ES Parking Enforcement... Incorrect Details?

ForumMouse

Hello all,
I received a Parking Charge Notice today at a Pay and Display car park.

What happened is:

I drove my two year old into town to visit her mother who is working. Parked up in the car park and realised I didn't have any money, child was crying so I went into town, got cash from machine and then bought something to get change for the pay and display.

When I returned I had already been issued the PCN.

On the PCN it has given me a website where I can pay the charge. I went to it to check the evidence they have etc. but when I type my details in (my reg number and ticket reference number) it just says "Sorry, we cannot find this ticket - please check the details you have provided are correct."

It's possible that they just haven't updated the website with this case yet but looking at the ticket the person who wrote it has awful handwriting and actually made a mistake on my reg number and have written over it to correct it but now it's difficult to read. If it wasn't my reg number I wouldn't know what it says.

This makes me think that it's possible they don't have the ticket associated to the correct reg number on their site.

What do I do if this is the case?

Grimble

Old trick to try and get you to contact them so they do not have to get your details from DVLA also you might say who was driving. Wait until NTK arrives after 28 days but not after 56 days. In the meantime read the Newbies thread 3rd one down from top.

ForumMouse

Thanks for the response Grimble. Yeah, I read the newbie post before posting but I'm still stuck here.

The issue I have though is that, despite my best intentions, I am actually guilty in that by the time they issued me the PCN I hadn't paid/displayed.

I have no grounds to appeal against it and no grounds to win a court case.

I can pay a £60 charge now or it'll be £100 after two weeks. If I wait for the NTK that'll be way past the two weeks and they'll be charging more.

Coupon-mad

I am actually guilty...I have no grounds to appeal against it and no grounds to win a court case.

Really? They are the guilty ones, not you, and there would certainly be grounds to fight this nasty, pointless, scamming industry.

If you wait for the NTK to arrive then appeal as keeper, they are unlikely to be able to hold the keeper liable because not many NTKs are worded properly for 'keeper liability'. You have no obligation to name the driver at all.

Also we would doubt that the signs tell a driver how long they have before displaying a ticket? So in what way do you consider there was a contravention?

And we doubt ES Parking own the car park?! They never do.

And you did pay and display, bottom line. So this is can be argued to be an unfair penalty.

And they can't charge more than £100 to a keeper. The POFA caps it at that. Even if you lost at a hearing it would be maybe £160...no biggie.




P.S. Having said all that NEVER park and assume you can go and get change, you MUST do it the other way around, stop (in the car) at a shop to get change, then park. Even with Council PCNs there is no 'going for change' allowance to any parking time. Never mention it in any appeal!

The_Deep

The issue I have though is that, despite my best intentions, I am actually guilty in that by the time they issued me the PCN I hadn't paid/displayed.

Perhaps, but does that entitle them to pursue you for £100, you can assault an O,A.P. for that.

Fruitcake

ForumMouse wrote: »

Thanks for the response Grimble. Yeah, I read the newbie post before posting but I'm still stuck here.

The issue I have though is that, despite my best intentions, I am actually guilty in that by the time they issued me the PCN I hadn't paid/displayed.

I have no grounds to appeal against it and no grounds to win a court case.

I can pay a £60 charge now or it'll be £100 after two weeks. If I wait for the NTK that'll be way past the two weeks and they'll be charging more.

As above, stop thinking you are guilty. You are the victim of a scam.

Definitely do not think of paying these scammers. The sixty quid discount is for mugs. Sensible people do their research, find out why the ticket was unfair, and pay nothing.

Wait for the NTK as advised. Either the handwriting will be so bad that you won't get one, or if it does arrive it will not meet the requirements of POFA 2012.

If/when the NTK arrives, send the IPC template from the NEWBIES thread. You will need to read and reread the NEWBIES several times until you understand how the scam works, and how to deal with the scammers.

Never, ever ring a parking company.

ForumMouse

I understand what you're all saying but I've noticed on these forums that just recently this company has been taking people to court.

I don't deal well with stress and I think the time and worry I'd go through fighting this wouldn't be worth the £60 I could pay now.

I'm a bit worried about how you said to never ring them, could this create further issues for me? What if I just called them to pay the £60 charge?

Coupon-mad

If you pay YOU are funding the next PCNs against little old ladies, struggling families and other people who would also be stressed.

Here is a person who has defended it when stressed and nine months pregnant (and she's now got a court date while dealing with a new baby):

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?467103-ES-Parking-Gladstone-claimforn-PCN-Spinningfields-Manchester

I hear what you are saying but can't condone people joining this nasty industry by paying them. That's supporting a scam.

Fruitcake

ForumMouse wrote: »

I understand what you're all saying but I've noticed on these forums that just recently this company has been taking people to court.

I don't deal well with stress and I think the time and worry I'd go through fighting this wouldn't be worth the £60 I could pay now.

I'm a bit worried about how you said to never ring them, could this create further issues for me? What if I just called them to pay the £60 charge?

Ringing them will make you angry and upset, and could cause you to reveal the driver's details which immediately throws away your protection under the Protection of Freedom Act 2012.
It will also cast you 60 quid, this time. Next time it could be more.

As C-M has said, if you pay, you become part of the problem by funding the scam and allowing them to scam people like you, or even more vulnerable people.

Parking companies are known to have lied in court, been filmed telling their employees to target motorists who park near hospital cancer wards, been caught doctoring photo' evidence, refused to cancel a ticket when a disabled woman got her wheelchair bogged down in sand when she went to read the signs, hidden signs behind bushes and high up on poles or walls, used very small font size that is outwith their trade associations' code of practice, added illegal card transactions, used illegal premium rate 'phone numbers, failed to obtain planning permission for cameras, failed to obtain advertising consent for signs (and that's a criminal offence,) issued tickets for cars parked on public roads, breached the Equality Act 2010, and much, much more.

Is this the sort of unregulated industry you want to fund?

Lee12

Perhaps, but does that entitle them to pursue you for £100, you can assault an O,A.P. for that.

I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't but this made me laugh. It is a good way of looking at it though. Is this as bad as assaulting an O.A.P?

The_Deep

If you pay them you are funding white slavers, people smugglers, drug runners, and The Mob. They will mark you down as a mug, and kidnap your grandchildren.