ParkingEye, beat them because I was right and they were wrong

grefen

Hi all
(usual first time poster long time visitor preamble)
I received a lovely letter from ParkingEye earlier this week informing me that I needed to pay them some money for visiting a car park and not getting a ticket.
I was at the car park, I didn't purchase a ticket. Man these guys are good.
It so happened that the car park was in a hospital and if you register your car and you have a blue badge you get free parking. I had:
previously registered the car [x]
A nice shiny valid blue badge [x]
so I was good to go.
I contacted them, told them to politely insert their head into their exit port and thought a lot more of it.
I was upset that I was being told to pay, and it is only because of my clear head that I didn't follow their instructions to pay their super special offer discount rate immediately.
The more I thought about it the more upset I got.
My parking on the car park was legitimate, I didn't need their permission to park.
They had no right contacting the DVLA to get my personal information for something that was between myself and the hospital.
Going to hospital with a child is stressful and upsetting enough without these gangsters trying to extort me for money.

Anyway, I contacted both them and the hospital and today got an email from them saying the following:

We can confirm that this Parking Charge has now been cancelled and there is no
outstanding payment due.

Do you see how this text differs from the text they normally send where they tell you:

We can confirm that this Parking Charge has now been cancelled and there is no outstanding payment due.
To avoid potential future inconvenience, we would kindly request you follow the parking terms and conditions displayed on the signage throughout the car park.

I've put in a formal complaint now I have been exonerated, being very clear about the harassment, alarm and distress their letters and accessing my DVLA record without just cause their actions have had on me.

Time to sit back and wait for the response.

Fruitcake

Good for you!

You could also complain to the DVLA that since your vehicle was on a parking "whitelist" the scammers had no right to access your date since they knew or should have known not to issue a PCN.
The hospital are jointly liable for the actions of their agents.

Please also complain to your MP about this unregulated scam.

beamerguy

Well done :j We need more like you

I do like your upmarket comment ...

I contacted them, told them to politely insert their head into their exit port

Maybe email Boris ...... such an upmarket comment for the bearded wonder

grefen

I have just contacted my MP via email. Let's see what happens next.

beamerguy

grefen wrote: »

I have just contacted my MP via email. Let's see what happens next.

Let's hope you have a good one. From the animal farm we see in the house at the moment, you could try tempting him/her with a few carrots

BrownTrout

Yes parliament is an absolute and utter joke. A government that cant function. An opposition that refuses to go to the country. Mps using dead people to make point scoring. Just get in with it. We need a decisive election result.
No way would this trout vote for an anti semitic ,hate filled party........

Coupon-mad

Good on you, I love your fightback!

You may need to check though, if the Hospital expect people to 'register' their Blue Badge on every visit, every time? We had that once on here. Absolute farce if so, and discriminatory as it is making disabled service users take extra steps that other drivers do not have to.

For example, NHS staff permit holders don't have to 'register' their staff permit exemption every time they drive in, so why should a Blue Badge holder who has to attend more than once? It's not as if Blue Badges are a short term thing!

grefen

It's valid for the life of the badge. The only thing you need to do is re-register if you change cars or the badge renews.
Same car, same badge - good to go.
Aunt Maud drives you, same badge - re-register.
Aunt Maud drives you, her badge, register.

grefen

I just had a reply from my local MP.
in a nutshell:

I have therefore raised your case with the DVLA to ask whether your data was accessed appropriately in these circumstances, and what assessment they make of Parking Eye's conduct. I will get back in touch when I have received a response.

beamerguy

Quote:
I have therefore raised your case with the DVLA to ask whether your data was accessed appropriately in these circumstances, and what assessment they make of Parking Eye's conduct. I will get back in touch when I have received a response.

Be interesting to see what the DVLA say

MEET THE KISSING COUSINS ...
The DVLA will chat to the BPA who will chat to ParkingEye and over a glass of bubbly, it will be pushed under the carpet.
Right now that carpet is so full of lumps at the infamous BPA

Worth telling your MP about this incest

Umkomaas

I just had a reply from my local MP.
in a nutshell:
Quote:

I have therefore raised your case with the DVLA to ask whether your data was accessed appropriately in these circumstances, and what assessment they make of Parking Eye's conduct. I will get back in touch when I have received a response.

He will get a fob-off letter which will commence ......

The DVLA takes its responsibility to protect information extremely seriously and has robust safeguards in place to ensure data is used correctly

..... followed by more mealy-mouthed, fob-off lines.

ParkingEye is the DVLA's highest funding private parking customer, spending around £4.25 million (1.7 million tickets x £2.50) per year. The DVLA is unlikely to bite the hand that feeds, I doubt they'd even risk tapping PE's wrist.

Don't expect much! :cool: