apcoa 'parking ticket' gatwick travelodge

amboman_2

Hi all,

I've just received a 'notice to owner/keeper' letter from apcoa for parking at Gatwick travelodge on the 29th August. I used the hotel on the 28th as I am a contract medic and arrived at 3am and did not see any parking notices. There was no ticket on my car when I left 8 hours later yet the letter I have received today 18th October, has photos of the car with 'something' on the screen but it is not visible as to what it actually is/was.

I would appreciate any advice that any forum members could give as I find that getting a ticket when you actually use the hotel as pretty atrocious.

Umkomaas

Here is a walk through the process you will now need to follow. It's one I prepared a little while ago, but still current, it's generic to save it having to be typed each time I answer a new query. Most will apply to you, so work through it. If you have any queries about any of the steps, come back to us.

It talks about complaining to the 'retailer' but hotels are particularly receptive, from experience, especially if you say you will put up a scathing review about their parking arrangements on TripAdvisor.

A WALK THROUGH THE PROCESS

Firstly, you don't have to pay the charge, it is not a fine, it is not a penalty, it is a speculative invoice from a Private Parking Company that has no statutory authority. However, you will need to go through a few hoops to get rid of it.

The first thing you MUST do is to start to understand what all this stuff is about. The only way to do this is to spend a day or so reading this forum - the most recent threads, say from the past month. If you see the advice 'IGNORE' you MUST ignore it. Ignoring a Parking Charge Notice will bring you months of fun and games that I can assure you, you don't want to be dealing with.

In a nutshell this is the process you will need to follow.

1. Read recent threads.

2. If the parking incident was at a retail park/shop go back to the store the Parking Charge Notice relates to and see THE manager, complain about a genuine customer being harassed and ask that they cancel the ticket. Show him/her any receipts for the day in question. If they are unable to do this ask for the name and address of the MD/CEO, as you will now write to them (and DO it!).

3. If it was a general car parking facility you need to find out who the landowner is (Google search) and send off a letter of complaint to them.

4. If you have receipts for the day (or bank/credit card statements) proving purchases, send (redacted) copies of them to PPC with covering letter stating you were a customer on the day, and shopping at their principal's establishment was the only cause of any overstay.

5. If 2, 3 or 4 above don't work, then you're into the more formal stuff.

6. If it was a windscreen ticket, do not contact the PPC at this point, you must wait for the 'Notice to Keeper' (NtK) to arrive. This should be no sooner than 28 days after the incident and no later than 56 days after it. Theses dates are very important, and you must retain all tickets and letters you receive.

7. If it was an ANPR camera incident and the first correspondence you've received is the NtK, this needs to be received within 14 days of the incident; as above, dates very important, retain all paperwork.

8. Once you receive the NtK the process below will need to be followed.

9. Soft appeal to the PPC (you'll understand this when you start reading the threads).

10. Likely rejection, so in your soft appeal you ask that a POPLA code be given to you if your soft appeal is rejected.

11. Lots more reading about POPLA Appeals (read the 'sticky' at the top of the forum index 'POPLA Decision', especially the last couple of months' reports of victories - it will give you a good idea of which points win at POPLA).

12. Draft POPLA Appeal and let us see it for further advice before submission.

13. Send to POPLA.

14. Await POPLA (positive) result with PCN cancelled - we're running at 100% success rate on the forum. A POPLA decision is binding on the PPC, but (in the event of an unlikely loss), not binding on you.

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Please confirm a couple of things (if they are not already contained in your opening post)

a. Was the incident, and do you live, in England or Wales?
b. Is the car a lease/hire or company vehicle (important as the process will be slightly different and you will need to act quickly)?
c. Are you under 18?

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Now - final, but IMPORTANT points.

* Never say who might or might not have been the driver on the day - there is no obligation on you to do so (some PPCs will ask you to name the driver/motorist before they can deal with your appeal - DO NOT comply with their wishes). In any correspondence with the PPC, always refer to the driver in the third person, never say 'I didn't see the signs' or 'my wife didn't see the signs', you say 'the driver didn't see the signs'.

* Always be aware of any deadlines, PPCs impose them (but most of these are challengeable), but if they are reasonable do keep to them. The important one is the POPLA deadline - strictly 28 days from the date the rejection letter containing the POPLA verification code is sent to you by the PPC. Miss it and you miss the one golden opportunity you have to totally kill this charge. I cannot stress that enough.

Sorry this is a bit long, but it does more or less cover most bases.

Iceweasel

I frequently use Travelodges and have always been asked for my car registration when checking in.

The check in staff have slipped up here.

I reckon that Travelodge will 'fix' this for you quickly.

Be polite but firm in complaining to them.

Hopefully you wont need to go down the POPLA route but be prepared to do that if necessary.

But whatever happens you aren't going to pay.

Coupon-mad

amboman wrote: »

Hi all,

I've just received a 'notice to owner/keeper' letter from apcoa for parking at Gatwick travelodge on the 29th August. I used the hotel on the 28th as I am a contract medic and arrived at 3am and did not see any parking notices. There was no ticket on my car when I left 8 hours later yet the letter I have received today 18th October, has photos of the car with 'something' on the screen but it is not visible as to what it actually is/was.

I would appreciate any advice that any forum members could give as I find that getting a ticket when you actually use the hotel as pretty atrocious.

You will need to send an appeal as we know how to win these easily. What was the alleged contravention on this letter?

Does it state that a ticket 'was served or given or left on the windscreen?' (or similar?).

What happened when you complained, of course, to the Hotel Manager? Not done that yet? Do it, and escalate it to the MD or CEO for Travelodge UK:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4766249

There's a similar Heathrow Travelodge APCOA complaint linked on that thread I started with successful complaints about PPCs shown in all their glory!