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Help with legal argumentation in complaint to trader, please!
Bardot
Posts: 20 Forumite
I am starting a new thread because thanks to the forum members’ numerous responses to my first thread “Double-edged success from complaint” and excellent advice offered – thank you all so much! – I have made up my mind what to do next. I have composed a sort of a warning for litigation letter to the hotel CEO and I would really appreciate it now, if you could have a look at and comment on the tone and argumentation of the letter, especially from a legal point of view.
Here is the text of the letter to the CEO, addressed exclusively to him (Is that the right thing to do when one threatens litigation?):
Dear Sir,
I have to seek your attention because I am considering litigation, along with complaints to relevant authorities and extensive publicity in the official media and social networks, regarding, among others, the hotel’s role in unfair parking charges for hotel guests and the harassment surrounding those charges. Here is the background story in a nutshell:
and I stayed at the Travelodge in
, on
and
2018 respectively. On arriving home from our holiday on
, we were shocked to discover a PCN from Smart Parking, dated
, charging the car keeper, a month later from the date of our first stay at the Travelodge, with an alleged contravention of parking OVER FREE TIME on
2018!
We thought there had to be some mistake, as we had chosen to stay at this hotel because a hotel portal (HRS) promotes it as having a hotel-owned car park and the hotel’s own website advertises free onsite parking – here is the full text regarding the parking availability and terms of use:
Free parking onsite!
Limited free parking is available at this hotel on a first come first served basis. Parking is controlled by Smart Parking Ltd. Please ensure you provide your vehicle registration to reception on check in.
We complied with these requirements in full on both occasions. Furthermore, when registering for the first stay, we confirmed with the receptionist, who was able to see our parked car on their CCTV, that it was parked on the hotel’s grounds and not on the neighbouring ones of ASDA’s. For the second stay, we arrived later in the day, and finding the hotel parking full, followed assurances from the hotel reception that there was an agreement between the hotel and ASDA, according to which we could park in the ASDA parking overnight, so long as we moved the car to the hotel parking before 8 am. We did so only to get a PCN, amazingly not for the ASDA parking, but for the early morning hours on the hotel grounds!
We made numerous attempts to contact the hotel on the phone to ask them to rectify what we believed were obvious mistakes, but it was to no avail, so we had to ask
, who lives in the Borough
, to go there in person and speak to the staff on our behalf.
Our representative was advised to approach Smart Parking and follow their procedures first and was assured that if that did not help, the hotel would then take steps to quash the charge. Ultimately, I, as the car keeper, received a letter, dated
, in which Smart Parking claimed that my appeal had been submitted late and the matter was referred to Debt Recovery Plus. In the meantime, a PCN, dated
also arrived for our second stay at the hotel on
2018, indicating that wrong parking charges are not a fluke, but a regular malpractice at this hotel.
As a result of my complaint addressed to yourself, I got an unacceptable remedy offer from the Travelodge Customer Service – to pay the fines, send proof of payment and then the card that was used to make the bookings would be reimbursed. First of all, as the keeper of the vehicle, I dispute the parking charges and deny any liability or contractual agreement. Second, I refuse to be involved in attempts to condone predatory conduct on the part of rogue private parking companies, such as “Smart Parking”, eloquently described by an MP during the second reading of the Parking Code Bill as "appalling" and "rude", "the John Wayne of all these cowboys", a company that "distributes fines like confetti and the so-called smart technology seems almost designed to frustrate and harvest fines from motorists". The hundreds of shocking one-star reviews of Travelodge hotels on Trip adviser abound with similar parking fines stories - another proof that Smart Parking indulges in a long-standing deliberate scam with the techniques and details being perfected regularly.
From the customer service reply to my complaint it transpired for the first time that the pretext Smart Parking is using for the charges in my case is the car registration number not being entered on a tablet, in addition to us having informed the reception about it and it being entered on a paper sheet. In the Trip Adviser reviews one reads about people having entered the number on the tablet themselves with help from the receptionists and still getting PCNs. As can be seen above, the hotel advertises its own free onsite parking, without any restrictions, or conditions, or procedural requirements, no mention of tablets or other equipment or self-service on its website, so customers are not warned to look for parking charge signs or machines and have no reason to expect any.
Several more questions arise here, boiling down to:
• Why does Travelodge allow false/mismatching advertising regarding its parking availability?
• Why is the fact that one was a guest of the hotel not enough proof that one is not liable to pay parking fees?
• Why should the onus be on the customers to prove the car registration validation when there are no means for them to do so?
• What are the guarantees against system malfunction or staff negligence?
• What about the duty of care on the part of the hotel to make sure that the customer rights and well-being are upheld and all the necessary procedures performed?
• Why can’t or won’t Travelodge instruct Smart Parking to quash the charge, as initially promised, but is offering this worse than inconvenient round-about remedy?
• Doesn’t the Customer Service offer prove that they deem the charge unwarranted?
• Why is the customer not advised whom else they could turn to if the hotel doesn’t have the authority to resolve the issue in a straightforward way?
