And so it begins!

Coupon-mad

N77poo wrote: »

Funny thing is that the retail park only got planning permission on the basis that they would be supplying parking that would benefit the rest of Aylesbury too so their clause of "not being allowed to leave the site" is against the spirit of the original proposal...something that has not gone unnoticed by the council...whether they will do anything about is another question.....

They should take action.

Complain to the Council Head of Planning, enclosing a copy of this recent action taken by Brighton & Hove Council. Not only did Aldi get fined (a relatively small but real fine!) but the report got in all the local papers, alerting everyone to the fact that they can park there and leave the site. Many people hadn't realised!

http://newsfrombrighton.co.uk/brighton-culture/shopping/aldi-fined-for-failing-to-offer-free-parking-in-portslade/

Don't think the resident parasite PPC was best pleased!

Hanooly

I too got a ticket on the 21st Dec 2011 and chose to ignore it - I was only parked for 15 mins at 6pm! I received a reminder from UKPC with photos, I ignore that too. I then received a further 2 letters from a debt collection agency with a threat of court action if I did not pay the increased charge of £150!! Not wanting to risk a CCJ for such a minor incident, I decided to contact the owners of the car park directly as they have more discretion. They were more than helpful and agreed to cancel the ticket. If you GENUINELY believe your ticket was issued unfairly, I strongly urge you to contact them as you will get no where with UKPC or their Debt recovery agents. Do not ignore it as previously advised - they have clearly got more clued up in the last year!

Smashbutt

Being the original thread starter I can confirm that I still have not paid the fine or been taken to court.

I received around 6 or so letters in total from various companies threatening various outcomes.

All of which I filed away.
The phone never did ring and after about 4 - 6 months the letters dried up.

If anyone would like a full breakdown of letters, dates, threats, company names etc etc please just PM me.

Regards

Steve

trisontana

Hanooly wrote: »

I too got a ticket on the 21st Dec 2011 and chose to ignore it - I was only parked for 15 mins at 6pm! I received a reminder from UKPC with photos, I ignore that too. I then received a further 2 letters from a debt collection agency with a threat of court action if I did not pay the increased charge of £150!! Not wanting to risk a CCJ for such a minor incident, I decided to contact the owners of the car park directly as they have more discretion. They were more than helpful and agreed to cancel the ticket. If you GENUINELY believe your ticket was issued unfairly, I strongly urge you to contact them as you will get no where with UKPC or their Debt recovery agents. Do not ignore it as previously advised - they have clearly got more clued up in the last year!

Why do you think you would have got a CCJ? Do you know how the system operates? They are not doled out automatically you know. For one to be issued the case has to go to court, it's lost and then the defendant fails to pay whatever the judge orders within 28 days.

Ignore is the best policy because the parking companies know that they would lose in the unlikely event they go to court. Don't forget that PPCs and debt recovery agencies are just private companies with no more power than you or me to demand money off people.

wapow

Arent you worried about any CCJ;s or anything to do with credit file?

BTW you guys are so cool ignoring this haha serves em right!!

EDIT - Someone just answered above as i was typing! Nice one

New Question -

Are these guys that issue tickets who are they? Like a private company? Are they the people in the caps walking about with machines? No theyre traffic wardens right? Im confused lol

trisontana

wapow wrote: »

New Question -

Are these guys that issue tickets who are they? Like a private company? Are they the people in the caps walking about with machines? No theyre traffic wardens right? Im confused lol

In private car-parks they are just employees of a private company. As mentioned above, these companies are not the police or council and cannot demand money off people for breaking their rules. Just as you can't "fine" somebody because you don't like the colour of their shirt.

The law of the land states that one private citizen (a parking company for instance) cannot punish another citizen (a motorist). Private parking tickets come under civil law.And that states that you can only claim for actual material loss suffered. In a free car-park that "loss" amounts to nothing. Anything else claimed would be considered an unfair penalty.

Coupon-mad

In a private car park, like in a supermarket, yep you may well have seen one of them walking around with a hand held machine typing in car reg numbers. But you can ignore any fake PCN you get.

Easy to tell a real Council 'warden' = real Civil Enforcement Officer's (CEO's) uniform and CEO number with Council Parking Enforcement displayed on it.

Easy to tell a real Council PCN = it has the word 'Penalty' Charge Notice (fake ones have the word 'Parking' instead) and a real one will have a Council logo and state that any appeal or payment has to go to the Council or their agent.

Why don't you just read the top sticky thread to learn about this scam? 'PPC letters & threats', at the top of this forum. Watch the Watchdog clip - listen to the solicitor's advice on it - and look at the examples of the scamograms that they send out. IGNORE THEM.

give_them_FA

Hanooly wrote: »

I too got a ticket on the 21st Dec 2011 and chose to ignore it - I was only parked for 15 mins at 6pm! I received a reminder from UKPC with photos, I ignore that too. I then received a further 2 letters from a debt collection agency with a threat of court action if I did not pay the increased charge of £150!! Not wanting to risk a CCJ for such a minor incident, I decided to contact the owners of the car park directly as they have more discretion. They were more than helpful and agreed to cancel the ticket. If you GENUINELY believe your ticket was issued unfairly, I strongly urge you to contact them as you will get no where with UKPC or their Debt recovery agents. Do not ignore it as previously advised - they have clearly got more clued up in the last year!

Thanks for your input, Hanooly, but what you need to realise is that you have just been lined up by the second part of the scam.

The first part is when the private company issues the ticket and then sends you a couple of reminders- the amount they're trying to con off you is usually about £50 to £80 or thereabouts.

If that doesn't work, part 2 of the scam kicks into action. They pass your details on to something which masquerades as a debt collection agency, which adds a lot on and threatens you with court, CCJs, bailiffs and credit marking. By this time the demand has risen to usually about £120 to £150 or more.

Sometimes there's even a Part 3, which involves a phoney Solicitor's letter, again saying the case will be taken to court if you don't cough in 10 or 14 days. Or, a relatively new development is to send you a semi-completed claim form- even though that's illegal!

The objective of this campaign is to frighten people into paying money which they don't owe, because (like yourself) they are unsure of the legal position and don't want to risk it.

I am glad you were able to talk the car park owner into getting it dropped. But had you simply held your nerve, it would all have disappeared anyway. They would have given up and gone away.

Why? Because in reality, their utterly preposterous demands have NO validity in law, and CANNOT be enforced in Court. So, other than a maverick that appears to enjoy losing cases, (you know who you are, P.H.) they NEVER try.

All they have is the THREAT. The reality doesn't exist. That is the reason it is a SCAM.

That is the word we are trying to spread, and which we need all posters, (including yourself, Hanooly) to help spread by telling ALL their friends- NEVER pay a private parking ticket.

withabix

Bonzerboy wrote: »

So now their angle is
"A contract was offered by us, to you at the entrance to the car park using big signs. You accepted by the act of parking. You have broken the contract by staying over time and now we are 2 parties to a contract in dispute. Our charge is not a penalty, because that is not allowed. It is an amount agreed upon by you when you accepted this contract."

I have just received such a letter from G24 parking. I think ignoring is no longer an option.

They won't win with that argument either.

give_them_FA

Oh! Bonzerboy! Not managed to delete your board presence this time eh, TROLL!

Take no notice, folks, it is just a sad Parking Company guy masquerading as a genuine poster, repeating their meaningless drivel as though that would legitimise it in some way.