Gladstones Solicitors

tomek83

Hi,

I hope you can help.LAst year i got a parking ticket from smart parking. I did pay for the parking using ringgo app. However, prior to that, i had bought new phone and re installed the the ringgo app. That caused the app to default to my old car's reg which i didnt notice when making the payment for the parking. I only realised this wekks later when i got the first letter from from smart parking. I did go via POPLA but they were completely useless, ugnored some of my arguments and completely misunderstood my point.
Couple of days ago i have received a latter from Gladstones.
I would like to check with you:
1. If this is a Before Claim letter? It does not mention Before Claim anywhere. The reference number is 7 digits long and starts with number 4. It says that they have been instructed by smart parking in relation to de debt. It says that their client has now got an option to commence proceedings in civil court for a period of six years. They also ask me to contact DRP within 14 days to make a payment.
2. Should i reply to Gladstones and explain my point of view again?
3. I live in Scotland but i got the ticket while on a trip to the lake district. If this goes to court will i have to travel to England?

Sorry but as a new member i cant post a link to a photo of this letter.

Any help will be much appriciated.
Thanks in advance.

Redx

its a DRP letter, not a letter from Gladrags

IGNORE it

as you are in Scotland then it would have to be your sheriffs court and only not so SMART or their solicitors can issue those proceedings , not the debt collectors , within 5 years

see post #4 of the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread and IGNORE drp

The_Deep

This is an entirely unregulated industry which is scamming the public with inflated claims for alleged breaches of contracts for alleged parking offences, aided and abetted by a handful of low-rent solicitors.

Parking Eye, CPM, Smart, and another company have already been named and shamed, as has Gladstones Solicitors, and BW Legal, (these two law firms take hundreds of these cases to court each year). They nearly always lose, and have been reported to the regulatory authority by an M.P.

Hospital car parks and residential complex tickets have been especially mentioned.

The problem has become so rampant that MPs have agreed to enact a Bill to regulate these scammers. Watch the video of the Second Reading in the HofC recently.

http://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/2f0384f2-eba5-4fff-ab07-cf24b6a22918?in=12:49:41

and complain in the most robust terms to your MP. With a fair wind most of these companies may well be put out of business by Christmas.

tomek83

Redx wrote: »

its a DRP letter, not a letter from Gladrags

IGNORE it

as you are in Scotland then it would have to be your sheriffs court and only not so SMART or their solicitors can issue those proceedings , not the debt collectors , within 5 years

see post #4 of the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread and IGNORE drp

thank you for your answer. i shall sit thight and see if they dare going forward with this...

beamerguy

tomek83

As Redx says its a DRP typical junk letter but on a pimped
out letterhead of Gladstones

Who would have believed that a so called solicitor would
allow their letterhead to be abused like this.
GLADSTONES DO ....... SO UNPROFESSIONAL

It just shows you the low life you are dealing with

You ignore the junk rubbish and as you live in Scotland,
and I assume you as registered keeper, shows your
scottish address, you are now in total IGNORE MODE

If Smart are stupid enough to try a case in Scotland, do
come back here. You are always THE KEEPER and
nothing else.

A government minister in Scotland recently said about
Smart Parking, they were like Dracula (blood suckers)
He has also referred the disgusting Gladstones to the SRA
for their scam methods

In a nutshell, Smart are scammers and ...
In a nutshell Gladstones are highly incompetent

Although these are south of the border, worth a read
to understand how scammers fail

http://parking-prankster.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=gladstones

And read this

http://parking-prankster.blogspot.co.uk/2018/02/parking-bill-moves-to-next-stage-will.html

Coupon-mad

Smart do try a few cases in Scotland. You might get a claim, so be alert.

