Successful complaints about private parking tickets - how to get them cancelled!

doubleoseven

Robinhood Pub, Cambridge - December 2024 - Plan A successful. 

Registered keeper (RK) received PCN from Britannia Parking for driver not entering numberplate into a screen in pub. 

The screen to enter the number plate is by the main entrance at restaurant reception, which is by the street typically where pedestrians enter from. Driver entered from car park entrance and staff did not ask about parking or mention anything about the screen. 

RK started with Plan A and went to pub and (politely) complained. The manager agreed to cancel the PCN and took down the PCN number. Advised the RK may get another letter but to ignore it. 

Another letter from Britannia did come advising the 14 day expiry, followed by DCBL escalation for debt recovery, concerned the bar manager had not actually done what they promised, the RK contacted GK head office via their complaints page, and (politely) complained again.

https://www.greeneking.co.uk/contact-us/customer-service

GK responded same day requesting the following information: 

"In order for us to assist you further please can you provide the following details:

 

Name of Pub

Date of the Visit

Parking Charge Notice

Registration Plate

Copy of the letter received

Proof of purchase

Please confirm if you entered your car registration in the meter in the car park or the tablet in the pub:

Did the Team at the pub make you aware to enter your details?

 

Once we have received this information, we will investigate this further."

Thankfully RK  was able to source a receipt from the driver and supplied all details requested, with a complaint about driver not being advised by staff of no. plate requirement. 
----

Received the following response within 48 hours: 

"Thank you for providing us with the information.

I am pleased to inform you that the Parking Charge Notice has been cancelled and therefore no further action will be taken. Britannia has also instructed DCBL also.

Please be advised that you may receive further correspondence from the parking company. as there may be a crossover between the Parking Charge Notice being cancelled and a letter being sent out to you.

Should you require any further assistance, please do not hesitate to get in touch."

---

Thank you to all regular contributors to this forum for your generosity and dedication in helping with these matters. Legends, all of you! 

Coupon-mad

That's a great example.

The questions Greene King asked also shows that they clearly know the issues involved and have had complaints before.

This bodes well for future complaints too.

doubleoseven

Agreed, fair play to GK, I think they are quite sensible about it. I also sent a follow up complaint about their using this company and all the reasons why this is a bad idea, and how it sours relations with paying customers. If they receive enough of those, they may change their strategy. 

skuther

ParkingEye £70 request after unintentional overstay at Sunderland Hospital, due to late running NHS hospital appointment.

Successful complaint to hospital quoting NHS parking guidelines:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-patient-visitor-and-staff-car-parking-principles/nhs-patient-visitor-and-staff-car-parking-principles

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6578529

haycorns

PCN for overstay at Waitrose Bracknell issued by Britannia with non pofa compliance Jan 2025. Used customer service online store feedback form for my store and pointed out the unethical way their parking agent worked. Registered keeper was not the driver. Cancelled within 15 hours and they emailed me screenshot of entry showing it cancelled, so maybe they have the power to cancel in store. Thanks to others who shared the complaint link. It was very easy.

 https://www.waitrose.com/ecom/help-information/customer-service/forms/store-feedback.

Do this first. I did this and appeal, but could have saved effort if I trusted plan A. 

Thank you to all those who moderate the parking forums. 

Umkomaas

Good result reported today (Gemini and DRP) by new poster @downwithdebtrecoveryplus. This is what they said in their standalone post. 

Hi All,

I thought I would share my experience to help lend additional validity to - and confidence in - the information and procedures outlined in these forums, to help people avoid paying exorbitant and extremely sketchy invoices to any of these awful PCN and debt recovery companies.

To briefly outline our situation... I was sent a PCN notification in November last year for allegedly failing to pay for the duration of parking in the car park at our local leisure centre. We had supposedly stayed slightly longer than the hour we had paid for. For additional context, we always pay for parking and the process of paying for parking had just been changed.

I didn't pay the original PCN within the required timeframes - reduced rate or full - and the matter was promptly passed to the notorious 'Debt Recovery Plus'. Cue frequent threatening letters, etc.

At some point I hopped on these forums and read through the 'Newbies start here' posts. I had already missed the standard appeals window, but decided to follow the advice to contact to the land owner, requesting that the PCN should be cancelled and the hounds called off. 

I did that last week, and this morning, I received an email telling me that the PCN has been cancelled and Debt Recovery Plus has been told to return to its kennel.

I wanted to say a quick thank you to all the admins on here for all of the extremely thorough advice. Below is the email I wrote to the manager of the leisure centre, just in case it's useful. I was careful not to admit any liability, and took the line of complaint rather than appeal (not least because I was genuinely aggrieved to have been so harassed by DRP!). It may not be the best email example, but it did the trick!

To the Manager of Waltham Forest Feel Good Centre,

I am writing to complain about the handling of an alleged infraction, relating to a vehicle registered in my name. Despite never receiving a letter or notification of the Parking Penalty Charge Number (PCN) from the company that operates your customer car park - Gemini Parking Solutions - I have been sent letters from a company called Debt Recovery Plus, demanding payment of £170 for an alleged offence, which I have no knowledge of.

