Birmingham Airport mistakenly parked in wrong carpark

Jangla

Having checked various threads, I'm unsure if this fits the profile of something that can be appealed so here's what happened:

Wife and I are pre-booked into Car Park 4 for the weekend. Our flight is very early in the morning so we turn up in the dark and unbeknownst to us at the time, take a wrong turn and end up at an entrance that we think is CP4. Barrier doesn't run the expected ANPR check and let us in so we hit the customer service button to chat to someone.

We are advised to take a ticket - and we think are advised to just park up and go about our weekend.

When we return the car park exit machine tries to charge us £1200!!!

Cue lots of chatting to staff to figure out what's going on.

Turns out we are not in CP4 but in Drop Off. A car park that has literally ZERO signs informing customers it's a drop off car park. There's a small list of charges by the barrier but it doesn't mention drop off parking at all. Admittedly, neither does it say it's CP4.

They eventually let us leave after filling in a "delayed payment" form which we are told we can appeal. Which we do. Which they deny but agree to knock 50% off. (We provided photos of the lack of drop off signage and detail the misunderstanding we think has taken place between us and the customer service representative we spoke to at the barrier).

From what I understand, we should have been given a POPLA code at this point but there wasn't one in their response...?

I have emailed them asking for all records, emails, telephone conversation recordings etc related to the case as per GDPR.

That brings us up to date.

So does this fit the profile of something we may be able to appeal?

Fruitcake

What is the name of the PPC please?

Did you take pics of the signs or lack thereof?

Jangla

Sorry for missing details.

PPC is NCP.

I took photos of the entry barrier we used to enter the CP and a couple of general ones showing the lack of any "drop off only" signage.

Fruitcake

NCP are BPA members so yes you should get a PoPLA code. What did you put in your initial appeal? Did you blab about the driver's identity?
What was the date of the event, the date the NTK was received, and the date the appeal was submitted?

The_Deep

The whole industry is a scam, relying on threats of court, and the public's ignorance of the Law, A bill is currently before parliament which will regulate the scammers, many of whom are ex-clampers.

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. Is has been suggested by an MP that some of these companies may have connections to organised crime.

Parking Eye, CPM, Smart, (especially 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.

Sir Greg Knight's Private Members Bill to curb the excesses, and perhaps close down, some of these companies passed its Second Reading in the Lords this month, and, with a fair wind, will l become Law later this year..

All five readings are available to watch on the internet, (some 7-8 hours), and published in Hansard. MPs have an extremely low opinion of the industry. Many are complaining that they are becoming overwhelmed by complaints from members of the public. Add to their burden, complain in the most robust terms about the scammers.

Jangla

Initial appeal detailed how we feel we ended up in the wrong car park. It's basically a slightly longer version of my initial post and included photos of the car park, the pre-booked ticket we had and the ticket we were advised to take from the barrier.

At no time have I told them who was driving at the time we parked. They did take photos of the car before allowing us to leave. This may have included who was in the driving seat at that time but until they provide me with all their records, I have no way of knowing.

Happy to include the full initial appeal email if it will help.

I submitted the appeal to them on 27th Jan '19 and received their rejection on 2nd Feb '19.

Note that I emailed them direct to appeal.

As far as I know, I've received no NTK - at least no email announcing itself as such. I'm assuming this is due to this being an appeal about being charged to park at all rather than it being some "fine" for overstaying...?

Fruitcake

Was any form of PCN given to The Driver or left on the windscreen?

What I'm getting at is what triggered the appeal from you?

Yes, a redacted copy of the appeal might be useful.

Jangla

That's the crux of this issue and why I posted as it didn't seem to be covered by other posts.

What triggered the appeal was the £1200 we were asked to pay for mistakenly parking in the wrong car park (misunderstanding between NCP staff and us etc etc).

They initially refused to let us leave at all but later agreed to "delayed payment" which we were told we could appeal by emailing customer services.

No notice left on the car. The only form I received was a copy of the "delayed payment" form.

Fruitcake

I think I understand, but please confirm the following.

There was no NTD left on the windscreen whilst the vehicle was stationary.
There was no NTD handed to The Driver.
No NTK has been received.

What you have received is an invoice for parking. Did anyone sign anything acknowledging a debt/parking charge?

Sorry about all the questions but just for once this really is different to the normal 100 odd per day threads we see.

No wonder you want help.

Jangla

No problem answering as many question as possible

There was no NTD left on the windscreen whilst the vehicle was s
stationary.

Correct

There was no NTD handed to The Driver.

Correct

No NTK has been received.

Correct

What you have received is an invoice for parking.

Correct

Did anyone sign anything acknowledging a debt/parking charge?

Potentially. I'll have to check the Delayed Parking Charge form we had to complete in order to leave the car park for details of what that states. I can't do that until I get home later.

nosferatu1001

Im not sure this is a normal PCN, if it is to do with parking charges in a pay and display car park...