UKPC Parking Charge - accidentally parked in disabled bay

noobieneil

My wife accidentally parked in a disabled space in a free park car park believing it to be a parent & child space outside a branch of Mothercare.

On return to the car she found a Parking Charge from UKPC for £90 or if you pay it within 28 days £45. Checking the space it was indeed an inconsistently marked disabled space compared to those surrounding. On closer investigation there was also a small sign halfway up the nearest lamppost but unless you are driving a truck and parked in one of the clearly marked disabled bays it's not within a normal driver's line of sight. On the day there were many more disabled spaces freely available for those that really needed them and all of them more conveniently located for the nearby stores.

After returning home she agreed with me that it was a genuine mistake but only because the spaces had been cross-hatched and over-painted numerous times making quick identification in a busy car park troublesome.

She emailed UKPC (from her work address) to appeal the fine before the 28 days 'grace' expired raising all the items above and received a message back to say that there are sufficient signs warning vehicle drivers and that without a permit, as was the case here, a Parking Charge is issued. They did not comment on any of the points raised. She then followed this up with another email asking why they had not responded to her points and were penalising her for a genuine mistake when there were many more disabled bays still available. Their final response was that the Appeals Manager had personally reviewed the case and carefully considered all the various points raised. Their view, however, was that these particular circumstances are neither unreasonable nor unjust and so would not be waiving the parking charge in full and to ‘take advantage of the extended discount period and … send your remittance promptly’. She sent a further email asking why they had not answered any of the points raise but this, to date, has not received a reply.

Because she had not received a reply she called UKPC and entered into a not particularly fruitful or calm phone call yesterday where, after stating that they were wasting the time of other customers by talking to her, they hung up! Again ignoring all of the points raised about clear marking. :mad:

After that we did a bit of ranting and research and despite receiving the weekly newsletter have never checked out the hugely helpful forums. The question is what to do now? She has obviously confirmed she was the driver but has the photographic evidence that what she says about unclear marking is actually the case. Should we just wait and see?

We would be hugely grateful for any helpful advice given.

trisontana

From now on just ignore them. They will soon lose interest in you.

As you have now probably found out, both blue badge and P & C spaces have no legal standing in private car-parks.

noobieneil

Thanks trisontana

When we found them we were half tempted to send Martin's dispute a ticket template but I guess it won't change a thing. They know our position.

The bullying tactics that others have been subject to is uncomfortable while it lasts though.

Coupon-mad

noobieneil wrote: »

Thanks trisontana

When we found them we were half tempted to send Martin's dispute a ticket template but I guess it won't change a thing. They know our position.

The bullying tactics that others have been subject to is uncomfortable while it lasts though.

Don't send any template letter - Martin's article is a couple of years old and worded carefully - such as 'don't pay if it's unfair'. Whereas the forum is full of current advice andd we just say DON'T PAY WHATEVER THE CIRCS:

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

Read the top sticky thread 'PPC letters, what to expect' to see what threatograms you will have to ignore. Stop ringing them up, you are taking this fake ticket scam FAR too seriously!

And read 'welcome, please read before posting' (near the top) and watch the Watchdog clip linked on there. Show your wife what you find and stay on the forum, take our advice and IGNORE.

ashleypride

noobieneil wrote: »

Thanks trisontana

When we found them we were half tempted to send Martin's dispute a ticket template but I guess it won't change a thing. They know our position.

As you've seen there is no such thing as an appeal, is it just a con so they can phish for information, telephone/address/email etc so they can bother you more. Do not contact them again.

It's a scam, you haven't done anything wrong, you don't owe them anything.

Kite2010

Complain to Mothercare and say that thanks to harassment from an agent acting on their behalf you shall no longer be shopping there, instead shopping at *name local rival* or on the internet

esmerobbo

Another example of the reason we say don't contact them, they are idiots who are only interested in your hard earned.

Oopsadaisy

Kite2010 wrote: »

Complain to Mothercare and say that thanks to harassment from an agent acting on their behalf you shall no longer be shopping there, instead shopping at *name local rival* or on the internet

Yeah because that 17 yr old thicko that works for them is rreally gonna take that on board.

Oh hang, on write a letter that will be binned as soon as it's received.

L.P.Gibson

Just ignore them. If in the extremely unlikely case they try to take you to a Small Claims Court, you have evidence to show you have tried to resolve the issue but that the company was obstructive. These companies "fish". They throw out lots of bait and see who they "hook".

vax2002

You have not been given a parking ticket or a fine:
From a legal prospective what you have been given is an "invitation to pay a private invoice".
You are legally within your rights to reject the invitation and keep your money:
What will happen is they will buy your private data from DVLA and send a series of menacing letters threatening to take you to court and then more letters from fake debt collectors and fake solicitors again all threatening to take you to court.
They will not take you to court as legally they have no power to fine you or charge you a penalty.
In short it is a scam of impersonation and threats.
HOW TO DEAL:
IGNORE everything, ignore all letters, ignore all fake solicitors letters and ignore all fake debt collectors.
They will get fed up and move on to another victim.
IGNORE Means exactly that IGNORE, you do not appeal, there is no appeal it is part of the scam, you do not bite back, do not write or do anything to correspond and they will go away, if they call your telephone, do not confirm any information place the handset down and leave it of the hook for ten minutes .
BE WARNED evidence on these and other forums clearly describes how people who do pay these hoping they go away receive further demands for more money, often several hundreds of pounds.

PS Contacting them was a very grave mistake as you will now receive twice the hassle, these are crooks scammers liars and thief's and you can not reason with them, beware that if you pay you as plenty of others have reported may be harassed for even more amounts of late payment charges until you do stop paying, so save the effort and follow the advice above.

Kite2010

Oopsadaisy wrote: »

Yeah because that 17 yr old thicko that works for them is rreally gonna take that on board.

Oh hang, on write a letter that will be binned as soon as it's received.

What a 17 yr old thicko is suddenly the manager (or PA to the Manager) of Mothercare?

The more complaints the shops get might make them try and reconsider, and if sales revenues fall they can only blame themselves.

Don't send anything to the PPC, that is where it's going to get ignored and a standard "thanks for your appeal, after careful consideration we have decided to reject the appeal, the charge has now increased to £XXX" letter in return,