Park With Ease - White Moss

Jade54

I mistakenly entered the wrong registration number while paying for parking online at White Moss car park near Grasmere, Lake District. I received a receipt for payment and thought all was OK. I didn't realise I'd got the number wrong (just 1 digit) until my hire car company charged me an admin fee, and I queried it with them to be told they had received a letter from Park With Ease demanding a GBP 50 parking charge, for "non payment of parking". I emailed Park With Ease appeals with my receipt to show that I did pay for parking, but got a rather rude reply suggesting that I "chose" to enter the wrong registration number and "chose' to underpay for parking by about 4 minutes, therefore the parking charge still stands. They then advise of my right to appeal through the IAS.

I noted down our arrival and departure times on the day, knowing I would need to pay online later, and paid for parking based on this, so I contest that I underpaid. Any ideas what could account for the 4 minutes difference?

My hire car company have forwarded me a letter headed "Parking charge - remains unpaid" demanding GBP 50. It refers to a previous letter, but the hire car company say they have not received anything else from Park With Ease, i.e. no previous letter and no Notice to Keeper. Does this invalidate the parking charge? I gather that a Notice to Keeper has to be sent within 14 days to be valid under the PoFA.

Before I became aware of all this, the hire car company have already forwarded my details as the hirer to Park With Ease, but I haven't received anything from them yet other than their reply to my email.

I accept that I made a mistake entering the registration number, but feel that the GBP 50 parking charge for 'non payment of parking" is unreasonable because I did pay for parking on the day. This must be a pretty common error and they should be able to see on their system that they have a payment for a car not showing on their cameras. Also IMO their payment system shouldn't accept numbers that haven't been recorded in the car park.

I'm looking for some advice on what I should do now? Reply to Park With Ease stating further why I believe the charge is invalid / unjustified? Or go ahead and appeal to the IAS? Or wait / do nothing? I'd be interested to hear what others think?
Thanks in advance

ManxRed

Exactly what does it say in your hire agreement with regard to paying parking tickets, and levying admin charges?

Which Hire Company? £50 is steep.

Are they members of the BVRLA?

Did Park With Ease offer you an independent appeal following their appeal rejection?

The_Slithy_Tove

ParkWithEase are on very shaky ground, here. You should raise hell with the Lake District National Park who hired these morons (having thrown out ParkingEye for the very same aggressive practices that ParkWithEase are now employing). Don't take any "it's got nothing to do with us" excuses from the LDNP.

The problem that they have, even if there is a reason to charge you, is that the signage they use does not say how much they will charge. Not, that is, if the signs are the same as in the Hawkshead car park (which they probably are):


(This particular photo is a couple of years old, but it's essentially the same today, though the prices have gone up.) It doesn't say how much they will demand, just that they want their costs. I can't see how their costs are £50, when all they've done is pay the DVLA for the keeper details and sent one pro-forma letter.

Next, their own systems are at fault for even allowing you to enter a VRN that their cameras hadn't picked up, so they cannot justify charging you for their own inadequacies. (Incidentally, I was in the Lakes the other week, parking in Hawkshead, and the machine was not able to recognise my vehicle's number at the time. I paid later online, where it was found).

As for 4 minutes overstay, they can only ask for 40p for a 20 minute block of time, not £50. And anyway, if you pay at the machine, and are near the end of one of the 20 minute periods they charge, there is no way of saying to the machine "I'll be a few minutes loading up the car and leaving, can I pay more, please." So, again, their systems are at fault.


Not that any of this will make any difference to PWE's juggernaut. It's the LDNP you must make a strong complaint to about these practices.

Northlakes

This is latest photo taken in July this year. The previous 20 minute 'grace' period has been reduced to 10 minutes.

Lowther Estates are the landowners.


image upload

Northlakes

This is possibly a rare case where an appeal to the IPC would (or should) be successful.
The OP has a receipt and the 4 minute extra time is well within the free 10 minute 'grace' period.

PWE have clearly failed to mitigate any loss by allowing an incorrect VRN to be entered.
They know exactly the VRN of every vehicle on that car park and if the technology is there do that, the computer can also determine a vehicle which clearly isn't there.

If PWE were to take this further the OP would then have sufficient proof to show reasonableness on his/her behalf in front of any judge, as there has been no loss at all to PWE.

fisherjim

Northlakes wrote: »

This is latest photo taken in July this year. The previous 20 minute 'grace' period has been reduced to 10 minutes.

Lowther Estates are the landowners.


image upload

Is it me or do those fees not add up, they have left the examples at the old rate!

Northlakes

fisherjim wrote: »

Is it me or do those fees not add up, they have left the examples at the old rate!

Quite right. They have increased the charges but not increased the example prices.

fisherjim

Northlakes wrote: »

Quite right. They have increased the charges but not increased the example prices.

Nice little trap there then!

ampersand

A small note - 'By parking at this site, you, the driver, are agreeing to the following contractual terms,.........'
#
Many times, it is passenger/child who sees how much is needed then comes back for change or feeds the machine then and there.

It can't be a requirement of the alleged contract that 'the driver' reads the signage.

The_Slithy_Tove

Northlakes wrote: »

Quite right. They have increased the charges but not increased the example prices.

Bit like Royal Devon & Exeter hospital car park, where the machines charge higher amounts from what the signs say. Some fun to be had there, I am sure.

The_Slithy_Tove

Northlakes wrote: »

This is latest photo taken in July this year. The previous 20 minute 'grace' period has been reduced to 10 minutes.

Lowther Estates are the landowners.

In that case, ignore most of what I said. Interesting that LDNP seems to be rather different from other examples of PWE signs. I wonder what PWE tries to charge in those cases, and whether there is any latitude in the contract to allow them to go to court (unlikely given the PE experience).