Be aware NOT to say who was driving, NONONO.

tomek83

beamerguy wrote: »

You ignore the junk rubbish and as you live in Scotland,
and I assume you as registered keeper, shows your
scottish address, you are now in total IGNORE MODE

thank you for your reply. i am not the registered keeper, my wife is. i did admit in the popla appeal i was driving the car as it was plain obvious from the photos they provided it was me not my wife.
how does living in Scotland exactly protect me? is it just their pure inconvenience of going through sheriff court?
there was a case last year i think that destroyed the general assumption that private parking tickets were not enforceable in Scotland, so i doubt it is that.

tomek83

just to give you an idea of what has actually happened i have pasted below my comments in response to the evidence presented by smar parking in the popla case.

1. In the case summary regarding using RingGo app Smart Parking states:
!!!8220;We would like to clarify that the Appellant is referring to the pay by phone system that is offered on the site called RingGo. RingGo is a third party company and Smart Parking Limited cannot be held accountable for any issues that may occur with their systems. We can confirm that motorists are required to set up an account, register their vehicle registration details and their payment details. Once this is confirmed and payment has been received for a specific site (defined by location numbers), the motorist will receive a confirmation text message confirming that their ticket has been purchased and the duration they have purchased and for which site.!!!8221;

This is simply incorrect. I have never received a text message to my phone. I did however receive an email containing a pdf document with an invoice issued by RingGo. As paying for tickets using the app doesn!!!8217;t require displaying the ticket and knowing I have successfully made a payment for the correct amount of money I did not feel the need to open that invoice file.


2. Smart Parking also states that:

!!!8220;Although the Appellant did purchase a ticket for 60 minutes against vehicle registration mark !!!8220;old car reg!!!8221; (please see ticket attached by the Appellant), as this was not their full, correct vehicle registration mark (new car reg), this reaffirms that the Parking Charge Notice was issued correctly. The signage on site clearly states !!!8220;Motorists must enter their full, correct vehicle registration when using the payment machine: Failure to comply with the terms and conditions will result in a Parking Charge Notice of £100.00!!!8221;. Therefore, as per the signage, the Appellant has incurred a Parking Charge Notice correctly and accordingly.!!!8221;


This statement along with the photographs of my car with reg plate NEW CAR prove that the vehicle that I drove into the car park has not stayed in the car park beyond the time I have made a payment for. All these photographs prove is that the registration number I made the payment against was incorrect.


3. Smart Parking states:

!!!8220;We can further confirm there have been no reports of the payment system being faulty on the day in question. Motorists were using Ringo to make payments throughout the day, all of which were successfully accepting payments.!!!8221;

This point is completely irrelevant to the case. My payment has been successfully accepted and an invoice for service was issued.

4. Images and plans

Smart Parking state that: !!!8220;There are numerous signs located around the site that inform motorists of the advertised terms and conditions. The terms and conditions clearly state !!!8220;Parking Tariff Applies, Motorists must enter their full, correct vehicle registration when using the payment system and failure to comply with the advertised terms and conditions will result in parking charge notice of £100 discounted at £60 if paid within 14 days!!!8221;. As the Appellant failed to purchase a ticket against their full, correct vehicle registration and full duration of stay, the Appellant therefore breach the terms and conditions and incurred a Parking Charge Notice correctly, as per the signage. !!!8220;
Smart Parking have also provided photographs of multiple signs.

I understand that Smart Parking are implying that signage at Lowther Street parking is clearly visible and easy to locate. However, I am not able to comment on that as I have not memorised the layout and locations of the signs at Lowther Street. Nor have I memorised the wording of the signs present on the site at that time.
Seems like since I stayed at that car park Smart Parking have replaced all their signs. Although photographs provided by Smart Parking have such a low resolution I can still make out the location code 5505. I also assume that three pictures on the last page are meant to have the same content and terms and conditions wording as the boards in photographs.
Unfortunately, all this signage provided by Smart Parking on photographs is not the signage I would have seen when staying there on 29th July 2017. I know this because the location code I made a purchase against was not 5505, it was in fact 4833. Also the 3rd party mobile app operator advertised on the photographed signage is Phone And Pay, the only provider available to use on the 28th of July 2017 was RingGo.
Unfortunately, due to the fact that the photographic evidence provided by Smart Parking does not contain any photographs of the car park signage as it was on the 28th of July, I am not able to know what the wording of the terms and conditions was at the time, how was the signage located around the car park and what was the physical condition ad readability of those signs. I simply don!!!8217;t remember.
However, lets assume for the argument sake that the signage was similar or identical to the photograph below.
On that photograph we can see a small picture of a numeric keypad with a text next to it that says: !!!8220;Motorists must enter their full, correct registration number when using the payment machine.!!!8221; The picture of the numeric keypad along with the test give a very strong impression that entering full and correct registration number is only required when using payment machines provided by the operator.
Smart parking have already acknowledged that this dispute is not regarding the use of their payment machines but instead making payments via mobile app called RingGo.

In the top right corner of the photo, in a much bigger and bolder writing (than the information about payment machines) the signage states: !!!8220;No coins? Pay by mobile!!!8221;, to the right of the test there is also the location code in what seems to be even bigger and bolder font. It is reasonable to understand that the writing is bigger and bolder than used in the message before to allow people just to grab the location code, put it into their app and pay. There is absolutely no information there regarding any obligation for the driver to type in full and correct registration when using the mobile app. This signage gives a strong impression that if using the app, drivers only need the location code. This is exactly what my experience was. I grabbed the code, opened my app, there was no option to type in registration number, the app asked me for the location code which I typed in, then app asked me for the security code of my debit card and then the payment was confirmed successful. This clearly shows that any data that I was asked to physically type in I did so correctly. Issue only arose with the information that was pre-selected by the app. Had there been a big and bold information urging me to make sure to check my reg number within the app then I would have done so. Unfortunately, the only message on that sign regarding reg number only refers to the payment machines provided by Smart Parking and is written in a significantly smaller font.

Guys_Dad

tomek83 wrote: »

i did admit in the popla appeal i was driving the car as it was plain obvious from the photos they provided it was me not my wife.
how does living in Scotland exactly protect me?.

Well, since you admitted being the driver, it doesn't. In England, we have the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 that allows the PPC to transfer their charge to the Registered Keeper if they don't know the driver, subject to certain rules, but in Scotland, they have to pursue the driver with no right to pursue the Registered Keeper. In fact, a picture of a male driving would have been a 100% get out for your wife.

But you have admitted to being the driver, so you have thrown your golden talisman away. They can now pursue you in court.

Fatal error. Learn and wise up your friends too.

Coupon-mad

i am not the registered keeper, my wife is. i did admit in the popla appeal i was driving the car as it was plain obvious from the photos they provided it was me not my wife.

Had you followed our advice and done the appeal and POPLA appeal in your wife's name, she would have WON. 100% winnable for a keeper, none lost. Your wife was untouchable.

Ouch ouch ouch, very sad for a driver to have appealed the wrong way (wrong person) and opened yourself up for a rare Smart Scottish court claim. And they do handle a few every week.

IMHO you will now struggle if you do get a claim, unless you have other solid court defence grounds. Be aware that saying it's a disproportionate charge or there was 'no loss', has no legs at all in a defence to a parking charge, so don't be tempted to try that.

Your argument about Ringgo is worth airing in a defence.

But this would have been so easy to win on appeal; it's a huge stress for you now. Completely unnecessary for a driver to appeal a PCN issued to a completely different person, the keeper, with no research first to check what wins and what doesn't. What a shame, makes us sad.

You are now (probably) going to have to defend something she could have killed off within weeks.

Good luck - the Ringgo defence is worth trying - as you did pay.

System

I live in Scotland but i got the ticket while on a trip to the lake district

.

Smart do try a few cases in Scotland. You might get a claim, so be alert.

You'll have to explain to me how this works when the event is under E&W law and the OP's nearest court is in Scotland. I am genuinely confused.