We fail to see how the onus should lie with a customer, at no fault in any way, to rectify a dealer’s and/or their agent’s errors or omissions and bear the brunt of their failed duty of care for their customers! We believe that, whether or not the hotel is the landowner of the parking, as it carries out the car along with the customer registration process, it has a duty to make sure that the customer is served competently and fairly. Therefore, we deem the hotel itself in breach of the following provisions of the Consumer Rights Act 2015:
• Part 1, Chapter 4, 49 (1) – trader’s failure to perform the service of car parking registration with reasonable care and skill.
• Part 1, Chapter 4, 50
(1)Every contract to supply a service is to be treated as including as a term of the contract anything that is said or written to the consumer, by or on behalf of the trader, about the trader or the service, if—
(a)it is taken into account by the consumer when deciding to enter into the contract – customer’s decision to choose this hotel because of advertised free onsite parking
(4)A change to any of the information mentioned in subsection (3), made before entering into the contract or later, is not effective unless expressly agreed between the consumer and the trader – consumer left unaware of the discrepancy between instructions on website to “provide your vehicle registration to reception on check in” and actual expectations
• Part 1, Chapter 4, 57
(1)A term of a contract to supply services is not binding on the consumer to the extent that it would exclude the trader’s liability arising under section 49 (service to be performed with reasonable care and skill).
(2)Subject to section 50(2), a term of a contract to supply services is not binding on the consumer to the extent that it would exclude the trader’s liability arising under section 50 (information about trader or service to be binding).
• Part 2, 62
(4)A term is unfair if, contrary to the requirement of good faith, it causes a significant imbalance in the parties’ rights and obligations under the contract to the detriment of the consumer – customer must prove they have validated the car registration
(6)A notice is unfair if, contrary to the requirement of good faith, it causes a significant imbalance in the parties’ rights and obligations to the detriment of the consumer – same as above
----
Part 2, 68
(1)A trader must ensure that a written term of a consumer contract, or a consumer notice in writing, is transparent – waiting for pictures of signage before I can say more.
(2)A consumer notice is transparent for the purposes of subsection (1) if it is expressed in plain and intelligible language and it is legible.
Looking forward to your valuable advice!
Here is the text of the letter to the CEO, addressed exclusively to him (Is that the right thing to do when one threatens litigation?):
Dear Sir,
I have to seek your attention because I am considering litigation, along with complaints to relevant authorities and extensive publicity in the official media and social networks, regarding, among others, the hotel’s role in unfair parking charges for hotel guests and the harassment surrounding those charges. Here is the background story in a nutshell:
and I stayed at the Travelodge in
, on
and
2018 respectively. On arriving home from our holiday on
, we were shocked to discover a PCN from Smart Parking, dated
, charging the car keeper, a month later from the date of our first stay at the Travelodge, with an alleged contravention of parking OVER FREE TIME on
2018!
We thought there had to be some mistake, as we had chosen to stay at this hotel because a hotel portal (HRS) promotes it as having a hotel-owned car park and the hotel’s own website advertises free onsite parking – here is the full text regarding the parking availability and terms of use:
Free parking onsite!
Limited free parking is available at this hotel on a first come first served basis. Parking is controlled by Smart Parking Ltd. Please ensure you provide your vehicle registration to reception on check in.
We complied with these requirements in full on both occasions. Furthermore, when registering for the first stay, we confirmed with the receptionist, who was able to see our parked car on their CCTV, that it was parked on the hotel’s grounds and not on the neighbouring ones of ASDA’s. For the second stay, we arrived later in the day, and finding the hotel parking full, followed assurances from the hotel reception that there was an agreement between the hotel and ASDA, according to which we could park in the ASDA parking overnight, so long as we moved the car to the hotel parking before 8 am. We did so only to get a PCN, amazingly not for the ASDA parking, but for the early morning hours on the hotel grounds!
We made numerous attempts to contact the hotel on the phone to ask them to rectify what we believed were obvious mistakes, but it was to no avail, so we had to ask
, who lives in the Borough
, to go there in person and speak to the staff on our behalf.
Our representative was advised to approach Smart Parking and follow their procedures first and was assured that if that did not help, the hotel would then take steps to quash the charge. Ultimately, I, as the car keeper, received a letter, dated
, in which Smart Parking claimed that my appeal had been submitted late and the matter was referred to Debt Recovery Plus. In the meantime, a PCN, dated
also arrived for our second stay at the hotel on
2018, indicating that wrong parking charges are not a fluke, but a regular malpractice at this hotel.
As a result of my complaint addressed to yourself, I got an unacceptable remedy offer from the Travelodge Customer Service – to pay the fines, send proof of payment and then the card that was used to make the bookings would be reimbursed. First of all, as the keeper of the vehicle, I dispute the parking charges and deny any liability or contractual agreement. Second, I refuse to be involved in attempts to condone predatory conduct on the part of rogue private parking companies, such as “Smart Parking”, eloquently described by an MP during the second reading of the Parking Code Bill as "appalling" and "rude", "the John Wayne of all these cowboys", a company that "distributes fines like confetti and the so-called smart technology seems almost designed to frustrate and harvest fines from motorists". The hundreds of shocking one-star reviews of Travelodge hotels on Trip adviser abound with similar parking fines stories - another proof that Smart Parking indulges in a long-standing deliberate scam with the techniques and details being perfected regularly.
