Smart parking fine fistral beach help please!

Simon123b

Hi, I hired a car from Hertz for my holiday in fistral beach, newquay. A month later my holiday Hertz took £102 out of my bank account without notice. I contacted my bank , who returned the money to me and said they will investigate it.
I decided to contact Hertz, and it turns out I got a ticket from smart parking on fistral beach. I was shocked at this because I thought it was a pay and display parking, which I payed a ticket for. The thing that happens is, I drove in at 10:05 drove around the car park for a space, found a space then got my two children out so I can pay for a ticket. Went to the ticket machine and turns out I need to put my registration in, which I don't know because it is a hire car. So I go back to see the plate then go to pay for the ticket. This took me about ten minutes in total. I payed for a hour, which I returned to the car within that limit. I then got the children in started the car and off I went. Which probably took about five minutes. I left at 11:18.I thought everything was fine.
Turns out not fine at all. Smart parking said I was 13 minutes and sent the fine to Hertz, who paid the fine and put I admin fee of 42 pounds on it. Hertz said I need to contact smart parking which I did. They said I need to appeal online because they can't do it over the phone. So I did. Went online , and I can't appeal it because the fine has already been paid by Hertz!! Ring Hertz again to explain, and they say the only way for me to get my money back is to appeal smart parking..... Which I can't cause it's already been paid!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Don't know what to do, can someone please help. Sorry to bore you with the big story.

waamo

Hertz belong to a trade body the BVRLA. There is an agreement that BVRLA members will pass on hirers details and not pay the invoices.

Point this out to Hertz.

It's in their trade magazine http://www.bvrla.co.uk/news/new-agreement-private-parking-notices

bazster

You'll get nowhere now with Smart, they've got the money and they will not be giving it back.

You need to check the rental agreement with Hertz. Have a read of this thread and see if your agreement says the same:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5283272

If the wording in your agreement is the same then the same points apply and you need to contact your bank to point out that the deduction by Hertz was unauthorised and you do not expect it to be re-applied.

It's going to be Hertz' loss, not Smart's, but don't lose too much sleep over it: these rental companies are in cahoots with the parking companies because their preposterous admin charges are a nice little earner for them.

Half_way

This appears to be an ongoing pronblem, the terms and conditions with Hertz are key here. If you can post them up word for exact word
and above all its not a fine do not use this word 'fine' in your dealings with hertz refer to it as a speculative invoice
the Ts&Cs probably refer to fines and penalties this charge is none of those ( speculative invoice) if you call it a fine when dealing with hertz it can make getting your money back that little harder.

It comes down to a bit of persuasive education, a vast majority pf people, including, it would appear the staff at Hertz see these as parking fines.
You need to educate them that its not a fine, and its (probably ) not covered under their terms and conditions, and as such they must re-fund you all the money that have taken from you in respect of this issue (T&Cs dependent )
I wouldnt be at all surprised oi individual staff at Hertz will have fallen victim to the PPC scourge on a personal level, see it as helping them out if possible and spread the word about the Parasitic Parking Companies (PPC's)

Simon123b

Cheers for all the advice, shall I just not contact Hertz anymore, and see what happens, or proceed with the complaint?

Fruitcake

Simon123b wrote: »

Cheers for all the advice, shall I just not contact Hertz anymore, and see what happens, or proceed with the complaint?

You could tell herz that they had no business paying this speculative invoice thus denying you the right to appeal but it's more important to get your bank on board. A face to face meeting with your bank manager would be the best way to do this.
You should show your bank that the BVRLA has told its members not to pay these invoices but to pass the PCN to the hirer. They didn't do this and in any case the rental Ts and Cs only mention penalty charges and fines. The PCN does not mention those words so cannot be construed as such. Also you were denied your right to appeal, so hertz dropped a clanger and it's their own fault not yours.

bazster

Also (if your rental agreement is the same as everyone else's) clause 14.2 refers to Hertz being required to settle the charge. They were never required to do any such thing, all they had to do was pass on your details and they were out of the loop.

Make the situation clear to your bank, and they will take the money back from Hertz. Serves them right, they should understand their own business better (and not be so keen on clocking up hefty admin charges).

Simon123b

The first thing I did was contact my bank when I saw that Hertz took 102 pounds out without warning! They returned the money and said they will investigate it and get back to me within 2 days, it has now been 4. That's when I contacted Hertz to see what has happened, and they said I have I fine. I said I had no fines whilst I was driving the hire car, I don't know what they are on about. They explained it was from smart park and gave me a copy of their invoice.
I contacted smart and basically said I can only appeal online, which I tired, but because the fine has already been paid I can't appeal it.
So rang Hertz again and said I can't appeal because they have paid it. I said they never informed me of the charge and had no right to take money out of my account. All they kept saying was I still have a right to appeal to smart and they would send me the copy of the fine......which they haven't. To which I got angry with them and basically said am not paying anything because I have done nothing wrong, I paid for a actual ticket ! Wished I kept it now !

bazster

You already said all that once and it's no more relevant now than it was the first time.

It's not a fine. You are wasting your time with Smart, you are wasting your time with Hertz, you need to get back on to your bank. If you don't contact your bank again they will conclude their "enquiries", they will say that Hertz took the money because they paid a parking "fine", and they will deduct it from your account again.

You need to spell out the true situation to your bank in one-syllable words and tell them that under no circumstances are they to re-apply this unauthorised charge.

The_Deep

Read this

http://parking-prankster.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/waiting-for-space-is-not-parking.html

fisherjim

In my experience most hire/lease firms pay any fine or PPC charge like this and recharge it.
It is simple, they are lazy, and they slap on an over-inflated admin charge on top so it's just another hidden fee they get away with.
When it comes to speeding fines however which they cannot automatically pay on your behalf they simply notify the authorities of the hirer's details, so they can do it properly when they have to!