g24 ticket meadowhall - i've really messed up and i'm so confused

maryrosa

Hi everyone. This is my first post and I'm scared as I have been reading these threads for hours and i've seen a lot of exasperation at newbies. I wouldn't have posted but I honestly think my situation is different and usually I wouldn't get so emotional but I have a 4 month old baby and I'm so sleep deprived when I got this last letter I burst into tears. I am just looking for some clear guidance on exactly what to do and how to do it.

I have followed this forum and others like it previously when I have got a PPC PCN and just ignored it. I totally get they aren't fines and you shouldn't pay them. I had no idea the advice had changed and just googled today to reassure myself. Now I discover this was the wrong thing to do and I'm really worried. I got a ticket on 25 May 2014 from g24 at meadowhall. I was 7 months pregnant and having had these previously me and my partner felt sure we should just ignore it when we got a letter telling us we had a ticket. I feel so stupid Joe but previously advice was to ignore so I have thrown this letter away. I think there Mau have been another that I also threw away. The infraction was for overstating in a free car park. We were watching a long film and the letter said you only got 3 hours parking. From other threads I've seen mitigating circumstances mean nothing...

What do I do now? The letter is from drp and is a demand for payment. It says we owe 100 pounds. We have until 10/11/14. Things are further complicated by the fact we no longer own the car so I am confused about the legality of being registered keeper/owner as so much seems to hinge on this according to other threads.

Can I appeal at this stage? Should I? What is the consequence of me throwing away earlier correspondence? Should I be worried about g24, are they one of the serious ones? Can I appeal to popla? What should my next move be? Is there any chance I can continue to ignore or would that be foolish? What is the impact of us no longer owning the car?

Apologies for the long post, lots of questions and any typos ive written this one handed while feeding my baby so I am so sorry.

Please help as I just want to know what to do.

Half_way

From other threads I've seen mitigating circumstances mean nothing...

That all hinges on to who you are going with your mitigating circumstances.


You have said it was at Meadowhall, im guessing thats the place in Sheffield, unfortunately I am not familiar with that site ( my names not N Martin )

Another thing you have stated is that the site has a 3 hour limit, and im guessing a cinema?
Those two things are not comparable.

Sod G24 at this stage complaining to G24 would be a waste of time, however you should mount a strong complaint to Meadow hall over the actions of their agents and tell themt hat you expect them to cancel the ticket as they ( meadowhall ) are responsible for the actions of G24.

There may also be an equalities act angle to this as you were pregnant at the time and this may help in getting the thing cancelled.
however in order to do that you need to tell meadow hall that you are/were pregnant and they must call off their agents (G24) otherwise you may hold Meadow hall liable for a breach of the Equaliites act (EA)

The real expert on matters Eqaulities act is Coupon mad who may be able to offer some more help.

in the meantime dont panic, dont worry.

one quick question, is the cinema part of the meadow hall complex, and does that same complex have a three hour parking limit imposed by a parasitic parking company (PPC) - G24?

maryrosa

Thanks for your reply. Meadowhall has a cinema next to it - a cineworld. We had gone for a meal and then to the cinema. it's a free car park with no limit (parked there many times and not seen anything to show this) there are lots of shops/restaurants where you could easily spend longer than three hours at the site. i don't have the original ticket letter but pretty sure we only exceeded by 30 mins or so assuming there was a 3 hour limit.

so do you think i should write to meadowhall rather than g24 or ignoring? any ideas on how to make the best case?

I've calmed down now - it was the shock of thinking i'd done the right thing in ignoring and knowing I've told others to do the same, I feel awful

trubster

G24 is not Meadow hall, it's from meadowhall retail park.

The cinema is at centretainment which is a different retail park all together.

Complaining will do nothing as they are 2 totally different sites.

Half_way

a quick google seacrh shows two sites with a cinema - centertainment a fair walk from meadow hall (?) and a vue cinema at meadow hall http://www.myvue.com/cinemas/about-vue-cinemas/cinema/sheffield

in the grand scheme of things it shouldn't matter but were you parked at meadowhall shopping centre and then walked ( whilst pregnant) a fair distance to cineworld, or parked at centertainment , or did you visit the vue cinema at meadow hall?
at a guess it sounds like you may either have you cienma chains mixed up and you went to the vue cinema at meadow hall where you parked or you went to centertainment visited cineworld and parked there

Hot_Bring

G24 have never done court and to be frank I doubt ever will. You'll get a load of threats from them and if you challenge them they get aggressive and upset. That said I wouldn't challenge G24 yourself given your worry.

G24 are a shambles and me and them go back some way now. Really, stop worrying.

Personally, because you've already ignored them, I would continue to do so. So as Half_Way has suggested, Sod G24 ( oh how I miss him .... )

pogofish

maryrosa wrote: »

Hi everyone. This is my first post and I'm scared as I have been reading these threads for hours and i've seen a lot of exasperation at newbies.

All of which would be completely avoided if you simply read the stickies first - Which is no more than you already agreed to do during signup.

BTW, your situation is no different to anyone else's with one of these tickets. Which is fully explained in Post 1 of the newbies Sticky.

zoonyx

I got some newbie hate when I first posted too. On one hand, ignore them - they're moody, but good. Also now I know more, I do understand their frustration.

I'm going to guess you parked at Meadowhall Retail Park, which is downhill from the cinema/centertainment complex. Centertainment is UKCPS, meadowhall shopping is free for all I think. The retail park is defo G24.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.4051905,-1.4155374,3a,75y,100.33h,72.37t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sNgEP_PusqDouOCmGwvmJBQ!2e0

This crops up a lot - I think it uses ANPR now, and a lot of people get tickets because the parking up at centertainment is an absolute disaster area most evenings. (People will kill for spaces on orange wednesdays!)

The usual advice is to NOT ignore, however I think most of your avenues for appealing are long gone now, so I'm kinda with the others in this thread now.

Guys_Dad

Because of where you are in the process and because it is G24, your best bet is to tough it out unless you get genuine Northampton Court papers.

Expect more threatening letters but you are most unlikely to get anything else. Just keep them all filed. There is no cast iron guarantee, but statistics are overwhelmingly on your side.

Coupon-mad

I agree, just ignore it as you started, so you will finish! G24 are busy changing all their signs in EVERY car park and all their paperwork, since moving to the IPC now.

And anyway they never used to sue anyone when with the BPA. Can't see them starting now and certainly not over an 'old' BPA case. If they did we'd help you defend it and likely win - you'd have loads of points of defence including the fact you were pregnant (albeit other points are stronger). Most PPCs small claims are easy enough to defend and there's no point paying whatever silly amount DRP are demanding, seeing as even if a person loses in court then the keeper is liable only for the PCN sum (i.e. LESS than DRP are shouting for!). And G24 don't do court, as we said.

Without wanting to be rude to anyone, this is honestly what I think about DRP:

READ THIS BEFORE YOU START A NEW THREAD ABOUT ROSSENDALES or DEBT RECOVERY PLUS!

The point being we've helped people ignore these letters for a decade and nothing has changed just because some people are missing out on POPLA (a big fat ''so what?'' is the reply to that!). Nothing has changed the junk mail, this doesn't affect your credit rating - you don't get a CCJ and DRP can't start a claim.

The only thing I would do is get some pics of the signage this weekend, before they change it (look for signs with the BPA logo). Put them in a file marked 'scam' and add all the DRP and Zenith junk mail until it stops!