Smart Parking won't cancel PCN

robins66

I received a Notice to Keeper when my car was parked at Matalan in Bury. This is NOT my normal Matalan store. I was dropped off nearby. The driver then decided to join me and met me inside Matalan where we bought some items. The car was parked for 15 minutes in a disabled bay displaying a Valid Blue Badge. The driver said they did not see any details saying the Badge/vehicle should be registered in store.
I received a Notice to Keeper by post. Of course, I rang Matalan. They told me to appeal the PCN. I did, but I also emailed Matalan Head Office who advised that the reason they had employed Smart Parking was so that their customers would be able to park whilst shopping in store. Which is exactly what I and the driver were doing. Matalan were able to verify this with the cardholder details and the receipt. I also supplied a copy of the Blue badge displayed at the time.

Matalan emailed me to confirm they had instructed Smart Parking to cancel the PCN.

Today I had a letter from Smart Parking saying they were upholding the Notice and supplying a POPLA code. I rang them up regarding the instruction to cancel. They advised they were ignoring it and the PCN still stands.

I spoke to Matalan Head Office and again they have emailed an urgent request to Smart Parking telling them to cancel the charge.

Redx

and if it is not cancelled , use the popla code and make a popla appeal based on legal arguments , within the 28 day time limit allowed

Fruitcake

Redx wrote: »

and if it is not cancelled , use the popla code and make a popla appeal based on legal arguments , within the 28 day time limit allowed

... and put negative feedback on the Matalan website/fakebook page saying scammers operate here and they ignore Matalan's instructons, so shop elsewhere.

The_Deep

The driver said they did not see any details saying the Badge/vehicle should be registered in store.

Does registration bestow any privileges on the BB holder, i.e. free parking? If not, imo this is disability discrimination.

If they are ignoring a direct instruction from their employer I think that they would struggle in court to convince a judge that they have a case.

Write some bad stuff on Matalan's Facebook page.

robins66

Matalan have again emailed Smart Parking to cancel the 'fine' (this is how Matalan describe the PCN). They advise that Smart Parking no longer operate 'their' car park.
Smart Parking responded 'we note that you are appealing as the registered keeper on behalf of the driver on the date of the contravention'.

This is/ was not the case. I advised them that I was the registered keeper but not the driver.

We are away from Sunday until 2nd April. I am advised that the charge will increase to £85 on 28th March. I don't see how they can take action against me as the registered keeper, against the wishes of Matalan.

Having spent the last three weeks travelling to hospital on a daily basis to visit a relative in intensive care, this is another added stress that I could well do without.

Redx

get some sort of letter from MATALAN addressed to yourself, and signed , stating that they do not wish this to go any further and definitely not to a court case

at the moment not so SMART dont issue court cases (MCOL) but you never know, so best to get something from them in writing saying this

as for the charge , it doesnt go up or increase , it is discounted until that date when it changes to the non-discounted figure (so it was always £85 and is discounted for an early bird payment in full - a bribe)

doesnt really matter what it "goes up to" because you dont owe a penny unless a judge says you do , until then its just words on paper and not worth the paper it is printed on

if the POPLA deadline expires BEFORE YOUR RETURN, then get it in early, with an added note that matalan HAVE CANCELLED any such pcn charges for this particular pcn

Coupon-mad

robins66 wrote: »

Matalan have again emailed Smart Parking to cancel the 'fine' (this is how Matalan describe the PCN). They advise that Smart Parking no longer operate 'their' car park.
Smart Parking responded 'we note that you are appealing as the registered keeper on behalf of the driver on the date of the contravention'.

This is/ was not the case. I advised them that I was the registered keeper but not the driver.

We are away from Sunday until 2nd April. .

When you come back, do the POPLA appeal with our help.

We always, always beat Smart at POPLA so stop looking at the deadline to pay. You will not pay a penny. You will win at POPLA as long as you come back here by the first week in April.

As long as the rejection letter was only dated today and the POPLA code has the middle digits '0757' or similar. The code will last for 30 days so this will be easy to do once you are back.

No need to use any code checker, please.

robins66

Rejection letter dated 13th March. Return evening of 2nd April. My daughter leaving home on 3rd April (we're moving her). Don't have time to prepare before going away as still not packed yet and go early Sunday. Will be 4th/5th April which will give just 1 week to lodge POPLA.

I have two emails from Matalan confirming they have instructed Smart Parking to revoke/cancel the PCN. Do I need a formal letter.

I feel so stressed with it all. This is harrassment because Matalan have ended their contract.

beamerguy

robins66 wrote: »

Rejection letter dated 13th March. Return evening of 2nd April. My daughter leaving home on 3rd April (we're moving her). Don't have time to prepare before going away as still not packed yet and go early Sunday. Will be 4th/5th April which will give just 1 week to lodge POPLA.

I have two emails from Matalan confirming they have instructed Smart Parking to revoke/cancel the PCN. Do I need a formal letter.

I feel so stressed with it all. This is harrassment because Matalan have ended their contract.

Nothing to get stressed over, Smart are just wild animals who have become vindictive.
It's not the first time Smart have been kicked out of car parks and it won't be the last.

Do POPLA within the time scale and highlight that Matalan has instructed Smart to cancel this twice.
Smart ignored their instructions

Probably Smart will at that point give in and you will win.

Let us know the result

In future stay away from car parks that use Smartiepants

Coupon-mad

Will be 4th/5th April which will give just 1 week to lodge POPLA.

I would need ten minutes...these are easy!