Central Six Coventry - Gladstones ambiguous letter

bigbadbaz123

Hi,
Sorry for posting on another thread. New thread now

My wife overstayed at Central 6 in Coventry in June 2017 and has ignored all the letters. She now has a letter from Gladstones telling her to contact DRP to pay £130 within 14 days, and they go to threaten her with a County Court Judgement.

I've been reading the forum for 2 hours now, I'm sorry I'm still unsure what the Gladstones letter actually implies and what action we should take. My wife is prepared to pay the £130 to avoid court. Is it too late to write to Central 6, she was only 18 mins over the allowed 3 hours and spent over £100 at TK Max and Outfit on a card, so we have the dated card statement.

It all seems unfair to me, although I've read enough to know she should have taken action earlier.

Any advice gratefully received please. Thank you.

KeithP

As suggested following your earlier post:

KeithP wrote: »

Have a read of the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread, where in the fourth post you will find comprehensive guidance on how to deal with debt collector's letters.

That should help.

Have you/she complained to the retailers?

bigbadbaz123

KeithP wrote: »

As suggested following your earlier post:

That should help.

Have you/she complained to the retailers?

Yes, I'm reading post 4, which seems to tell me to continue to ignore even though it comes from Gladstones Solicitors. That was a great help though as its informed me that this is not a court notice, just another debt collection letter.

I think that is my main question is it too late to appeal to the retailers? The site is owned by a property management company, should I contact them, I cant imagine they would be interested, but would the individual retailers be able to help. I think I might go and ask them after work tomorrow.

KeithP

The clue is it says to pay DRP.
This tells you that the letter actually comes from debt collectors and not from a solicitor.
It's all smoke and mirrors.


Yes, complain to the retailers.
Explain how much money you spent.

If they still feel unable to help then explain that if they are unable to help it is unlikely that you'll be able to afford to shop there again.
Explain that you will also advise all your friends, relatives and work colleagues about how expensive it is to park there.

The Managing Agents should also be able to help.

In none if these discussions should the driver's identity be given away.

bigbadbaz123

KeithP wrote: »

In none if these discussions should the driver's identity be given away.

Thanks Keith for your reply.

Excuse my ignorance, why is this important? The letters are issued to my wife, so do they not already know that the driver is/was my wife, or is their presumption not valid. Its her credit card on which the shopping is recorded.

KeithP

bigbadbaz123 wrote: »

Excuse my ignorance, why is this important?

You probably expect this...
The answer to that question is in post #1 of the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread.
Look for the text:

- this is why not to name the driver (thanks to The Slithy Tove for this explanation):

...and follow the link.

bigbadbaz123 wrote: »

The letters are issued to my wife, so do they not already know that the driver is/was my wife, or is their presumption not valid. Its her credit card on which the shopping is recorded.

No, they only know who the registered keeper is.
Her credit card being used just means she was there. Doesn't mean she was driving the car, does it?
She could've been a passenger.
Their presumption is definitely not valid.

Coupon-mad

A parking firm does not have access to card details of shopping, and even if she showed that as proof of patronage, she could have been a passenger. They DO NOT know who was driving, keep it that way.

Complain to the retailers and say 'we' are really angry and 'we' are going to boycott your shop and tell all our friends and family about the rip-off fake fine, unless you are able to cancel it for us and restore our faith in your customer service reputation, which is being seriously damaged by this parking firm' etc. Without saying who was driving.

My wife is prepared to pay the £130 to avoid court.

Why would she do that, we win 99% of defended cases here. Which parking firm? Some NEVER sue, but you will hopefully know all that when you read the NEWBIES thread, it tells you to do a BMPA Insight Google search and the company name, to see if they ever sue.

bigbadbaz123

I've done the google search. Its G24 and they have no court cases. That looks good news!

I'll write to the retailers as the keeper, and to the property management company and ignore the letters from Gladstones.

My wife would pay as she would not want to go to court under any circumstances!

Thank you again, feeling better now.

KeithP

bigbadbaz123 wrote: »

My wife would not want to go to court under any circumstances!

Not that it matters too much in your case, but why is that?

Show your wife this video:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=n93eoaxhzpU

It really is nothing more than a formal business meeting with three or four people.

Coupon-mad

My wife would pay as she would not want to go to court under any circumstances!

OK, we understand, so if G24 break the habit of a lifetime and start a claim, if she then wants to bottle out then she can pay right up until the day of any hearing. Certainly NOT now!

And G24 are considered very unlikely to try.

Sit tight and complain LOUDLY and repeatedly; these G24 fake fines are cancelled all the time.

bigbadbaz123

I've shown her this. Thank you.