My wife and I have been using the Feel Good Centre since we moved to Walthamstow in 2016, and our two sons regularly attend swimming classes at the centre. When we drive, we always pay for parking.

I am outraged that we are being hounded by a debt recovery company, which is threatening to take us to court unless we pay an exorbitant and completely unjustifiable sum to avoid doing so.

My understanding is that as the landowner/responsible tenant for the car park, you have the ability to cancel this Parking Charge, and I would urge you to do the right thing and to contact Gemini Parking Solutions to cancel this parking charge and to instruct their debt recovery contractors to stop harassing me and my family with threatening letters.

We love the Feel Good centre and every other interaction we have there has been a great experience. The way we are being treated by your parking contractor is a real taint on that experience and is making us really question the way you treat local people.

Please reply to this email ASAP and advise how you intend to proceed.

Gemini's PCN for your reference: xxxxxxxxxxxx

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6587547/i-emailed-the-land-owner-and-recovery-plus-were-called-off-email-included#latest

mike_d99

I got a £40/£70 after 14 days fine from Parking Eye for overstaying in the Leigh branch of ALDI. The limit was 1hr 30m and I was there 1hr 54m, apparently.

I rang ALDI customer services on 0800 042 0800. The woman I spoke to was super helpful and just cancelled it, no questions asked! Absolutely delighted, and relieved

003294

Can anyone help with a popla appeal that failed in a Tesco Car Park in West Brom

Decision

Unsuccessful

Assessor Name

Heidi Brown

Assessor summary of operator case

The parking operator has issued a parking charge notice due to the appellant failing to make payment/validate the stay.

Assessor summary of your case

The appellant has raised the following points from their grounds of appeal: - The appellant states they are a Tesco customer and have evidence of this. They state there is insufficient signage regarding the validation process. Upon reviewing the operator’s evidence, the appellant has reiterated their grounds and raised new grounds regarding grace periods and the operator’s lack of response. The appellant provided correspondence with the operator, a photo of where they parked and a bank statement.

Assessor supporting rational for decision

When assessing an appeal POPLA considers if the parking operator has issued the parking charge notice correctly and if the driver has complied with the terms and conditions for the use of the car park. When entering a site, it is the motorist’s responsibility to read the signs and adhere to the terms and conditions stated. In this case, the signs state payment is required, or Tesco customers can obtain a validated ticket with a minimum spend and obtain 2 hours free parking. The operator’s evidence shows no record of validation or payment against the appellant’s vehicle. Therefore, the terms and conditions of the site were breached, and a charge was issued for £70. - The appellant states they are a Tesco customer and have evidence of this. They state there is insufficient signage regarding the validation process. Whilst I acknowledge the appellant’s comments and evidence, the driver of the vehicle does not need to have read the terms and conditions of the contract to accept it. There is only the requirement that the driver is afforded the opportunity to read and understand the terms and conditions of the contract before accepting it and not rely on the staff or business in question to provide them with this information as they are not obligated to do so. It is the driver’s responsibility to seek out the terms and conditions, and ensure they understand them, before agreeing to the contract and parking. Reviewing the photographic evidence of the signage on display at the site and the site map, I am satisfied that the appellant as the driver was afforded this opportunity as there are 30+ signs located around the site. It is the motorist’s responsibility to seek out the terms upon arrival. The British Parking Association (BPA) monitors how operators treat motorists and has its own Code of Practice setting out the criteria operators must meet. Section 17 of the Code recognises that drivers are more frequently required to enter their vehicle registration when paying for parking or registering for a permit. Section 17.4B requires the parking operator to have a process for dealing with major keying errors. Where the motorist has proven they were a legitimate user, it requires the parking operator to offer to reduce the amount of the PCN to £20 if it can be shown that the driver was a genuine user of the site. Although the appellant provided evidence of spending more then £5 to POPLA, this was not provided in the first appeal to the parking operator. Due to this, the operator could not identify the appellant as a legitimate user and therefore the reduced charge was not offered. Please note that this can only be offered in the first appeal, this is why it is vital for appellants to provide all supporting evidence when submitting the appeal. Please be advised that POPLA can only review the evidence presented by both parties. It is not within my remit to request specific evidence or information from either party. I note that the appellant has raised additional grounds for appeal in their comments regarding grace periods and the operator’s information/evidence despite not raising this when submitting the initial appeal. Please note that POPLA does not accept new grounds of appeal at the comment stage. Instead, the comment stage is to be used to expand on the initial grounds of appeal after seeing the evidence pack from the operator. As these were not raised in the initial appeal, I cannot consider these this as part of my decision. The appellant has reiterated their original grounds of appeal after reviewing the operator’s case file. As I have addressed these issues above, I will not comment further. After considering the evidence from both parties, the appellant failed to make payment/validate the stay and therefore did not comply with the terms and conditions of the site. As such, I am satisfied the parking charge has been issued correctly and I must refuse the appeal.

Le_Kirk

You need to start your own thread with a few details about the parking issue 

Vic20

NTK cancelled at Slate Quay Car Park in Caenarfon

Please see my thread here.