Asda & tcp

wilt44

Can anyone please give me some advice. My father in law has received a fine for parking in his local Asda car park disabled bays. He is 80 years old, registered disabled and was recently widowed. He has received a letter to say that he must pay his £60 fine within the next 14 days or he will leave him with an administration charge and then debt recovery. The only thing that we can think is that he may not have put his blue disabled badge in the window. With the recent death of his partner he sometimes becomes a little forgetful.He shops there almost every other day and until now has never got into this situation. Am i best to write to them to appeal this and ask for proof of not having badge displayed or appeal it in some other grounds. His tax disc does clearly say that he is excempt from paying as disabled and has a mobility car.:(:(

daveyjp

Don't involve the parking company - they are a bunch of scammers.

Write a stern letter to Chief Exec at Asda HQ telling them to back off - also ask him how he sleeps at night knowing he contracts with companies who harrass 80 year old widows for unproven debts.

AlexisV

I'd go and talk to customer services in Asda with your father in law. Do not communicate with the parking company - they will fob you off whatever you say. There is no appeal process because they are running a con.

taffy056

Well as its a private parking company he owes them nothing, the blue badge scheme is not intended for private car parks, and as the car park is free there is no loss at all, can I suggest that you sit him down for 40 minutes with the videos from this thread, once he sees it I am betting he will be livid with the company trying to con him

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3164256

Sir_Roger_deLodger

First of all he hasn't been fined, TCP are a private company and do not have the power to issue fines.
Secondly, the blue badge scheme does not apply on private car parks anyway. Disabled bays on these car parks are for the use of anyone with a disability, blue badge or not.

Under no circumstances contact them, there is no such thing as an appeal with these parasites, they just want your money.

Expect a few begging letters from "debt collectors" [note these are NOT bailiffs and cannot do anything] and dodgy "solicitors". Just ignore them all and they will go away and pester someone else.

Read all the threads on this forum about TCP and other private parking companies, you will see that the "industry" is run by scum who see vulnerable people like your father in law as easy targets.

Complain most strongly to Asda and tell them that you will not be shopping there again unless they stop employing cowboys to persecute their customers.

SodG24

Ignore everything the PPC sends you. Send an email to andy.clarke@asda.co.uk - he's the CEO of Asda UK and hopefully might be getting a little fed up of emails about the parking scammers his company employ by now. Don't forget to mention your father in law will be going to Tesco / Sainsburys / Morrisons / Co-Op ( delete as appropriate ) from now on.
[EMAIL="andy.clarke@asda.co.uk"]
[/EMAIL]

McKneff

You need to do absolutely nothing at all.

Ignore everything they send you. They have no authority to fine anyone, only the courts and police have that authority,

I will post an article in a minute which you may find interesting and will reassure your father in law.

Shame on them.

McKneff

Here you go, have a read of this.

Cut and pasted from another thread.
PRIVATE PARKING TICKETS - DON'T PAY!
IT IS NOT A FINE! YOU HAVE DONE NOTHING ILLEGAL!

This is an information page for the thousands of people who receive "tickets" from private companies in the UK ever day at supermarkets, retail parks, and in any other privately-owned carpark.

We are NOT encouraging anybody to openly flout parking restrictions on private land, or to refuse to pay reasonable charges for parking. Landowners have a right to make reasonable charges for the use of their land.

For advice specific to your case, you should visit the forums at http://forums.pepipoo.com or http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...affic-offences.

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

1. What you should know about these companies

It is important to remember that private parking companies (or PPCs as they are often called) have NO OFFICIAL POWERS - that's right, none at all! They give out their "tickets" on the basis that you have seen the signs in their car park and that you have therefore agreed to a contract obliging you to pay a certain sum of money.


2. What happens to people who don't pay?

In 99.9% of cases, absolutely NOTHING! The company pays the DVLA £2.50 to get your address, and then sends lots of threatening letters. In the main, these letters can be safely IGNORED. The only way the company can actually force you to pay is by taking you to the small claims court, which costs them even more money. And they are by no means guaranteed to win! And they practically never do.

The two main reasons for this (among others) are the following:

- Only the person DRIVING the car could ever have agreed to any such parking contract. The company can only get the Registered Keeper's address from the DVLA: you don't have to tell them who was driving.

-Many of these charges are so extortionately high that they constitute a penalty, which is unenforceable in a consumer contract.


3. Can they affect my credit rating?

NO! The only way your credit rating could be affected by ignoring private parking companies is if you were taken to court, lost, and then still refused to pay. But they will not take you to court.


IN SHORT

The vast majority of the time, you can safely IGNORE tickets from private parking companies, they are not official fines.

The vast majority of the time, you can safely IGNORE the threatening letters, including those from debt collection agencies.

You DO NOT have to pay a penny of your hard-earned money to these companies. Remember that the chances of being taken to court are very slim indeed.

DO NOT IGNORE COURT PAPERS!
If you receive real court papers from a private parking company (very rare) then you should go to http://forums.pepipoo.com or http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...affic-offences for help defending the claim. Do not be afraid to sign up and ask questions regarding any paperwork you are not sure about.



Don’t believe the above? Watch a solicitor on Watchdog advising you what to do with the scam invoices.

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

THEY ARE NOT FINES

Only the Police, Courts or Council’s can fine you. NOT a private company, please remember that.

Hope that helps, good luck and tell him not to worry.

molerat

I was waiting at the cs desk in my local the other day and a 90 yr old was in with his (slightly !!) younger friend as he had received a ticket for his bb being expired by one day. He was in a right panic. The lady on cs was going to get the ticket cancelled but how much stress had this moronic ppc goon with no braincells caused ? I explained to his friend about the ppc situation and he took it in and hopefully will help out if the situation escalates. :mad: