What should I do next?

Hovite_2

MarySpencer wrote: »

I will certainly appeal. Is there any chance that I will have to pay more then £100 as a result of a failed appeal?

No chance if you follow advice on here for your POPLA appeal.

bod1467

Pay more than £100? Follow the advice here and pay NOTHING.

android26

MarySpencer wrote: »

Unfortunately she isn't disabled or have any long-term medical conditions which is a shame.

I'm sure you didn't really mean that!

If you can do the following in a day or so, it may be the easiest route to get these parasites off your back.

Phone the stores and ask them who manages the estate, then the head offices if they don't know. You can try to find who owns or manages the park by googling, but experience tells me that this can be misleading. A direct question as to who the companies pay their rent to may be an easier option. If you get an estate management company, google it and you may find the person (and a direct phone number) responsible for that park if you're lucky. If not, call their HO and get to them that way. Demand they instruct the PPC to quash the charge and provide the redacted bank statements if they need them. Please don't "ask if they would be so kind to help" you. Polite but assertive.

Good luck.

MarySpencer

Hi, thanks for the advice, just a quick question. I've finally got the contact details of the site manager.

Do you think it would be a good idea to say (casually) at the start of the call that I'm recording it then later get them to acknowledge that the charge is, in my case, unjust. Then if they go on to refuse to do anything about it, state that if it's not cancelled I will go to the local press about the matter?

I intend to use the local press thing as a last resort anyway but just don't know about the 'Im recording the call' bit. They might feel 'committed' to act if they've acknowledged verbally that it's unjust and I've got it recorded?

Any feedback would be appreciated...

MarySpencer

Also, "Unfortunately she isn't disabled or have any long-term medical conditions which is a shame." was intended as a joke

bod1467

If this is your first contact with the site manager I wouldn't raise hackles by mentioning* recording the call. That would just put him/her straight on the defensive. They don't HAVE to instruct the PPC to cancel the charge - you're relying on their goodwill and seeing common sense at first - so don't blow your bridges before you've even started your battle.

*Record it by all means. Whilst not mentioning means you can't play the call to anyone else, it doesn't mean you can't transcribe the call and show the transcript to others.

Umkomaas

In the site manager's position, if I got a call from some random, who I didn't know from Adam (or Eve in your case) and to be told at the outset 'I'm recording this call', you'd only be recording two words of mine - Foxtrot Oscar - bzzzzzzzzzz.

You need him on your side !!!!!!, so don't go trying to play super sleuth!

MarySpencer

Yes, fair point

MarySpencer

Just a quick update on this...

I finally managed to track down the manager of the retail park (this involved numerous calls / emails to previous companies that have owned the park, eventually I got in touch with the correct company (although wrong person initially).

I had to email the manager in the end as I was getting no response on the phone. In the email I included all the important info:

Brief outline of what happened on the day we got the charge.
Shops visited.
Amount spend in each shop.
The managers we'd spoken to along with contact details for each and that they'd supplied letters confirming that we'd been genuine customers.
PCN number and contact details / address of the parking company (I figured that it would save him having to get back in touch with me to get the details - make it as easy as possible for him to help me!)

He replied telling me that he'd left a voice mail with the parking company.

I didn't hear anything for a while after that and again emailed the manager to ask what the situation was. He told me that he would contact the company a second time (so I presume he didn't get a response from his initial voice mail)

More days passed and I'd heard nothing (I presume he'd been ignored again), I emailed the manager to inform him that the due date for the £100 fine was approaching and that I was afraid that the company was stalling in order to charge my mum even more money.

I got a reply shortly after telling me that the ticket had been cancelled and that I'd shortly be getting confirmation of cancellation :T
A massive thanks to all those that contributed on the forum and continue to help people being swindled by these crooks! A big thanks to the park manager too who saw that the ticket was unreasonable and helped us out.

One thing I would say: I contacted a number of companies, including previous owners and property managment departments of various companies on the park and spoke to quite senior personnel in the respective organisations. When talking to them (or leaving messages with their secretaries) I never disclosed that it was regarding a parking charge. When they asked what it was regarding I replied "It's regarding an incident that happened at the park in September". My thinking was that if they knew it was about a parking charge they wouldn't be interested and I'd never hear from them - especially if they no longer even own the park. Leaving it as 'an incident' seemed to carry more gravity. None of them asked for more specifics and all helped me track down the current owners. If they were to ask the specifics I intended to say "I'd rather discuss that with the current owners".

Umkomaas

MarySpencer - a brilliant example of dogged persistence which paid off handsomely at the end.

Your strategy outlined in your final paragraph is a great example for others faced with this situation.

I'm sure Coupon-mad will be along shortly to elevate you to her 'Complaints' Hall of Fame.

Well done MarySpencer. :T