Scotland. Kinoull Street, Perth. Smart Parking. Wrong Registration

gmckay

Hello,

I have read through the vast amount of information within the Newbie section, but find myself a tad overwhelmed by the amount of information. Especially given the fact I've been a total moron and appealed my PCN with Smart Parking. This, of course, was firmly rejected. Instead of hijacking someone elses thread ive started my own.

The story goes.....

Entered the multi story car park > paid via the app > wrong registration was selected > returned within the correct timescales > received PCN > Appealed > rejected.

Now i am wondering should i converse further with these cowboys, or just ignore further requests? Does my situation change now i have corresponded with them? I expect no compassion given the fact we had a 6 month old baby with us. Even though Scotland citizen advice claims this would be unlawful discrimation.

The most frustrating thing is the fact that the owner suffered no loss through correct payment.

Thanks in advance and please be gentle!

Redx

the main question here is this

did the appeal infer or name the driver ? (you never said)

because only the driver has any liability on Scotland and so you left the most important point out of your post above

and as this is SMART and PERTH, what does your local MP say about it ? (seeing as he has spoken at length on this in parliament and is a main contributor to the debate and the new bill)

if you check his statements , he is fed up of the whole shebang

as for your question, as long as the driver was not identified, you can IGNORE them for 5 years

The_Deep

Read what Pete Wishert had to say recently about Smart Parking in the House of commons.

"I am sick and tired of receiving emails from people complaining about the behaviour of parking companies, telling me that they will never again visit Perth city centre because of the negative experience they had when they had the misfortune to end up in a car park operated by one of these companies. I have received more complaints about one car park in the city of Perth than about any other issue. That car park is operated by the lone ranger of the parking cowboys: the hated and appalling Smart Parking—I see that many other Members are unfortunate enough to have Smart Parking operating in their constituencies. It has reached the stage where one member of my staff now spends a good part of each day just helping my constituents and visitors to my constituency to navigate the appeals process.
…
The BPA does not have the ability to regulate these companies and has shown no sign whatsoever that it is trying to get on top of some of the sharper practices. The BPA gives a veneer of legitimacy to some of the more outlandish rogue operators by including them in their membership, allowing them to continue to operate. The Bill will oblige operators such as Smart Parking to amend their practices."

Why not complain to Mr Wishert and your own 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. 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 become so widespread that MPs agreed to enact a Bill to regulate these scammers. It has cleared Parliament and hopefully, this will become law shortly.

Umkomaas

Send a complaint of your own to Pete Wishart. You don't want him getting bogged down just faffing about with Brexit.

gmckay

My Appeal in Full





Dear Sir/Madam,

I have received the enclosed PCN (Ref: TC5*******) in relation to not purchasing the appropriate parking charge at KINNOULL ST. MULTI STORY, PERTH on February 10th 2019.

I would like to appeal this decision as the only blunder was inputting the wrong registration information within the Ring Go App. We currently run 2 cars within the Ring Go App and, on this occasion, the wrong car details were given.

I have also enclosed a copy of my VAT receipt showing the payment for Car Registration Number **** *** on February 10th 2019, and as you will be able to tell from your own records, this car did not enter or leave the car park on this specific time and date.

There was no intention from our family not pay the appropriate parking time and followed the terms and conditions of the car park by purchasing 4 hours of parking, as per the enclosed receipt. We also returned within the allotted time scales permitted.

Overall, this was a genuine error in which the appropriate fee was paid in full, and in doing so, Smart Parking incurred no financial loss on this day. Given the fair appeals system you have I trust this falls within your fair and reasonable code.

Thank you.



I personally don't think I have incriminated anyone, but that is open for debate.

Interesting read on the MP's thoughts. May be worth an email stating my own concerns. Does anyone know if this new bill will change how aggressive the chasing will be in my case? Would imagine they will still go hammer and tong.

cheers.

DoaM

Just ignore anything else EXCEPT an actual court claim. (Single Justice Procedure up here)? If they were stupid enough to try (they won't) then you'd use de minimis as a defence point - the error made was trivial in nature and led to no loss caused.

Redx

doesnt look like the driver was outed, so keep copies of the record for paid for parking on that app, plus all paperwork , for 5 years

I doubt that this will go to court at all, IGNORE any debt collctor letetrs, they are powerless without a court order

good advice above, so make a note of it all, and get on with your life (after emailing your MP)

throw all the paperwork etc in the bin in 2025, lol

The_Deep

A claim for breach of contrsact where a wrong registration features is not likely to get very far in court imo.

Many judges regard this as a simple human error and de minimis,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_minimis

a waste of court time, and an abuse of process.

The_Deep

I too doubt whether they would be daft enough to take this to court. Many judges regard such claims as de minimis

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_minimis

a waste of court time, and an abuse of process.

Hasbeen

gmckay wrote: »

My Appeal in Full





Dear Sir/Madam,

I have received the enclosed PCN (Ref: TC5*******) in relation to not purchasing the appropriate parking charge at KINNOULL ST. MULTI STORY, PERTH on February 10th 2019.

I would like to appeal this decision as the only blunder was inputting the wrong registration information within the Ring Go App. We currently run 2 cars within the Ring Go App and, on this occasion, the wrong car details were given.

I have also enclosed a copy of my VAT receipt showing the payment for Car Registration Number **** *** on February 10th 2019, and as you will be able to tell from your own records, this car did not enter or leave the car park on this specific time and date.

There was no intention from our family not pay the appropriate parking time and followed the terms and conditions of the car park by purchasing 4 hours of parking, as per the enclosed receipt. We also returned within the allotted time scales permitted.

Overall, this was a genuine error in which the appropriate fee was paid in full, and in doing so, Smart Parking incurred no financial loss on this day. Given the fair appeals system you have I trust this falls within your fair and reasonable code.

Thank you.



I personally don't think I have incriminated anyone, but that is open for debate.

Interesting read on the MP's thoughts. May be worth an email stating my own concerns. Does anyone know if this new bill will change how aggressive the chasing will be in my case? Would imagine they will still go hammer and tong.

cheers.

Please say that you did not put your name at the bottom of this?

There is a lot of good advice on here re Scottish parking, but most people in Scotland, IN THE KNOW never reply at all, no appeals etc, they throw the correspondence in the drawer and forget about it. Unless they are silly and park in the same spot multiple times over the year LOL

gmckay

Thanks for all the advice. No name was put at the bottom of the letter. Just a simple "Thank you".

Funnily enough someone has another charge relating to a separate offence.... stayed too long in a shop car park by 20 mins with no pay and display required...… but have ignored as was a company car. Powerless to determine who was driving.