Smart Parking bullies

Ellsxx

Any advice on what I should do please?


I've been in dispute with these bullies..
1. I never received the PCN
2. The first I knew about it was a letter from Debt Recovery Plus (DRP) saying I've not paid the PCN...even though I didn't know anything about it!
3. I called DRP to advise I'd never received a PCN, they said it's not their problem and I'd need to dispute it with Smart parking.
4. I called smart parking...to find out details of the PCN and explain I had not received any correspondence - they didn't care and told me I had to pay it! By this time the PCN had increased and attracted admin costs because I hadn't paid the PCN at the reduced rate (only because I didn't know about it!!!)
I said I was willing to pay the reduced amount that I would have been able to pay if I'd have received the original letter.
5. I made a payment to DRP of the amount I would have had the opportunity to pay had I have received the original correspondence from smart parking. They accepted my payment and I got a receipt. I emailed both smart parking and DLP to confirm I made the payment in full and final settlement and that it had been accepted.
6. Since then, they've been corresponding to say if I don't pay the outstanding amount (admin costs etc) they will take me to court.
7. I keep responding to say I have made the payment in full and final settlement.
8. Today I received this response and feel I'm being 'bullied' into making the additional payment through sheer intimidation!


Any advice gratefully appreciated!!!!

Ellsxx

Can anyone tell me how I upload a pic of the letter? Thanks

pogofish

We don't waste time or effort on DRP here.

Post Four of the Newbies Sticky at the top of this forum covers DRP in its entirety. You need to read it now before playing any further into the hands of the jokers.


The rest of the thread will lay-out your remaining options for seeing this-off, which are pretty limited but its important you understand the situation before needlessly parting with any more cash!

Umkomaas

You've been mugged I'm afraid. No one who gets prior advice from us ever pays DRP. You've shown a willingness to 'cave', so guess what? They smell blood!

Just ignore them from here on and draw some comfort that you've 'saved' the difference between what you've paid and what they were asking for. Psychological damage limitation!

Fruitcake

Unfortunately you have been scammed and needlessly thrown your money down the drain. In fact it is worse than that because the money will now be used to scam even more vulnerable victims.

There was never anything to pay. Not so Smart parking have never done court. They may do in the future, but hey are not smart enough to do it at the moment.

Debt collectors can safely be ignored. They do not have any powers and cannot force you to give them money.

There is nothing you can do now other than learn by your mistakes. If you get another private parking ticket in the future you should come here to seek advice before doing anything else. The basic things to remember are, do not pay, do not ignore, do not reveal the driver's identity, never 'phone a private parking company, and ignore debt collectors.
Always complain to the landowner/retailer where you were visiting.

You should also complain to your MP, Mrs May, and Andrew Jones MP about this unregulated scam industry.

safarmuk

You never saw a PCN, Smart nor DRP never told you anything about the PCN, you paid them £60 and now they still continue to ask for more? It's not surprising ... unless they agreed this was not full and final settlement in writing then it wasn't.

As mentioned above you have been taken advantage of somewhat. It is highly unlikely you will ever be able to get your money back and it is highly likely they will continue to ask for the balance. However you can safely ignore anything that is not a Letter Before Claim / Action or an MCOL.

I am curious why you never got a Notice to Keeper for the PCN, did you move house and not update the DVLA for a period afterwards?

Anyhow for now, you need to complain about this. I would send a letter or email to your MP explaining what has occurred and how you have been treated utterly unfairly and that you think this behavior should be stopped in the UK and you expect your MP to raise this with the relevant people in government that they have access to and reply back to you with a justification as to why this is allowed to occur and what is being done about it (It was discussed in Parliament recently). Indeed depending on how far you want to go you can ask to meet your MP to discuss this in person afterwards at one of his/her clinics.

Draft up the letter, with a clear timeline of what occurred and what you honestly believed at each stage (e.g. you thought you suddenly had debt collectors on your back and the threats seemed real) and you can post here for review if you like. But it is important that having paid you now complain and make at least, some noise.