Newbie Draft Appeal to MET Parking Services

ajrcixcouk

Hiya! Newbie here. Read everything I could. Following flowchart and points list. Complained to local McDonald manager, now draft letter to operator appeal board. Tried to get inspiration from sticky and successful appeals. Hope you like it!


My Name
My Address
XXXXXXX
Xxxxx XXX XXX

16th Dec 2014

Appeals Department
MET Parking Services
PO BOx 64168
London WC1A 9BE



Dear Sir or Madam,

Ticket number: XXXXXXXXXXX
Vehicle registration number: XXXXXXXXXX

You issued me with a parking ticket on 25th Nov 2014 but I believe it was unfairly, unlawfully and illegally issued. I will not be paying your demand for payment for the following reasons:

There was insufficient signage
The car park in question has no clear signage to explain what the relevant parking restrictions are. This means no contract can be formed with the landowner and all tickets are issued illegally. I am providing photographs of the site. It was dark at 4pm on the date of the alleged incident and you can see that the sign showing time restrictions for parking is in the dark, the light pointing AWAY from it, BEHIND it, inside of lighting it. The restaurant and the welcome signs are lit and very visible.

The car was photographed on entry of the car park and on leaving the car park
There is no sign saying the car will be photographed on entry and at the exit. Signs similar to those on roads for speeding offences would be expected, but there are none. I do not give the consent for my car to be photographed. It is a breach of my individual rights. Only the police and the council have the right to take photos of individuals in the course of their normal lives. MET Parking Services have no such rights.

There is no warning that automatic Car Registration Number recognition will be used.
There is no sign indicating that car registration number equipment will be used. It should be clearly indicated BEFORE I enter the car park, in which case I would have chosen NOT to enter the car park, BEFORE my car could be thus recorded. I do not give the consent for my car registration number to be deciphered and recorded. It is a breach of my individual rights. Only the police and the council have the right to decipher and record the car registration numbers of individuals in the course of their normal lives. MET Parking Services have no such rights. MET Parking Services have breached the BPA Code by not stating on their signs that automatic number plate recognition will be used.

The signage was inadequate and not to a recognisable standard
There is no big blue and white parking sign, which indicates a regulated parking sign. This blue and white sign is added to another sign, not at all in the expected standard of presentation, which is normally big and obvious. The signs detailing restrictions are bespoke and do not represent a fair warning as they are not of the kind expected by the motorist. They are not clear, recognisable, familiar parking restriction signs. It is unfair to expect motorists will see these signs, particularly in the dark, and it was dark that day at that time. My car’s headlights were on when the car was photographed on entry into the car park, proving that it was dark at the time.

A long stay is encouraged for McDonalds’ customers in this car park
There are no other businesses near the restaurant. On repeated visits to this restaurants we were never aware of the restriction signs. There were always spaces. There is no competition for parking for other businesses. There is a free and ample car park (with correct, standard signage) not 50 yards from the restaurant. The car park is obviously only for McDonalds customers and a long stay is encouraged: the restaurant has Wifi and is newly refurbished, adequately heated, with pleasant and helpful staff. There were no signs on the doors of the restaurant. There was no warning at the restaurant itself. This is a money trap, not a real car park.

These are bullying techniques of harassment, clearly unfair business practices.
The first part of the PCN form at the back is how to appeal against the charge and it is VERY detailed, clearly anticipating and trying to discourage appeals. This is because the charge is excessive and an unfair practice. People will not, reasonably and understandably, want to submit to such a dirty trick. Even though McDonalds are employing MET Parking Services, they are not advertising it, they are hiding it, because they know their customers would turn their complaints, and rightfully so, on McDonalds itself. We have written a letter of complaint to McDonalds Xxxxxx, where we received this illegal charge, asking them to cancel the ticket. We intend to complain to the MD/CEO of McDonalds in the UK if we do not receive a satisfactory answer.

You are using bullying techniques so that people will pay, thinking this might be a genuine fine. The form has all the colours of a genuine parking fine, the parking services company is called “MET” so as to intimidate normal people, as if MET Parking Services are in some way connected to the MET, the Metropolitan Police.

We used the car park in good faith, we are genuine customers. The line below is taken from our Bank Account statement, it clearly shows meals were purchased at McDonalds on that day.
26 Nov 2014 POS XXXX 25NOV14 , MCDONALDS REST. , XXXXXX GB - £XX.XX
This bogus parking ticket represents a harassment of genuine customers.

All of the above are nasty, underhand, unfair business practices which should be curbed and made illegal.

The charge is disproportionate and not a genuine pre-estimate of loss
The amount you have charged is not based upon any genuine pre-estimate of loss to your company or the landowner. A charge of £100 is totally excessive, unfair and unrealistic, as the car park is itself free. How can there be a loss if there is no charge in the first place?

According to the Unfair Consumer Contract Regulations, parking charges on private land must not exceed the cost to the landowner during the period the motorist is parked there. In this case, the £100 charge you are asking for far exceeds the cost to the landowner, because the car park is itself free. Even if it were not free, how can a stay of 109 minutes cost £100, a cost of £1 a minute? Even the lower charge of £50 would be 50p a minute, a wildly, totally unrealistic charge in Greater London. The huge car park 50 yards away is totally free.

MET Parkings Services have no proprietary interest in the land
MET Parkings Services have no proprietary interest in the land and therefore have no authority to issue parking charge notices. Who is the legal owner of the land?


I believe I have clearly proven above that MET Parking Services have no authority to issue parking charge notices at the McDonalds Xxxxxx car park.

If you choose to pursue me please be aware that I will not enter into any correspondence and this will be the only letter you will receive from me until you answer the specific points raised in my letter.


Yours faithfully,


XX Xxxxxxxx

Umkomaas

A nice rant intermingled with the right technical stuff. Great hybrid.

ajrcixcouk

Thank you so much. Yes, I did the homework. The detailed help is GREAT! Happy Christmas.

ajrcixcouk

And you are so kind to say that I have a chance at cancellation. I hope so. I read all the recent POPLAs and tried to see what had made the difference, what clinched it and what didn't work. It was VERY VERY helpful. You avoid so many mistakes (Don't tell them who is the driver!). Anyway thanks again for the encouragement.

ajrcixcouk

Many thanks! I love my rant even though I know it will be mostly ignored. Somewhere in the posts it says: "They don't care about your story, they care about the law. Find the right point of law." But you do want to vent! Hence the weird hybrid. I hope it works. Thanks for the encouragement and Merry Christmas.