Received LBCCC after believing charge had been cancelled

zigger

Good afternoon,


Apologies for raising this one. I know there's a ton of info and guidance in the Newbies section. I just need a pointer in the right direction.
In summary, my wife attended a meeting at a hotel which included complimentary parking, paid for by the organisers. She was told on arrival that a member of the hotel staff would come along and collect car registrations. For whatever reason, my wife was missed out (and I believe someone else too) and, unfortunately, she never gave it a thought.
Subsequently, she received a PCN (the other person paid the £60 'without predjudice' offer) but we feel that the hotel was at fault and contacted the hotel to complain. The hotel Events Manager emailed us to say they had got the charge cancelled. Fast forward to another 'without predjudice' offer made to us and, after contacting the hotel again, the hotel stated that the charge had definitely been cancelled and it takes time for these things to happen.
So now, a month later, we have received an LBCCC which seems to show that either the charge has not been cancelled, the car park management company is ignoring the hotel or it's some kind of automated letter and the cancellation has'nt caught up with them yet.
I have emailed the hotel again but I am also mindful of the fact that I will need to respond to the LBCCC within 14 days.
Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you .

KeithP

You have 30 days to respond to a compliant Letter of Claim.

Is it really a Letter of Claim?

Who is the parking company?

Coupon-mad

The hotel Events Manager emailed us to say they had got the charge cancelled. Fast forward to another 'without predjudice' offer made to us and, after contacting the hotel again, the hotel stated that the charge had definitely been cancelled and it takes time for these things to happen.

Send that email chain to the parking firm - which firm is it?

Tell them you expect them to cancel immediately, as this was purely the Hotel's fault for failing to 'collect' VRNs from all parties that day, and they have accepted fault and have cancelled the PCN.

Finish by saying if they proceed to a claim, you will counter-claim for 'pure distress' caused by their data processing abuse under the GDPR and DPA and for distress for unwarranted harassment under the Protection from Harassment Act, given the similarity to Ferguson v British Gas, where a consumer was unfairly targeted and pursued with aggressive demands for monies that were not owed.

Tell them that sum will be a counter-claim for £500.

But that this email constitutes a reply to the LBCCC and a drop-hands offer, and if they confirm within 14 days that the PCN is cancelled, you will not pursue your claim.

If the letter is from a solicitor, finish by saying that you now require them to revert to their client for instructions to cancel the PCN, and to place any planned litigation on hold.

The_Deep

Write some bad stuff on the hotel's TripAdviser page and complain to your MP.

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

Parking Eye, CPM, Smart, and others have already been named and shamed in the House of Commons as have Gladstones Solicitors, and BW Legal, (these two law firms take hundreds of these cases to court each week, hospital car parks and residential complex tickets have been especially mentioned. They lose most of them, and have been reported to the regulatory authority by an M.P. for unprofessional conduct

The problem has become so widespread that MPs have agreed to enact a Bill to regulate these scammers. It has even been suggested that some of these companies have links with organised ccrime.

Watch the video of the Second Reading and committee stage in the House of Commons recently. MPs have a very low opinion of this industry.

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

https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2018-07-19/debates/2b90805c-bff8-4707-8bdc-b0bfae5a7ad5/Parking(CodeOfPractice)Bill(FirstSitting)

and complain in the most robust terms to your MP. With a fair wind they will be out of business by early in the New Year.

Coupon-mad

I can't see parking firms out of business within 6 months, sadly, TD.

Umkomaas

Coupon-mad wrote: »

I can't see parking firms out of business within 6 months, sadly, TD.

TD's revised his estimate (getting a telling off from Quentin) by a couple of months. It was 'by Christmas'.

Mind, he's cleverly leaving out any 'year' from his forecast, so on that basis, he could be right!

zigger

Thank you for your replies.


The letter looks genuine. The heading is 'Letter Before County Court Claim' and the company is ParkingEye.


The hotel Events Manager is not back until tomorrow and I will seek confirmation of the charge cancellation from her then. Unfortunately, my email provider (BT Yahoo) decided, at some point, to get rid of some of my emails. The email chain relevant to this situation being one of them. Hopefully, the hotel will still have it but, failing that, I need them to re-confirm the charge cancellation.


I will update with any progress I make and I thank you for your advice.

fisherjim

Ahh yes Parking Eye still part of C(r)apita, universally condemned to day on Radio and TV as useless for their mismanagement of our armed forces recruitment over the last six years.
One commentator remarked that they are only interested in making money, and have failed to meet any targets!


That rings a bell!

Half_way

before you send anything off post it here.
the hotel may say they can't do anything as legal proceedings have started, if they do they are wrong.
You need to say the right things to the hotel.

Quentin

Coupon-mad wrote: »

I can't see parking firms out of business within 6 months, sadly, TD.

The worry over this template post that TD adds to Newbies threads is that it comes from someone with on the face of it the qualifications we say to look out for (lots of posts and long time poster)


Thus newbies hoping for a quick fix/magic bullet by coming here may seize on it as an excuse allowing them to carry on ignoring rather than face the "horrors" of getting to grips with this by studying the FAQ

System

Thus newbies hoping for a quick fix/magic bullet by coming here may seize on it as an excuse allowing them to carry on ignoring rather than face the "horrors" of getting to grips with this by studying the FAQ

You make an important point, Q. It would be better when referring someone to the Newbies thread to say "see post # and para ##". Too often it is simply a reference to the thread without being specific about which part of the thread.

In many cases, it is quicker to answer the question rather than saying "go to the Newbies thread". A plea to all (including myself) to be a bit more specific about the advice. Hopefully we can then reduce the 2000 or so "no shows" we have each year.