Parking Eye/Welcome Break vs. Me!

superbuilder

Hi,

On the way back from a recent day trip to France, I almost fell asleep on the motorway and decided to have a nap in an EMPTY service station car park. Not only did I hav a nap but I also put fuel in my car there and spent close to £20 on drinks and food.

Imagine my horror when a few weeks later I get a £100 parking notice from PE! Obviously I appealed and they said that motorists only need 15 minutes nap for every 2 hours driving time and that there were plenty of signs in the service station advising me of my "contract" and the 2 hours max stay. Before I continue, the signage was so clear and abundant in this service station that my friend and I ended up in the lorry park first as we couldn't see the signs properly for the car park! We also did not exit the car in the car park to go to the service station so we didn't see the other reminders (none in the petrol station that we did use which is also on Welcome Break land).

I am not one for rolling over and paying charges that I think are ridiculously unfair so I contacted the local paper and they ran my story. It says here that I cannot post links unforunately but go to the Wiltshire Times website and search for "parking" in their search box and I am the first story (as of now) to pop up.

Now, neither Welcome Break nor PE seem to care that if I had carried on driving, I almost certainly would have caused an accident. They also do not care that there were about 5 other cars in the car park at the time of the "offence".

I was at first very concerned about this but after reading through some of the recent victories on here against PE in the local courts, I am actually looking forward to the day that court action is taken!

BBC radio Wiltshire also picked up my story last week and ITV Westcountry news are coming over this evening to do a filmed piece so hopefully the awareness will make other motorists think twice about paying their "fine" and also make them think twice about using Welcome Break who on this occassion were not very welcoming!

I have appealed to POPLA also but I mainly sent an angry rant before I read the advice on here so I am not holding my breath with them!

Redx

this https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4816822 is the best thread for you to read

you will also see that WB features a lot on here, with several successes at popla , so check out those threads and popla decisions too

as long as your popla appeal had the right details in it, it should win

examples are linked in post #3 of the NEWBIES thread

all those idiots have to do is place prominent signs on exits and public places warning people about this 2 hours max stay, as well as charge people a reasonable price for any overstay, if at all, but not the exorbitant charges they think apply

superbuilder

I should also point out that this was around midnight, the max free stay was 2 hours and I was there 2 hours and 56 minutes as was more tired than originally thought. Where has common sense gone these days? There was no loss to their business due to the overstay, in fact they gained almost £20 which they wouldn't have had if I hadn't overstayed in the first place!

Redx

they have lost all common sense in their greedy quest for maximum profit at the expense of any motorist

link here http://www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk/news/10962411.Chippenham_driver_fined_for_taking_rest/

make sure your popla appeal isnt about mitigation as that will lose

you need these 3 items in it too

1) this charge is not a genuine pre-estimate of loss
2) your signage does not comply with the BPA Code of Practice
3) you do not have the authority or permission to issue invoices at this location

like these 2

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4840459

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4811452

superbuilder

Thanks Redx. Unfortunately it is too late for the POPLA appeal. I sent that a week or so ago and at the time was so angry by the "fine" that I just rambled on with pretty much what my original post contained at the top of this page. If they do decide to take me to court I shall be a lot more prepared!

Surely a legally binding contract cannot exist from merely passing a dimly lit sign at midnight when being so tired! That is like me erecting a sign in my work car park saying "if you park here for longer than 60 minutes then you agree to buy a car from me that will cost £10000" - I'm sure no self respecting judege would condone such behaivour!

Stroma

Can you post up what you used in your popla appeal? You risk losing there if you haven't used the right wording. They don't do mitigation like , I was tired, the car park was empty, and so on

Redx

popla isnt a judge, so although you may well win in court you really need to win at popla

can I also take exception to your last post as well

its NOT TOO LATE to send in any more info to popla

you can email or post the extra details to them, possibly submit them online too, ideally like those other similar cases

you can also submit more evidence after you receive their defence pack too

so as you are still before a decision date I suggest you compile and send in a suitable popla appeal based on those 2 I linked to

Iceweasel

superbuilder wrote: »

I should also point out that this was around midnight, the max free stay was 2 hours and I was there 2 hours and 56 minutes as was more tired than originally thought. Where has common sense gone these days? There was no loss to their business due to the overstay, in fact they gained almost £20 which they wouldn't have had if I hadn't overstayed in the first place!

You have my 100% support but what I read in the Wiltshire paper will not get you a win at POPLA as mitigation and common sense is not what this is all about.

You will only beat them with the legal stuff that Redx has pointed out to you.

It may not be too late to send in additional material to add to your appeal, if you act right now.

However I get the feeling that you are looking forward to having your day in court.

But if POPLA reject your appeal there is no guarantee that Parking Eye will take it any further, so you may not be able to beat them in court at all.

They may well not pursue it, as you are a hot potato and will bring unwelcome publicity - they will want to hide this - not highlight it further in the press.

But on the other hand they might want 'to make an example of you'.

Good luck mate.

Stroma

From your last post, if that is what you are using then you will lose! Read this post entirely, it links onto others with popla appeal wording, take that and post a draft here, we will look at it will help you get it right. With forum assisted appeals we win 100% of the time.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4816822

Stroma

Looking at the response from the AA on the newspaper, to say I'm stunned is an understatement , that utterly pathetic response is downright dangerous and they should be brought to task about it!!!

A spokesman for the AA said: “We don’t really have a problem with this rule. Two hours is a long time even if you go in the cafe first. If you need to sleep for more than an hour or so, think about stopping somewhere else.”

Redx

this one in post #53 is also a WB one similar to yours http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=64352795&postcount=53 by absolutely fuming which was recently submitted to popla

I would say that your rambling appeal is likely based on mitigation, which it clearly says they do not consider on their popla website

so ideally your appeal should be like post #53 but adapted to the place you stayed as I think its a different WB

you can also use the complaint letters like he used to go to WB etc too, putting pressure on

if you did want to take it to court (their choice not yours) then you need to look at parking pranksters PE court guides too

I too am disgusted with the AA advice there , more common sense gone out of the window