Car Park attendant stupidity

st999

I was talking to a friend who has a blue badge and a child seat in his car.

At a certain car park the parent and child parking spaces are equidistant from the disabled parking spaces.

When he has his grandchild he parks in the parent and child spaces because they are nearer to the car park entrance unless they are full then he uses the disabled spaces.

His grandchild is just old enough that he places the blue badge on the dashboard for his granddad, who always checks that it is displayed correctly.

This day he parks in the parent and child spaces but his grandchild still puts the blue badge on the dashboard, upside down but granddad does not bother correcting it.

After all it is not required.

When he come out of the supermarket what does he find?

A ticket requesting £40 for failing to display his blue badge correctly.

Who employs these people?

gordon2

At a certain car park

It wasn't Morrisons was it?

fluffnutter

Aaaarrrggghh, don't pay it! I assume this is a private car park. In which case, please tell your friend to ignore all the letters. They're just scammers and they've got no legal right to demand money.

It's not even about stupidity - it's merely about extortion and they'll use any old 'reason' to 'fine' you, deliberately so. I'm sure the attendant was fully aware that it wasn't even a disabled space (which incidentally have no legal distinction in a private car park anyway - they're purely there for courtesy and anyone can park in them), he was just using the upside down badge as an excuse to issue one of their spurious 'fines'.

fluffnutter

If he thinks he's going to be able to appeal and they'll see sense and cancel the 'fine', they won't. There's no point in him even trying to argue his case - he literally just needs to ignore the invoice and any subsequent letters he might get. *

*That's if it's a private car park.

pogofish

Yup - have a look for the company on the parking board to see what to expect. Ignoring them is usually the best course of action.

And he can prepare himself for the next stage by looking at the sticky thread to see all the standard and meaningless letters they are going to send, before giving-up entirely.

st999

If he thinks he's going to be able to appeal and they'll see sense and cancel the 'fine', they won't.

He won't, he will not pay anything and if they start harassing him he will write to all the tabloid papers about the stupidity of car parking attendants.

That's if it's a private car park

What, you think a council run car park attendant would be so stupid?

That's an insult to council car park attendants, unless anyone knows better.

pogofish

TBF, he would probably be better writing to the press about the stores complicity in hiring the companies who issue these scam tickets to begin with.

The attendant may be a bam but in most cases they are the most minor partof the scam.

Coopdivi

st999 I've got bad news for you. You need to buy a new needle. The one you're using at the moment keeps playing the same old tune over and over. And over.

Driver8

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/forum/parking-traffic-offences.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.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/forum/parking-traffic-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.

st999

st999 I've got bad news for you. You need to buy a new needle.

So does Driver8.

Anytime someone posts about a parking ticket scam he cuts and pastes his usual post.

We are not all stupid.

Well except for the posters who post on here asking should I pay.

I have never posted on here that I would pay or even consider paying.

Neither did I say that my friend intended to pay either.

Nor did I ever mention fine, though if I did it was in error.

Driver8

st999 wrote: »

So does Driver8.

Anytime someone posts about a parking ticket scam he cuts and pastes his usual post.

We are not all stupid.

Well except for the posters who post on here asking should I pay.

I have never posted on here that I would pay or even consider paying.

Neither did I say that my friend intended to pay either.

Nor did I ever mention fine, though if I did it was in error.

Listen sunshine, i will cut and paste what i put on here as many times as i want. I do it so as many people can see it so it hurts the PPC's. Knowledge is power.

Now run along and mind your own business.