NCP PCN - Support needed for a winnable POPLA appeal

Kr34Tur4

Good evening,
After reading a lot of threads these days, I have decided to open a new one on the forum, so that I can get the necessary help to fight off NCP.
Will try to keep the following (a layout of the situation) as short as possible:
- facts: last February I entered St Peters Way Car park in Northampton as I needed to pick up a delivery from Argos;
- no signage in sight from the gates all the way up to Argos;
- parked the car, went inside for the package, retrieved it, stored in the car, bought a parking ticket, drove off;
- 17 minutes since entering the car park the ANPR logged my exit;
- 16 days later a letter arrives at my home, NOTK, for a breach of contract - parking without paying
- assumed NCP were not scammers and acted upon my common sense - appealed it on their website, stating that I was the driver at that time, and presenting the parking ticket as evidence;
- two weeks later, their rejection arrived in my mail, based on the fact that I have exceeding the ten minutes grace period ;
- googled for more information, found the forum, read a few things, contacted Fruitycake for an advice and decided to fight it off;
- went to the car park again, to get evidence of the lack of signage - surprise, there are quite few signs now, all brand new - took photos, nevertheless, as the information may still help my case;
- thread opened.
As Fruity suggested, I would want to contact my local MP and raise the issue with Argos store manager but I need help with the following:
- any template for an MP letter (or a draft of what the content of the letter should be)
- St Peters Way Argos store manager contact and content for the message
On the appeal to POPLA, considering 'Appeal_stage2_POPLA_ECP_draft5.pdf' document's contents, what would it best to keep?
Also, could you please let me know if I can appeal on the grounds of poor signage considering the following:
- at the time of the incident - mid February - one hour of parking was £0.60
- current signs show explicitly £0.70

Thank you, your support and consideration are highly appreciated.
Kind regards,
TiredOfBloodSuckingServicesProviders individual

z1a

What made you buy a ticket as you were leaving?
Did you only realise as you returned to your car that you needed to pay?

MistyZ

Hello there.

You could phone the store and ask for the manager's email address. However if the manager can't / won't help, you would need to complain to the company that owns the car park, which would seem to be PAT Pensions ..... I found this online from 2017:

https://www.northampton.gov.uk/news/article/2641/st-peter-s-way-car-park-handed-back-to-owner

As for signage, check out the car park on Google Earth as that may show the old signs and screenshots are fine for embedding in a POPLA appeal. The fact that they have recently been changed is something to use to advantage, as it suggests that the old signage was considered inadequate even by the low standards of the average PPC.

I'd imagine the change is parking rate is just a price rise ....?

Kr34Tur4

Hi z1a,
Thank you for your enquiry!
Truth to be told, the only real evidence that a parking ticket is needed was the presence of the ticket machines.
However, there is a similar car park in Well'boro, at Aldi, with PE markings, ticket machines and all ... yet the ticket machines are not working and the car park is, at least by my understanding, free to use.
So, the fact that the ticket machines were working made me buy the ticket for an hour.
Rushed in as the closing time was near and as I exited Argos, having enough time to look around, saw people using the ticket machines and decided to buy one myself, thinking that, even though there was no barrier at entrance, it might be one at exit. It wasn't.

Kr34Tur4

Hello MistyZ,

Thank you for the information provided.
There are new signs to display the new pricing but there are also new signs with the T&C's as well; plus signs that inform people about the fact that starting May 1st paying using mobile will not be possible anymore.
Will search for some images from Google Earth, hopefully I should be able to find something useful.