Contractual Parking Charge Notice (G24) - Feb 2016

Emilyharris94

Hi,
Last week, I recieved two very threatening letters from G24 with two pictures of my car driving in and out of a private car park (my own gym - sports direct in Kings heath, Birmingham).
I was going to a spin class and was completely new to the place. It was pitch black and 6am in the morning. Everything was hunky dory, until a week later, I recieve these two letters (one from each time I went), demanding I pay my monies of £60 within 14 days or £100 thereafter and if ignored this email, they will be sending baylifts round.

Obviously this has completely scared me to death so I phoned the gym and asked for proof of my membership at the gym. I then appealed and sent them that same print screen and proof that I went into the gym for my spin sessions, at those dates and those times.

They then replied within 24 hours after my appeal to say that I hadn't put in my registration number into a "clear park terminal". I didn't know that I had to do this and wasn't asked to do so when I told the girl behind the desk that I was new to the gym.

Being a 21 year old girl, I have freaked.. And paid for both fines.
I have done a lot of research this morning and found that because they are not notices from the police or council, they are not fines and are just invoices and will expect people like ME, who are scared from threatening letters like this and will pay out whatever it is!
I have just phoned my bank and reveresed these charges.. Can you assure me that this was the right thing to do?

Emily

Redx

yes, and you should insist that the gym insist that the charges are cancelleded due to negligence by the gym staff in not advising you of the correct procedures

so a strong complaint to the gym manager or head office who can put pressure on G24 to cancel the charges and get it in writing too

and please read the NEWBIES sticky thread so you are fully aware of these sc@ms and hoiw they operate, plus what to do if it happens again somewhere , especially on private property

Emilyharris94

Yes I will be complaining to the gym. They have said on the phone that they have nothing to do with g24 but theyre the ones who must own the land and have sold those parking spaces to g24.
I have proof that I was in the gym at the exact times and dates they have shown on both of the letters so just because I haven't inputted my registration number into a machine, surely this is enough evidence to say I was there, using their facilities, right?

Redx

proof , yes , maybe, but if this goes to court you have to have more defence points AS WELL, in order to prove to a judge that your defence is valid and that the gym was negligent , which may mean you make the the gym a named entity in any counter claim , especially if they contracted G24 (they may be the landowner and appointed g24 , but they may not , all that would come out in the wash

at the moment your best option is to force the gym to get the charges cancelled, or they can face a day in court too , as they may be jointly and severally liable

Coupon-mad

The site facilities can normally get parking charges cancelled if you are assertive and insist on speaking to the Manager.

If he/she reckons they are powerless, ask for the email address of the landowner/site agent and (in a polite but 'I am not backing down' way) attack them instead for cancellation. INSIST on being told who can cancel this and also send the usual appeal to G24 as well, from the NEWBIES thread.

Being a 21 year old girl, I have freaked.. And paid for both fines.

And you have successfully reversed them? That is surprising. Normally a Bank can't recall such a payment.

beamerguy

Emilyharris94 wrote: »

Hi,
Last week, I recieved two very threatening letters from G24 with two pictures of my car driving in and out of a private car park (my own gym - sports direct in Kings heath, Birmingham).
I was going to a spin class and was completely new to the place. It was pitch black and 6am in the morning. Everything was hunky dory, until a week later, I recieve these two letters (one from each time I went), demanding I pay my monies of £60 within 14 days or £100 thereafter and if ignored this email, they will be sending baylifts round.

Obviously this has completely scared me to death so I phoned the gym and asked for proof of my membership at the gym. I then appealed and sent them that same print screen and proof that I went into the gym for my spin sessions, at those dates and those times.

They then replied within 24 hours after my appeal to say that I hadn't put in my registration number into a "clear park terminal". I didn't know that I had to do this and wasn't asked to do so when I told the girl behind the desk that I was new to the gym.

Being a 21 year old girl, I have freaked.. And paid for both fines.
I have done a lot of research this morning and found that because they are not notices from the police or council, they are not fines and are just invoices and will expect people like ME, who are scared from threatening letters like this and will pay out whatever it is!
I have just phoned my bank and reveresed these charges.. Can you assure me that this was the right thing to do?

