Parking Fine on paid ticket

notpayingparkingscam

Hi All,

A couple of months a go someone I don't know parked at a Excel Parking site.

This person was in a rush, and noticed when approaching the car park meter that there was an app (RingGo) that you could make payment. This person was new to driving so when inputting their registration number they foolishly only entered the numbers on the car registration (in this case '13') and made the payment via the app, in which they have proof of purchase.

When they arrived back to their car later that day they found a ticket had been placed on their windscreen and this gave notice that they may receive a NTK in the post.

A NTK was received in the post. Without coming here first, they sent an appeal explaining the situation, with the attached receipt (and in the process confirming themselves as the driver), in the naive belief that the simple misunderstanding would be dealt with easily and without any further issue.

Now they understand that parking companies like Excel have no moral conscience around small errors such as these, and generate a large part of their revenue through car parking fines such as these.

So the appeal was denied, and this person is at a loss of what to do. They have received further communications from Excel Parking requesting payment (which have been ignored) and a further letter from Debt Recovery Plus Ltd (which has also been ignored).

They believe they are out of time to appeal to the IAS (which is not recommended at any rate), so are trying to decide on the next step. Whether to ride out the debt collectors communications and to wait until a court summons, or simply just to pay up.

Any advice on this situation, or links to past cases that may have relevance would be great. They would simply ignore all communication but have read that Excel are one of the most legitimate car parking companies, and it is not generally recommended to ignore them?

Thanks for any help!

notpayingparkingscam

P.S. the appeal was denied as Excel stated:

"We note your comment that you purchased a period of parking using RingGo and acknowledge that you have provided a copy of your payment receipt with your appeal, however in this case your evidence shows that you failed to use your correct vehicle registration number when making payment. The Terms and Conditions of parking require that the full and accurate registration number of the vehicle which has been parked on site must be used when payment for parking is made; by failing to use the correct vehicle details the parking session purchased was invalid.
On this occasion the vehicle was parked when there was no valid session to park paid for and therefore in the absence of a Pay & Display ticket, it was parked contrary to the Terms and Conditions displayed."

This person has returned to the site and taken photos of signs on the car park and could not see anywhere within the terms and conditions that:

"parking require that the full and accurate registration number of the vehicle which has been parked on site must be used when payment for parking is made; by failing to use the correct vehicle details the parking session purchased was invalid"

waamo

Have you read the thread at the top of this board that tells Newbies to read it first? In it is a section on dealing with debt collectors. That is the stage you are at.

notpayingparkingscam

Hi Waamo,

Apologies, I have read the Newbies thread, and saw that it mentioned that all debt recovery communications should be ignored. However I also read that legitimate companies (such as Excel) should not be ignored, so I was a little confused about this. Should they ignore the debt collector but remain in contact with Excel?

Furthermore I was hoping for some advice on their case in the likely event (is it likely?) this is taken to court by Excel.

Thanks, and sorry if I'm doing the incorrect thing by starting a thread so soon.

waamo

The time for communicating with Excel has long since passed. You are now in ignoring mode.

Excel do take a punt in court every so often so keep an eye out for a letter before claim. That needs responding to. A robust response can often see a potential court claim off.

Coupon-mad

This person has returned to the site and taken photos of signs on the car park and could not see anywhere within the terms and conditions that:

"parking require that the full and accurate registration number of the vehicle which has been parked on site must be used when payment for parking is made; by failing to use the correct vehicle details the parking session purchased was invalid"

Show us via a Dropbox Share link, the photos of the signs, normally it is there somewhere.

As a Newbie, you won't be able to post working links so BREAK the Dropbox link to your images, remove http.

notpayingparkingscam

www.
dropbox.
com/sh/
rk086085op6g8kh/
AABZQewA_EYYskg7FKchpRgXa?dl=0

Here is the link as requested.

They have previously received a Notice of intended court proceedings from Excel (I'm guessing this should have been replied to at the time) which seems like just another scare tactic.

Thank you for your help, very much appreciate it.

KeithP

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/rk086085op6g8kh/AABZQewA_EYYskg7FKchpRgXa?dl=0

You are right. Those signs do not appear to say:

"parking require that the full and accurate registration number of the vehicle which has been parked on site must be used when payment for parking is made; by failing to use the correct vehicle details the parking session purchased was invalid"

But every one of those signs does say that either a Pay & Display Ticket or permit obtained from Travelodge must be displayed.

What about the signs on the ticket payment machine?

notpayingparkingscam

I have a photo of the sign directing to pay via the RingGo app (which still doesn't state a full registration is needed) which I have added the the same folder as above.

I can acquire further photographic evidence tomorrow if needed.

No where during the process to pay via RingGo does it state a full reg is needed also.

Coupon-mad

Great, so you have evidence that you have not contravened a term on a sign. Reply to Excel and say so. Tell them to cease and desist and to remove your data from their systems as they have no reasonable cause to further process it, given the drafting of their signs.

have read that Excel are one of the most legitimate car parking companies,

LOL, you mean litigious!

notpayingparkingscam

Okay, great!

I'm not sure how best to contact them after the denied appeal. Are they best to send a letter with relevant photos included or an email, it does say on the website that the email provided is not for appeals, but should they give this ago regardless?

Ah litigious... that's the one *hangs head in shame* :rotfl:

Thanks again