How to respond to Parking Eye Without Prejudice Save As To Costs letter

iaing1000

[FONT=&quot]Hi Folks,

My first post here so hope you're all able to help.

Parking Eye are in the process of taking me to court over a £100 parking fine in a hotel car park (reduceable to £60 if I'd paid early) where I was a patron. I'd ignored eveything expecting it to go away until a notice to go to court appeared. They wanted £175 with all the bits they'd added on.

I've since submitted a defence using templates found online but tailoring it to my particular circumstances and with extra information appertaining to our unique case: The hotel manager has asked them to redact the claim, yet PE responded to them indicating that since it's now going to court and the fees have been paid they will need to proceed. Also, our child was ill at the time and we spent a while having to tend to him in the hotel before returning to our car so that he didn't vomit over the inside. Moreover, there was scant evidence of signage in the area of the car park in which we were situated and nothing in the hotel lobby that made us aware. There are a number of other contraindications that we've also indicated.

4 days ago I received a letter from Parking Eye with a Without Prejudice Save As To Costs heading explaining that in light of more information having come to light they're willing to accept £60.

One option is to ignore (would I leave myself vulnerable doing so?) but I think they're being quite bullying now and acting quite unreasonably. My suspicion is that they know the game's up and are trying it on — I'm tempted to be rather bullish in my response and presumably I can exploit the fact that they're 'trying it on' and request that my own costs are reimbursed if they're dragging things on for the sake of it. Perhaps there's a way to articulate that I think they're being unreasonable in some way and will consequently seek my own money.

Something else I've read is that the contract between them and the 'Principal' (the hotel?) can be provided to me — can I demand this in unredacted format? What timescale can I ask them to do this in? Is it too late to ask for this now the defence has been submitted? Will the judge look unkindly on them if they do not do provide it?

Also, could there be anything about their Without Prejudice Save As To Costs statement that essentially invalidates it — I've heard that companies band this term around when it's inappropriate hence nullifying its effect!

So, simply put, what is the most aggressive stance I can take on this and what advice do people have on how to take this forward (even if it ends up being that I just ignore the letter and wait for the court date).


Thanks so much in advance[/FONT]

Half_way

What happened when you contacted the Hotel, after all you were a paying guest?

System

what is the most aggressive stance I can take on this

Wait. See if they continue in the face of a cancellation or send a Notice of Discontinuance.

If you want to reply, send your own list of costs.

The_Deep

Have you puy any pressure on the hotel via TripAdviser. They may try harder to get it cancelled, (or pay it themselves), if you threaten them with a poor review, after all, they are the master, and PE are the poodle.

beamerguy

"The hotel manager has asked them to redact the claim, yet PE responded to them indicating that since it's now going to court and the fees have been paid they will need to proceed."

PARKING EYE LIED ... and here is why .....

"4 days ago I received a letter from Parking Eye with a Without Prejudice Save As To Costs heading explaining that in light of more information having come to light they're willing to accept £60"

If you paid the £60 they would stop the case

The "Without Prejudice" simply means a letter not to be
shown in court. ???

No wonder they say that, it's because they lied to the
hotel and you.
It also suggests that they are unsure if they would win.

You now need a costs schedule that will match their £60
and offer them a "drop hands offer".

Parking Eye drops the case with no further charges and
you will drop your costs schedule.
If, as they do, think they will not win, it then shows them
what's in store at court.

In the meantime you need to show the hotel manager
including the CEO of the hotel, how Parking Eye lie
to their customers

Coupon-mad

PE can be paid off by the Hotel. Insist they pay the £60 for not drawing the 'terms' to your attention in the lobby. If the manager had tried hard enough they might have cancelled it, so push the hotel assertively (not aggressively).

Or, do as IamEmanresu says and front it out. Defend, as you planned, and they may well discontinue. Get the proof in writing/email, for your evidence, that the Hotel required PE to cancel the charge because the signage terms were not sufficiently brought to the attention of patrons = PE's and the Hotel's failure.

Personally, I would keep on at the Hotel and threaten a bad Tripadvisor review AND local press. Must be worth £60 as a goodwill gesture for the Hotel, and it's their own fault for engaging this nasty firm. How dare they. Get angry!

Umkomaas

Getting the hotel to pay PE is a bit of a double edged sword. The hotel won’t like it and it could influence them to sort out their reception processes so no other guest gets shafted, as well as being peed off which could influence whether they recontract PE in the future.

On the other side, the hotel paying PE means that PE gets some money out of this that they don’t deserve.

Whichever way you go @OP, it’s clear that PE are on the back foot.

iaing1000

Thanks for geting back on this folks!

Here's the email from the hotel:

Hi,

I tried to call you but got a voicemail so just wanted to keep you updated that I did call parking Eye regarding to the discussion we had yesterday

They have advised that it has gone past the stage that they can cancel now, however they have given me a different email address to contact for Enforcements

I have therefore sent an email today to request if they can do something for us

I was advised that they will get back to us within 10 working days

I will get back to you as soon as I hear anything from them

Warmest Regards


Ms XYZ123, Front Office Manager


I've not heard back regarding their response although I'm confident I can chase it. She was very acommodating and, whilst there may be some fault on the part of the hotel insofar as they perhaps should press a lot harder against PE, it would seem as if PE are trying this on.


I've had suggested to me the idea of a 'drop hands' offer. Something to do with me citing their clear breach by not listening to instructions from the hotel, irrespective of the fact it's been taken to court, and hence unreasonably pursuing a lost cause (their Without Prejudice letter even mentioned that they were making this offer in the light of new information).

I'll still pursue with the hotel and ask whether they heard back and also to lean on them a bit. Meanwhile, how would I go about putting such a 'drop hands' offer together that makes mention of the likely weaknesses in their case and hence my intention to recover costs for unnecessarily wastin gmy time. Do I state my hourly rate now or just say that I intend to recover costs to the maximum level permissible under law?

Umkomaas

They have advised that it has gone past the stage that they can cancel now

Cheeky frackers. Their employer has told them to cancel. What would happen if your employer told you to do something, and you told him ‘go swivel’?

Google ‘tail wagging the dog’.

iaing1000

So presumably it makes sense to both send a drop hands offer AND to simultaneously be contacting the hotel to push harder anyway. That way I give myself more chance of a better outcome, no?

Also, any ideas on the choice of words for the drop hands offer? Any knowledge of a template or a verbatim example lurking on the internet which can be appropriately modified?

Thanks All :-)

KeithP

Here's a good starting point:

forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?p=73131529#post73131529

...and subsequent posts build on it.