Parking Eye - Welcome Break Newcastle Under Lyme.

Coupon-mad

I didn't know that you had to pay at an MSA either, until I found out from this forum, only 2 or 3 years ago maybe. And I have helped friends win a POPLA appeal about one - and they had no clue either. The signs ARE NOT CLEAR, deliberately so by the PPC who only makes money if people overstay. That isn't bilking DP, that's the PPC being underhand.

esmerobbo

The signs at Keele MSA are crap and it would be easy not to notice them at all if you didn't get out of your car. It also seems that the OP parked on the truck side were they are even more crappy.

They "bilked me" last week £2.35 for a paper cup a tea bag and a tube of sugar and not so hot water!

The_Deep

There is a big difference between going into a P&D car park and deliberately not paying (or "bilking" as you insist on calling it), and going into a motorway service station and being completely unaware that there is a charge after 2 hours.

Indeed there is, but have you read this?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignorantia_juris_non_excusat

Is it relevant?

Half_way

Is it relevant?

in private, or unregulated car parks the answer is no.
an unlit sign that cant be fully read and understood at the entrance - with the option to exit before the anpr cameras does not make it the 'law'

Motorway service area parking charges are ridiculous at the best of times and could even be deemed to be a safety hazzard.
There are plenty of safety messages telling drivers to pull over and take a break, likewise there are plenty of good drivers out there who will heed this advice and pull over when tired intending to take a 90 minute break, and find themselves having a nap for a little longer ( say 2 hours and x minutes ) therfore generating a parking charge and possibly a profit for the likes of parking eye.

The excuse for these charges thats trotted out by the MSA operators is that its to ensure that there are plenty of spaces available, ive seen this elaborated with the statement that if the car park is full they will make a loss.
Therefore if the car park is not full threre can be no loss and the charge is invalid.

The_Deep

Therefore if the car park is not full threre can be no loss and the charge is invalid.

This may be so in a free car park, but how can you say that there is no loss when there is a charge and the parker does not pay it. You are in fact saying that someone can park there for days, weeks, months,and not pay a penny.

If your premise was valid, then no-one needs to pay in a P&D car park as long as there at least one space unoccupied.

mintosan

So, best to respond?

Jim_AFCB

mintosan wrote: »

So, best to respond?

Yes, definitely.

CM in post #19 has given you some very good advice.





As for The Deep's stance (and not for the first time...) - posts like that really add nothing to the forum in terms of its primary purpose of helping people, and are therefore a bit out of place here. IMHO.

trisontana

I think this article sums up the state of MSAs very well:-

http://www.confused.com/car-insurance/articles/why-are-our-motorway-service-stations-so-awful?MediaCode=806&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NewsletterMR20141208manual&utm_source=Newsletter

Including this:-

"It is important for their safety and that of other road users that they take regular breaks so they are not tired when behind the wheel.

But motorists feel they are being seriously let down by what they see as overpriced products and a lack of good service to match those premium prices."
Williams adds: "For a family of four to eat a quick, relatively basic meal together, the bill can easily pass the £40 mark, and even then, motorists tell us that the food on offer in some cases just doesn’t meet the mark."
The RAC found that respondents were particularly unhappy with the fact that many service stations imposed strict time limits on parking.
More than eight in 10 said services should allow free long-stay or overnight parking so that drivers could rest adequately.

Herzlos

The_Deep wrote: »

Therefore if the car park is not full threre can be no loss and the charge is invalid.

This may be so in a free car park...<snip>

It is a free car park. The services make their money from people using the services, not from the parking. The ~£12 fee for the overnight (that normally includes a meal voucher for ~£10) is purely to allow them to charge people for overstaying whilst allowing the facility for people who are legally required to (taco vehicle drivers).

Overstaying in a free car park doesn't cost the service area any more than understaying.Therefore isn't any loss to pursue, or at most the £2 fee for the overnight (they didn't get the meal voucher).

That's even ignoring the fact the signage is universally awful, especially at night, and that almost no-one knows about the arbitrary restriction. So there's still no contract, because there's no way to know about the contract without going to look for it.

It's also nothing like not paying in a P&D car park or a cinema. No paid for service was gained without payment.

The_Deep

No Quentin, I am just a landowner fed up with riff raff using my parking spaces, landowners have rights too you know.