Euro car park parking fine . . .to pay or not to pay ?

Hanksy

I recieved a £60 parking ticket last week and dont know if to follow alot of the advise on here that says not to pay .
I was using what i thought to be a council car park due to the council car park pay and display machine to my left as i entered the car park, on my right were raised barriers to an area, i was unsure about wheather i could park beyond the barriers so turned left beyond the pay and display machine into another area of car park . I parked against a broken fence , Stepped across this broken fence , to the nearest council pay and display machine and purchased my ticket with good faith.
On returning to my car later i found a parking ticket from euro cars , it turns out i had parked in a split car park my half being euro cars the other being wokingham district council . . divided by broken fence i had stepped over !!!
The euro car parks attendant has said i can appeal he also admitted 30 to 40 people get tickets each week in this car park , wokingham council has admitted its been an on going problem since year 2000!!
On returning to look at the car park empty the signs are obvious but on entry to euro car park area there is no obvious sign from them that says you are entering their car park.
Should I appeal or pay ?

lucylucky

Why do you think you should appeal or pay?

Choose the third way - do nothing

Coupon-mad

Hanksy wrote: »

I recieved a £60 parking ticket last week and dont know if to follow alot of the advise on here that says not to pay .
I was using what i thought to be a council car park due to the council car park pay and display machine to my left as i entered the car park, on my right were raised barriers to an area, i was unsure about wheather i could park beyond the barriers so turned left beyond the pay and display machine into another area of car park . I parked against a broken fence , Stepped across this broken fence , to the nearest council pay and display machine and purchased my ticket with good faith.
On returning to my car later i found a parking ticket from euro cars , it turns out i had parked in a split car park my half being euro cars the other being wokingham district council . . divided by broken fence i had stepped over !!!
The euro car parks attendant has said i can appeal he also admitted 30 to 40 people get tickets each week in this car park , wokingham council has admitted its been an on going problem since year 2000!!
On returning to look at the car park empty the signs are obvious but on entry to euro car park area there is no obvious sign from them that says you are entering their car park.
Should I appeal or pay ?

You didn't get a parking ticket, this is not a fine, you cannot successfully appeal!:eek:

Look, it's simple, this is a generic SCAM by cowboys let loose in car parks all over the UK.

Please read the stickies (the permanent threads at the top of the forum board). You need to study Euro Car Parks' heading in 'PPC letters, what to expect' so you know what to ignore. And you need to read 'Welcome. Please read before posting'(forgive me for saying aaarrrrrgh - nothing personal, I have posted this soooo many times today to newbies who have joined, come to this board and posted questions already covered by the sticky info!:p). Make sure when reading the stickies that you watch the Watchdog link as well:

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

Certainly do not even think about appealing (as if!). And paying? Don't make me laugh!

If you still have questions after reading those stickies then just cast your eye down and click on ANY thread about anyone who has got any fake PCN from any private company. Notice how many new threads about fake PCNs we have answered this week alone, pages and pages on that link, hundreds of people whose questions are already answered in our main sticky threads - but we have answered every single one, with links, because we HATE this scam and want to spread the word!

IGNORE EURO CAR PARKS, ignore their letters, NOTHING HAPPENS. They have never, ever done Court and their top banana admitted in a national paper recently that they do not. They just rely on threats and intimidation in letters, causing some sad, uninformed victims to panic and pay.



P.S. Oh, and welcome to MSE, have you looked at all the forums, there's tons of info here!

P.P.S. I would use that car park all the time if I were you, now you know about it. If the Council car park costs money and this one doesn't and is policed by parasites with fake PCNs who cannot be bothered to put up clear signage then sod 'em. Euro Car Parks never clamp either, by the way - I love their free car parks, and yes I did get a bogus PCN from them once, over 2 years ago, followed by the usual threatograms. I try hard to collect more but they are lazy and don't bother to slap their fake PCNs on cars much even if you stay all day round here.

Hanksy

Thankyou for advice now busy reading up on Euro car parks and theres lots of it !.Put a £1.20 in Council machine would have only had to pay a £ in Euro car park machine !

