Should Members Be Charging For Their Assistance?

da_rule

SevenTowers wrote: »

Absolutely!

This has been a good lively debate, but it's such a pity the poll question is so one-sided;

Should New Members Be Charged For Having Their PCN Dealt With By Members?

I support the venture by KIFL & 4CR but there is no way I could answer yes to that poll question, so in my opinion the outcome of the poll is meaningless.

I agree that the question should have been worded better, I didn't realise that you can't edit the wording of a poll question before voting started. The outcome of the poll wasn't really going to be relevant anyway, my aim was just to ask the question and get people's views. It would have been rather boring if people had just voted rather than commenting.

SevenTowers

da_rule wrote: »

I agree that the question should have been worded better, I didn't realise that you can't edit the wording of a poll question before voting started. The outcome of the poll wasn't really going to be relevant anyway, my aim was just to ask the question and get people's views. It would have been rather boring if people had just voted rather than commenting.

OK, so let's ignore the outcome of the poll, like Umkomass I have not voted either.

You have however made some good points and kicked off an interesting and lively debate. I think the general trend of the postings reflects the broad thinking on this issue.

Dave_TH

to be honest I cannot be arsed reading all the opinions, I do know as a fact that many new members would relish paying £16 to make the issue go away. Has my support (FWIW)

Stroma

I can't see the problem, it would be better if people educate themselves of this scam, but some don't have the time for it, so can understand the reasons of looking at other options.

liseylou

4consumerrights wrote: »

UNCLOAK: declaration now as public

I am the other half to the business venture in conjunction with Kirkbyinfurnlesslad..

There should not really be any conflict of interests here in any case regarding the issue of FREE forum advice and those who wish to turn to our service offered. I hope to be able to still contribute as a volunteer where ops request help.

There is no obligation for anyone to use our service and indeed our target market will be those who value their time more by having the work done for them - with a guarantee.

As you will note from our posts and history - both KIFL and myself are well known both on and off forum.

FYI - DA_Rule - I have composed many letters both on and off forum which have resulted in getting parking charges cancelled for OPs, oh and by the way - some of the NEWBIE information included recommendations from myself for tweaking.

I also assist off forum with defence cases...and as a side note both Kirkbyinfurnesslad and myself will be in court this week defending cases (mine at magistrates court)

Personally - I don't know where I would have found out the 'process' if it wasn't for you 4CR, Coupon-mad and Parking-Prankster. I haven't been to court yet but even if I loose I know you gave me the confidence to fight my case.

It's not really about the templates, more about giving newbies the direction to be able to understand the legal process. The support you have all provided has helped me to interpret the terminology into a language I can understand. Hence giving me confidence to defend myself in court.

I have purchased PP's book and would be willing to pay for representative assistance in court from here on in. I plan to be accompanied by my husband if/when I am called to court. However, if for some reason he is not available, I may be calling the forum for last minute assistance.

Thank you all.

HO87

I have not voted because I believe the question is flawed and, in any event, have already expressed my views privately to 4CR and KIFL - with whom I have absolutely no issue and who I am more than happy to continue to support. There will be no perambulatory ejections.

The issue does not quite sit square with me but I believe the fact that what is being offered has originated here makes it far preferrable to some parasitic PPI/Accident handling company scooping it up to run just another papermill, helping themselves to what is "our" work into the bargain.

As has already been said the PPC's are obviously severely irritated by the work of the forums and I suspect that this will be as welcome at the next BPA Ltd's regional meetings as a small, brown floater in a swimming pool. From that point of view, in particular, long may it continue.

Dee140157

As a "newbie" who benefitted from all your advice recently this was an interesting question.

I consider myself reasonably intelligent, but looking back realise I asked some dumb questions rather than taking more time to read everything two or three times. I think like many others I was upset at the PCN and wanted to deal with it as quickly as possible. And at first there does seem a lot of information to process. It takes time to realise it is not a quick fix. Fortunately I was simple in that I asked the questions as soon as I got a PCN, not when I was getting an LBCC or something more daunting.

I am the sort of person who would want to read up and with your support put together the information. I am awaiting POPLA appeal.

Should it go to court stage, I would not expect someone to support me and be out of pocket, but like others cannot afford to pay the ridiculous charges being expected by eg Parking Eye. So if that were to happen, a small charge I think could be fair. But on the whole MSE is built on free advice and should stay that way.

I do however really appreciate all the support I received. It reminds me of the kindness there is out there as well as the scumbags. What I would be happy about at any stage would be if any forum member were to have something like this as a possibility:

"If you succeed in having your PCN cancelled as a result of the advice of this forum, it would be appreciated if you donate a small amount to a local charity of your choice (or a named national charity). "

I completely understand that this is not a fundraising forum, but this would I think be within the spirit of MSE and at the same time do potentially even more good. But to those of you who give hours to people like me, I know you already make a huge personal time contribution which is very valuable.

I should perhaps point out that I work as a fundraiser for a local hospice charity so do have a vested interest in suggesting this!

bargepole

I've also not voted on this poll, because the question really misses the point of all this. As a member of the 'Prankster Pro-Bono unit' mentioned by Benefit Master, my speciality is acting for people who have received court papers, i.e. past the point where an appeal to POPLA is relevant (unless ordered by a Judge).

I subscribe to Courtserve, and every morning trawl through the daily County Court listings to find cases involving Parking Eye, and email the details to BM so that he can fax the Amicus Curiae packs to the relevant courts. These are generally defendants who haven't been on the forums, and we know nothing about what kind of defence they have submitted, but by getting the correct arguments and case law in front of the Judge, it often results in a win or at least an adjournment for the defendant, much to the annoyance of the LPC reps.

But getting back to POPLA appeals, we know that only 1.1% of PPC tickets go through POPLA. Some of these come through the forums, the greater number probably don't. The real purpose of what KIFL and 4CR are trying to do, is to substantially increase the overall percentage, and for that they will need to rely on far more than a few odd cases redirected from forums. Their plan is to advertise the service, through digital and traditional means, on a much wider basis, and reach out to motorists who never come on here.

So the answer is not Yes or No, it's N/A.

Ivor_Pecheque

Why not put a sign up in the corner (well hidden) with some small print, something along the lines of "if you visit this forum, you agree to a charge of £100....." We could even form a little club, and call it "The British Forum Association" to regulate our activities.

2 weeks later we could post out some letters to the forum users, dress it up in leagalese, uses words such as "damages" and "court action."

I bet you'd make a fortune.

bob?_3-2

Ivor_Pecheque wrote: »

Why not put a sign up in the corner (well hidden) with some small print, something along the lines of "if you visit this forum, you agree to a charge of £100....." We could even form a little club, and call it "The British Forum Association" to regulate our activities.

2 weeks later we could post out some letters to the forum users, dress it up in leagalese, uses words such as "damages" and "court action."

I bet you'd make a fortune.

Nice one Ivor, where in the world did that idea come from.