Invoice today from APCOA

sassy_one

Amazing guys, really amazing!

Today, I parked my car in my local train station car park and up on return, I had a invoice although my paid for displayed ticket was only out by 2 minutes and the 'invoice' left on my car was recorded at '13:10' when my paid for displayed ticket ran out at '13:13'!

Soon as I saw it up on walking to my car I knew what it was and no one was about to advise them of the current law regards these!
I proceeded to remove the 'invoice', ripped it up (without reading it) and walked back to the office I believe they use for the invoicing mob, and stuck it on there door :T

So, my advice is, keep invoicing me - what a complete and utter load of rubbish, when I then got back to my car a guy said to me who was leaving in his car said he had two last week - I advised him of the current law and that they are NOT enforceable as the train station we had parked in was not covered by section 14 bylaws and he was annoyed he had paid one, but is not going to pay the second or any other ones should he receive and I direct him to this very site!

So, Mr. Extorting Invoice guy, issue me with as many 'invoices' as you so wish, but you will not, now or ever, never get a single penny out of me and are wasting your time and as stated before, if I was ever clamped, I'd remove it.

OMG - Leaving a ripped 'invoice' on their office door will mean they know I'm not paying.... Ahhhhh I should be prepared for non existence court action, that a Sheriff will become involved :rotfl: and my credit rating will not be touched, nah, I did the right thing

mikey72

Could always report you for littering though.

davemorton

Should this not be in the rant and vents board??

Inactive

davemorton wrote: »

Should this not be in the rant and vents board??

Or at least in the " Parking Fines, Tickets & Parking " section?

dacouch

Fact......

Quentin

Is this another pointless wind up/rant from sassy?

You tell us you bought a ticket, overstayed your time paid for but know the law and ripped up the parking fine notice.

But if you know the law, why did you buy a parking ticket in the first place? What is the point of your thread?

anewman

Quentin wrote: »

But if you know the law, why did you buy a parking ticket in the first place?

It's only right and fair to pay for a service (parking). But when you overstay by a minute or two and they think this entitles them to some silly amount like £80 then some thing's clearly wrong?! How are they even noticing at such a short time? It's like they're laying in wait and doing the Olympics to issue tickets http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmLczeDLaZU

BLT_2

anewman wrote: »

It's only right and fair to pay for a service (parking). But when you overstay by a minute or two and they think this entitles them to some silly amount like £80 then some thing's clearly wrong?! How are they even noticing at such a short time? It's like they're laying in wait and doing the Olympics to issue tickets http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmLczeDLaZU

Yep but you note that the OP admitted they had overstayed their ticket, in essence from that point they were parking illegally. You have be pretty damn stupid to cut your return to your car that fine when you know there is a fine for overstaying your welcome.

I have sympathy with people who have been clamped, I have no sympathy with people who overstay their time on parking tickets and then whine that they have received a ticket.

Unless there is some form of retribution for failing to adhere to parking rules then anarchy would reign. At this point there would be a whole new thread with people complaining that they couldn't find a parking pace in short stay car parks as everyone was overstaying their tickets.

anewman

BLT wrote: »

Yep but you note that the OP admitted they had overstayed their ticket, in essence from that point they were parking illegally.

The first post established that the ticket (invoice) was issued in no legal sense, but by a Private Parking Company (PPC) who do so out of a presumed contract with the driver based on signs displayed in the car park. However, these "contracts" have a number of problems should the case ever go to court. First, the registered keeper of the vehicle is not necessarily the driver, and the keeper is under no legal obligation to tell the PPC who was driving. Secondly, penalty clauses in contracts are considered unfair terms, the company can only claim for any actual losses in court, which for overstaying a few minutes are at most a couple of pounds. Any court cases brought broadly hinge upon those two points when the PPC loses, which they usually do in court.

The term "illegal" needs to be put in some perspective here, private for profit companies are not allowed to make law in any way, the Government, Police, and Councils are. The signs they put up are just a presumed contract, I could just as easily put some up on my land or somewhere else if the landowner agrees. PPC's may think they can but that's a different matter. The problem with PPC's is they're too eager to issue tickets, because tickets = profit. So they issue them for things like leaving a disabled badge on the seat instead of dashboard.

Many can, many have, and many will get away with not paying these invoices. There will be one or two court cases, particularly from the new players trying to flex their muscles and maybe get a default judgement or two under their belts, but if an adequate defence is entered into the PPC has no chance of winning.

Lum

A few pounds? If anything the "losses" would be the price difference between the ticket the OP bought and the next price band, eg if it's £1.50 for 3 hours and £2 for 4 hours then the "loss" would be 50p.

Even then it's arguable.

BLT_2

Lum wrote: »

A few pounds? If anything the "losses" would be the price difference between the ticket the OP bought and the next price band, eg if it's £1.50 for 3 hours and £2 for 4 hours then the "loss" would be 50p.

Even then it's arguable.

Yep, agreed the charge is out of all proportion to the 'crime' however there has to be some form of penalty to avoid individuals ignoring parking restrictions.

Personally my preference would be that car parks are made pay on exit. However that would probably impact on the profits of companies who receive funds from individuals who overpay just to avoid getting the ticket.

However all of this doesn't obviate the fact that OP overstayed his parking time and is now going into a rant about the fact that he got a ticket.:rotfl: