Smart Parking - changing the goal posts

atprice

I recently shopped at White City near Old Trafford. I was there for nearly 3 hours and ended up buying over £1k of furniture from one of the shops. Fast forward a week and I get a PCN from Smart Parking saying I had overstayed. I was convinced that I had 3 hours and checked the White City website, which says:

"The maximum stay is 3 hours which applies 24 hours a day, Monday to Sunday.

During events at Cricket/Football grounds length of stay is limited to 90 minutes with no return within 2 hours."

I have no idea if there was an event on or not (although I will check) but this seems very arbitrary and unjust towards genuine shoppers who are out in the busy seasonal sales period.

I'm going to speak to the shop and put in an appeal. What do you think my my chances are of getting this cancelled?

Redx

just use the blue BPA template to smart, no alterations at all , dont try and be clever and dont reveal who was driving on the day (keep it a secret to ALL parties)

and yes try to get the shop to get it cancelled AS WELL

your chances are very good one way or the other as smart are known as NOT SO SMART around here

DoaM

PS - bugbear alert. It is moving the goal posts, not changing them.

atprice

Thanks Redx. The store is going to email Smart Parking and ask them to cancel the ticket. No guarantees, but in any event if it did end up going to court I can't imagine a judge would be too sympathetic with them for being so arbitrary with their rules.

P.S. Sorry DoaM! I was going to say "changing the rules" and then changed my mind so it got a bit muddled. Consider my hand slapped :-)

The_Deep

Buying furniture can take a lot longer than three hours. The retail outfit should get on to the managing agent/landlord. If they cannot get it cancelled they should pay it.

Fruitcake

NotsoSmart don't do court as far as I am aware, so don't worry. You should send the BPA template in blue from the NEWBIES thread anyway just in case the store isn't successful in getting this cancelled.

atprice

Just realised that I never updated this. The shop got in touch with the parking company and the notice was (reluctantly) cancelled. I was prepared to settle in for a long dispute but all sorted :-)

The_Deep

It is time for you to waste their time. This is an entirely unregulated industry which is scamming the public with inflated claims for minor breaches of contracts for alleged parking offences, aided and abetted by a handful of low-rent solicitors. Listen to the videobelow.

Parking Eye, CPM, Smart, and another company have already been named and shamed, as has Gladstones Solicitors, and BW Legal, (these two law firms take hundreds of these cases to court each year). They lose most of them, and have been reported to the regulatory authority by an M.P. for unprofessional conduct

Hospital car parks and residential complex tickets have been especially mentioned.

The problem has become so rampant that MPs have agreed to enact a Bill to regulate these scammers. Watch the video of the Second Reading in the HofC recently.

http://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/2f0384f2-eba5-4fff-ab07-cf24b6a22918?in=12:49:41

and complain in the most robust terms to your MP. With a fair wind most of these companies may well be put out of business by Christmas.

Coupon-mad

atprice wrote: »

Just realised that I never updated this. The shop got in touch with the parking company and the notice was (reluctantly) cancelled. I was prepared to settle in for a long dispute but all sorted :-)

Good stuff, many thanks for updating! :T