Over stay parking charge at ASDA Bedmister...DO I PAY OR IGNORE??

the_red_raver

Hi all,

i havent been on here for a while but i would reaaaaaly like some advise please.

back in november 2012 i parked in the carpark at asda in bedminster, bristol with my 2 young children in a child space. done a weekly shop, stopped for a coffee and lunch for kids at McDonalds which are inside the asda store, then packed the shopping in the car then i bumped into my mother!! she wanted to get a bit of shopping too and i offered to take her home so we went back into asda , more shopping and then left.

i was not aware that i overstayed as i have shopped there for years with no problems, until i recieved a notice from TCP ( town & city parking) with a picture of the front and rear registration entering and upon exit of the carpark , no picture of who was driving at all but the letter was addressed to me but no first name , just innitial.

i thought it was a joke at first, googled it and people just said rip up the letter, which i did (which was not even sent recorded delivery).

recieved another letter2 months later stating that the charge has gone up to £70 and if ignored will result in a summons or writ being raised recovery....i also ignored.

today, 3 months later , recieved another letter (not recorded delivery) from Debt Recovery Plus Ltd. explaining that my vehicle was parked in breach of the agreed terms and conditions regarding parking on the private land of ASDA....and has gone upto £120.

they state that section 4 of schedule 4 of the protection of freedoms act 2012...WHATS THAT ALL ABOUT??

down to the question, do i ignore this again or pay? looks offitial but still hasnt been addressed to me in person, its just what they get from dvla i suppose? plus i cant afford a CCJ as this will effect my wifes line of work.

WHAT SHALL I DO?
:beer: ALL

FatAndy

The letter you received almost certainly said "may result in a summons or writ being raised" so ask yourself why they're spending all this time and effort and getting fake debt collection agencies to send you threatograms rather than actually taking you to court and getting their money that way? Surely they're not scared at the prospect of having stand in front of a judge if their charges are genuinely enforceable?

If it makes you feel better you could ask to speak the manager at Asda and tell neither you or your mother will ever visit his store again and you'll be advising all you other family and friends to do likewise. And more to point you should follow through on that promise, why should you support a retailer that "rewards" a loyal customer by allowing them to be scammed by a bunch of cowboys. I've stopped going to my local branch of Asda (Llandudno) and I've never even had a fake parking ticket, I just boycott them as a matter of principle.

Stroma

Debt recovery plus specialise in sending junk mail to people begging for money they are not entitled to, they will send a couple of letters, then all of sudden you'll get a couple from zenith collections, if you look at the bottom of their letter you'll see that it's still debt recovery plus but pretending to be someone else.

If you play extra close attention to the signatures you will see James coming a girl across both companies, same signatures. We have asked them if they are having gender issues but they refuse to answer.

In regards to a ccj there is no chance of that happening unless they make a claim, the chances of that happening is about the same as a lotto jackpot win. Schedule 4 of the protection of freedom act 2012 is meaningless for you as they are already writing to you , all it is registered keeper liability.

But can I ask do you have the original ticket or letters for this company, can you give us the company number, as tcp don't exist anymore and are now smart parking, it would be unfortunate for them if you are being pursued for money by a company that doesn't exist any longer.

Steve059

I've been trying to get a 'speculative invoice' to ignore and waste this PTC's time and money in ASDA Bedminster Bristol for ages. I even get my fuel first and then go out and back in again in order to breach the "no return in 2 hours" clause in the 'alleged contract'.

LinnyB_3

Hi all,
I've received a letter from debt recovery plus today saying that their client (smart parking ltd) have already tried to contact me regarding my breach of contract in asda car park back in November 2012. I did stay over two hours, however this is the first I've heard of it and haven't had any communication from anyone about this! I didn't get a parking ticket at the time but they do have my car registration number on the letter. They are asking for £120 - do I just ignore or do anything in particular?! Im getting married in 2 weeks and don't have that money!! Thanks for any advice!