Hanksy

My "fine" is due tomoorrow , have decided to wait for the letters to start rolling in !!

helpplease79

Hi, I received a parking ticket today (09/07/11) from a eurocarparks manned shopping area. I did indeed park on the end of a line and NOT in a parking bay. I was not causing an obstruction and literally nipped in to Farm Foods for no more than 5 minutes. The reason I parked there is I had travelled around and around the car park and could not find a space. The yearly precession was going on through the city and everyone who had parked there was probably NOT using the shops. Unfortunately I received a ticket which states "Improperly parked - Failure to adhere to sign-age (Not in marked bay). I have read through these forums and I am un-sure whether to pay the £70 fine (reduced to £50 if paid by the 23rd) or to ignore it as people mention here. If it was a council ticket and for a more reasonable amount I would have no qualms in paying it but £50 seems a little extreme for a 5 minute stupid mistake of mine. Please help, as I don't want to suddenly receive a letter with further charges or have bailiffs knocking at my door.
Many Thanks

helpplease79

Hanksy wrote: »

My "fine" is due tomoorrow , have decided to wait for the letters to start rolling in !!

Hi, was you at fault in order for them to issue you the ticket? I had one today which was totally my fault but I don't know wheter to ignore it or not. If it was a more reasonable amount I would probably pay but £70!!!!!! Hope all goes well for you, please keep us updated.

trisontana

helpplease79 wrote: »

Hi, I received a parking ticket today (09/07/11) from a eurocarparks manned shopping area. I did indeed park on the end of a line and NOT in a parking bay. I was not causing an obstruction and literally nipped in to Farm Foods for no more than 5 minutes. The reason I parked there is I had travelled around and around the car park and could not find a space. The yearly precession was going on through the city and everyone who had parked there was probably NOT using the shops. Unfortunately I received a ticket which states "Improperly parked - Failure to adhere to sign-age (Not in marked bay). I have read through these forums and I am un-sure whether to pay the £70 fine (reduced to £50 if paid by the 23rd) or to ignore it as people mention here. If it was a council ticket and for a more reasonable amount I would have no qualms in paying it but £50 seems a little extreme for a 5 minute stupid mistake of mine. Please help, as I don't want to suddenly receive a letter with further charges or have bailiffs knocking at my door.
Many Thanks

Just ignore them. You don't owe them a penny. As they can only claim for actual material loss suffered then in your case that's a big fat zero.

Bailiffs wont come "knocking on your door". Perhaps you are confusing them with debt collectors. The latter are just private individuals with no more power than you or me to demand money off people.

Bailiffs are "officers of the court" and they only come on the scene if the case goes to court (very unlikely) you lose (very, very unlikely) and then you don't bother to pay whatever the judeg orders within 28 days. This is such a remote possibility it's not worth worrying about.

Coupon-mad

helpplease79 wrote: »

Hi, was you at fault in order for them to issue you the ticket? I had one today which was totally my fault but I don't know wheter to ignore it or not. If it was a more reasonable amount I would probably pay but £70!!!!!! Hope all goes well for you, please keep us updated.

Doesn't matter at all if you were 'at fault', if you pay a PPC you are feeding their scam business.

They have no authority to fine anyone so stop taking it seriously. Of course you must ignore it, they only send some letters out and those letters are shown in our top thread - so it's hardly a surprise or scary when each letter arrives. Their business model is like a protection racket

If I said you were 'at fault' for typing 'was you' above and if I then charged you £70 for your error would you pay me? No of course not! And could I then send a bailiff round to your house collect 'my' money? Of course not, you would owe me nothing - and a fake PCN scam is the same thing!

A PPC is just as powerless ans Euro never, ever do Court so no worries. I had a Euro Car Parks ticket 3 years ago when my car overstayed for 4 hours in a 2 hour car park (deliberately). I ignored it, tis easy!

Have you read the sticky threads at the top of the forum and seen the letters and the Watchdog clip yet?