Any possibility of refund?

widgeon

Yes Herzlos, we were just visiting the UK and unfortunately our host paid up unquestioningly after unsuccessfully appealing the charge with the company.


I don't think it was a retailer who owned the land as it appeared to be mainly recreational land, so perhaps the local authority was the owner - I will try and look into this.


£90 for a small claims appeal seems a cruel amount given that people pursuing small claims in many cases wouldn't be well off.


Yes the company was Napier, but Rapier seems more apt given their swift, aggressive tactics in exploiting people in the meanest way.


I do believe in standing up for principles but a prolonged battle isn't always worth it although it can be hard to just let it go.

fisherjim

"I don't think it was a retailer who owned the land as it appeared to be mainly recreational land, so perhaps the local authority was the owner - I will try and look into this"

Napier are a nasty bunch that actually own many of the car parks they operate in, they always persue their pound of flesh.

I am sure they would vigorously defend any counter claim.

http://www.napierparking.co.uk/

The_Deep

You could always write personally to Mr de Savary expressing your disgust at the tactics employed by one of his companies. I would not be surprised if he orders a refund.

widgeon

Is there anything on record to suggest he has ever actually done that?

The_Deep

Not that I know of, but I have followed some of his cases. He argues well, and appears to be reasonable. The de Savarys are hardly knuckle dragging ex clampers, so why not give it a try.

fisherjim

Widgeon, if "a valid ticket had been paid for and displayed", what exactly did they "invoice"you for?

widgeon

They invoiced us for 'failure to display a valid pay and display parking ticket'. The attendant 'failed' to see it on the dashboard, presumably due to an external sun visor (it was a very hot day & the sun visor seemed a sensible precaution as the car was in full sun). The ticket was visible on the dashboard through the side windows. The sun visor was lightweight and could be pushed up with a finger for a closer view or even removed totally as it was affixed externally. It was proven that we paid the required parking fee so I cannot see how an alleged failure to display could justify a penalty of £80 (full charge) or even £45 (discounted price).

fisherjim

widgeon wrote: »

They invoiced us for 'failure to display a valid pay and display parking ticket'. The attendant 'failed' to see it on the dashboard, presumably due to an external sun visor (it was a very hot day & the sun visor seemed a sensible precaution as the car was in full sun). The ticket was visible on the dashboard through the side windows. The sun visor was lightweight and could be pushed up with a finger for a closer view or even removed totally as it was affixed externally. It was proven that we paid the required parking fee so I cannot see how an alleged failure to display could justify a penalty of £80 (full charge) or even £45 (discounted price).

Ah, well of course the charge (not penalty) is not justified in reasonable people's eyes, these private parking tickets are just amoney making stream for the PPC's involved.

The fact that you proved you paid would be rejected by them as they would say you will have failed to comply with their terms of parking by not displaying the ticket as required on their clearly displayed signs.

They will also say they cannot interfere with the vehicle, or go searching for hidden tickets, and anyway their attendent cannot earn his bonus by being helpful to a scammable motorist.

widgeon

Well it was pretty obvious where it was and attendants are required to be fit enough to move around a car park, to say nothing of moving a few muscles to look through a window. Anyway I now get the picture of quite how despicable these companies can be. Thanks everyone for all your comments. Hopefully by posting here it will have given a warning to others not to fall into the same trap.