MET Parking Ticket - McDonalds

Supersaver86

Hi Guys,

Firstly I have read through the forum, very impressive what you guys have achieved and amazing how much you have helped each other.

Little backstory of whats happened here;

Back in Feb I had a morning meeting with my manager (on the road a lot) we decided to go to McD's and not the office so had a breakfast and a few coffee's.

Long story short I overstayed and recieved a ticket, I was V angry.

The first thing I did was to appeal to the McD store manager. At first they said there was nothing they could do until I asked for the regional managers details at which point they decided that they would cancel if MET got in contact.

I have since appealed to MET with the following;

Dear MET parking services,

As the registered keeper of (XXXX XXX) I'm in receipt of your parking invoice XXXXXXX dated XXXXXXXX. I wish to invoke your appeals process as all liability to your company is denied on the following:

1) The amount being claimed is not a genuine pre-estimate of loss to your company or the landowner
2) Your signage does not comply with the BPA Code of Practice
3) You are not the landowner and do not have the capacity to offer contracts or to bring a claim for trespass
4) The driver was a paying customer when they parked at the retail park on that day
5) Conversations have been had with Mcdonalds restaurant as on the XXXXXXXX the driver had meetings in the restaurant and at the time was a paying customer. I have been advised by the store manager XXXXXXXXX that they will request for this parking notice to be cancelled.

These points and others will be raised with Popla should you not accept this appeal, and you will be expected to provide a full breakdown of your alleged loss, and your full unredacted contract with the landowner.

If you do reject the challenge and insist upon taking the matter further I must inform you that I may claim my expenses from you. The expenses I may claim are not exhaustive but may include the cost of stamps, envelopes, travel expenses, legal fees, etc. By continuing to pursue me you agree to pay these costs when I prevail.

Please issue your cancellation within 35 days of this letter, or forward a popla verification code.

Faithfully

I also sent an email to McD's in order to see if I can persue them to cancel, they have yet not responded so I am going to try to get in touch with their customer complaints department.

Any help on the way to proceed will be greatly appreciated

kirkbyinfurnesslad_2

Thats all you need to do
When you get the popla code send this:

In the matter of an Appeal against a Parking Charge Notice


Genuine pre-estimate of loss

It is alleged that, the driver of a vehicle, of which I am the Registered Keeper, parked in breach of certain terms and conditions and as such a Parking Charge is now due. As the parking charge arises from an alleged failure to comply with the terms and conditions then this indicates that the parking charge represents damages for a breach of the parking contract. Accordingly, the parking charge must be a genuine pre-estimate of loss.

The Parking Enforcement Company may claim that its charges are in line with the BPA Ltd Code of Practice. Whilst the BPA Ltd CoP states that operator must justify in advance any parking charge over £100, it does not automatically follow that any charge which is £100 or under is justified.

The Parking Enforcement Company may also claim that its charges have been held to be enforceable in other cases but has failed to produce any reasonable evidence to justify this particular parking charge. Losses caused by breaches of a parking contract may vary depending on the nature of the breach and the car park. The fact that a parking charge at a certain level is held not to be a penalty in one area of private land does not mean that the same sum is a pre-estimate of loss caused in every area of private land.

The Parking Enforcement Company may also claim that the charge is justified commercially and so need not in any case be a genuine pre-estimate of loss. If the Parking Enforcement Company’s submission includes costs which in reality amount to the general business costs incurred for the provision of their car park management services then that cannot be commercially justified. The whole business model of a Parking Enforcement Company in respect of a particular parking enforcement operation cannot of itself amount to commercial justification.

It is my assertion therefore that the parking charge is punitive and an unenforceable penalty rather than a genuine pre-estimate of loss.

Lack of sufficient contractual authority

It is my assertion that the Parking Enforcement Company is not lawfully entitled to demand money from the driver. That is to say, that it has the necessary legal capacity to enter into a contract with a driver of a vehicle on this private land.

The Parking Enforcement Company has not been properly appointed as the agent of the landowner or has been properly authorised by the landowner to recover unpaid parking charges from a driver. If the Parking Enforcement Company refutes this then they should provide an un-redacted copy if its contract with the owner of the land and evidence of the land ownership of the party with whom the Parking Enforcement Company has contracted.

In the alternative, if the Parking Enforcement Company is the owner of the land then it should evidence that ownership, if the Parking Enforcement Company is unable or unwilling to do so, then this appeal should be upheld.

Supersaver86

Cheers

Should I also mention the conversation I have had with McD's ?

kirkbyinfurnesslad_2

no, not relevant

Coupon-mad

If you look at another sticky thread linked by Crabman near the top of the forum you will find that most success in getting McD's to cancel is on a local basis by going in to see the actual franchise manager. They cancel these fairly often as is shown in 'Successful Complaints about PPCs'.

Supersaver86

Coupon-mad wrote: »

If you look at another sticky thread linked by Crabman near the top of the forum you will find that most success in getting McD's to cancel is on a local basis by going in to see the actual franchise manager. They cancel these fairly often as is shown in 'Successful Complaints about PPCs'.

Thanks Coupon,

I have already tried with McD's and even spoken to the store manager and attempted to get intouch with the regional manager aswell but at the moment all they are saying is if I appeal the fine that MET will email McDonalds and then they will cancel.

Pizzageezer

Heartfelt thanks to all in these threads, especially Supersaver86, kirkbyinfurnesslad and to the guru's Coupon-Mad etc. etc.

My car had a short overstay at a McDonalds in Suffolk, it wasn't feasible for me to go back and ask the management to cancel it but I sent an appeal based on Supersaver 86's draft, and 8 days later I have MET's cancellation letter!

cheers
Pizzageezer

Dee140157

Well done. Another win for the forum.

Umkomaas

Pizzageezer wrote: »

Heartfelt thanks to all in these threads, especially Supersaver86, kirkbyinfurnesslad and to the guru's Coupon-Mad etc. etc.

My car had a short overstay at a McDonalds in Suffolk, it wasn't feasible for me to go back and ask the management to cancel it but I sent an appeal based on Supersaver 86's draft, and 8 days later I have MET's cancellation letter!

cheers
Pizzageezer

Thanks for updating us and well done. Coupon-mad is definitely one of the forum's guru's.