Emily

Emily, G24 just like the other parking scammers, pointless waste of space.
BUT .... did you really get your bank to reverse the payment, can you confirm this please
Did the G24 EMAIL really say "they will send bailiffs round" ?
Was there any sign that stated you have to enter your reg number

The GYM. are they on Twitter or Facebook

Emilyharris94

Yes I have had the charges reversed by the bank. You can do this within one hour of paying for something if spoken to the manager and I gave him my story. He said that was fine to do and did it straight away.
In the email they said "if you choose to do nothing, we will seek to recover the monies owed to us via debt collector procedures".
The gym are on Facebook. I am yet to speak to the manager of the gym and throw in a complaint, however, I have also emailed head office last week and recieved no response!! If not received by the end of this week, I will be demanding a phone number.
When I had phoned the gym when I recieved the parking notices, they had said that there is a sign in the car park. One which says "gym members only" and another on the other side of the car park as you drive out with the info from G24 about entering registration info into this "clear park terminal" which was very badly lit (I was there at 6am). Obviously, I hadn't seen this notice as I wasn't parking towards the notice and was also in a rush BUT I did tell the woman behind the desk that I was new to this gym and not once did she mention or even ask if I'd inserted my reg number into the machine. (The usual gym I go to, 10 mins away from there, the same branch, is free parking and you have to do nothing like this. You simply park and go to the gym).

beamerguy

Emilyharris94 wrote: »

Yes I have had the charges reversed by the bank. You can do this within one hour of paying for something if spoken to the manager and I gave him my story. He said that was fine to do and did it straight away.
In the email they said "if you choose to do nothing, we will seek to recover the monies owed to us via debt collector procedures".
The gym are on Facebook. I am yet to speak to the manager of the gym and throw in a complaint, however, I have also emailed head office last week and recieved no response!! If not received by the end of this week, I will be demanding a phone number.
When I had phoned the gym when I recieved the parking notices, they had said that there is a sign in the car park. One which says "gym members only" and another on the other side of the car park as you drive out with the info from G24 about entering registration info into this "clear park terminal" which was very badly lit (I was there at 6am). Obviously, I hadn't seen this notice as I wasn't parking towards the notice and was also in a rush BUT I did tell the woman behind the desk that I was new to this gym and not once did she mention or even ask if I'd inserted my reg number into the machine. (The usual gym I go to, 10 mins away from there, the same branch, is free parking and you have to do nothing like this. You simply park and go to the gym).

Good, well at least you still have your money.

Forget the debt collector threats and NO bailiff will be calling, only after it has gone to court and you lose and don't pay can bailiffs be instructed.

In the meantime please follow what has been said above.

As coupon-mad said, you must be very assertive with the Gym to get it cancelled as you are a member. They are no different to any retailer as they need customers to survive. Facebook is the perfect place to assert your complaint, it normally gets quick results as its then in the public domain for others to see.
Demand the details of the CEO / Managing Director and demand as you are a member that the ticket is cancelled

Redx

as above

I didnt think they would have said they were sending the bailiffs round, just debt collector letters in the post, really scary !! (not)

now wise up and learn the procewsses and terms we use for this topic, and be prepared for the long haul, concentrate your efforts on the landowner or gym , get them to cancel the invoices, thats the best method of dealing with it, by having the landowner on your side

Ralph-y

Hi, if you visit your normal gym speak to the manager there and ask if he will put pressure on the other branch ...... or you will cancel your membership as it is now to expensive with all the parking invoices .....


I am glad you are now on the right track to sort this so please keep it up .... G24 are on the lower end of the nastiness scale of PPC's .... IMHO

but, you are unlikely to win any appeals against them ...... :eek:

The reason is that they are part of an ATA (like a chummy mate's group) that is the IPC

these cowboys do not have a fit for use dispute resolution system they sadly use 'skippy' the kangaroo court .....:eek:

however G24 do not do court much/ rarely /never and if you follow the forums advice , (this will be corrected by the forum if untrue)

and, by reading through the newbie thread

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4816822

skim read parts relating to the BPA (another rival ATA)

you will see that what you are doing is two fold

1 trying to get it cancelled by the gym / landlord / land owner (best method)

2 setting up a paper trail to protect you if, iF, IF, they did decide to take it to court .......

Right now you probably feel if the world is against you ....

but fear not

reading through some of the forum threads will show you that you are far from being alone ..... we get dozens of

'I can't cope'
'I am to weak'
'I am so worried'

and many such variations

so

"Being a 21 year old girl, I have freaked"

is just another to add to the list

keep up the good work

and

good luck

Ralph:cool:

Denise_from_Horsham

I was sent a parking fine by G24 for going over time at the County Oak Retail Park in Crawley, West Sussex. I had no idea there was a time limit the signage at the sight is woefully inadequate. They left me one day to pay £42 before the fine rose to £70 so I paid the fine under protest and wrote to the address on the fine. I took pictures of the site to show the really inadequate parking notices which were so small they were hardly legible and the tiny notice mounted at a single storey height on the CCTV pole no more that about inches square by the entrance road to the car park. They wrote back to say I had already paid so the matter was closed. I followed the advice from Citizens Advice and they suggested I paid the fine under protest and to write to the IAS The Independent Appeal Service who happily took my £15 fee to use the service only to say that G24 had advised them I had paid so as far as they were concerned the matter was closed. I feel I have been scammed twice, so much for trying to follow the right procedures. Any ideas would be welcomed