PCN - Deadline?

throzen

Hi all,

I apologise that this is not an original post whatsoever, but I need some expert advice. I won't bore you with the boilerplate details - received a PCN, private company issued it, charge of £50, etc.

The question I have is this: On the first letter I received, which was the 'charge', they state the date I supposedly committed the violation, the duration I was there, and the date the charge was issued. Nowhere on the letter however does it state the time in which the charge must be paid - there is no deadline.

I just received a follow-up 'reminder' through the post, demanding I pay the charge within the next 14 days (presumably of the letter being sent out). It reads: "It is imperative payment is made within 14 days to prevent further action." Which is still not a dated deadline.

My thinking is, if there's no stated deadline on the original charge, I can take my time with paying it.

Any help would be great!

Fruitcake

Why on earth would you consider paying it? Nobody here will suggest you pay a scammer.

We need some more info to help further such as the name of the parking company, date of alleged event, was there a windscreen ticket and/or letter through the post. Make sure you don't reveal personal information about the keeper or driver of the vehicle.

Why didn't you appeal when you received the charge?

Have you complained to the landowner?

throzen

Fruitcake wrote: »

Why on earth would you consider paying it? Nobody here will suggest you pay a scammer.

We need some more info to help further such as the name of the parking company, date of alleged event, was there a windscreen ticket and/or letter through the post. Make sure you don't reveal personal information about the keeper or driver of the vehicle.

Why didn't you appeal when you received the charge?

Have you complained to the landowner?

Hi Fruitcake, thanks for your reply.

To answer your first question, I've never received a parking charge, so I can't assume anything. Hence my presence here. Here's some info for you:

- Company: Park With Ease
- Date of offence: Saturday 23rd July
- No windscreen ticket, just the letter.

I appealed on the grounds that the ticket machine was out of order (which is the truth). They responded stating I could've paid online or over the telephone, to which I stated that reasonable means of payment should be provided on-site, and not everybody has a telephone or Internet access. I blocked them after this.

I'm not sure how to proceed with complaining to the land owner? The land in question is a nature reserve.

Thanks!

throzen

Bump bump!

Redx

parking disease is an IPC member so whatever you do will be futile , apart from complaining to the landowner

nature reserve or not , it will have a landowner, so track them down and complain , try to get it cancelled by them (seeing as they employed the parking p@rasites)

just assume you will fail at every hurdle so plan your court case in case it comes to that (an MCOL , possibly handled by Gladstones)

its an unregulated industry , they just want your money and have 6 years to chase an unpaid invoice through the courts, so your deadline is - 6 years

you can see the course of events in this existing parking disease court claim

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=103983&st=0&start=0

Coupon-mad

Anyone who pays a parking charge from a private firm, supports their business model and funds the next 'tickets' against the next victims. That is NOT something for an MSEer to do and not something to be proud of or feel is an option, surely.

If no-one paid at all, this entire industry would never have morphed into the monsters they now are. Blame the daft UK public for having more money than sense, as well as the money-mad, apparently sociopathic fat cats who 'run' some of these despicable firms...

My thinking is, if there's no stated deadline on the original charge, I can take my time with paying it.

Our thinking is, don't pay it AT ALL unless: they take you to small claims, you defend (with our help) and then you actually lose at a hearing and a Judge tells you to pay! You get no CCJ in that situation and cases can certainly be won at court - not least because PWE use Gladstones (they of the hopeless court claims - Google 'Parking Prankster Gladstones').

Complain about it to the Nature Reserve (on Tripadvisor and or direct contact). After all the machine was broken. This is not a fine.

throzen

Coupon-mad wrote: »

Anyone who pays a parking charge from a private firm, supports their business model and funds the next 'tickets' against the next victims. That is NOT something for an MSEer to do and not something to be proud of or feel is an option, surely.

If no-one paid at all, this entire industry would never have morphed into the monsters they now are. Blame the daft UK public for having more money than sense, as well as the money-mad, apparently sociopathic fat cats who 'run' some of these despicable firms...



Our thinking is, don't pay it AT ALL unless: they take you to small claims, you defend (with our help) and then you actually lose at a hearing and a Judge tells you to pay! You get no CCJ in that situation and cases can certainly be won at court - not least because PWE use Gladstones (they of the hopeless court claims - Google 'Parking Prankster Gladstones').

Complain about it to the Nature Reserve (on Tripadvisor and or direct contact). After all the machine was broken. This is not a fine.

Thanks for your response.

I got in-touch with the nature reserve and they stated that there are essentially no grounds for a cancellation, since in their minds I had the option to pay by phone, on the Internet or 48 hours later, all of which I refute since access to either of those methods wasn't guaranteed.

Not sure what to do now? The landlord seems to think it's a legitimate charge (they probably don't want to rock the boat with this company - their partnership is fairly new) and the sad fact is I didn't pay at the end of the day, as truly unfair as I think this is.

Any further advice would be super.

oskiwowwow

Am sure others will have a lot more input, but I'd start by complaining on TripAdvisor (start a page for the Nature Reserve if there isn't one) and also see if they have a Facebook page you can post on (Twitter is good for complaints too). Warn off other visitors. It is still within the power of the nature reserve to cancel it. (Do they have a parent organization? I'd complain to them too. e.g. locally we have a Bucks Berks Oxon nature reserve parent that runs a number of 3 counties reserves.)

Coupon-mad

throzen wrote: »

Thanks for your response.

I got in-touch with the nature reserve and they stated that there are essentially no grounds for a cancellation, since in their minds I had the option to pay by phone, on the Internet or 48 hours later, all of which I refute since access to either of those methods wasn't guaranteed.

Not sure what to do now? The landlord seems to think it's a legitimate charge (they probably don't want to rock the boat with this company - their partnership is fairly new) and the sad fact is I didn't pay at the end of the day, as truly unfair as I think this is.

Any further advice would be super.

It's just a private parking charge like any other. No-one here pays and most of us regulars have ignored PCNs and debt collector letters and it all fizzled out. Worst case scenario is defending if they try a court claim but that's not the big deal you might think and will resolve it one way or another, for less money (even if you lose) than a debt collector will be asking for!

If you win (if they try a small claim, which most do not) you pay nothing and the charge is cancelled/quashed.

Read some threads and you will learn all about the scam - a lot more than you will learn on one thread among dozens of new ones every day. Read several more new threads each day for a week or more, and you will see you are far from alone - and like I say, no-one here pays.