Do I have a leg to stand on with either Marriott or PE?

TennisNut_2

Hi,
I have read the Newbie sticky threads and I have trawled both MSE and Pepipoo for information and advice but I have been unable to find a situation similar to mine. Whilst I am prepared to go ahead with a soft appeal to PE, using the shortened template, I am concerned that I may be opening a can of worms that I may not be able to get out of!

I met a friend at a Marriott car park one Sunday evening, left my car there and then we both went into town in my friend's car to attend a concert. We have done this several times before and we have never had to pay for parking. On this occasion, however, the car park appeared to be barrier-controlled, but no ticket was issued on entry, we didn't see any signs and although I was half-expecting to be prompted for some sort of payment on exit the barrier just lifted and I left, five and three quarter hours after arriving. Unbeknown to me PE used ANPR to photograph me entering and exiting the car park and lo and behold I have now received a PCN from PE for £100 (£60 if I pay within 14days).

Whilst I am aggrieved at the sneaky and underhand way in which this charge has been made (and of course I would have paid for parking if (1) I had known I was supposed to and (2) I had been given opportunity to), what concerns me is that I had no business with the Marriott that evening - I was just using their car park for convenience - so I can't really complain to them as they could accuse me of trespass, couldn't they?

Also my husband is the registered keeper and he doesn't want to get involved so can I appeal on his behalf?

Or should I just cut my losses and pay up? As with all the many other posters this is really stressing me out!

Many thanks in advance for any help.

Fruitcake

TennisNut wrote: »

Hi,
I have read the Newbie sticky threads and I have trawled both MSE and Pepipoo for information and advice but I have been unable to find a situation similar to mine. Whilst I am prepared to go ahead with a soft appeal to PE, using the shortened template, I am concerned that I may be opening a can of worms that I may not be able to get out of!

I met a friend at a Marriott car park one Sunday evening, left my car there and then we both went into town in my friend's car to attend a concert. We have done this several times before and we have never had to pay for parking. On this occasion, however, the car park appeared to be barrier-controlled, but no ticket was issued on entry, we didn't see any signs and although I was half-expecting to be prompted for some sort of payment on exit the barrier just lifted and I left, five and three quarter hours after arriving. Unbeknown to me PE used ANPR to photograph me entering and exiting the car park and lo and behold I have now received a PCN from PE for £100 (£60 if I pay within 14days).

Whilst I am aggrieved at the sneaky and underhand way in which this charge has been made (and of course I would have paid for parking if (1) I had known I was supposed to and (2) I had been given opportunity to), what concerns me is that I had no business with the Marriott that evening - I was just using their car park for convenience - so I can't really complain to them as they could accuse me of trespass, couldn't they?

Also my husband is the registered keeper and he doesn't want to get involved so can I appeal on his behalf?

Or should I just cut my losses and pay up? As with all the many other posters this is really stressing me out!

Many thanks in advance for any help.

Your situation is exactly the same as everyone elses.
You send the soft appeal. It gets rejected. You send the forum assisted POPLA appeal. You win, guaranteed as long as you fiollow the advice on this site.
It's a piece of tcake for the keeper to appeal but if your husband doesn't want to, he writes to inform PE that you were the driver, then you appeal and win as above.

You need to forget what happened on the day and just use the template first and second appeal template letters. Post them up here for checking before you send them.

Hot_Bring

I suggest you re-read the Newbies thread then. WHAT happened doesn't matter. HOW you appeal does. Just use the template you read. Send it as your husband.

Oh - stop parking where you shouldn't !

bod1467

As per above, you have TWO legs to stand on, and they have none.

Redx

you do the work, you send it off, in his name , with him just effectively acting as RK for the purposes of the appeals , but you do the work

use the usual appeal points in your soft appeal and if necessary expand them for the popla appeal

what happened on the day is largely irrelevant

bazster

Just about every person who posts here has a situation exactly like yours so I don't know how it is you can't find anything relevant.

ParkingEye has entry and exit cameras for vehicles, that is all, they have no idea you went elsewhere. So you can forget about that aspect of it and make sure you don't tell them!

Coupon-mad

TennisNut wrote: »

Hi,
I have read the Newbie sticky threads and I have trawled both MSE and Pepipoo for information and advice but I have been unable to find a situation similar to mine. Whilst I am prepared to go ahead with a soft appeal to PE, using the shortened template, I am concerned that I may be opening a can of worms that I may not be able to get out of!

I met a friend at a Marriott car park one Sunday evening, left my car there and then we both went into town in my friend's car to attend a concert. We have done this several times before and we have never had to pay for parking. On this occasion, however, the car park appeared to be barrier-controlled, but no ticket was issued on entry, we didn't see any signs and although I was half-expecting to be prompted for some sort of payment on exit the barrier just lifted and I left, five and three quarter hours after arriving. Unbeknown to me PE used ANPR to photograph me entering and exiting the car park and lo and behold I have now received a PCN from PE for £100 (£60 if I pay within 14days).

Whilst I am aggrieved at the sneaky and underhand way in which this charge has been made (and of course I would have paid for parking if (1) I had known I was supposed to and (2) I had been given opportunity to), what concerns me is that I had no business with the Marriott that evening - I was just using their car park for convenience - so I can't really complain to them as they could accuse me of trespass, couldn't they?

Also my husband is the registered keeper and he doesn't want to get involved so can I appeal on his behalf?

Or should I just cut my losses and pay up? As with all the many other posters this is really stressing me out!

Many thanks in advance for any help.

Did you miss the top thread on the forum - you say you did but you've missed the point of it applying to EVERY CASE. No need to type any of the above!

TennisNut_2

Many thanks to all for your prompt responses - I have taken all comments on board and now feel in a position to move things forward.

TennisNut_2

Ok, so here goes with the appeal to PE:

"I have received your parking invoice impersonating a parking ticket. I decline your invitation to pay or name the driver, neither of which are required of me as the keeper of the vehicle.This is my appeal and all liability to your company is denied on the following basis:

A The amount is neither a genuine tariff/fee for parking, nor is it based upon any genuine pre-estimate of loss.
B You are not the landowner and do not have locus standi.
C Your signage was not sufficiently prominent nor clearly worded and consideration did not flow from both parties, so there was no contract.

If you choose not to cancel this invoice you must issue a rejection letter in reply to my appeal, explaining:
1 The legal basis of your charge (i.e. breach, trespass or contractual fee). As keeper, I cannot be expected to guess the basis of your allegation.
If you try to rely upon ParkingEye v Beavis at POPLA, I will point out that it was a flawed decision, it is not binding, and it is set for the Court of Appeal. There is clearly no commercial justification for this punitive charge and no case law to support it.
2 Proof of your locus standi to offer contracts to drivers at this site.
3 Your explanation of the consideration that you believe flowed from the driver, and from yourselves.
4 A copy of the signage site map and close-up pictures of the signs in situ at the time, taken at a comparable time of day in similar light conditions.
5 The means to make an appeal to POPLA, otherwise you will be reported to the BPA and the DVLA.
I intend to claim my costs when I prevail."

It appears to fit in the online appeal box and I didn't see the point of expanding any further at this point if it is going to be rejected out of hand anyway. Am I heading in the right direction?

Redx

seems ok to me, seeing as they are likely to reject it and give you a popla code