VCS Vehicle Control Services

wigannwuk

If i wasnt so stressed in my life due to other issues , i might find this funny and have a bit more fight.

I joined my local Xercise4less in wigan in April , due to injury i only really started going regularly at the end of june this year.

From the 1st of July to the 12th i attended the gym 5 times , after the 12th my office ( i have a company car) started recieving the Parking charge notices for £60 each - there are now a total of 5.
I spoke to the gym who provided me with proof that i was in the gym at the time so i could appeal. which i did.
Slight side note - apparently you have to enter your car reg on this little screen at the side of the reception , but as i joined online and never physically spoke to anyone , i was never told to do this.
Anyway i have now recieved a letter upholding my appeal. they acknowledge i had every right to be there and that i wasnt informed about entering my car reg.The letter finishes by saying as a good will gesture they will just accept £10 per fine as a cancellation charge - £50 in total...god bless them.

Im not going to pay , the gym now have washed their hands of any responsiblity , ive seen lots of advice online saying ignore but i cant help but worry as i dont need this right now and will not be giving away £50 so easily. Ive appealed the reduced fine ,but expect them to want to make some money out of me . What should i do?

Redx

what I would do ?

fight each and every pcn by appealing using the template in the newbies sticky thread and getting a popla code if they dont cancel, then take each and every one to popla costing them over £30 a time , it may teach them a lesson !

post #3 will help you with the popla appeals and also the members on this forum will guide you to 5 winning appeals, although it will take a few months to achieve

Dee140157

You haven't received a letter upholding your appeal as they are asking you for money. If they upheld it you would have nothing to pay. You have therefore presumably had a rejection for all in one appeal.

So because you have 5 PCNs, you need to get 5 POPLA codes. So wrote back to VCS with all 5 pcn references. (Put 5 letters in one envelope/email, each identical but with a different reference, saying you do not wish to avail yourself of their reduced fee. Add the template appeal as per post 1 of newbie thread and request a POPLA code for each PCN or a cancellation of each PCN.

To be honest the aim is to get the POPLA reference for each. Then when you get this from them, you will send off 5 POPLA appeals online. Each identical. It with different references. This will cost a minimum of £135 to the PPC and nothing to you.

So when you get your POPLA codes come back here after you have read the newbie thread post 3 and show a draft appeal.

But your first task is to get 5 POPLA codes issued to you.

Guys_Dad

Could you post up the exact wording where they say "they acknowledge i had every right to be there and that i wasnt informed about entering my car reg."?

Also, what is the wording on the sign re gym members? A photo would be good (if we can read it).

The point is that if the sign does not give instructions or they are not clear, and the gym doesn't tell you about parking conditions, how can anyone know?

The_Deep

Not only will it cost the PPC £27 a time, I believe that the BPA also chip in about £100 a throw for each appeal.

Please do everyone a favour and appeal each one separately over several days in case the PPC notice and cancel.

wigannwuk

The letter is as follows :-

We acknowledge reciept of correspondance recieved on the 25th July 2014 in relation to the above parking charge notices.

The xercise4less car park in wigan is an automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) managed car park.Management of this site is conducted via ANPR camers thar take photgraphs of vehicles entering and exiting the car park.

Any vehicle entering the carpark and using the gym facilities is required to enter their VRM at reception. It is necessary that the full vehicle registration is entered into the touch screen terminal at reception,as stated there are warning signs within the carpark.We must that the Terms and conditions (their exact wording) of the carpark were installed on the 14th April 2014 prior to the touch screen terminal going live on 24th June 2014 and that colleagues of xercise4less have been proactively advising all gym members of the importance of registering all VRM's on arrival.
We note the comments you have made advising that you was using the Gym Facilities on the date(s) in question. However we must advise that you failed to enter your VRM into the touch screen terminal and due to this a Parking charge notice was issued.
As you acknowledge that you were unaware of the requirement to enter the VRM into the touch screen terminal now in place , as a gesture of goodwill ,we are willing to revoke the PCN to a cancellation fee of £10 per PCN (£50 in total) provided that payment is recieved by the 20th August 2014.
Should we not recieve the requested payment by the stipulated date , we reserve our right to pursue the full cost of the PCN together with additional costs incurred through possible debt recovery and or court action.

That is word for word

There are signs around the the edges of the car park but i never read due to me being a member and assumed it was for non members. A i said i joined online and no one told me about the ANPR screen. Its literally a 7 inch screen in the corner of reception. I always just go straight in an straight out...the gym isnt about socialising to me.

The gym's response is that they have no sway over VCS's procedures - to which my reply that they would if enough members left!!!

I have emailed an appeal against the £10 each ...should i still appeal each on seperately even though they havent replied yet and ask for POPLA codes?

Redx

the gym is telling lies, as the landowner is jointly responsible so either they or the landowner (if different) are responsible

BUT

frankly, I wouldnt take any more of their s*** and appeal each and every pcn separately to VCS, with the template letter , adding a note that as RK you are willing to go to popla on all of these cases individually and to let popla decide the outcome

if they are stupid enough not to drop it, they face losing over £150 at popla and you lose nothing at that stage, but once you win you pay nothing at all, popla isnt binding upon you but is on them

so dont get mad, get even, use popla against them by appealing each one separately, but using the same template letter and popla appeal letter for each and every one - no beating about the bush here !

ps:- there are plenty of people here who will help you with your draft popla appeal, so start drafting it

bazster

Cancel your membership and tell them why. Other gyms are available.

wigannwuk

Can I use template on email or just as an official letter?

Redx

if they allow an online appeal , do a separate one for each pcn, giving the pcn number in each case (so one template but alter the pcn number accordingly)

or do it by 5 separate appeals in one envelope , each the same but a different ref number, take to the P.O. and send with free certificate of posting, keep the certificate safe , with copies of all the appeals

I dont know of any PPC that allows appeals by email

wigannwuk

Can I use template on email or just as an official letter?