Car Parking fine form my OWN Gym Carpark !!! Virgin Active West Midlands.

justwondering25

Car Parking fine form my OWN Gym Carpark !!! Virgin Active West Midlands.

Basically received a notice in the post this morning stating i had overstayed beyond 4 hours in my gym car park (by 48 minutes) to be honest its a big gym with a excellent wet area , nice cafe etc , 4 hours really is not that long in there !

Its from a company called “ MET Parking Services”
I have been billed for a “Parking Charge amount due £100.00” but if i pay within 14 days it can be reduced to £60.00


There is signs in the car park with regards to staying beyond 4 hours , but i have not really paid much attention to them ! so perhaps this is my own fault .

I Called my gym and they said , they had a POD ! ( basically a computer you can enter your car reg into , to over ride the 4 hour limit) I have never seen this pod etc , which i assume there is.

There is no mention of county courts , no mention of this been a penalty .......

I will be speaking with the Gym Manager also ....what a great way to start the weekend !!

Will i have to pay the Parking Charge , or are the company no more than toothless tigers ? This is on Private land not a council run car park.

Stroma

No you won't have to pay this ridiculous charge. Get the Gym to cancel it, if they don't come back here and we can help you challenge this fake ticket, and get it cancelled.

justwondering25

Thank you Stroma , that has made my weekend much better already

The Power of the Might Moneysaving experts forum is a mighty force for justice

Thank you

justwondering25

Help Please.........UPDATE.

Okay , so i went to the gym , they did not cancel the charge , since then i have simply ignored all letters......

but now i have had a letter from "Debt Recovery Plus"

Basically , it states , "Demand for payment of an unpaid parking charge £150.00"
Our client MET parking services ltd , has written to you recently etc etc etc.

then it states "what if you dont pay what you owe" by 16/10/2013 , we will recommend to the creditors solicitor Court Action ...

Have i missed the boat in been able to challenge this , or should i just keep on ignoring these letters !

Coupon-mad

Ignore DRP and Zenith (same firm) letters completely. Same old letter chain as we've ignored for years. Laugh at them. Just keep checking the letters and all the time it's a debt collector, ignore them.

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=78495

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3829727

same advice as here today:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4785873

Next time appeal in time to beat them at POPLA which is the current advice to quash these fake PCNs.

Hovite_2

justwondering25 wrote: »

Help Please.........UPDATE.

Okay , so i went to the gym , they did not cancel the charge , since then i have simply ignored all letters......

but now i have had a letter from "Debt Recovery Plus"

Basically , it states , "Demand for payment of an unpaid parking charge £150.00"
Our client MET parking services ltd , has written to you recently etc etc etc.

then it states "what if you dont pay what you owe" by 16/10/2013 , we will recommend to the creditors solicitor Court Action ...

Have i missed the boat in been able to challenge this , or should i just keep on ignoring these letters !

When's you gym contract up for renewal ? You might want to point out to the manager ( and not one of his / her staff ) that you will be going to a new gym when it is as they employ criminals to "manage" their car parks. Of course this can be avoiding if they get the ticket cancelled.

Aaron_Aadvark

Hovite wrote: »

When's you gym contract up for renewal ? You might want to point out to the manager ( and not one of his / her staff ) that you will be going to a new gym when it is as they employ criminals to "manage" their car parks. Of course this can be avoiding if they get the ticket cancelled.

I presume your annual gym membership is several times that of the "speculative invoice".

justwondering25

Well believe it or not , i have been with the gym for around 5 years !!! my contract is on a rolling contract.....but it has remained at a lower older rate ....

BUT one thing i noticed today........my home address is a House name as opposed to a house Number ........anyway i spotted that all letters have been addressed to No. 1 then my House name.....i checked my driving licence and my driving license does not show any house number.

So i assume the car parking company system has to have a house number used for addresses on there system...........so with them using what is in fact not my address , is this a potential get out if this went as far as Court ? e.g this is the first i have heard about this car parking "charge" until i received the court paper work ! not fair perhaps , but neither is a parking charge for using the free parking at the gym !!!!!!!

Coupon-mad

Nope, that's not a get-out, but nor is it a fine nor likely to actually go to any hearing.

Umkomaas

justwondering25 wrote: »

Well believe it or not , i have been with the gym for around 5 years !!! my contract is on a rolling contract.....but it has remained at a lower older rate ....

BUT one thing i noticed today........my home address is a House name as opposed to a house Number ........anyway i spotted that all letters have been addressed to No. 1 then my House name.....i checked my driving licence and my driving license does not show any house number.

So i assume the car parking company system has to have a house number used for addresses on there system...........so with them using what is in fact not my address , is this a potential get out if this went as far as Court ? e.g this is the first i have heard about this car parking "charge" until i received the court paper work ! not fair perhaps , but neither is a parking charge for using the free parking at the gym !!!!!!!

Nope - clutching at straws I'm afraid. And any suggestion of untruths in court is serious stuff - of a far greater magnitude than any parking ticket, don't even consider going there. None of the regular advisers here would ever suggest, let alone advise, any form of 'economy with the truth' strategy.

justwondering25

So today i have had another letter from DRP , this time its the offer of a reduction in the charge.......so how many more letters am i likely to receive before they decide they are wasting money on postage costs !