Stroma

Please create your own thread below, we try and keep one issue to one thread if possible, or just read the comments above yours
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=163

Coupon-mad

the_red_raver wrote: »

...today, 3 months later , recieved another letter (not recorded delivery) from Debt Recovery Plus Ltd. explaining that my vehicle was parked in breach of the agreed terms and conditions regarding parking on the private land of ASDA....and has gone upto £120.

Standard letter chain, you should be just playing snap with these letters right through to the Zenith ones at the end of the scam:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2329119

The amount hasn't gone up of course, because you won't be paying anything.

the_red_raver wrote: »

they state that section 4 of schedule 4 of the protection of freedoms act 2012...WHATS THAT ALL ABOUT??

It's about not much except banning clamping and stopping people from being able to just say 'I wasn't the driver', that's all. Nothing else, they are just trying to pretend the Act changed things significantly - but it didn't. See here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4360185

the_red_raver wrote: »

down to the question, do i ignore this again or pay? looks offitial but still hasnt been addressed to me in person, its just what they get from dvla i suppose? plus i cant afford a CCJ as this will effect my wifes line of work.

WHAT SHALL I DO?

Not 'official' at all, just a standard computer mailshot from a debt collector (pen pusher, not a bailiff or anything to worry about) trying to scare you into paying money not owed at all. And they can't just apply for a CCJ! This will NOT affect your credit rating, it's like ignoring a series of phishing emails. This old but still good thread from pepipoo forums explains about the CCJ misunderstanding:

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=24362

And here's my usual reply to newbies with even more links for you to read and laugh at, now that you understand this is all a scam:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4458671

And lastly, you said this is TCP, notorious and laughed at a lot on here! Around the time you got that fake PCN they changed their name to Smart Parking Ltd. Companies House, the BPA and the DVLA have all been engaged in the good fight against these muppets.

Here's some dirt about them (they were banned by the DVLA at one point):

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=75552

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=76929&st=0&p=789381

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=75638

Ignore the whole scam as you are too late to try the POPLA appeal option anyway, it won't matter because ignoring is still a perfectly good option for these scammers.



HAVE YOU COMPLAINED TO ASDA YET ABOUT THIS HARASSMENT????

atilla

Yes, just safely ignore, unless you want to have fun with them of course.
As I recall, from my visit to the Bedminster store that's one they'll have been told to target due to the number of people who park there whilst shopping elsewhere. They'll just be playing the numbers game, but they just spend money on junk mail in the hope of catching enough victims.

the_red_raver

thank you so much coupon-mad , much appreciated!:beer:

i used to park in there and walk to town before (naughty i know) but the car park is huuuuuge but as i done my weekly shop spending over £180 i think its very bad indeed and i may visit the manager there.....just wish i kept the receipt from shopping to show i was there for a long time FOR A REASON.....spending my well earned cash to his pocket!!:mad:

the_red_raver

LinnyB wrote: »

Hi all,
I've received a letter from debt recovery plus today saying that their client (smart parking ltd) have already tried to contact me regarding my breach of contract in asda car park back in November 2012. I did stay over two hours, however this is the first I've heard of it and haven't had any communication from anyone about this! I didn't get a parking ticket at the time but they do have my car registration number on the letter. They are asking for £120 - do I just ignore or do anything in particular?! Im getting married in 2 weeks and don't have that money!! Thanks for any advice!

hi, just read this thread with my EXACT same letters at the EXACT same month in the same carpark....DO NOT PAY - JUST IGNORE.

the_red_raver

Steve059 wrote: »

I've been trying to get a 'speculative invoice' to ignore and waste this PTC's time and money in ASDA Bedminster Bristol for ages. I even get my fuel first and then go out and back in again in order to breach the "no return in 2 hours" clause in the 'alleged contract'.

:rotfl:heres me worrying and then you want to get one!!! lol

mate, just park there , get the bus to town for the day and then pick the car up later.....you may even get your car washed with an i.o.u on the windscreen or even a rubber wheel clamp :eek: