Paying for the wrong car on parking app

Sand26

About 6 weeks ago I parked in my local station car park to go to the cinema. I have the Connect parking app with 2 cars registered - mine and my wife's (both registered in my name). For some reason, either user error or app error I paid for parking on the wrong car. I wasn't aware of this as the time. About a month later I received a debt collection letter from ZZPS demanding £170 with all the usual guff that's included in these. It was the first communication I had received. I then emailed them with an explanation of the circumstances, that I had paid for parking for a car that wasn't in the car park in error. I asked if they could check their records to see that the car I paid for was not in the car park that evening and included the receipt for parking too. I received a reply back saying that this had gone over the appeal date and they are only the debt collector. On reading the debt collection notice more carefully I saw that SABA parking were listed as the client. I then started a morning of phone calls and took contemporaneous notes throughout - please see below

25th June 11.27 am - I call SABA who are named as the client on the Debt Collection Notice as their website won’t let me lodge an appeal. SABA inform me that this is not their responsibility and Pay My PCN are dealing with this charge.

I then call Pay My PCN at 11.35 am and speak with Polly who informs me that they have no say in the matter and that whilst they can prove they sent the original PCN they can’t provide evidence of this. Polly says that SABA decide if something is relevant for appeal and it’s nothing to do with them. She also informed me that my options were to pay £170 now or go to court.

I then call SABA back at 11.44 am and have a conversation with a female operative who’s name I didn’t get. She was very strident, almost aggressive in her tone, and informed me that they aren’t the client – the client is Southern Railways. I asked why they were named as the client on the debt collection note and she said they were the holding company but not the client. This call went on for a while as I tried to understand who the client actually is and how to go about appealing this fine. She became quite hostile at that point and said that I had been given my options by Pay My PCN and that was my choice. I asked for help or guidance at which point she said she had been all the help she could and suggested that she would be terminating this call shortly.

12.33 pm - I spoke with Rebecca at Southern Railways help desk and she informed me that the parking charges are nothing to do with them and that SABA look after all of this and therefore have the final say. SABA are the client!

2.45 pm – I try once again with ZZPS/Pay my PCN who I now learn are the same company. I speak with Frank Prince and talk through the conversations I have had so far today. Frank informs me that the law requires me to prove that I did not receive the initial letter. I ask Frank if anyone has ever managed to prove that they did not receive the initial letter and he replies that ‘no they haven’t, because it is impossible to prove a negative’. In Frank’s view, I have breached the law and either go to court or pay the fine. There is a pattern here!

I’m left with no clear idea of who to talk to, how to resolve this and I’m being stonewalled by a circular loop of organisations, all of whom seem to specialise in not being responsible and passing me on to another department. The tactics from the 3 companies involved in the PCN process are bullying and aggressive, using legalise to create fear and try to force the layperson into paying. All of the 4 organisations involved claim they are not responsible for this and therefore my only options are to pay or go to court. This appears to be designed to make it as complicated as possible to resolve the situation. My intention at this stage is to go to court. This is beyond a reasonable response to a £6.80 parking infringement and the 3 organisations involved are not interested in resolving this.

End of notes

I then had a think and decided to package everything up including receipt for parking and send to my MP - not to ask for help but to contribute to the ongoing debate in parliament - my MP offered to help anyway and is writing to ZZPS/Paymypcn/SABA. I'll post any response/reaction I get from this.

I have issued a SAR on all the firms and ZZPS have sent their details, SABA have deferred to ZZPS, and Paymypcn and ZZPS are the same firm anyway. I asked the SAR to cover me and both cars that I have listed on the parking app. They have confirmed that the car I paid for was not in the car park that eve and that my other car cited in the PCN was.

I fully appreciate that the mistake may have been mine but having paid for parking in good faith I'm not going to roll over on this.

As of today I've just received the second debt collection letter. I'll keep this thread going but anticipate not much happening until I've received all of the other letters in their automated system.

Any thoughts or suggestions much appreciated.

waamo

Stop ringing people. It does no good at all. I'm assuming this is a penalty notice from Saba.

If so it times out after 6 months from the date of the offence.

You have 2 choices. Ignore them or play mail ping pong with them until it times out. By "them" I mean Saba and nobody else.

KeithP

If you have based your forum username on you real name you are best advised to get it changed to something much more anonymous.

To help with that, you might like to read this short extract from The MSE Forum Guide - Frequently Asked Questions & Rules:

Q. How can I change my username?

A. In most circumstances, this is not permitted.

The only reason we will change your username is if it puts your privacy at risk. This usually means you've inadvertently registered using your name, email address or something that gives away your identity within your username.

If you fall into this category, email forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com and request that it is changed, giving three alternative usernames in order of preference.

Sand26

thank you - duly noted - I shall return anonymously

Sand26

waamo wrote: »

Stop ringing people. It does no good at all. I'm assuming this is a penalty notice from Saba.

If so it times out after 6 months from the date of the offence.

You have 2 choices. Ignore them or play mail ping pong with them until it times out. By "them" I mean Saba and nobody else.

I only have the debt collectors letter (ZZPS) that lists SABA as the client. I genuinely never received the original PCN. SABA said the PCN is issued by paymypcn/zzps.

If it follows previous patterns they will either drop it or eventually progress it to small claims.

Coupon-mad

They can't file a small claim. You need to read more SABA railway PCN threads.