Council PCN with wrong make of car - have attached scan now

TheBogsDollocks

taffy056 wrote: »

Okay that made my mind melt

One thing though if the machine was not working properly , could the foi be used for a service and repair of the machine ? I mean if its been repaired because of this fault it could be used as a defence also ?

I think the last request covers that aspect.

Council appeal officers love short simple appeals that require little effort and little knowledge. What they hate are lengthy technical appeals that require effort and in depth knowledge to respond to. What they tend to do is ignore those points they find too difficult and time consuming thus opening the way for an even stronger appeal at the next stage.

The FOI is thrown in to not only perhaps throw up other appeal points at the next stage but to also act as a sting in the tail of rejecting. Council parking depts are generally understaffed and restricted by budgets (certainly in the current economic climate) and therefore a council officer may simply decide it is easier and more economical to accept the appeal rather than reject it as that will involve a nasty time consuming FOI. Council staff are often a lazy incompetent breed and this should always be exploited. My advice to anyone appealing is to always include an FOI request that is likely to take up considerable staff time as well as likely cost more than the worth of the PCN.

Appealing is a game of strategy.

taffy056

Oops missed that one must be the meltdown I had

cte1111

Received an email today:
My officers have undertaken a review of the case and due to a processing error, I have on this occasion arranged for the cancellation of the Notice.

The case is therefore closed and you will receive no further correspondence on this matter. However, please note that this decision is confined to the specific circumstances of this case and should not be relied on as a precedent.

Thanks very much to everyone who helped, BogsDollocks in particular for his finely worded letter. My Dad is relieved.

Shame they couldn't just admit the machine wasn't working but at least we seem to have got them on a technicality anyhow.