Trading Standards Complaints?

IamNotAllowedToUseMyName

As we have established that these parking notices are misleading has anyone had any success with complaints to Trading Standards?

Just looking for ideas to make a complaint. I also was looking to complain about the main business, not the operator, as the operator is just acting as an agent for the main business at the site. If you get a complaint upheld, then the main business will be forced to act against its agent.

browneyedbazzi

I know a colleague of mine (in TS) has dealt with a parking company regarding their notices - I wasn't personally involved but as I recall it was dealt with under the Enterprise Act. The company provided undertakings to stop their misleading/underhand practices and they refunded a number of consumers who had complained. The undertakings mean that if they continue doing something they've promised not to they are in contempt of court - in effect it makes breaches of civil consumer rights legislation a criminal matter (which can be punished with jail time).

Single complaints aren't likely to result in action (every service will have a threshold that determines when a case is worth taking on), but if there are a lot of similar complaints that add up and good evidence then something will be done - either under the Enterprise Act or criminally under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regs.

The_Deep

I have taken three matters to TS recently and all were dealt with to my complete satisfaction, however, none concerned parking. Two were under The Property Mis-description Act, and one under SOGA.

I see no reason why TS should not treat inaccurate ANPR cameras just as seriously as they would short measure petrol pumps or faulty weighing scales, and would urge anyone scammed for double dipping to take the matter to TS in the first instance, I am sure that nothing would please them more than to nail a PPC.

IamNotAllowedToUseMyName

browneyedbazzi wrote: »

Single complaints aren't likely to result in action (every service will have a threshold that determines when a case is worth taking on), but if there are a lot of similar complaints that add up and good evidence then something will be done - either under the Enterprise Act or criminally under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regs.

To me that suggests that every time someone gets one of these notices, the forum should suggest that a complaint should be made to TS as there is now ample evidence that these companies are deliberately misrepresenting the situation, what the charge actually is, the value of their charge and so on. TS will then eventually have sufficient weight of complaints to trigger national action and force these scammers to change their business practices.

I would point out that I have no objection to reasonable charges for genuine parking abuse.

I think that there are therefore two strands of complaint, a generic complaint about the whole business practice, and then a specific complaint about how my particular instance is unfair and unreasonable.

I wonder if it would be worthwhile to develop a template complaint to Trading Standards that any poster here could pop onto their local Council web site?

carandbike

I'm unsure of how TS work, so wondered if complaints should be focused to the local office relevant to a particular company.
For example, Parking Eye local office would be:

Lancashire County Council
Trading Standards
Room D21
County Hall
Pitt Street
Preston
Lancashire
PR1 0LD

The_Deep

I wonder if it would be worthwhile to develop a template complaint to Trading Standards that any poster here could pop onto their local Council web site?

Certainly in every case where the length of an overstay is in dispute, and where double dipping is taking place.

IamNotAllowedToUseMyName

The_Deep wrote: »

I wonder if it would be worthwhile to develop a template complaint to Trading Standards that any poster here could pop onto their local Council web site?

Certainly in every case where the length of an overstay is in dispute, and where double dipping is taking place.

It seems these days you have to start by going through CAB.

The generic complaint is also that the charge is excessive and misrepresented - we have the 100% appeal success on precalculated damages to justify that, and also the misleading notices that do not really describe themselves as breach of contract invoices for losses incurred.

That last point makes me wonder if HMRC would like to look again at this issue. As the invoice sent to me is describes a parking charge, clearly a charge for the service of parking in their car park, not as a request for compensation due to losses incurred, shouldn't it be VATable? They can't describe it as one thing to me and then claim it is something else to HMRC.