Parking control management PCM - Hotel drop off

Driver4

Hi, I`ve received a keeper liability letter, 100£ parking charge because I`ve dropped off a passenger at the entrance of the hotel that`s on a small private dead end road with a camera.
There is a white paint on the floor at the entrance of the road that says no drop & collection private road and there are signs that "says no stopping, waiting, drop & collection, 100£ parking charge".
I didn`t read that and because there were just a double yellow line and no red or zigzag line and he took no more than 5 seconds to go out, even to read the sign you have to stop so it looks like a trap to make money.
I spoke with the hotel manager and he said that they had many complaints but they have no control over it and looking outside there was a queue of cars dropping guests of the hotel and he says that they will all get a ticket.
I also think that 100£ is too much and the letter says that they send me a keeper notice letter 1 month before asking me the about the driver but I didn`t receive that letter.
What should I do?

Driver4

That's the text of the letter:

Re: Parking Charge Keeper Liability

To..... this notice serves to inform you that you are now liable for the payment of the outstanding parking charge of £100.00 which was incurred on..... when your vehicle was seen in PCM car park...... and Parking Charge Notice (PCN).... was issued (....), for the following breach of the contractual terms and conditions: "Parked outside of a marked bay / on restricted roadway / landscaped / paved areas or causing an obstruction or inconvenience to others." - The contractual terms and conditions for use of the car park were clearly signposted in the parking area.

The DVLA record shows that on the above date you were the Registered Keeper of the ....with the registration number ..... The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, Schedule 4 states that the Registered Keeper of the vehicle becomes liable for the unpaid parking charges if the name and the address of the driver is not disclosed to the creditor (PCM) by the end of the period of 28 days beginning with the day after that on which the Notice to Keeper is given.

28 days have now elapsed since we gave you a "Notice to Keeper" letter. To date you have not complied with our request for you to supply the name and address of the driver of the vehicle on the date of the incident / or to pay the outstanding amount / or to make a representation against the PCN.

It is now too late to supply the name of the driver or to make representation against the PCN. You are therefore requested to pay the amount still outstanding of £100.00, by not later than the last day of the period of 14 days beginning with the day after the date on which this Keeper Liability Notice is given.

If you do not pay the amount as above, in the allotted time, then your details will be passed to our Debt Collection Agent who will seek to recover from you, the amount still outstanding as well as the debt collector's fees. Our debt collectors may take legal action against you, which would include a claim through the county court for; the parking charge, debt collector's fees, the court costs and any interest which may have been accrued. If no payment is received is received we may refer your case to our instructed debt Recovery Company and/or Solicitors, at which point the charge will increase to £160.00.

The Independent Appeals Service (link) provides an Alternative Dispute Resolution scheme for disputes of this type. We may engage with the IAS Non-Standard Appeals Service at our discretion should a dispute arise over this charge in the future.

Half_way

I spoke with the hotel manager and he said that they had many complaints but they have no control over it

Most likely to be a fob off answer intended to get you to go away.
Who are the parking company working for/on behalf of? who's land is this?
If its the Hotel then the Hotel as principal will have full control over the antics of its agents, the parking company

Driver4

He said that they rent the building, but definitely I think that the landowner is the owner of the building of the hotel, also because the camera is attached to the hotel external wall.

The_Deep

It is now too late to supply the name of the driver

No it is not

Do the signs forbid certain behaviour? If so then you cannot contract to do something which is forbidden, therefore there is no BOC, read this,


http://parking-prankster.blogspot.com/2016/04/pcm-uk-signage-does-not-create-contract.htmle the signs

Have you commented on this on the hotel's Facebook /Trip advisor

pages?


This is an entirely unregulated industry which is scamming the public with inflated claims for minor 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 lose most of them, and have been reported to the regulatory authority by an M.P. for unprofessional conduct

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 they will be out of business by Christmas.




rir

Half_way

He said that they rent the building, but definitely I think that the landowner is the owner of the building of the hotel, also because the camera is attached to the hotel external wall.

Again most likely to be a fob off to get you to go away, you could try something like this ( but not exactly the same!!)



To the Hotel....
I am the registered keeper of vehicle reg xxxxx and on date XXXX that vehicle visitied your hotel.
I was surprised to find a parking charge notice issued to me as registered keeper of vehicle (make/model/reg), by your agents PCM, containing some extremely misleading and possibly fraudulent information regarding the protection of freedoms act.

