'Grace Periods' when car park rule is 'Do not leave site'

AliceMS88

Hi everyone,

I am a newbie so please bear with me - I have read pages and pages of the POPLA decisions but I do find myself getting a bit confused with some of the terminology. Also, please do not hestitate to call me out if I have posted incorrectly - I did read through as much as I could.

Summary of my case:
I arrived at a Burger King at 08:40, went up to the door and tried to enter to find that it didn't open until 09:00. I decided to pop to the bank to get some cash out and when I returned at 08:50, I found I had received a parking ticket to say that because I had left site I now had to pay an £100 charge (£60 if paid within 14 days). It was only then that I noticed there were a few signs in the far corner of the car park, I hadn't seen them and there was nothing at the entrance of the car park apart from a tiny sign if you had turned immediately right when entering it - I didn't as I carried on and turned down another row of bays.

The ticket was issued at 08:42 and says it is for the time immediately preceding - seeing as though I had arrived at 08:40 this means that they are charging me £100 for 2minutes in a carpark where the sole owners, Burger King, weren't even open for business - I think that is not a genuine estimate of loss but I have seen a lot about ParkingEye vs Beavis and from what I can gather...it looks like that argument is going out of the window?

One of the main things I'm confused about is if there should be a grace period for a car park where the rules state that you should not leave site? Does anyone have any experience of this? I've not seen a post yet that has involved a carpark with these rules so far.

I have had my appeal to ZZPS rejected so will be going to POPLA - I am just wondering if it is worth the hassle.

Half_way

Did the parking attendant warn you about leaving the site? If not them Google "vcs toothbrush left site"

AliceMS88

The attendant wasn't visible to me at all throughout the whole visit - it was only when I returned and found the parking ticket that I noticed the small signs which do say not to leave site. Thank you for the topic to google, I am very appreciative of all help

AliceMS88

Also, could I just ask - even though I have appealed to the company, do they still have to issue a NTK?

Quentin

No need for an NTK. Presumably you replied as the driver on the day?


Come back with your popla appeal before you send it for advice.

bod1467

No .

Coupon-mad

AliceMS88 wrote: »

Also, could I just ask - even though I have appealed to the company, do they still have to issue a NTK?

YES if you appealed without saying who was driving.

NO if you appealed as driver, giving yourself away.

I have had my appeal to ZZPS rejected so will be going to POPLA

Which parking firm has appeals going to ZZPS?

Herzlos

If the car is registered to you, wait for the NTK. If it's a company car or rental then appeal with what you've got. You've got all of the usual points regarding contracts and authority, but I don't think there's a grace period as they are claiming that by parking you agreed not to leave the site, which you can prove is nonsense.

The attendant will be pretty well hidden and will only scurry out once you've left the site (instead of, for instance, warning you about the fee). It's pretty standard entrapment. Easy enough to see - just go back, leave the site and come straight back in and you'll catch them like a cockroach when the light is turned on.

I'd take the window ticket back into the branch and ask the manager to cancel it, without mentioning who the driver was. Ditto with a complaint to their head office and facebook pages.

Edit: Sorry, I didn't notice you'd already appealed. You should be able to get this quashed at POPLA easily enough, and it's unlikely it'd go to court as the last company that tried got threatened with a contempt charge.

What did the BK manager say?

AliceMS88

In my appeal I didn't name myself as the driver or the owner - I just said that I had tried to enter the premises, no mention of myself being the driver. Not sure if that is the correct way to go about things. I appealed just over a week after receiving the ticket.

AliceMS88

Coupon-mad wrote: »

YES if you appealed without saying who was driving.

NO if you appealed as driver, giving yourself away.

Which parking firm has appeals going to ZZPS?

I never mentioned that it was myself that was driving but I did use first person so maybe it could be inferred?

This is APEX parking ltd - I can't find out much about them.

AliceMS88

Herzlos wrote: »

If the car is registered to you, wait for the NTK. If it's a company car or rental then appeal with what you've got. You've got all of the usual points regarding contracts and authority, but I don't think there's a grace period as they are claiming that by parking you agreed not to leave the site, which you can prove is nonsense.

The attendant will be pretty well hidden and will only scurry out once you've left the site (instead of, for instance, warning you about the fee). It's pretty standard entrapment. Easy enough to see - just go back, leave the site and come straight back in and you'll catch them like a cockroach when the light is turned on.

I'd take the window ticket back into the branch and ask the manager to cancel it, without mentioning who the driver was. Ditto with a complaint to their head office and facebook pages.

Edit: Sorry, I didn't notice you'd already appealed. You should be able to get this quashed at POPLA easily enough, and it's unlikely it'd go to court as the last company that tried got threatened with a contempt charge.

What did the BK manager say?

BK weren't helpful at all - just said that the car park is abused so parking attendants are required to monitor. I do understand the need for attendants when the branch is open as my car could have taken up a customer space but there was no one else in the carpark and I returned well in advance of the store being open. It just is shocking that it was issued about 2 minutes after I left - considering I am pregnant and have the lovely waddle going on, they probably started ticketing me before I was even out of view

I am not sure what my best bet is for POPLA - they seem quite harsh with their rulings! Any ideas?