Smart Parking Charge Notice

Mike313

Hi guys,

I received a PCN, from Smart Parking yesterday through the post. Basically I was parked on a Retail Park, which is close to a football stadium.....Max stay is 3 hours or 90mins max on Match days.

In all honesty I didn't see the signs, and was in the carpark for around 2 hours on a Match day - was buying some furniture with my family.

I was just wondering where I stand in terms of paying or not paying this fine?

I've done a bit of research so far online....and from what I can gather, many say not to pay the fine unless it was my local council that issued it?

The company took a picture of my car when I arrived and when I was leaving the premises.

Thanks for any info on this

pogofish

Mike313 wrote: »

I've done a bit of research so far online....and from what I can gather, many say not to pay the fine unless it was my local council that issued it?

You are reading old/outdated advice then, unless you are in Scotland or Northern Ireland.

Start by reading the Newbies Sticky, which will get you up to date and lay-out your range of options.

Mike313

hmm....thought that maybe the case. I'll go and have a read.

The_Slithy_Tove

Did you buy the furniture? Have you taken delivery yet? You should go straight back to the store, insist on seeing the manager, and tell him that you will be cancelling your order right now unless he gets the charge cancelled. He may well try to fob you off saying it's not his problem, or that it's a car park for many stores in the same retail park, so there's nothing he can do. Don't take no for an answer. If they value your custom, then they'll be moved to get off their backsides and do something about it (even if they pay it themselves from the profit they'll make from you).

Mike313

The_Slithy_Tove wrote: »

Did you buy the furniture? Have you taken delivery yet? You should go straight back to the store, insist on seeing the manager, and tell him that you will be cancelling your order right now unless he gets the charge cancelled. He may well try to fob you off saying it's not his problem, or that it's a car park for many stores in the same retail park, so there's nothing he can do. Don't take no for an answer. If they value your custom, then they'll be moved to get off their backsides and do something about it (even if they pay it themselves from the profit they'll make from you).

Thanks for this.

Basically we were parked outside the Dreams store...went in to look a some beds etc....then went to the retail park across the road to compare prices in Bensons.

My partner stayed in Bensons, while I went back to the retail park across the road (where we were parked) to go and see if Dreams could beat the deal given across the road...which they couldn't.

I then went back over the road to Bensons, purchased my goods...we left the store and went back to the retail park (where we were parked) to M & S...did some shopping then left.

Hope that makes sense:)

Coupon-mad

Same advice as here then; this is easy, costs you nothing but a little time. Following the procedure in the NEWBIES thread you will win:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5528406

At POPLA stage, come back, search the forum for 'Smart POPLA' and then draft your version based on those you find as recent results. At that second stage you can also use several of the POPLA appeal points I posted up as templates last week in 'POPLA Decisions' (another sticky info thread, top of the forum). It will make a VERY long POPLA appeal that will win v Smart.

Mike313

Thanks a lot for your response Coupon-Mad.
I just read through the Newbies Procedure and would just like to clarify my plan of action with you....to ensure I have understood correctly.

1. Firstly I'm going to go to M&S...ask to speak to the Store Manager, and complain about the fine to see if they can do anything.

2. If not, I need to use the template appeal and send it off to Smart, with proof of purchase or bank statement from what I spent in M & S (not showing my details of course), but not indicating to them who the driver is.

3. After that...I'll receive a rejection letter and win a POPLA?

Sorry I've never had to do this before

Umkomaas

Mike313 wrote: »

Thanks a lot for your response Coupon-Mad.
I just read through the Newbies Procedure and would just like to clarify my plan of action with you....to ensure I have understood correctly.

1. Firstly I'm going to go to M&S...ask to speak to the Store Manager, and complain about the fine to see if they can do anything.

2. If not, I need to use the template appeal and send it off to Smart, with proof of purchase or bank statement from what I spent in M & S (not showing my details of course), but not indicating to them who the driver is.

3. After that...I'll receive a rejection letter and win a POPLA?

Sorry I've never had to do this before

1. Yep, good move, but you need to do this in parallel with appealing to Smart. Don't fall asleep waiting for a M&S response before sending in your initial appeal. If you miss their 28 day deadline, getting access to POPLA will prove a real uphill struggle.

2. You will have to show some detail (your name and address - but not your sort code or account number, nor your balance nor precise details of other transactions), otherwise you could be using anyone's bank statement if totally anonymised.

3. Afterwards you will receive a rejection letter with a POPLA verification code which provides you with time-limited access to the POPLA adjudication process. A win at POPLA is not as straightforward or automatic as you appear to state above. You will need to research how to win at POPLA (newbies sticky, post #3 starts you on the right path) and develop your own detailed appeal draft for forum critique before submission.

Mike313

Ok. Does it matter whether I go to the M & S Store directly, or can I simply call the their head office/customer service office?

Also, once I receive the rejection letter with the POPLA verification code....I need to draft up an appeal letter based on the specific PNC I received....i.e. mine was from Smart Parking for overstaying in retail park...so I may need to head back there to take pictures of the "fine warning signs" etc and draft up my appeal accordingly?

Thanks

Umkomaas wrote: »

1. Yep, good move, but you need to do this in parallel with appealing to Smart. Don't fall asleep waiting for a M&S response before sending in your initial appeal. If you miss their 28 day deadline, getting access to POPLA will prove a real uphill struggle.

2. You will have to show some detail (your name and address - but not your sort code or account number, nor your balance nor precise details of other transactions), otherwise you could be using anyone's bank statement if totally anonymised.

3. Afterwards you will receive a rejection letter with a POPLA verification code which provides you with time-limited access to the POPLA adjudication process. A win at POPLA is not as straightforward or automatic as you appear to state above. You will need to research how to win at POPLA (newbies sticky, post #3 starts you on the right path) and develop your own detailed appeal draft for forum critique before submission.

Umkomaas

Ok. Does it matter whether I go to the M & S Store directly, or can I simply call the their head office/customer service office?

Start with local contacts and work up if necessary. There's no precise science to this, other than to say that many complaints to retailers (wherever the process is started) end with cancellations.

Also, once I receive the rejection letter with the POPLA verification code....I need to draft up an appeal letter based on the specific PNC I received....i.e. mine was from Smart Parking for overstaying in retail park...so I may need to head back there to take pictures of the "fine warning signs" etc and draft up my appeal accordingly?

Photos could be useful (if it's a local and easily accessible site - don't bother if it's miles away) in due course if Smart escalate this to the county court, but do you know what, in half a million tickets issued in the past couple of years, you'd be their very first court case - you'd be famous!

Don't overthink this - hit them with a hard POPLA appeal (if the initial appeal doesn't work) and they will cave.

Mike313

Just a quick update.

Went to M & S earlier....and surprisingly the Manager was really helpful. He said a few of their customers had been fined previously and they were able to get them cancelled....so he would try his best for me.

So fingers crossed.