Received PCN from MET today! Need help!

afonja

Hello everyone,

My misses is a member of the Riverside Leisure Centre gym in Norwich.
Today she received a Parking Charge Notice from company called MET Parking Services with a parking charge of whooping £100, and they claim that she stayed 190 minutes instead of 150 minutes allowed. This car park is purely for members of the gym so she never knew that members have any time limits to stay there. Date of incident is 15/10/2013 and date of PCN issue is 23/10/2013

We have no spare £100 to pay it(nor £60 if within 14 days), so what can we do about it? Any help appreciated!

Guys_Dad

Well first thing is please see just how many threads there are running at present covering the last 3 days.

Now if we have to start from scratch telling people the same old same old, it's like groundhog day.

There are hundreds of threads exactly like yours around and you need to read a few current ones to get started rather than waiting on people to spoon feed you.

Seriously. However, here is the standard procedure that one regular has written up. http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=63099617&postcount=2

But first of all, your lady should approach her gym and ask them to get the ticket cancelled as she was on the premises using their facilities. Speak to the manager and don't be fobbed off.

That's the easy route.

But read some threads and then come back when you have the hang of it and we can help if the ticket isn't sorted by the gym.

But, as I said, you need to show us you have done more than just posting a "Please help? What do I do?" thread.

afonja

Thank you Guys Dad for the reply.

Just came back from the gym, the guy I spoke to claimed to be a manager, his name is Sam (refused to give his surname) and he said he cannot do anything about it, nor he is giving contact details of Area Manager who has power to cancel them and our only option is to appeal to MET. Only now we were informed that you can "check-in" our car registration to avoid overstaying penalty. My misses is a new member (only two weeks with a gym) and no one advised her on parking rules on the day of registration or at any other day.

Also made a picture of the sign with parking rules when you entering the car park. As you can see they didn't bother to highlight any limits and "2 1/2" hours numbers are really blurred and washed out and it is not a camera issue.

img43.imageshack.us/img43/3631/x3mm.jpg

Also checked her contract and she actually signed up on the day she "overstayed"

Should I appeal to MET?

Guys_Dad

First of all, was this a windscreen ticket or a ticket through the post? We need dates of the contravention and the postal ticket (Notice to Keeper)

When you get the NtK, you appeal to MET, but probably you will be turned down. No need to worry, as that is part of the process in the link I sent you..

Your appeal is written as "the Keeper" by whichever one of you is the registered keeper and you keep clear blue water between the keeper and the driver, even if they are one and the same.

The keeper is appealing as the driver on the day was a new member of the gym and had been a member for 2 weeks. The driver saw no signs restricting parking and had not been given any instructions about any form of registration. The driver is now aware of the procedure and asks for the ticket to be cancelled. Should the PPC require evidence of the driver's membership, they would be happy to comply and send a copy of their membership.

If the PPC is unwilling to cancel the ticket, then please send a POPLA code by return so that you can appeal to the independent adjudicator.

They may cancel, but probably not. However, we have a 100% record at POPLA so when you get a POPLA code, come back for help with the appeal. But do read the last 3 or 4 pages of the POPLA Decisions sticky thread at the top of the page, also as I said before, read a few threads and you will see some POPLA appeals in progress. But only recent threads, please.

One further thing. If this is a national chain of gyms, I would email their head office and complain about Sam. You complain about (a) his refusal to help (b) his refusal to furnish you with the Area Manager's contact details and (c) poor training of reception staff whose lack of advising Mrs. Afonja about the registration procedure landed her in this mess. Make sure you say that "Sam" purported to be the manager.

Edit:- Just seen that sign. That can't be the sign that informs you of any contravention. MET must have a sign up, surely, as that doesn't have their name or any form of charge restrictions at all. Is there not any other??

afonja

Guys Dad, my misses is a registered keeper of the car and Parking Charge Notice arrived on her name.
We have 2 dates on the letter:

PCN Issue Date: 23/10/2013
Date of Incident: 15/10/2013

They do have many smaller signs around the car park, as you can see on the same picture to the left. They do say about limits, but since you pass that big board would you bother to really look around, knowing that you are about to become a member and surely if there are any limitations the business that cares for their customers will inform you.

