UKCPS Help!!

Gregory14

Hello Everyone!

I received a PCN on my windscreen from UKCPS on 21/12/2016. A quick google at that time took me to very old threads (d'oh!) and therefore ignored the notice as per the outdated advice. Since then I have received a NTK dated 24/01/17 and then a Notification Letter dated 17/02/2017.

I (rather stupidly) haven't made any contact with them yet, as I was trying to figure out when their suspension was lifted as from mt research, I knew they were suspended around the time of my notice (I now know they were re-instated on 20/12/16!!). I have spent countless hours reading the Newbies forum but, as a newbie, all the jargon made my head spin a little! So now I've finally plucked up the courage to start a new thread!

Firstly, is the First Appeal Letter Template for IPC members on the first post of the Newbies thread still worth sending at this point?

Secondly, the notice on my windscreen had the incorrect colour and vehicle registration (the letters I have since received are correct). Does this give me any grounds to appeal, or a leg to stand on at all? I still have all correspondence from UKCPS.

Any further help or advice would be greatly appreciated!

Fruitcake

You are out of time to appeal to the scammers unfortunately, according to their rules. There is no harm however in engaging with them and sending a late appeal using the IPC template in black from the NEWBIES thread. No doubt it will be rejected, but you can at least show a judge you tried should it ever get to court.
Alternatively you ignore unless/until you get real court papers.

The colour on the PCN is irrelevant, but not the vehicle reg as this must match the details on the NTK. I hope you kept both as proof.

It is thought that parking scammers deliberately put wrong data on a PCN in the hope the motorist will 'phone up and give away the driver's details, which is not advised.

Gregory14

Yes I still have the PCN and both letters.

The PCN lists the vehicle ref as starting CW but it actually starts CN. I thought at first they may have just written a very poor N but there's no way it can be mistaken for anything other than a W.

What should I do as they don't match? Does this void their claims?

Thank you for prompt response!!

Umkomaas

It will only void a claim if a judge says so. You're on the bucking bronco now so it's hold tight and deal with whatever comes your way, like most victims of an IPC operator who come here are doing.

Have you complained to the landowner and asked them to intervene? That really is the only likely chance of getting rid of this now (short of a cheque, or a court case).

Gregory14

Not yet - I will find out who the land owners are and take this route first seeing as there is little point in appealing directly to UKCPS.

Is there a template letter to complain to the land owner? Sorry to ask, but I wouldn't want to miss out any vital information that would make it more likely to be cancelled. For further info - the reason for PCN is 'parked out of a marked bay' and I was not the driver.

Thank you for your replies so far, much appreciated!

Coupon-mad

Not really but linked in the NEWBIES thread near the top above the appeal templates is a thread full of examples and links for successful complaints.

Gregory14

Hi All,

Just an update to let you know I've had a success!

The car was parked at the Red Dragon Centre in Cardiff Bay, so I contacted the centre via their enquiries email address.

I will post a copy of my complaint email below. Two weeks after I sent the e-mail I still hadn't received a reply so I sent them another prompt email just ensuring they had received the first and asking whether I needed to direct my complaint elsewhere.

They then replied askin me for a photograph of the PCN that was left on my windscreen with incorrect information, which I did, and I then received a reply to say they had cancelled the ticket!

Success!!!

Thank you all again for your help and advice!

This is the email I sent:

Good Evening,

Sorry to have to contact you, but I would like to make a complaint against UKCPS. Please let me know if my complaint has been misdirected and whom is best to contact in this instance.

As a regular visitor to your centre and a user of a number of your facilities including Odeon, Five Guys, Hollywood Bowl, Cardiff Bay Tavern and Grosvenor Casino I was very disappointed to find a Parking Charge Notice on my windscreen on the morning of 22nd December 2016 from UKCPS.

The charge was posted on my windscreen the evening before when, on this occasion, it wasn't actually myself paying a visit to your centre, but a friend of mine had borrowed my car and not seen the notice upon return to the car.

A google search the morning I found the notice brought me to some information (that was a little outdated which I must admit was my fault, I should have checked the date) with advice that the notice should be ignored and that UKCPS are not to be trusted. For this reason, I missed the appeals window directly with UKCPS, and extensive reading has taught me that the IPC's (International Parking Community) official appeals procedure is a waste of time and that all appeals are rejected.

The information written on the notice about my vehicle is incorrect - I can provide a copy of this should you wish - both the vehicle registration and colour were noted incorrectly. This also made me feel uneasy, and gave me the impression that they had written my information incorrectly on purpose to 'trick' me in to contacting them and giving them my contact details freely rather than them having to pay to retrieve this information from the DVLA.

I have since received three letters from UKCPS. All three of these letters display the BPA (British Parking Association) logo which they are actually not a member of. I also found out that UKCPS' membership with IPC had been suspended but the dates of which were very unclear. Trying to find out the dates of the suspension and whether the company should have been operating on the date the notice was issued delayed my research significantly hence the delay in contesting this charge. Unfortunately for me, their membership was re-instated on 20th December 2016.

The reason for the parking charge was for parking 'out of a marked bay'. I have spoken to the driver of the car on the night in question who told me the reason they didn't park in a bay is because there were no spaces available. This is by no means unheard of, especially on a Wednesday night during peak time and outside of school term. Would you have preferred the driver to have turned around and not brought their custom to your centre on the basis that there was no parking space available? Charges like this are supposedly in place to reconcile loss of income for the landowner, but I can find no viable reason that this instance could have caused any loss to yourselves or the enforcing company. Your car parking facilities are free to use with a validated ticket (which the driver had). The reason for parking outside a marked bay was to come into the Red Dragon Centre, use your facilities and spend money within the businesses that take residence within your centre!

I am asking you in the first instance to get this PCN rescinded on my behalf. You also need to reconsider using this company – you should be aware how unfavourable the information about UKCPS is on a number of consumer websites. Surely having an involvement with a company with such a bad reputation will only make customers think twice about visiting the centre and therefore potentially result in a loss of business. In the future I think I would rather visit a different centre, especially during busy periods, to make sure I don't have to go through this again. I need to be able to spend my money and socialise with my friends without worrying about a parking system out to make money from me.

Let me know if you need any further details or if my concerns should be directed elsewhere.

I look forward to your reply.

Regards

Gregory14

Also, this happened back in March, I've just kept forgetting to post this update!

beamerguy

Well done but it's not all over until you get confirmation from the PPC

Email the PPC with a copy of the email stating it has been cancelled
and request confirmation

Gregory14

I haven't had any confirmation from UKCPS, but I also haven't had any further correspondence from them either and this was back in March. Surely they would have sent me another threatening letter by now if it hadn't been cancelled?

Thanks for your reply though, I will do this just in case!

beamerguy

Gregory14 wrote: »

I haven't had any confirmation from UKCPS, but I also haven't had any further correspondence from them either and this was back in March. Surely they would have sent me another threatening letter by now if it hadn't been cancelled?

Thanks for your reply though, I will do this just in case!

You can never be certain what these brainless scammers will do

Get it from the horses mouth ... then it's over