Smart parking court summons

Ihatebeingrippedoff

Hello. My friend has been issued with a county court letter from a company called Smart Parking.
He ignored several letters from them, since parking at Matalan in Nov 06.
They are now saying that he needs to pay £240 and he needs some advice as to what his defence should be etc.
Basically he parked there on a Saturday morning, and didn't realise that he had to pay to spend his money in Matalan.
The manager of Matalan was stroppy and unhelpful and they do not use that parking company any more as they have had similar situations.
Please help!
Thanks in advance

Fruitcake

Is this a genuine MCOL or letter from a court, or is it a threat of court? Smart to date have never done court so this is a bit of a surprise if they have started now.

The advice to ignore has not been given since the law changed in 2012.

Please give the date of the alleged event, whether there was a windscreen ticket, and the date the notice to keeper arrived in the post.

Please also tell us exactly what the court letter says.

beamerguy

Ihatebeingrippedoff wrote: »

Hello. My husband has been issued with a county court letter from a company called Smart Parking.
He ignored several letters from them, since parking at Matalan in Nov 06.
They are now saying that he needs to pay £240 and he needs some advice as to what his defence should be etc.
Basically he parked there on a Saturday morning, and didn't realise that he had to pay to spend his money in Matalan.
The manager of Matalan was stroppy and unhelpful and they do not use that parking company any more as they have had similar situations.
Please help!
Thanks in advance

Is this just a letter from Smart threatening you or is this a real county court claim ? Or is it junk mail from a pretend debt collector

Which Matalan please as Smart are being sacked from many locations because of their bad behaviour

Half_way

Could be a revenge attack from Smart after losing their contact as with CEL and the co-op.
At the time of the parking event Smart were agents of matalan, so matalan still have some responsibility.

please post your complaint here, you need to go back to the manager, and complain further up the chain.
You must use the right words and phrase it correctly otherwise you will get fobbed off again.
If complaining to the manager in person work out what to say as draw up a script.
post it here first.

Redx

it is NOT a summons

if its from Northampton Bulk Centre its an MCOL

please be more specific so we know what it is you are actually talking about

demi55

Hi
I did same I ignored Smartparking Ltd PCN's and threatening letters (sorry guys I did not know its not correct to ignore since 2012) from reading forums was under impression its an invoice that cannot be enforced so I shredded them since November 2016. I was parked in a Disabled Bay with Blue Badge displayed at correct time for less than 45 minutes. I received letter last week from solicitor acting for Smartparking Ltd and next day Northampton County Court Claim. I went to Citizens Advice Bureau to ask for advise re authenticity and was told it was real. CAB are responding to CCJ on my behalf it was for £230 I did nothing wrong, I checked signage in Matalan car park I displayed badge and signage stated Disabled free for up to 3 hours so 45 minutes was not over the time. I was photographed exiting Matalan car park. I of course will never use any stores like this again as its now nearly 6 months of endless PCN's and harassment from Smartparking Ltd and now CCJ. If it's not real, it fooled Citizens Advice Bureau Legal department and CAB Manager enough to act for me. If it's fake then surely there should be some legal action against Smart parking Ltd as this has caused a lot of distress. £230 for 45 mins maximum at a store where I was looking for some low cost presents for Christmas as I can't afford much for my Grandsons and I get a bill for £230. Thats £5.11 per minute! I would love to help you and upload papers but in haste the CAB have now got all and the phone numbers did check out as genuine although even I still have my doubt but who is familiar with CCJ's and what they look like? I will update this asap and when I can get copies as 14 days to reply was up 26th April from date of solicitors letter so had to act fast but will follow up and let others know outcome and or if genuine. CAB will email me and a letter when they get a reply. The Matalan store was Leytonstone E11 if that helps as I am furious about the whole saga and will fight it with CAB help of course and very grateful for their assistance :A

Redx

@ demi55

please start your own thread using the NEW THREAD button so you can get bespoke help

and there is no CCJ as yet because it hasnt been to court, you havent lost and there is no judgment , its an MCOL

Fruitcake

demi55, when you start your own thread, please put in some line spacing and press enter/return every now and then so we are not presented with a wall of text that is difficult to read

Loadsofchildren123

OP, you say the charge is from Nov 06. Is that a typo? Is it really 06 a in 2006 or did you mean 16, ie 2016? It's important - obviously if it's 06 then they are out of time. I'm hoping, but in my heart I know you are going to disappoint me by saying it was a typo......

Coupon-mad

Ihatebeingrippedoff wrote: »

Hello.

<snip> possible admissions about the driver posted by another person, removed.

...The manager of Matalan was stroppy and unhelpful and they do not use that parking company any more as they have had similar situations.
Please help!
Thanks in advance

Please can you remove what this post says about who parked. NOW.

That's two now, so there must be a batch issued to test the water. People need to know not to say who was driving.

demi55

you didn't see that I was new, my first post and I was panicking, still am!

Is this better :A