Wickes and G24 - let battle commence

Carbon_Altered

Hi

I've read the forum, so you and I both know the issue!

I was actually a genuine customer at Wickes and have the receipt (for close to £200) to prove it. G24 claim I was in the car park for 2 hours when the limit is 90 minutes.

I know I could just ignore it, but I wanted to do something. So I wrote the following to Wickes head of customer services:

Mr Howe
I was a customer at your Catford store on March 28th. I was in your store for just over two hours during which time I spent close to £200 for a home improvement project.
On April 8th I was issued with a "Contractual Parking Charge Notice" attempting to bill me £100 for staying longer than the 90 minutes allowed in the carpark.

I am sure that this is a mistake and that you would not want to put off customers from spending their money at your stores with an overly restrictive car park policy.
I am able to provide copies of both the car park charge and the receipt for the goods purchased at that time which I am happy to send to you if you provide me a postal address.
I am also aware that the carpark is monitored by G24 ltd and not Wickes, but as I am a customer of your company I would expect you to be able to say who is allowed to use your carparks, and I am sure customers spending nearly £200 will be high on that list!
I look forward to hearing from you and receiving confirmation that the charge was in error and has therefore been waived.
Kind regards

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And got a response that I should contact G24 with my Wickes receipt and they'll waive the charge. However, having read up, I really don't want to deal with G24. But then again, with the proof of purchase and email from Wickes, surely they can't refuse me, can they?

Well I intend to find out and thought I'd post my findings here for future reference in case others are in the same boat.
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The_Slithy_Tove

Carbon_Altered wrote: »

[FONT=&quot]And got a response that I should contact G24 with my Wickes receipt and they'll waive the charge.[/FONT]

Tell Wickes that they are responsible for the actions of their contractors, i.e. G24, so it's up to them to sort out their own subcontractors. Remind them that if G24 continue to pursue you, it will be Wickes who will jointly facing a harassment suit.

Carbon_Altered

So I told the customer service guy that I wasn't happy dealing with G24 given their reputation, plus the fact it is Wickes' car park.

I also pointed out that in the photo they took of my car leaving the carpark you can see a load of the wood I'd bought at Wickes, a photo that may help me from a Wickes-wanting-to-avoid-bad-PR point of view.

Anyway, a guy from Wickes customer services now wants to talk to me on the phone. Will see what he has to say.

Coupon-mad

Funnily enough I would deal with G24 and send a really soft appeal:

'I was a customer at Wickes and I have my receipt as proof, please cancel this fake PCN [{call a spade a spade I always say!!}] or give me a POPLA code and POPLA will cancel it - at your expense. As a matter of principle, I will not send you a copy of my receipt as you have no legal right to it and I do not recognise any contract with your firm.

But you should know that I have discussed it with Wickes themselves - I prefer to deal with the organ grinder - and I will produce the receipt for POPLA if you want to fund that stage of appeal, your choice.'

Half_way

Can i have a go at amending that


I was a customer at Wickes and I have my receipt as proof, cancel this fake fine dressed up as a parking charge imediatly [{call a spade a spade I always say!!}] or give me a POPLA code and POPLA will cancel it - at your expense, you should also be aware that any decision made by POPLA is only binding upon yoursleves, and not on me.
Also as a matter of principle, I will not send you a copy of my receipt as you have no legal right to it and I do not recognise any contract with your firm.

But you should know that I have discussed it with Wickes themselves - I prefer to deal with the organ grinder - and I will produce the receipt for POPLA if you want to fund that stage of appeal, your choice.'

Carbon_Altered

So I spoke to the guy in Wickes customer services, explaining that I don't really want to deal with G24, so he took the ticket details and said he'd call me back. Five minutes later he calls and says the ticket is waived, simple as that.

Now, of course, this assumes that G24 don't mess up the admin part of it so I'm not totally convinced it's all over, but seems like good news.

Just shows how being forthright, but polite, gets you a long way. I was all up for yelling at someone when I first got the "fine", but I think being calm got me a lot further.

Guys_Dad

Carbon_Altered wrote: »

So I spoke to the guy in Wickes customer services, explaining that I don't really want to deal with G24, so he took the ticket details and said he'd call me back. Five minutes later he calls and says the ticket is waived, simple as that.

Now, of course, this assumes that G24 don't mess up the admin part of it so I'm not totally convinced it's all over, but seems like good news.

Just shows how being forthright, but polite, gets you a long way. I was all up for yelling at someone when I first got the "fine", but I think being calm got me a lot further.

Yes I agree - depending upon what your objective is, of course. If it is getting the PPN charge removed, then you took the right route with a good result.

But - and I am being honest here - some regulars also want to st*ff it to them as well, and the letters supplied above would have dragged them into POPLA and hopefully got a good result there.

The main thing is you got a result - we hope !!!!!!!

Carbon_Altered

Guys_Dad wrote: »

But - and I am being honest here - some regulars also want to st*ff it to them as well, and the letters supplied above would have dragged them into POPLA and hopefully got a good result there.

I was fully prepared to go down this route, but with Wickes being (apparently) reasonable about it, I can't really justify escalating it.

However, should G24 attempt to mess me around, I'll be all over them with the knowledge / advice gained here!

Half_way

Did you manage to get it in writing, or even an email confirmation that it has been cancelled?
Despite what Wickes may have instructed the PPC to do, more often than not the PPC will be a law unto itself, dont be surprised to see a follow up letter from the PPC demanding more money and threats.
In the meantime on the subject of Wickes and parking companies read this
http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?act=attach&type=post&id=16231