OPC; DVLA ban lifted and still patrols Wolverhampton Retail Park!

Coblcris

http://www-304.ibm.com/easyaccess/fileserve?contentid=108741

asbokid

Oopsadaisy wrote: »

They pled to 36 counts of something or other

The criminal charges were pretty bad.

Motorists were being illegally harassed for money when they never outstayed the time limit, motorists were being illegally harassed many months after the event, illegal misleading signs were displayed, the Defendants were illegally posing as lawyers and sending letters to illegally harass motorists, etc.

Pretty nasty stuff!

From an earlier media report...

Parking fines firm admits misleading motorists
Thursday 3rd March 2011, 5:00PM GMT.



The company that controls parking at a Black Country shopping centre has admitted misleading motorists, after drivers complained they were wrongly fined.

Trading Standards officers launched an investigation into Observices Parking Consultancy, which controls parking at St John’s Retail Park, Wolverhampton, after shoppers complained over fines issued for parking there.

Shoppers can leave a vehicle for two hours without charge but are fined £100 if they stay longer and warned the bill could rise to £400 if the ticket is challenged.

The car park is monitored by cameras that take a timed photo of vehicles arriving and leaving but there was confusion involving cars visiting twice in one day.

Several drivers alleged that, after making two visits to the site, they received a fine despite never staying more than two hours.

There is also concern that details of fines were not issued for months.

The parking company and Douglas Harris, a director, appeared at Wolverhampton Magistrates Court yesterday.

Harris from Radley, Hertfordshire admitted 13 offences and OPC, based at Elstree, pleaded guilty to 23.

Harris admitted taking more that the required 28 days to request details of the owners of vehicles from the DVLA. He also pleaded guilty to displaying 15 misleading signs at the site and sending letters from a debt recovery firm called Windsor-Smythe and Partners without revealing it was the same company as OPC. The admissions were all made on the basis of neglect rather than connivance.

OPC admitted similar offences and further charges in which details of the “additional vehicle activity” of drivers were ignored.

GUILTY: Douglas Harris of Observices Parking Consultancy

Harris maintained as he left court: “I have done nothing wrong. If we had fought this case it could have put the company into administration.”

Read more: http://www.expressandstar.com/news/2011/03/03/parking-fines-firm-admits-misleading-motorists/

And here: http://www.expressandstar.com/news/2011/03/31/26000-fine-for-parking-firm/

Kite2010

Who ate all the pies?

Was it Douglas Harris by any chance?

asbokid

BarryW wrote: »

Unbelievable - have OPC paid all their fines? - have they paid VAT on this illicit income? What about the people they took money from when they should not have - will they get their money back?

Presumably the BPA are happy to have officially certified crooks on their books - as long as they pay.

I wonder what on earth the DVLA's criteria is for a complete ban and what the basis is for lifting this one. Grubby little business.

From a Freedom of Information Act request, we learn that in spite of the 36 criminal convictions and £30,000 fine imposed on OPC, the DVLA only briefly suspended OPC's access to the registered keeper database!


3 April 1996 -- Date of Incorporation of OBSERVICES PARKING CONSULTANCY LTD (OPC)

1996 - 2011 -- Thousands of complaints about OPC and its criminal practices are investigated by Trading Standards departments across the UK.

2 March 2011 -- OPC and its director Douglas Harris are found guilty of 36 criminal offences at Wolverhampton Magistrates Court and are fined £30,000.

3 March 2011 -- A further 10 keeper details are released by DVLA to OPC

4 March 2011 -- DVLA finally suspends database access to OPC. The Agency claims that this is the first it has learned of the complaints.

29 March 2011 -- DVLA reinstates OPC with a provisional (paper-based) access to keeper records.

29 April 2011 -- DVLA fully reinstates OPC's electronic access to the database

4 May 2011 -- Pensioner Chris Edwards, 66, tells the Express & Star newspaper that he has received an unlawful parking notice from OPC. Edwards said of the DVLA’s decision to remove the ban: "It’s a disgrace. The DVLA should not have made a decision like this and I am surprised OPC is allowed to continue".

---

The DVLA suspended OPC's database access for barely one month!

Laughable!

Oopsadaisy

asbokid wrote: »

The criminal charges were pretty bad.


Harris admitted taking more that the required 28 days to request details of the owners of vehicles from the DVLA. He also pleaded guilty to displaying 15 misleading signs at the site and sending letters from a debt recovery firm called Windsor-Smythe and Partners without revealing it was the same company as OPC. The admissions were all made on the basis of neglect rather than connivance.

This is hardly 'pretty bad'...more than 28 days, 15 crappy signs and not saying 'we're the same firm as the previous letter sender'........hardly hardcore.

Oopsadaisy

asbokid wrote: »

The DVLA suspended OPC's database access for barely one month!

The firm addressed the issues from the court case and reapplied for access.

The DVLA would have a difficult time justifying refusal [even if they wanted to].

I'm sure OPC would have something to ay about 'restraint of trade', etc, etc, etc.

asbokid

Douglas Harris needs just 29 confused drivers like the one below, and his £30,000 fine will soon be paid off!

asbokid

Oopsadaisy wrote: »

[36 criminal convictions and a £30,000 fine]....This is hardly 'pretty bad'...hardly hardcore.

Is that you? Douglas? Douglas Harris of Observices Parking Consultancy?!

GUILTY: Douglas Harris of Observices Parking Consultancy

There are some interesting lines of discussion on pepipoo.com about OPC and its latest court case.

Posters at pepipoo are speculating that Confiscation Proceedings could follow the criminal convictions of Harris and OPC, to recover the £30,000+ in fines and court costs.

This has led some to question whether OPC may be wound up fairly soon to avoid coughing up the money.

Harris is known to own a number of other companies, at least one of which is active, should OPC choose to "phoenix" the business at short notice:

NATIONWIDE CCTV SERVICES LIMITED
NATIONWIDE SECURITY (EASTERN) LIMITED
OBSERVICES CAR PARK MANAGEMENT LIMITED
OPC CAR PARK MANAGEMENT LIMITED
NATIONWIDE CARPARK MANAGEMENT LIMITED
NATIONWIDE CARPARK CONSULTANCY LIMITED
W. SMYTHE DEBT RECOVERY LIMITED
NATIONWIDE GROUP OF COMPANIES LIMITED
OBSERVICES SECURITY GROUP OF COMPANIES LIMITED
OBSERVICES SECURITY GROUP LIMITED

Oopsadaisy

asbokid wrote: »

Douglas Harris needs just 29 confused drivers like the one below, and his £30,000 fine will soon be paid off!

This is from 2 yrs ago.

The RK didn't respond to the claim which to me would suggest they are either stupid or they don't live at the address anymore [so enforcement is going to be difficult for OPC].

Would be interesting to here what happened.

But yeah you're right.

asbokid

This from the consumer action group newsletter for April 2011.

OPC Parking Come Unstuck in Court - Again and Again and Again

OPC, one of the few private parking companies that actually issue claims, don't seem to be having much success in the courts.

In September, a District Judge at Dartford County Court stayed 27 claims issued by OPC while one test case went ahead. This was adjourned in November and again in January and is now due to be heard in July.

In February, OPC lost at an appeal hearing at Worcester Combined Court. HH Judge Daniel Pearce-Higgins QC found that:

• the sum amounted to an unenforceable penalty clause
• no loss caused was by breach of contract
• the common discount period reinforces lack of provable loss

In full at: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=27302&d=1304102176