As I am sure you will be aware, you, the Hotel are jointly and severally liable for the actions of your agents, PCM, if they have breached the D.V.L.A's keeper on the day of event contract with the DVLa then they will have had no just cause to access and process my personal data .
I am also sure that you will be fully aware of any unjust processing/holding of my personal data in light of the new GDPR regulations, and the possible implications for you, if there has been any breach of the GDPR regulations by your agents.
I am now instructing you to contact your agents with immediate effect and cancel the parking charge notice, I will also be contacintg the local authority with regards to advertising consent for that is required for any signage related to the ANPR camera ( the lack of advertising consent is a criminal offence)

I am receiving help from the money saving expert forums in resolving this issue, see here https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5860044/parking-control-management-pcm-hotel-drop-off
I am now instructing you to take the following actions:
the immediate cancellation of any parking charge notice issued to myself
the immediate cancellation of any outstanding parking charge notices issued to other motorists

a full refund of any parking charge notices issued by your agents, PCM and paid by motorists who may have believed that these charges are/were legitimate
I look forward to your response, and to close, I would like to remind you that you are jointly and severally liable for the actions of your agents.

Driver4

I saw reviews on google maps where people complaining that taxi drivers refuses to bring people there because they get charged, someone said He just stopped 15 seconds to set the satnav and got a ticket.

Another review on Hotels.com:
2.0Poor"Very bad experience "
Absolutely shocking parking arrangements. No indication of where to park at all, whether hotel parking or drop off. Trying to find the drop off I stopped directly in front of the hotel - blocking no access, no impediment to anyone. As soon as I got out of the car I was warned "those c@$ts will fine you" , pointing to a bloke obviously there for the purpose of entrapping the unwary. Two days later a 60 gbp fine demand arrived from pcm, some private parking !!!!!. I am shocked and disgusted. It's not like it's central London it's effing Hayes.
Verified Hotels.com guest review

Response by Warryn Lloyd
Dear Guest, Thank you very much for taking the time to provide feedback on your recent stay with us. We are very sorry to read of the issues that you faced in attempting to access our property by car. It is unfortunately the case that we are located on a private road owned by a third party company over which we have no control. This company employees a parking control organisation to monitor and direct traffic in the area, and it is occasionally the case that tickets are issued for those vehicles that violate the restrictions in place. That said, it is signposted in multiple places along the length of the street that no parking/drop-offs may take place outside of the marked short-stay bays. For the convenience of our guests, we ourselves rent two of these bays (which are signposted) for the exclusive use of our guests and taxis. There is an appeals process for those vehicles that have been issued tickets, and although Staycity has no say over these, we are nonetheless happy to offer any assistance possible to those going through this process. Please feel free to contact us directly. Kind regards, Warryn Lloyd, Guest Services Manager.

Driver4

That's the sign at the entrance of the street:
pasteboard.co/HrnwFDJ.jpg

and that's the signs that are along the street:
pasteboard.co/HrnxDRd.jpg

Driver4

@Half_way Should I try to send that letter you suggest by email to the hotel?
@The Deep The signs as you can see from the link in the previous post, forbid to park stop wait drop and collection and then says "breach of any term or condition will result in the driver being liable for a PARKING CHARGE of 100£".

Should just ignore the PCM letter? If they send me to the court and I lose will they charge me more than 100£?

The_Slithy_Tove

Driver4 wrote: »

That's the sign at the entrance of the street:
https://pasteboard.co/HrnwFDJ.jpg

and that's the sings that are along the street:
https://pasteboard.co/HrnxDRd.jpg

The signs are "forbidding". Therefore, as The Deep points out, there can have been no contract entered which you have breached. It is purely a matter of trespass, which PCM is in no position to be able to pursue.

Driver4 wrote: »

If they send me to the court and I lose will they charge me more than 100£?

See above. They do try sometimes, but the signage scuppers them completely. So you would not lose.

Driver4

I`ll just ignore the letter then, it`s definitely a scam, I`ll keep the post updated.

Half_way wrote: »

I am now instructing you to contact your agents with immediate effect and cancel the parking charge notice, I will also be contacintg the local authority with regards to advertising consent for that is required for any signage related to the ANPR camera ( the lack of advertising consent is a criminal offence)

I confirm that there is no signage about the ANPR camera at all.