From the customer service reply to my complaint it transpired for the first time that the pretext Smart Parking is using for the charges in my case is the car registration number not being entered on a tablet, in addition to us having informed the reception about it and it being entered on a paper sheet. In the Trip Adviser reviews one reads about people having entered the number on the tablet themselves with help from the receptionists and still getting PCNs. As can be seen above, the hotel advertises its own free onsite parking, without any restrictions, or conditions, or procedural requirements, no mention of tablets or other equipment or self-service on its website, so customers are not warned to look for parking charge signs or machines and have no reason to expect any.
Several more questions arise here, boiling down to:
• Why does Travelodge allow false/mismatching advertising regarding its parking availability?
• Why is the fact that one was a guest of the hotel not enough proof that one is not liable to pay parking fees?
• Why should the onus be on the customers to prove the car registration validation when there are no means for them to do so?
• What are the guarantees against system malfunction or staff negligence?
• What about the duty of care on the part of the hotel to make sure that the customer rights and well-being are upheld and all the necessary procedures performed?
• Why can’t or won’t Travelodge instruct Smart Parking to quash the charge, as initially promised, but is offering this worse than inconvenient round-about remedy?
• Doesn’t the Customer Service offer prove that they deem the charge unwarranted?
• Why is the customer not advised whom else they could turn to if the hotel doesn’t have the authority to resolve the issue in a straightforward way?
We fail to see how the onus should lie with a customer, at no fault in any way, to rectify a dealer’s and/or their agent’s errors or omissions and bear the brunt of their failed duty of care for their customers! We believe that, whether or not the hotel is the landowner of the parking, as it carries out the car along with the customer registration process, it has a duty to make sure that the customer is served competently and fairly. Therefore, we deem the hotel itself in breach of the following provisions of the Consumer Rights Act 2015:
• Part 1, Chapter 4, 49 (1) – trader’s failure to perform the service of car parking registration with reasonable care and skill.
• Part 1, Chapter 4, 50
(1)Every contract to supply a service is to be treated as including as a term of the contract anything that is said or written to the consumer, by or on behalf of the trader, about the trader or the service, if—
(a)it is taken into account by the consumer when deciding to enter into the contract – customer’s decision to choose this hotel because of advertised free onsite parking
(4)A change to any of the information mentioned in subsection (3), made before entering into the contract or later, is not effective unless expressly agreed between the consumer and the trader – consumer left unaware of the discrepancy between instructions on website to “provide your vehicle registration to reception on check in” and actual expectations
• Part 1, Chapter 4, 57
(1)A term of a contract to supply services is not binding on the consumer to the extent that it would exclude the trader’s liability arising under section 49 (service to be performed with reasonable care and skill).
(2)Subject to section 50(2), a term of a contract to supply services is not binding on the consumer to the extent that it would exclude the trader’s liability arising under section 50 (information about trader or service to be binding).
• Part 2, 62
(4)A term is unfair if, contrary to the requirement of good faith, it causes a significant imbalance in the parties’ rights and obligations under the contract to the detriment of the consumer – customer must prove they have validated the car registration
(6)A notice is unfair if, contrary to the requirement of good faith, it causes a significant imbalance in the parties’ rights and obligations to the detriment of the consumer – same as above
----
Part 2, 68
(1)A trader must ensure that a written term of a consumer contract, or a consumer notice in writing, is transparent – waiting for pictures of signage before I can say more.
(2)A consumer notice is transparent for the purposes of subsection (1) if it is expressed in plain and intelligible language and it is legible.
Looking forward to your valuable advice!
0
Comments
-
You need to keep everything in the one thread
You can see how busy this forum is
Imagine how busy it would be if everyone simply started a new thread with each new post.
You cannot expect us to search for your other thread to see the background of your case
Copy and paste your post to your original thread and let this one die0 -
When you copy it to your original thread, please do some formatting of that wall of text to make it easier for regulars to digest it. Do you realise how much stuff we have to read each day? Usually around 80-100 threads with numerous new posts in each, some complicated.
Help those you are asking to help you, please.Please note, we are not a legal advice forum. I personally don't get involved in critiquing court case Defences/Witness Statements, so unable to help on that front. Please don't ask. .
I provide only my personal opinion, it is not a legal opinion, it is simply a personal one. I am not a lawyer.
Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; show him how to catch fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.Private Parking Firms - Killing the High Street0 -
I have not read that. In my opinion a complaint of that length is
unlikely to be read, can you not make it much shorter.You never know how far you can go until you go too far.0 -
You need to keep everything in the one thread
You can see how busy this forum is
Imagine how busy it would be if everyone simply started a new thread with each new post.
You cannot expect us to search for your other thread to see the background of your case
Copy and paste your post to your original thread and let this one die
I have copied and pasted this post to the original thread, but it doesn't seem possible to delete this one. Sorry about burdening the forum.0
This discussion has been closed.
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