1st time PCN- can I make a 'fair' payment?

riding_high

Hi, long time lurker and rare poster I am in need of some advice.

I have received a parking 'fine' from Parking Eye after overstaying by 54 minutes at Marsh Mills retail park in Plymouth. I fully accept that I'm in the wrong here and did not obey their signage (which is pretty plentiful, I just didn't see/read it and wrongfully assumed it was 4 hours… also there is nowhere suitable onsite to feed and change a baby, so much time was spent returning to the car to tend to her needs)

My question is £70 (or £40 if paid within 14 days) doesn't seem a fair amount to pay? Had I stayed for 5 hours over the 3 hours given for free, the parking fine would still be the same?? So can I not just send them a polite letter with £5.83 payment (the £70 divided between the 12 hours opening time of the longest store opening hours onsite) as a fairer payment? After all, had I parked in a busy council run car park, I would have paid £1.20 for an hour… this is an out of town retail park that had more than ample spaces- indeed they are even building a Costa coffee shop in some of the spaces, so they obviously have capacity to spare! Or do I have to 'appeal' to them without sending what I deem to be a fairer payment?

Or, do I just cough up the £40?

Hopefully someone can advise me (I have read the stickies and guides- I guessed from what I read I could 'appeal' it on grounds of genuine pre-estmate of loss, but not confident I would be successful :-( )
Thanks

Dee140157

Why are you not confident you would win. PE never even bother disputing well formed forum assisted POPLA appeals. We win 100% of the time at POPLA.

So off to the newbie thread, send off the initial appeal to PE that is in post 1.

When it gets rejected, send in POPLA appeal from examples linked to in post 3 for a free car park. We will add another paragraph for you regarding EA2010 and protection offered to bread feeding mothers (assuming this was the case).

You do not need to pay a penny.

ezerscrooge

Pay them nowt. Appeal on the 4 key grounds - No GPEOL, No Contract/Authority, Poor signage, Inaccurate ANPR (if one was was used) - you will win if you follow the advice on here and that is certain.

Have you had your Notice to Keeper, or is this a windscreen ticket? If it is the NtK then make a generic 'soft appeal' (they will reject it, as they would reject your offer of a 'far' payment)

Once you have your POPLA code, you can come back and put your POPLA appeal together. PE are throwing in the towel when faced with a decent POPLA appeal lately.

Do post your appeals on here for comment. Do not admit to being the driver.

riding_high

Not confident I guess as I did overstay when signage was ample and clear… I was just blind to it!

I'd happily pay for not abiding by the rules… it's just the amount that seems unfair :-/

Dee140157

Why would you happily pay for not following their ridiculous rules they impose on genuine shoppers? It's a retail park for goodness sake. Do they not want people to come and spend money in their shops?

If I was you I would be returning with receipt in hand complaining very loudly and demanding the PCN is cancelled, and that you will be holding the shop responsible if you have to fight the PCN under the law as enshrined by EA2010. Complaining can be the easiest way to get the PCN cancelled.

If you bought something you can take back, do so and explain in no uncertain terms you need to return item so that should you (which you won't) need to pay this ridiculous invoice (it's not a fine) then you will need the money spent on the items to pay the PCN. So the shop loses out. And you will be taking your customer elsewhere in future.

As for the signage, bah.

Woman to woman I am now going to say something very un politically correct but you need to "man (or woman) up" !

Redx

its easy peasy if you follow the newbies thread and the flowchart, most of the work is done for you

if you really cannot hack it, pay £16 to PTAS and let them quash it for you, far cheaper than £40 or £100 , with the money going to a good cause in the fight against these shysters

parkingticketappeals.org.uk (nothing to do with me but a few forum regulars on here set it up to fight back)

Coupon-mad

riding_high wrote: »

Not confident I guess as I did overstay when signage was ample and clear… I was just blind to it!

I'd happily pay for not abiding by the rules… it's just the amount that seems unfair :-/

Everyone wins at POPLA here. You will too. Forget that feeling that you've done something wrong and start thinking why are a retailer trying to 'fine' customers who may well have been delayed at the tills! (whatever next, fines for walking on the cracks in the pavement?).

riding_high

Thank you for all the advice

We were sofa shopping, and even after all the debating and going back and forth between furniture village, DFS, Homebase and Next Home, we didn't make a purchase So no till receipts or 'proof' of shopping We did spend a very long time in Furniture Village (they make you feel very at home with hot drinks and biscuits, and a female member of staff was very taken with my little girl so spent much time chatting about her grandchildren!

I have no real excuses for going over time, other than my inability to make a sofa decision and having to return to the car to tend to my little girls needs.

I've now missed the 14 day window anyway (4 days lost before I even received the letter)

eddy1

Hi Riding High


as I have found out to my cost so far (unsuccessful appeals, before finding this forum)but still fighting, your story does not matter, so do not believe that you have done something wrong


if you follow the advice given earlier your argument will be about points of law, not what you did or did not do (that does not matter believe me) and listen to others when they say they do not lose at popla, just look at some of the success stories where people have won.
please do not pay up to these parking companies, as I am coming to realise myself, their underhanded tactics have no limit in their attempts to fleece people of hard earned money


please follow the advice given


eddy

riding_high

I've chosen the parkingticketappeals.org.uk route! Thanks for the link Redx! Didn't know about them, but definitely the easy option for me! :beer:

ampersand

riding high - this is the very first in the list, when you clicked to this parking fourm -
POPLA Decisions
#
35 pages of victories, all from people who began, just like you: all newbies, worried, despairing, alarmed - choose your adjective.

Less than a year ago, I was one such. With constant help and guidance from everyone here, I, too, saw Parking Lie off.

Posting another success on that POPLA Decisions Thread is a great feeling.

You are 2 letters away from doing the same, mostly already here for you.