Armtrac Parking Scam at Sennen Cove Harbour Car Park

Umkomaas

Thanks for court report, we find these so useful in advising future newbies who will travel the same path you did - and successfully so. And well done, once again.  

cjos

There seems to be something wrong . instructions on using the site seem to be on top of my comment making it difficult to read

Ralph-y

its OK here ......

OBTW well done

Ralph

D_P_Dance

Did yo get your costs?

Mickey666

Well done for persevering.  I once had a similar thing happen to me in a council car park.  I came back to my car to find a PCN on my windscreen and my parking ticket on the floor, even though the sticky backing used to stick it to the car window was still on the window.  Anyway, I wrote to the council, enclosing the original parking ticket, explaining that the glue on their tickets doesn't seem good enough to hold the ticket against a car window and they replied with a polite letter explaining that their ticket inspector had been right to issue the parking charge (fair enough) but that under the circumstances they were cancelling the charge.  Basically, exactly what any normal, reasonable, fair person would have expected.  These private parking companies are a real disgrace!

zhonguonuren

Armtrac is cropping up far too often.  I will visit their office when possible to see if it is complies with Companies Act and how safely it is storing people’s data.  

Coupon-mad

cjos said:

Sorry that it has taken me so long but here is my short report of what happened in court  :

First I had to sit and listen while the solicitor for BW Legal kept repeating that I had contravened the Armtrac terms and conditions and that it was therefore clear that That I must pay this £100 parking charge which 18 months later I was still refusing to pay.  Then it was my turn to speak.

The judge made it clear that he was only interested in hearing about the case in hand, so I didn't use much of what I had prepared in reply to BW legal's witness statement. The points that I did raise are as follows :

1.   Armtrac claim that their signs are easy to understand and that their terms and conditions are clearly displayed. This is not the case. I included in my evidence a photo (which I found online) of an actual sign in the harbour car park. The sign does not say what this £100 charge is for. It does not clearly state that it is for failing to meet the terms and conditions  and more to the point it doesn't state that the motorist must pay this £100 charge if the pay and display ticket becomes dislodged ( due to weather conditions or whatever) while he is away from the car .  Also the terms and conditions have been deliberately made very difficult to read (white letters on a red background and small font).

If the signs were easy to read and were not confusing , motorists might be encouraged to display their tickets more securely.......and that would not be in Armtrac's interest because Armtrac make a lot of money from these contrived contraventions. 

I did display my ticket properly and cannot be held responsible for what happened to it during my absence unless the sign makes it clear in plain English that I will be...........and it doesn't. I did not knowingly agree to pay £100 to these people if the ticket should somehow fall from the wind screen whilst we were away from the car .

2.  It states on the sign "Retrospective authority to park will not be accepted" . Surely it is wrong not to allow the defendant to use their pay and display ticket as proof that they did pay and display..........just because Armtrac say so as this is an integral part of their scam. I still have my pay and display ticket . I did in fact email a photo of it to Armtrac later that same day.

3.  I noticed and brought to the judge's attention that BW legal had included in their evidence,  details, documents and a collection of poor quality signage photos  for the WRONG car park (Armtrac have two car parks at Sennen Cove). I had parked in the Harbour car park and they had sent the stuff for the Beach car park.

The judge then asked me several questions to satisfy himself that I had in fact purchased a ticket and displayed it.

In his summing up the judge agreed with what I had said . He called the sign  ambiguous.He dismissed the claim and said that he would have done so even if BW legal had submitted photos for the right car park.

I hope that somebody else find this usefull. I have read that " fluttering tickets" are a regular occurance at Sennen Cove.

Well done again!  This is a great example of how to beat Armtrac and their fluttering ticket scam.
ANOTHER ARMTRAC ONE BITES THE DUST!

D_P_Dance

Costs?

Have you read this?

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/letter/letter-before-small-claims-court-claim

beamerguy

3.  I noticed and brought to the judge's attention that BW legal had included in their evidence,  details, documents and a collection of poor quality signage photos  for the WRONG car park (Armtrac have two car parks at Sennen Cove). I had parked in the Harbour car park and they had sent the stuff for the Beach car park.

WELL DONE, just another case of total incompetence .... Armtrax providing wrong info and BWLegal accepting it as true ???  A prime example of two companies joining hands in incompetence

cjos

Yes I did get my costs . Only about £12 . It included 4 hours parking in a council in Leamington Spa town centre :-)