Help with PCN for Wing Parking

Coupon-mad

Ask the BPA (Gemma Ridgewell the POPLA Liaison Officer) to look into this more thoroughly and allow the POPLA code to be used late, since it was never received. Say you are aware they can do this by telling POPLA to allow the code to be used under such circumstances of unprofessionalism & unfairness by a PPC. Ask if the BPA has discounted the possibility that Wing may simply have mocked up an email as it was NEVER received - and are there records to prove that POPLA code was ever allocated to your case (have the BPA checked that it wasn't just an old code someone didn't use that month)?. Also complain more, rattle the BPA cage and say that Wing made you jump through two appeal stages which is unfair in itself and outwith the terms of use for POPLA, which MUST follow after ONE appeal. And say you will complain to the DVLA because 'asking a motorist to enter into further correspondence before they get a POPLA code' is a breach of the CoP. As the BPA and DVLA reminded all members nearly a year ago:

the following practices may be considered as Code breaches and must not be continued:
• Asking the motorist to enter into additional correspondence to obtain a POPLA code
• Failing to include a correct and/or valid POPLA Code within the Rejection correspondence
• Issuing a POPLA Code with a date identifier which is significantly different from the date of rejection
• Appearing to indicate that the issue of a POPLA Code is conditional on driver details being supplied “

Agooner

@Coupon-mad Thank you. I will draft a response tonight and put it up here for your perusal before sending it. Really appreciate your help.

Thanks

The_Deep

Bearing in mind the place where the person parked may well belong to a relative who may have an interest in the land, and as a cionsequence Wing have suffered no loss, what would be the consequences of ignoring this from now on.

Are Wing likely to issue a SCC claim? Have they ever been successful in such a case, on what basis do they invole the Beavis case.

They seem to be on very unstable ground here. Is in not time for the OP to start fighting back?

bod1467

The thing about the Beavis case is ... unless the PPC have paid to be allowed to patrol that parking location then their circumstances are not the same, therefore their reliance on the Beavis case is tenuous.

Agooner

How does this response read? Is there anything I should include/omit?

Dear Gemma Ridgewell,

Thank you for your email of 15/10/2014, in which you stated that:

"As the operator has responded to your appeal, there has been no breach of our Code of Practice. As we are not a regulatory body we cannot become involved with why the response may not have been received and we cannot force the operator to issue the rejection letter again."

Have you been able to discount the possibility that Wing Parking simply mocked up an email that was never sent? Also, are there records to prove that the POPLA code was ever allocated to my case? The expired code included in the copy of the response that you sent to me could have been an old case that another complainant didn't use in that month.

Also, the operator enforced a two stage appeal process that I complied with even though it is unfair and outwith the terms of use for POPLA, which must follow after one appeal.

In addition to this, I will complain to the DVLA because "asking a motorist to enter into further correspondence before they get a POPLa code is " is a breach of the CoP. As the BPA and DVLA reminded all members nearly a year ago:

the following practices may be considered as Code breaches and must not be continued:
• Asking the motorist to enter into additional correspondence to obtain a POPLA code
• Failing to include a correct and/or valid POPLA Code within the Rejection correspondence
• Issuing a POPLA Code with a date identifier which is significantly different from the date of rejection
• Appearing to indicate that the issue of a POPLA Code is conditional on driver details being supplied".

I would ask that you thoroughly look into my complaint and allow the POPLA code to be used late, since it was never received. I am aware that you can do this by informing POPLA to allow the code to be used under such circumstances of unprofessionalism and unfairness by a PPC.

Yours Sincerely,

Thanks

Coupon-mad

I would just add here:


Have you been able to discount the possibility that Wing Parking simply mocked up an email that was never sent? Also, are there records to prove that the POPLA code was ever allocated to my case? The expired code included in the copy of the response that you sent to me could have been an old case that another complainant didn't use in that month. I am not one to make accusations but the fact is, I have triple checked all email folders, spam and otherwise and I am certain that the email was not received when it was claimed to have been sent. My system does not auto-delete and no-one else has access to my emails. This was NOT sent to me.

Also why would Wing have a cover-note style email saying 'please find attached our response' when that is not their normal way of replying? I have researched their normal appeal replies and they don't do this, they reply by letter. Even if they emailed a reply they would not put a 'covering email for an email', that makes no sense! They neither emailed me nor replied by letter. Please ask them to show you the records of the allocation of that POPLA code (or as you are the Liaison Officer, it would not be unreasonable of me to request that you ask POPLA if they have a fail-safe way of checking the name or car registration for which a POPLA code was allocated to at the outset). There must be a connection with me or my car that can be checked against this old code to satisfy yourself that Wing allocated it when they say they did, to the case they say they did.

The BPA boasts of 'driving up standards' in this industry so I rely upon you to investigate my complaint and not just accept a mock-up of an email. Even if you are satisfied that the code was allocated for my case, the fact that I am telling you Wing never sent it to me, should be enough for you to allow me to use it. For a consumer to ask for time to use an appeal service (after being forced to write twice to the Operator) is not unreasonable bearing in mind it is in the aims of the Consumer Rights Directive from the EU that consumers will in future be allowed a full year for ADR. The BPA represents your members and I realise you are not a regulator, but you are responsible for their compliance with the Code of Practice and your members must act in a professional manner. This has not been the case and requires a more in depth investigation in view of this ghost email.

Agooner

Thanks for your help, I've added your comments.

Will let you know how I get on

Agooner

Hi all,

Gemma has replied with the following:

Thank you for your reply in which your comments have been noted.

I do appreciate the comments you have made in your previous e-mail, however, unfortunately there is nothing further we can do to assist you. From the evidence provided it does not appear that Wing Parking have breached our Code of Practice.

Wing Parking have provided evidence that the e-mail was sent to you. There was a date and a time in the “sent” section of the e-mail which would suggest the e-mail was sent to you. Unfortunately I am not in a position to advise why the e-mail was not received by yourself.

We cannot investigate whether the POPLA code has been used previously. The code would have been valid for 28 days from the date of the rejection letter. The POPLA Code is not allocated to a specific registration number.

The operator is allowed to have a 2 tier appeal process. This is not against our Code of Practice. When this was exhausted the operator rejected your appeal and issued a verification code so you could appeal to POPLA. There has been no breach of our Code of Practice in this instance.

I am sorry I cannot offer you any further assistance.

Any thoughts on how I should proceed?

I'm tempted to copy her email and change the date and timestamp to show how easily it can be done!

Also, is it right that POPLA codes aren't registration number specific?! I find that hard to believe.

Thanks

Coupon-mad

I'm tempted to copy her email and change the date and timestamp to show how easily it can be done!

Do that!

And phone up POPLA to ask the other question, they should hopefully be able to tell you but I think maybe she's right about the POPLA code.

Agooner

@coupon-mad I've had a response from both Gemma Ridgewell and POPLA.

They are both unable to help me. POPLA advised that I contact the BPA regarding Wing Parking. The BPA, stated through Gemma, that there is nothing further that they can do as they do not believe that Wing Parking breached their code. The POPLA code is not registered to a vehicle or an appellant, it simply signifies that I have/had 28 days to appeal.

I'm not sure where to go from here...

Should I appeal to POPLA or is that a waste of my time? I've not heard from Wing Parking or their debt collection agent since september.

Thanks for your help