ParkingEye PCN Appeal Success - Crown Wharf, Walsall

HighFlyer81

Hi everyone,

This is my first post since discovering the forum a couple of months ago, after I received a PCN from ParkingEye for a hire car parked at Crown Wharf Shopping Park, Walsall.

I am delighted to say that after appealing to PE as the hirer of the vehicle in question, the PCN was recently cancelled without going to POPLA. I have also received a refund of the admin fee that Europcar (incorrectly, in my view) charged me in relation to the PCN.

I initially emailed the managing agents, Broadgate Estates, to complain about the PCN and ask them to cancel it, but did not receive a reply so it seems that this course of action may no longer be successful. As PE had not included the "required documents" with the Notice to Hirer that I received, I waited until the 21 days had passed then submitted an appeal to them using Edna Basher's template. I adapted the template accordingly and also included redacted copies of the driver's store receipt and credit card statement, showing the purchases made by the driver at the retail park.

Many thanks in particular to @Coupon-mad for the wealth of information and advice in the Newbies thread and also to @Edna Basher for the hire vehicle appeal template.

Coupon-mad

Great stuff, so glad it worked.

Fruitcake

It would be useful to know what Europcar said about the fee they charged and what you said in order to get it refunded. Others in the same situation might find it useful.

HighFlyer81

Once I had received written confirmation of the PCN cancellation from PE, I called Europcar Customer Services who advised me to email a copy of the cancellation letter to them. I did this and asked them to process a full refund of their admin fee as soon as possible. I received an email reply from them within about 7 days, apologising for the admin fee being charged incorrectly and any inconvenience caused to me. The refund was received within another 7 days.

I did not specifically address the legitimacy of their admin fee, as I had already been successful in my appeal to PE. However, if my appeal had been rejected then I would still have pursued Europcar on the grounds that the PCN is not a fine, or penalty charge, but an invoice, and that an admin fee should not be charged in this case. Their T&Cs seem to be (intentionally?) vague in this area though.

Hope this helps anyone else who finds themselves in a similar situation.