Will try to appeal online, not sure if I can attach additional documents there though.

hoohoo

Firstly, do you want to belong to a gym that treats you like this? If there are other gyms in your area seriously consider moving. Make an appointment with the senior manager and tell them you want to cancel. Check your contract to see if you have a cooling off period. Ask to cancel at the first opportunity, and see if they will let you cancel earlier. Complain about the attitude of Steve, and ask for his full name so you can make an official complaint. Ask for the name of the person who inducted you, and complain that they did not warn you about parking.Ask to see if their induction instructions contain a section about warning about parking. ifnot, why not. If so, why were you not told. Ask for the head office address so you can make a complaint to them, about Steve, the person who inducted you, and the senior managerwho wrote the induction instructions. Ask to get the ticket cancelled again. The landowner can always cancel tickets, so do not be fobbed off by any excuses. Get the name of the next manager up if you are fobbed off and ask to make an appointment with them.

Meanwhile, appeal against you ticket anyway. Give the reason as being a new member on that day;the signs were not sufficient. If they do not cancel, come back here for your POPLA appeal.

hoohoo

My comments on the sign. I'm assuming it is an entrance sign, and the only one.

It's in no way compliant with the BPA code of practice.

It does not warn that there is a charge if you overstay
It does not say who is managing the car park. Is it Places for People Leisure Ltd or Norwich City Council. There is no mention of Met parking.


The font is too small.
The time limit is blurred.
There is no mention of the BPA, the AOS
There is no large 'P'
There is no recommended text.
It's too far away from the actual entrance to be readable
It requires the driver to move their head more than 10% to read

As well as your appeal to MET parking, send a complaint to the BPA about the signage. The email to use is steve.c@britishparking.co.uk

afonja

Sam(so called manager) proved to be completely useless and as he refused to provide me with either his full name or any other person to contact I had no choice but to walk away from there.

This gym is part of DC Leisure group, so tried to fill in complaint with them online, but apparently their form doesn't accept more than 20(?) words...
dcleisurecentres-forms.co.uk/dclenquiry.html

Will post it to their head office on Monday.

Just want to say that it wasn't a pleasant Saturday morning for both of us, with this letter in a morning post and then complete ignorance from employees of DC Leisure group. Will totally avoid their services in the future.

Guys_Dad

They are all here http://www.dcleisurecentres.co.uk/team

afonja

hoohoo, it is the only sign before you enter the car park. You have smaller signs on the car park itself, which probably do say something about charges and limitations (as I mentioned above). You can see one of them on the picture I provided in my second post. As I am not familiar with the law, I cannot say whether first sign should mention all the charges and etc.

Here you can check how the entrance looks for yourself and tell me if it is wrong.

Google maps link
goo.gl/75uGYo

hoohoo

afonja wrote: »

hoohoo, it is the only sign before you enter the car park. You have smaller signs on the car park itself, which probably do say something about charges and limitations (as I mentioned above). You can see one of them on the picture I provided in my second post. As I am not familiar with the law, I cannot say whether first sign should mention all the charges and etc.

Here you can check how the entrance looks for yourself and tell me if it is wrong.

Google maps link
goo.gl/75uGYo

The sign is on the wrong side of the road for the drier to see and the font is far too small. The BPA Ltd code of practices states group 1 font should be 60mm for a 30mph road (which I presume this is) and should contain the text [x minutes’/hour’s/hours’] free parking [for [business name] customers only].

Group 2 font should be at least 50% of this and should contian appropriate text from the following.

Charges apply [after this][after x minutes/hours]
Private land
Terms and conditions apply
See the notice [in the car park] for details

All other text should be 50% smaller than group 1 text.

CoP is available here:

http://www.britishparking.co.uk/Code-of-Practice-and-compliance-
monitoring

See appendix B to see just how bad their sign is