Can anybody help

carpetboy_2

Hello , this is my 1st post . My mother-in-law recently parked on Matalan car park , as she is in her 70's her eyesight isn't as good as it used to be . However she entered her £1 and duly put in her registration number , but instead of putting a "u" she put in a"v", obviously she was unaware of this . The next thing she knew she received a parking ticket , she appealed through POPLA stating it was an obvious accident and that no-one was "out of pocket because irrespective of the registration number the same fee [ £1 ]was paid so there was no financial loss to anyone . However POPLA refused her appeal and the next thing is she received a letter from a Debt Collecting Agency stating the fine has now risen to £180 and she must pay this immediately or be taken to court .
Being of the elder generation she was quite scared and insisted on paying this £180 . I am asking to all of the members of this forum if there is any way of my challenging this , or is it just too late . She has agreed to let me post and to take up her case on her behalf if there is any recourse , [ I am aware its like shutting the gate after the horse has bolted ] but I am really angry that they are able to pass this onto a debt collection agency without notifying her before this was done . Any advise would be much appreciated . Thank you all in advance

Umkomaas

Who is the parking company?

Who is asking for £180?

Have you complained to Matalan - they're pretty good at cancelling parking charges. Do you still have the original parking ticket with the typo error?

Please use the 'Return' button to paragraph any response. Normally we don't respond to a wall of text as per your first post.

carpetboy_2

Thanks for your reply Umkomaas . its Smart Parking [ its the Kidderminster Matalan store ] And Smart Parking just passed it onto a debt collecting company without any notification , who "demanded " the £180 . Do you think its still worth contacting Matalan even though she has paid the £180 ??.

Umkomaas

carpetboy wrote: »

Thanks for your reply Umkomaas . its Smart Parking [ its the Kidderminster Matalan store ] And Smart Parking just passed it onto a debt collecting company without any notification , who "demanded " the £180 . Do you think its still worth contacting Matalan even though she has paid the £180 ??.

She's paid? I read your post as saying she was going to delay paying subject to advice from here.

OMG, no one pays Smart Parking. They have never, ever taken anyone to court. The debt collector could never have taken her to court.

I'm afraid she has been royally mugged, scammed, misled and conned and has permanently kissed goodbye to £180. Sorry.

yotmon

I think she has seen the last of her money - once it's in their grubby little hands its gone for good ! The only thing I can suggest is kick up a big stink with Matalan and get yourself down to the local free newspapers office. They will be more than happy to run the story, especially involving a vulnerable lady of that age - not saying it will do any good, but it may stop others from being scammed this way.

System

Seems she has been mugged so perhaps now is the time to shame Matalan into refunding. Contact them and explain and ask them to make a gesture (Matalan Customer Care Team (0333 004 4444) Email is cs@matalanonline.co.uk)

If they cannot, then your local press can do a hatchet job on them just before the peak Xmas spending period. It'll cost them a lot more than £180

beamerguy

Everybody is right, she has been mugged and scammed.

It's up to you but as a good son in law, you should be hammering on the door of Matalans HO demanding they either refund her or demand Smart refund her.

Please do not let the Smart scammers rip her off

Coupon-mad

Sorry to say, she has fallen for a scam. She will not see her £180 again, no-one pays debt collectors here re a private parking charge (nor do we tell people to pay at all). They are not bailiffs, could not have come round or done anything. We sopooo wish you had asked FIRST, before she paid them her pension money.

No-one ever pays Smart Parking here because they are so beatable at POPLA, if she'd known what to say. Wrong, isn't it?

A massive complaint to Matalan and the local paper, and BBC's Watchdog, and her MP as well, is the only suggestion. Just to add she/you could contact the EHRC for assistance if she has any frailty or long-term condition - including eye condition, even if just caused by her age - that might explain the small slip-up in the VRN.

Sounds like she has 'protected characteristics' (look that up, although it varies from person to person) under the Equality Act 2010, due to her age and eyesight deterioration. So, the parking firm's failure to make a 'reasonable adjustment' for her can be argued to be discriminatory. It's not about a 'service provider' treating all people the same; avoiding discrimination against elderly or disabled/ill members of Society requires adjustments and allowances and yes, positive discrimination.

https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/advice-and-guidance/disability-discrimination

You may as well try, on her behalf. She's paid them (oh dear!) so has nothing to lose by formal complaints.

She should have paid nothing at all. Everyone gets those daft letters.