchdog covered this last month, and their legal bod helpfully confirmed what we already know on here about what to do with fake parking tickets (whether you have 'contravened their rules' or not). By coincidence, the example they outed on the programme was in fact issued in a McDonald's car park:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAIcdi9niHA

You will receive debt collector letters telling you to pay up, see examples here of what to ignore:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/....php?t=2214803

Relax and forget about it, even if you get more letters (as per our examples, we can predict you'll get the same). But to be proactive - if the scam letters get tiresome - you may like to report the company and their debt collectors for harassment:

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/en...=03_harassment

But don't forget this is NOT a debt, NOT a fine, just a mickey mouse ticket. Nothing happens, your credit record is NOT affected, you are a seasoned MSEer so don't fall for this con!

But maybe pop back into that car park sometime soon (get a another ticket, why not?!) and ask for the McDonald's manager and inform him that he has lost your business FOREVER because they are using a scam private parking company - did he not watch the Watchdog programme in May that made McD's look like mugs for thinking these tickets are real and scamming their own customers?

Then walk out. Do it on a particularly busy day but don't overstep the mark, no shouting, just loud statements of fact about the PPC scam so other customers can hear.

HTH

samy888

Thank you all for the informative replies

I rarely get a ticket, my husband on the other hand is always getting one for one reason or the other, usually it's his fault and he pays up. This however just seemed outrageous, and he's refusing to pay.

I've already contacted them regarding the reason code and they wouldn't tell me as their computers were down, was told to call back on Monday. I'll leave well enough alone now and kiss and make up with my husband. He's been in the dog house for the last two days!

trisontana

For you to get a CCJ, the case has to go to court (very unlikely), you lose (very, very unlikely) and you refuse to pay whatever a judge orders. Please do not confuse bailiffs (who are officers of the court) and debt collectors. The former will come on the scene only after any court case, the latter are just private citizens with no special powers. They cannot enter your property, they cannot seize goods and they cannot blacken your credit record.

As for that "reason code". You are taking that too seriously. This is just a pretend rule, made up by the PPC to make themselves look legitimate. Don't forget they are just a private company. They are not the police or the council.

McKneff

Dont pay it, as all the above has said. But tell your OH he needs to control himself. The man could have called the police and
he could have been done for abusive/threatening behaviour.

Getting a ticket is no excuse for this sort of behaviour. Whether we like it or not the man was just doing his job and really didnt deserve to be treated like that.

spike7451

Coupon-mad wrote: »

Your OH could have just laughed in the face of the sad git issuing the fake ticket, I would have!

As others have said, private tickets are not real PCNs and you don't have to pay them!

Watchdog covered this last month, and their legal bod helpfully confirmed what we already know on here about what to do with fake parking tickets (whether you have 'contravened their rules' or not). By coincidence, the example they outed on the programme was in fact issued in a McDonald's car park:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAIcdi9niHA

You will receive debt collector letters telling you to pay up, see examples here of what to ignore:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/....php?t=2214803

Relax and forget about it, even if you get more letters (as per our examples, we can predict you'll get the same). But to be proactive - if the scam letters get tiresome - you may like to report the company and their debt collectors for harassment:

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/en...=03_harassment

But don't forget this is NOT a debt, NOT a fine, just a mickey mouse ticket. Nothing happens, your credit record is NOT affected, you are a seasoned MSEer so don't fall for this con!

But maybe pop back into that car park sometime soon (get a another ticket, why not?!) and ask for the McDonald's manager and inform him that he has lost your business FOREVER because they are using a scam private parking company - did he not watch the Watchdog programme in May that made McD's look like mugs for thinking these tickets are real and scamming their own customers?

Then walk out. Do it on a particularly busy day but don't overstep the mark, no shouting, just loud statements of fact about the PPC scam so other customers can hear.

HTH

I believe he said something to the effect of throw it in the bin iirc.:T

samy888

Coupon-mad wrote: »

But maybe pop back into that car park sometime soon (get a another ticket, why not?!) and ask for the McDonald's manager and inform him that he has lost your business FOREVER because they are using a scam private parking company - did he not watch the Watchdog programme in May that made McD's look like mugs for thinking these tickets are real and scamming their own customers?

Then walk out. Do it on a particularly busy day but don't overstep the mark, no shouting, just loud statements of fact about the PPC scam so other customers can hear.

HTH

He did kick up a fuss and it was really busy that day, the manager could not explain why the ticket was given. He hadn't left the car, it made no sense.

I missed that episode of Watchdog, can't believe they would treat their customers in that way. Don't think my husband will be popping back in a hurry.

samy888

McKneff wrote: »

Dont pay it, as all the above has said. But tell your OH he needs to control himself. The man could have called the police and
he could have been done for abusive/threatening behaviour.

Getting a ticket is no excuse for this sort of behaviour. Whether we like it or not the man was just doing his job and really didnt deserve to be treated like that.

Please don't prejudge people, my husband gets regular tickets from the council on football nights and he takes it on the chin.

This instance was like being robbed, he was well within his rights to vent anger at the guy, who wouldn't even give an explanation as to what the ticket was for.

In all fairness he deserves to be treated like that, you can't go around issuing tickets at the drop of a hat and not explain yourself.

If your going to do a job that involves scamming people then brace yourself for the consequences.