Smart Parking/TCP Ticket In Co op Car Park - Advice Appreciated

woodbine66

Hello to all. My first post here, so please bear with me.

Went to my local Co Op on Monday (29/4/13), but the car park was full. There is a space that isn't marked as a space, but causes no obstruction to anything, so I parked my van there.

Went back 15 mins later to find a ticket from a company called Smart Parking, 'fining' me £90 (£45 if paid in 14 days) for not parking in a marked space.

What's the best way to handle it, ignore, appeal, etc? Should I try a bit of a b s letter to Co op area manager and CEO first?

However, I have spotted a few interesting and possibly useful discrepancies that may help my case;

1) The ticket misdescribes my van as a car and also has the colour as silver, when the reg. doc. says grey

2) The ticket accuses me of not parking in a marked bay. However, on their signs, this isn't specified as one of the 3 ticketable breachs of conditions; ie. (A) parking in a disabled bay, (B) Staying over 2 hours, (C) parking in an obstructive way. I did neither of these, and definitely caused no obstruction.

3) The signs in the car park state that TCP (Town & City Parking) control the car park. I had a ticket from Smart Parking, so do they have the right to issue tickets?

If I had to appeal my case, do any of these anomalies strengthen my argument, or help in any way?

Any advice how to proceed would be appreciated.

Coupon-mad

This should work, saves typing it out every day:

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=site%3Aforums.moneysavingexpert.com+Smart+TCP+name+appeal

Happy reading of LOTS of similar threads, we know about the name change too:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4572465

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4576679


Right now do NOTHING except complain to the Co-op Store Manager (not the little girl on the CS desk kiosk!). Store Managers can get this harassment stopped if they can be bothered. Be angry, be assertive and icily polite. It's NOT a fine, it's harassment.

If this was in England/Wales only, then appeal once you get the first letter.

Wait for the first letter, do NOT appeal now except if this isn't your own car (company or hire cars would be different). You want to simply wait for the Notice to Keeper, so show it to us please when you get it (post a broken link as you can't post full links yet). Don't appeal yet.




HTH

Stroma

You don't say if this is in England or Wales. But in general if its not on the sign it can't possibly be a term for parking, you can either appeal, ignore or pay. I suggest that you read some of the threads to see what suits you. But first confirm your location as in which part of the uk you are in.

woodbine66

Stroma wrote: »

You don't say if this is in England or Wales. But in general if its not on the sign it can't possibly be a term for parking, you can either appeal, ignore or pay. I suggest that you read some of the threads to see what suits you. But first confirm your location as in which part of the uk you are in.

Hi Stroma

I'm in England (Bristol).

I would think that legally, they have to have all I s dotted and T s crossed, but their whole approach appears sloppy. Trying to get me for something that isn't even specified on their signs (which will be photgraphed tomorrow) appears an own goal. They may say that I was causing an obstruction if I wasn't in a marked space, but surely they would have to prove this?

Do the discrepancies over company names and my vehicle details count for anything?

Thanks for your help.

woodbine66

Coupon mad>>>>>>>> Many thanks for your info and help. Will try leaning on the 12 year-old store manager a bit.

Will also show the letter on here when it arrives.

Thanks again

atilla

woodbine66 wrote: »

Hi Stroma

I'm in England (Bristol).

I would think that legally, they have to have all I s dotted and T s crossed, but their whole approach appears sloppy. Trying to get me for something that isn't even specified on their signs (which will be photgraphed tomorrow) appears an own goal. They may say that I was causing an obstruction if I wasn't in a marked space, but surely they would have to prove this?

Do the discrepancies over company names and my vehicle details count for anything?

Thanks for your help.

They do and it is.

Don't bother thinking about 'appealing' to not so smart. Focus your ire on THE store Manager.

Little to nothing to worry about though.

woodbine66

Just got back from taking a few photos of the sign in the car park (Co op,Bristol) that gave me a PCN. If you copy the link below into a browser address, making sure there are no gaps between the characters, you can see a small album of photos -


ht

tp://w

ww.myalbum.co

.uk/Album=U8QCS7T4


Points to note about the sign are

1) Although I have a 'ticket' from Smart Parking, The signs still show TCP as managing the site

2) The ticket was issued on the grounds that I hadn't parked in a marked space. This isn't one of the three conditions on the sign for receiving a ticket. They could say that I parked obstructively, as per the sign, but I didn't obstruct anything - presumably it's up to them to prove that I did.

Any thought or comments on these out of date signs and my case would be appreciated. Many thanks.

nigelbb

Here's the link http://www.myalbum.co.uk/Album=U8QCS7T4

Coupon-mad

Not only does it not state 'parking outside of a marked bay' as a contravention but it also is not worded as a contractual agreement with the driver. Not seeing any wording saying 'By parking here the drivers of vehicles contractually agree to pay...'

So they can't be alleging 'contract' (one would assume) so must be an alleged breach of terms/trespass, for which the charge has to be 'a genuine pre-estimate of loss'. All ammo for your future appeal wording because there has been no loss to Asda nor to a random onsite protection racketeer whose only income in a free car park is...any paid fake PCNs. And they certainly do not run at a constant loss, which is the implication!

Wait for that NTK unless Asda's 12-year-old staff cancel it first.

woodbine66

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> UPDATE <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<


It's now been a month since I got my PCN stuck to the window of my van. I've not heard a dickey bird from TCP/Not-So Smart Parking. Does this mean that they won't be pursuing me, or are they normally slow to chase?

Wondering if being a van made any difference. It's registered in the name of my one-man-band business. Perhaps they see commercial vehicles registered in company names as not worth the aggro?

Stroma

No on the contrary they see company vehicles as a money spinner as companies normally just pay invoices and charge their employees. If you wait they will write to you