Help!! 3rd letter Parking Eye...clueless!

Dutchy74

Hi,

I know this has been asked many times but I keep reading conflicting answers and now getting nervous. At the end of July this year i parked outside Marriott Bexleyheath to pick up my severely handicapped mother who was staying there for a couple of days. I informed the reception I was there to pick her up. I loaded up the car with her oxygen tanks and wheelchair and left the parking lot. I was there max 30 mins. Then that afternoon i dropped her off again and also told the reception. I dropped my mother off at the cafe and proceeded to take her stuff out of the car. Then I left. Again I only stayed for about 30 mins.
I came back from holiday to find two letters from Parking Eye telling me I had stayed at the parking lot without informing the hotel (which i obviously did) . The hotel refuses to waive the fine and told me that staff should be informed if someone outside the hotel parks in their parking lot. This I did.

Today I received the third letter threatening court action. I have read in many different forums that i should ignore them and they will eventually go away but now I am getting worried. What do i do? They have no clue who drove the car that day either and will automatically assume that the owner of the vehicle will be charged.
What should be my next course of action? Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Another point, why did i get a fine for the afternoon but never got one for the morning? I asked this to the hotel too who were dumbfounded!

Thanks! Dutchy74

Badger_Lady

Ignore them and they'll go away

Coupon-mad

Why have you not appealed yet, you may have missed your deadline now! I really cannot understand why some newbies such as yourself think that the current advice is to ignore these fake PCNS. Regulars on here haven't advised that since around Easter (and earlier in some cases). We say 'APPEAL' consistently!

Conflicting answers in recent months? NOPE. On old threads you will have read to ignore it but that was OLD advice on old threads; never worth reading. Page one of the parking forum on any day would tell you all you need to know. Any thread on the forum every day will tell you to appeal and then win at POPLA. You have to appeal to the PPC within 28 days of receipt of the first letter. Is that time up already? Appeal anyway, as per this link:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/62827554#Comment_62827554

So, appeal urgently! (rush it out tomorrow even if beyond 28 days...do NOT say you were driving, instead write as the registered keeper who has got this letter out of the blue and just talk about 'the driver' and 'the disabled passenger' in the third person).

And send a written complaint to the Marriott Head Office (as it's a huge Hotel chain) and say not only are you minded to record a bad Trip Advisor review but do they realise that this behaviour by their parking agent on Marriott's behalf actually breaks UK disability law? Under the Equality Act 2010 service-providers are legally obliged to make 'reasonable adjustments' for disabled customers and it is prohibited to harass a disabled person or their carer over such an incident.

Badger_Lady wrote: »

Ignore them and they'll go away

NOPE. Sounds as if you too need to get up to speed with the current advice here!

collingbone614

Badger_Lady wrote: »

Ignore them and they'll go away

This is not a recommended course of action.

What has happened here is an abomination. You have received a speculative invoice from a private limited company seeking to bill your for assisting your disabled mother when you were loading her medical equipment into and out of a vehicle. This is an outrage.

I suggest expressing your extreme dissatisfaction to the manager of the Marriott. Can I suggest that you contact the manager and not some help-desker or reception staff - respectful to them as I am, they don't have the power to deal with an issue as serious as this. You need to speak to someone with the power to make a clear decision - over whether their company respects the rights of disabled people and their carers or not.

In the mean time, I imagine that a regular will post some solid advice about what to do in parallel, regarding court action.

Coupon-mad

There will be no court action if the OP acts quick enough with the appeal, and then reads up on winning POPLA appeal wording on other threads whilst waiting for the rejection letter. Or if he/she assertively complains and gets Morrisons to jump, as they should do, and cancel it.

Stroma

Make sure you head the complaint to the hotel head office and to parking eye with this

'Breach of Equality Act 2010 at Bexleyheath Marriott Hotel'

You have informed the hotel of your mothers disability, not once, not twice but three times! They are breaking the law by not making reasonable adjustments for a disabled person.

Inform them that you are minded to sue both the hotel and their agents parking eye for this breach! Inform both that that under the BPA Code of Practice they are not even supposed to be ticketing cars with disabled people inside

16.1 The Equality Act 2010 says that providers of services to the public must make ‘reasonable adjustments’ to remove barriers which may discriminate against disabled people.

16.5 If your landowner provides a concession that allows parking for disabled people, if a vehicle displays a valid Blue Badge you must not issue it with parking charge notices.

http://www.britishparking.co.uk/write/Documents/AOS/609_AOS_CoP_June_2013_update.pdf

Dutchy74

Thank you everyone for your replies. I got the letter more than 28 days ago but i had gone on holiday so only received them a few days ago when i opened the mail. I will follow your advice and write to both Parking Eye and the Marriott.
With regards to me calling their manager, i have done so and had a very rude one on the phone making obscene comments re disabled people. It got me quite upset. They didn't care!!
Will keep you updated! Thanks! Dutchy74

Custard_Pie

Dutchy74 wrote: »

Thank you everyone for your replies. I got the letter more than 28 days ago but i had gone on holiday so only received them a few days ago when i opened the mail. I will follow your advice and write to both Parking Eye and the Marriott.
With regards to me calling their manager, i have done so and had a very rude one on the phone making obscene comments re disabled people. It got me quite upset. They didn't care!!
Will keep you updated! Thanks! Dutchy74

Dutchy, sorry to hear that. Call Customer Services and tear them off a strip. DO play the disability card and if it's not going your way threaten then with the local and national press. I'm sure you just got a complete idiot last time and if you try again, then you will get this invoice immediately cancelled.

Dutchy74

Hi all,

I have since spoken to Marriotts Head Office telling them of this incident and of the unprofessional manner in which staff treated myself and my disabled mother. They were shocked to hear how staff had been and will be dealing with it...lets hope they cancel the fine and story will be closed. Thanks all for the help you gave!

Dutchy74

trisontana

It's not a FINE!