Parking fine, the range Swindon.

Din85

Hello.

Today we had a letter through the door, not a nice one either.

This letter has come from parking eye, with a price of £100.00 or £60.00 if paid in 14 days.

On the 26th of November 2015 my wife went to the range after picking the kids up from school, she met up with another mum for coffee in shop within the range, she spent £15.40 in the coffee shop.

She then wondered around the shop and purchased some Christmasy decorations to the value of £26.00.

I then met her at the range after work as i needed to drop off my bike in to halfords (same site and carpark), for a service.

I then got dragged back in to the range for yet more Christmas stuff......

Anyway, total time in the carpark was 2 hours and 17 minutes, the carpark is free for 2 hours.

I have found a reciept for the £26.00 from the range at 17:00 on that day, bank statement shows the coffee shop spend.

What to do.... Pay the extortionate charge, go in to the range with reciepts and bank statements asking to speak to a manager?

Appeal via parking eye?

Any advise appreciated.

Btw we went to no other shops in that time, simply the range and halfords, and spent upwards of £40 in the range, might have been closer to £90 but i need to check the other halfs other bank statement lol.

Thanks.

catfunt

1. It's not a fine. It's an invoice they are inviting you to pay.

2. Read the Newbies thread. You might need to go through it two or three times to get an understanding of the issues.

3. Appeal to Parking Eye as per newbies thread. Include the fact you were a customer of 2 stores on site and include copies of your receipts.
Also complain strongly to The Range and to Halfords (though the former are known not to be helpful in these cases) - have a search on here for The Range.
If you do complain, give them less wriggle room for a fob-off by reminding them that they are the principal and they employed the scumbags, they should be able to get it cancelled.

4. When you get your POPLA code (assuming PE dont cancel) come back here with a draft POPLA appeal (plenty of recent (last 2-3 months) examples on here, and post for critique from the knowledgeable ones on here.

Castle

Assuming that the 2 hour 17 minutes is based on the entry and exit times rather than the actual parking time, then you should be covered by the grace periods set out in the BPA's Code of Practice. 13.2 & 13.4.

Din85

Thanks so far guys.

Yes, the times stated are entry and exit times with photo proof of the car going in and out of the carpark.u

Din85

Quick update.

Went in to the range armed with reciept, bank statement, charge notice etc, spoke to the customer services manager who told me they could do nothing (a lie)... And said to send a copy of the reciept and anything else to the appeal address on the charge notice and all would be fine... I showed him threads and newspaper cips (online) showing that the range can and will sort it on your behalf, he said i would have to come back and see the store manager but he didn't think it was possible.

Grr.

So i popped in to halfords to ask about my bike (its been 2 weeks) and asked for proof that i had been in on the day and time etc to be met with, " oh we can sort that for you, ill get my manager ", ok says i.

Spoke to the manager, they took a pic of the notice and said they could ring them first thing Monday and cancel the charge no problem at all, one phone call is all it takes.

Stunned, how can the two companies be so different in their approach.

So it would seem i have nothing to worry about and halfords are a much better company to deal with.

I will update when i know more.

Marktheshark

Avoid ANY car park this firm operate in, the risks are simply too high.
Learn from the mistake.
Even with the firm cancelling the ticket, they often refuse to cancel and still chase for the £100 it will be when they next surface from the sludge.
Avoid, shop somewhere else and make sure the wife understands this and sticks to it or there will be many more tickets on their way.

Din85

Well lets hope halfords stick to their word!

Oh the other half understands now, definitely one to be learnt from.

We have both used this carpark and both shops on a regular basis and never had a problem, but since my wifes mum now works in the coffee shop in the range she has been going more often, then waiting for me to get their after work on my bike caused the issue.

Thing is halfords is quite a handy shop when you cycle and happen to me a vehicle technician lol.

I shall update though next week.

ManxRed

In all my years on these boards, The Range is by far the worst at treating it's customers. They are the RyanAir of retail stores.

Halfords on the other hand, are usually very good.

I won't shop in The Range. Ever.

Marktheshark

Things have changed,they won a very important court case and this means they can and will do as they like to people, what you did in the past has changed.
Since the court case, staying out and staying away is the only safe way to avoid getting more tickets.

Din85

Well assuming halfords man does as he says then i must agree, also, bear in mind i have spent no money at all in halfords yet, except last week when i needed a car battery.

In fact, they couldn't get the brake disc off my bike and damaged the wheel, they are supplying a wheel free of charge!

In fact thinking about it, halfords have always given me good customer service, or at least when they mess up they do something to compensate you.

Umkomaas

This won't be cancelled until you have confirmation of the cancellation from ParkingEye. It's the Christmas rush and that manager will have enough on his plate - and may forget. He won't be the first. If you're complacent thinking it's all done, you might find yourself with court papers in a few weeks time. You won't be the first, either!

So you need to prepare your appeal to PE (as per the sticky thread) and if you've heard nothing from PE by the week before your appeal deadline (as shown on the NtK) get that appeal off, and get a POPLA code.

Suggest you email the Halfords manager and say you want to express your thanks for the excellent help given to you by xxxx (employee's name) in dealing with this PE ticket and hope he's given you the details so you (manager) have these to hand when you contact PE to facilitate the cancellation, as xxxx promised.