Euro Car Parks - My own stupid fault?

__Plasma__

I have received a Parking Charge Notice for £70 from Euro Car Parks and am now expecting another in the next days. Its a long story but I'll try to keep it brief.

I took the kids Pokemon Hunting in the car last week because the weather was rubbish and I wanted to keep them quiet. We drove down town to a car park which I have used in the past as a normal "Pay and Display". As we were not intending to park, or even leave the vehicle, I didn't bother with a ticket. We stayed an hour and twenty minutes (According to the charge notice), driving between the virtual poke stops in the car park, then we left. We did the same the following day but maybe only stayed about 20 minutes.

It wasn't until I returned to the car park on Saturday with my Girlfriend to go shopping that the realisation hit me. On going to buy a ticket it was asking for the full vehicle registration. :eek: I then realised that at some point since I last visited the car park had changed to an ANPR car park ............. and I'd been twice in the previous days and not got a ticket. Had I realised this I would have bought a ticket, but I neglected to realise it was ANPR and as we weren't technically parking I figured it would be fine.

Reading the replies on the forum I'm wondering if I should approach them and explain my story in the hope I may get a human with some compassion for trying to keep my kids happy on a rainy days in the school holidays? Or at least have the cost reduced, if I do end up with two that will be 2 x £40 (if I pay within 14 days). Or should I just suck it up and pay them?

I realise this is entirely my own doing, I'm looking for opinions on how to approach this, I'm not looking for abuse for playing the Pokemon game.

Kind Regards

Plasma

Redx

they never show compassion - period , they dont care

all they want is your money , as much as possible

so IMHO you have zero chance of "winging it"

the NEWBIES sticky thread tells you what to do

Coupon-mad

Reading the replies on the forum I'm wondering if I should approach them and explain my story in the hope I may get a human with some compassion for trying to keep my kids happy on a rainy days in the school holidays? Or at least have the cost reduced, if I do end up with two that will be 2 x £40 (if I pay within 14 days). Or should I just suck it up and pay them?

Neither. That's why the 'NEWBIES READ THESE FAQS FIRST' is at the top of this forum. To stop people shooting themselves in the foot with an appeal from the driver about what happened, and of course to stop people PAYING!

fisherjim

We get this everyday where people think up their own rules, "we were not technically parking", so what is "technically parking"?
You were invited to take your car onto private land for a fee and the land owner decides what that fee and terms and conditions are, not urban myth!

You are bread and butter to greedy scamming PPC's who prey on such actions, and anpr is their latest catch em all honey trap.

But the punishment (or scam) does not fit the transgression and now you have all the hassle, and heartache of fighting these money grabbing Muppets.

Follow the advice on here and you can win.

__Plasma__

I class parking as leaving the car while going to shop / whatever, and had that been the case I wouldn't have thought twice about buying a ticket. Same applies if I'd known it was an ANPR car park, if the parking fine fee was more realistic I would also not think twice about paying it, I was there and I didn't buy a ticket. I'm well aware its a situation of my own making, the thing I have issue with is this small indiscretion could end up costing me a small fortune.

I'm currently drafting the BPA "template", also wondered if I do go that route and am unsuccessful will I still be able to pay the lower £40 fee, or will I be forced to pay the full £70? I couldn't see this in the Newbie's / FAQ section.

Also assuming I'm likely to get another letter tomorrow / later in the week, do I try to resolve them together as one case or individually?

Again thanks for all the help / pointers, I can safely say a valuable lesson has been learnt today.

Plasma

The_Deep

I class parking as leaving the car while going to shop

What about remaining in a car while a partner shops? What about taking a nap in a MSA?

yotmon

If you appeal, you throw away the chance of the reduced fee. It is time to read the newbie thread and to understand what evidence you need to fight this at popla. Go back to the car park and start to gather 'evidence'. take photos of the signs and where they are situated. Read the pcn over and over to see if t complies with the Pofa 2012. If it doesn't, then they cannot pursue the 'keeper' only the driver - and they don't know who that is, do they ?

Umkomaas

You are now trapped in the spider's web. Thousands before you (and to come) have been/will go through the same experience. Nothing you can think of won't have been thought of previously and none of it has worked.

That's why you are here (thankfully you've found the forum rather than trying any smart, 'this is my definition of parking' - we've seen it all before) so you need to follow advice as given by those who've dealt with those 'thousands' before (and to come after) you, precisely as given. Those who add their own interpretation inevitably screw up.

Fortunately, at this point in time, ECP are not litigious, having had only one court case in the last 2.5 years, despite issuing almost half a million tickets in that time. But no room for complacency - they have to be dealt with in line with forum advice to have a strong chance of success.

http://www.bmpa.eu/companydata/Euro_Car_Parks.html

Coupon-mad

__Plasma__ wrote: »

I class parking as leaving the car while going to shop / whatever,

That is not correct and will get you PCNs from private firms and Councils alike. Stopped for a length of time is waiting, which unless momentary, is effectively 'parking' in terms of likelihood of getting a PCN. See The Deep's examples. All parked. No-one leaves the car but still both examples of a car occupied but parked.

the thing I have issue with is this small indiscretion could end up costing me a small fortune.

No it won't. No-one PAYS Euro Car parks here on this forum even if they lose an appeal or get silly debt letters! They were the very first fake PCN I ever got and laughed at the debt collector letter chain, some 6 or 7 years ago! they are not litigious and have no clue about court (they admitted it in a newspaper article). They rely on victims worrying about imaginary implications of getting a PCN and rushing to pay that daft discount bribe!

I'm currently drafting the BPA "template", also wondered if I do go that route and am unsuccessful will I still be able to pay the lower £40 fee, or will I be forced to pay the full £70? I couldn't see this in the Newbie's / FAQ section.

It's not in the NEWBIES thread because no-one pays if they lose v ECP. No, the bribe of the discount is gone by then but you won't be paying. Stop looking at the bribe as if it's a 'bargain', please. It is an option for mugs only.

Also assuming I'm likely to get another letter tomorrow / later in the week, do I try to resolve them together as one case or individually?

Appeal them all individually using the usual template from the NEWBIES thread in blue writing, sent online using ECP's silly little 'cartoon driving car' appeals page. Call yourself the registered keeper and do not reply if they write begging to know who was driving. Keep a screenshot of the brief 'acknowledgement' one-liner page because you can't prove you appealed otherwise, if ECP go quiet for a month or more (which they often do). Do not go off piste and post appeals snail mail (not recorded nor otherwise) because that hands ECP the excuse of pretending an appeal never arrived, especially if they decide not to sign for it.

ONLINE APPEALS, always. One by one, each one the same as the last one.