Smart parking Ignored online appeal

tubstac

Date of contravention:15/04/2017
Location: Double Tree by Hilton, Heathrow Airport

Hello everyone, I received a Parking charge notice-Do not ignore letter for £60 in April for overstaying in a hotel car park by 14 mins, cctv shows the car entering at 19:42 and exiting and 21:56 but the parking receipt was issued at 19:54 exp at 21:54

The reason for this was that the ticket machine only accepted coins, as I did not have enough change and after trying to pay via their app as suggested on the machine, with no success, change was sought from inside the hotel at the reception desk. This delayed the ticket purchase by 12mins. The 2mins delay on exit was due to strapping our 2-year-old child into the car seat and preparing them for the long journey home.

On receipt of the notice, An appeal was made online, straight away explaining the situation, along with copies of the 2-hour parking receipt along with a receipt for the money spent in the restaurant to show we were customers there.
As it was the first time receiving a parking ticket like this I didn't think to check any forums for advice until after I had received the DRP letter, so I cannot remember if the driver was mentioned.
I did retain a screen grab of the Smart Parking appeal confirmation and ref number though.
All this was ignored by them, with no POPLA code issued, and I have since been receiving the numerous letters from DRP and Zenith for the increased sum of £160, all of which I have ignored. Now I have received the Gladstone letter(ref starting with a 3) asking for the fee to be paid to DRP along with threats of court action if I dont.

I did contact the hotel manager to see if they could get the ticket canceled earlier on in this process, but being a paying customer seems to mean nothing to them, as they referred me back to Smart parking.

Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

Redx

write to the CEO or head office of the hotel with a complaint

complain to the BPA and the DVLA by email stating that no popla code was received after the appeal was made

IGNORE drp (sc@mmers)

tubstac

thank you, I will send them an email tonight.

Umkomaas

tubstac wrote: »

thank you, I will send them an email tonight.

Make sure you send the BPA and DVLA a copy of your screen grab. Did you give your name and full postal address in your initial appeal to Smart Parking?

Complaints to the BPA and DVLA can be emailed to:

aos@britishparking.co.uk

steve.c@britishparking.co.uk

or (if posting)

British Parking Association
Stuart House
41-43 Perrymount Road
Haywards Heath
West Sussex
RH16 3BN

and DVLA:

david.dunford@dvla.gsi.gov.uk

tubstac

Thanks for the email addresses!

I am pretty sure I did. Besides, I had to enter in my PCN details on the online appeal form, so I assume that would be linked with all my details that they obtained from the DVLA for the notice.

Umkomaas

If you don’t follow their appeals procedure to the letter (and we’ve seen numerous cases where keepers have omitted their name and full postal address, either by error, or in trying to be ‘clever’) the PPC takes every opportunity available to them to avoid responding and releasing a POPLA code.

If you have omitted the details required, you have an uphill struggle to get a POPLA code now.

tubstac

I definitely didn't omit any information, as name and address were required fields. I assume the form would not be accepted without these boxes being filled. I genuinely believe that smart parking ignored it deliberately. I was checking the post every day to see if my appeal had been successful or not as I did not want to pay the increased charge, but the only response I received was from DRP 3 months later, who claimed that I had ignored a letter sent out from them in June for the increased charge of £160, which I did not receive. ..So I do not have faith in smart parking or DRP's honesty.

Umkomaas

tubstac wrote: »

I definitely didn't omit any information, as name and address were required fields. I assume the form would not be accepted without these boxes being filled. I genuinely believe that smart parking ignored it deliberately. I was checking the post every day to see if my appeal had been successful or not as I did not want to pay the increased charge, but the only response I received was from DRP 3 months later, who claimed that I had ignored a letter sent out from them in June for the increased charge of £160, which I did not receive. ..So I do not have faith in smart parking or DRP's honesty.

I might have read your response wrong, insofar as believing that you were suggesting that as the PPC already had your details via DVLA, you didn’t re-write them in your appeal. Sorry if that is the case.

So I do not have faith in smart parking or DRP's honesty.

Oh dear, how cynical. :rotfl:

Nor do we!

The only way to try to get this to a POPLA stage is to complain to the BPA and David Dunford at the DVLA.

Ryandavis1959

Have you considered suing them for a DPA breach? You could claim £750 because of the Google case.

Coupon-mad

Ryandavis1959 wrote: »

Have you considered suing them for a DPA breach? You could claim £750 because of the Google case.

Perhaps you could explain the basis upon which you think this one warrants a DPA breach claim? Like the one you gloatingly encouraged here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/72860669#Comment_72860669

But maybe not, because all you seem to do is send posters up blind alleys about pointless DPA claims in cases unsupported for such a claim, and promote a certain company in August, and declare that a certain person is on 'the same side' as you.

Maybe someone is on the same side as you, but that doesn't make it the same side as us.

beamerguy

Ryandavis1959 wrote: »

Have you considered suing them for a DPA breach? You could claim £750 because of the Google case.

WHOOPS ....... not even gone to POPLA yet ????