Gemini - sneaky signage, paid via RingGo

TheWabe

Hi all,
Thanks for the wonderful clear advice on the website. I'm about to begin fighting Gemini (PPC) but please excuse my lack of common sense as I wanted to double check a few things before I send the blue letter on the first post of the Newbies thread.

- I have the RingGo receipt for parking (although an 'O' is typed as a '0'), but it identifies my brother as the having paid for parking - as we are not to name the driver, do I include the receipt?

- I have photos showing that the 'loading bay' sign was two cars lengths away from the pay for parking sign, which was next to my car. Unfortunately, they also show that there was no line separating my car from the loading bay section. Do I include them at this stage or save for later?

To explain, we parked next to a sign (private land) explaining how to pay, not realising that the big white box we were in counted as loading bay space (the 30min limit loading bay sign was sneakily tucked into the other end of the bay). We paid via RingGo and received a ticket an hour into our stay, stating 'Over Stay' as reason for issue. (Loading bay skank or couldn't find the reg on RingGo - who knows?)
Second concern re including the receipt was that if they are after us for the loading time, but cannot prove we were there for over half an hour, then the receipt I have provides them with evidence that we were in the box for too long :doh:

Apologies if the answers to these questions seem obvious; I did search the forum for a while. (Very interesting reading!)

The_Slithy_Tove

If it says "exceeded time", then that's not a loading bay issue. It looks like they have decided that the switching of the typographically IDENTICAL zero and oh are worthy of issuing a charge, despite the fact that it's easy for the software to account for this. It should not be up to you to have to understand the format of UK registration numbers (what if you were a visitor from overseas?). The answer, of course, is that this is a scam, and any excuse to issue a parking charge is good enough for them.

Coupon-mad

I have the RingGo receipt for parking (although an 'O' is typed as a '0'), but it identifies my brother as the having paid for parking - as we are not to name the driver, do I include the receipt?

Yes as a screenshot - but redact the name.

Tell Gemini that the driver will not be identified but this is a very simple '0' or 'O' keying issue and exactly the sort of thing the BPA meant when they told AOS members only months ago* NOT to pursue simple keying errors, and indeed in their race to the bottom, the rival Trade Body the IPC has even come out with clearer advice than the BPA this time and has banned 'O' or '0' PCNs among its members.

So you expect to hear that surely, BPA members are NOT lower than IPC members, and that the PCN has been cancelled to comply with the Trade Body policy. If not then you will take to POPLA.




*you can read the bit about 'simple keying errors' in the POPLA Annual report 2018.