parking charge at luton airport...

wp123

hello all

firstly thanks for the help in advance and apologies for any stupid questions.

so i recieved a parking fine back in october last year for supposedly parking illegally at luton airport. i was dropping off my brothers girlfriend for her flight and when i got to outside the airport realised i didnt have cash and going back to the short stay car park would miss boarding time so pulled up the car just outside the taxi pickup bit where you pay to wait and went back to the main free short stay to wait for my brother to return.

recieved a letter over a month later from them stating this parking charge and given that it was so late presumed it couldn't be legitimate and just ignored it. i may have actually thrown the letter away though am still looking for it.

have since recieved two letters from debt recovery plus (which after reading the newbies thread i know i should pay no attention to)

and also after reading the newbies thread realise that ignoring the original letter was a stupid idea.

so my question is thus; do i just continue to ignore the letters from drp and whatever comes afterwards or is there still any kind of appeals process i can enter to dispute the original charge? i still have the parking charge notice number but obviously unless i can find it do not have the original letter.

cheers
wp123

trisontana

Yes, Just keep ignoring. Let me correct you on a couple of points. It's not a "fine", and you did nothing "illegal" you just broke one of their silly rules.

wp123

thankyou for the help! i shall continue to ignore away

smjxm09

Sounds like you actually dropped off your passengers on a roundabout which isn't the brightest thing to do as there are enough signs warning you of the consistences.

You are not the only one to do this as I see many people getting caught by the high visibility car with a camera on its roof that is covered in stickers that you must have stopped beside.

The charges were introduced because up until 2 years ago the airport would become grid locked with cars stopping on the roundabout or by the entrance to the drop off zone while passengers retrieved luggage from the boot and then said their goodbyes in the middle of the road oblivious to the congestion they were causing.

As the road network in the central area if often close to its capacity limits the traffic has to keep moving and with most people obeying the signs the problem has all but disappeared.

Finally the camera car has to train the roof camera onto your numberplate and as the camera only rotates slowly you must have stopped for quite a few seconds to get done.

bazster

smjxm09 wrote: »

Sounds like you actually dropped off your passengers on a roundabout which isn't the brightest thing to do as there are enough signs warning you of the [STRIKE]consistences[/STRIKE] consequences.

The only consequence is that you get a few silly letters from some toothless debt collector. Or if you appeal it properly you cost APCOA £27 at PoPLA who then tell APCOA to cancel the charge.

smjxm09 wrote: »

You are not the only one to do this as I see many people getting caught by the high visibility car with a camera on its roof that is covered in stickers that you must have stopped beside.

The charges were introduced because up until 2 years ago the airport would become grid locked with cars stopping on the roundabout or by the entrance to the drop off zone while passengers retrieved luggage from the boot and then said their goodbyes in the middle of the road oblivious to the congestion they were causing.

The charges were introduced in order to force people to pay to use the drop-off-zone, as was admitted by APCOA in this press article:

http://www.lutontoday.co.uk/news/business/business-news/80-for-nine-second-stop-1-5963167

smjxm09 wrote: »

As the road network in the central area if often close to its capacity limits the traffic has to keep moving and with most people obeying the signs the problem has all but disappeared.

If Luton Airport's true objective was simply traffic management (rather than screwing cash out of the hated "kiss-and-fly" passengers) they would offer a convenient and above all free pick-up and drop-off zone.

My advice to anyone picking up or dropping off at Luton is (i) don't use the official drop-off zone because not only do you have to pay (including an illegally-high card charge if you haven't got change) but there is a predatory towing/clamping operation which will illegally immobilise your car and demand a kings ransom for releasing it if you step so much as a couple of metres away (say, to help someone with their luggage) (ii) aim to stop on the roundabout (you will get a fake fine from APCOA, but you can ignore this or defeat it at appeal according to inclination) and (iii) if picking up then wait elsewhere (e.g. Gipsy Lane) until your "target" calls to say they are ready to be picked up.

The_Slithy_Tove

bazster wrote: »

(ii) aim to stop on the roundabout (you will get a fake fine from APCOA, but you can ignore this or defeat it at appeal according to inclination)

If you wanted to be really cheeky, you could stop on the roundabout more or less next to the camera car parked on the pavement of all places. While it requires some sneaky swerving round the traffic cones put near the car, you'd then be too close for them to be able to photograph your car and its number plates :-). You could even go and have a chat with the operative while your passengers are unloading their luggage.

smjxm09

Is it only at Luton that people think it is alright to stop and to drop off or pick up people on a roundabout? I know the police take a dim view when they see cars stopping.

There is a free 30 minute drop off and pickup area in the midterm car park which is a 2 minute free bus ride away.

Like I said before there are enough signs to warn motorists so it is only the Eastern Europeans who get away with it with their foreign number plates.

Redx

if the police take a dim view of it then they should enforce the bylaws as its not relevant land so the RK is not liable anyway

you cannot use parking charges to enforce road enforcement, that is something all of these airports will have to take aco!!!! of, as will the idiot PPC,s that patrol them

not only that , is using a parking charge invoice then its down to not a gpeol, so the punishments far outweigh the "crime" , hence why when these are contested correctly at popla the apellant always wins

if apcoa were correct in their operation (or vcs at other airports) then why do they consistently lose at popla ?

either police the airport roads properly, or not at all, but dont give it to idiots who decide they can use parking charges as penalties , but dont have the authority to issue penalty notices

the OP cannot invoke POPLA due to ignoring the original pcn, so will have to ignore APCOA for 6 years , including their debt collectors

I doubt that APCOA will go to court trying to enforce parking charges on an airport road , never mind have a hope of winning , same applies to VCS at JLA and other airports

use the bylaws if its not relevant land, less of the smokescreen and mirrors and ambiguity

as mentioned above, provide a proper drop off and pickup area if they want the problem to disappear , people will use it if its done correctly , like they do in hospitals where they have free 10 minute areas for just such a purpose

bazster

smjxm09 wrote: »

Is it only at Luton that people think it is alright to stop and to drop off or pick up people on a roundabout?

LAOL has only itself to blame. If you don't want people stopping on the roads then give them somewhere convenient to stop without charging for it.

smjxm09 wrote: »

I know the police take a dim view when they see cars stopping.

I doubt the police give a s**t, but in case they do they need to tell LAOL to stop dis-incentivising the use of the proper dropping-off area.

smjxm09 wrote: »

Like I said before there are enough signs to warn motorists so it is only the Eastern Europeans who get away with it with their foreign number plates.

Everyone who simply ignores APCOA gets away with it, and those who appeal it properly not only get away with it but they cost APCOA money to boot, and serves them bloody well right.

bazster

Redx wrote: »

as mentioned above, provide a proper drop off and pickup area if they want the problem to disappear , people will use it if its done correctly , like they do in hospitals where they have free 10 minute areas for just such a purpose

:T Perzackly.