Hermiston Gait Retail Park scam, Edinburgh

EdinburghSernik

Hi, I’m in a very similar situation and will attempt to speak to Tesco, likely to no avail as the above members found out.

I received a PCN from UKPC for my car being in the car park after opening hours, 22:24 to 23:25. On entry there is no mention of opening hours, and the cash machine was still operational which was the goal of the trip. With many cars still parked, and there being no gates forbidding access, it’s not obvious at all that the retail park has hours during which you should not park. The 4 hour limit is very obvious, but the closing hours is not at all - these photos were taken yesterday, the day after I received the letter (dated 16th, so I have a while till the 14 days pass, but from reading the newbie post this is not very important).

My question regarding this, is whether I should take the whole template that is mentioned in the newbie post and send that somewhere and really where best to go from here? I assume that the Scottish law regarding registered keepers has since passed - the letter was sent to me and says they did a check of the car registration based on the pictures taken automatically by their system.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6254277/parking-charge-by-ukpc-for-out-of-hours-parking-chances-of-success-on-appeal

This is a similar post but not from Scotland and the clashing signs seem a much easier point to fight over - not sure what the best supporting point is my case to appeal this. 

I am ok with council parking fines for not following the rules of parking on the streets, but this kind of fine just feels like a trap and a scam.

This is the front page of the notice I received with my details redacted.

Le_Kirk

Read again the advice in the NEWBIE sticky about Scotland!

Umkomaas

See what Tesco say, but they're not noted for being over helpful.  If you wish, send the blue text initial appeal from the NEWBIES FAQ Announcement, first post, nothing added or removed, but it will still only elicit a rejection - but at least you've gone through the motions. Don't bother appealing to POPLA - they only allow appeals from the driver (not the keeper), so not what you want to be doing. 

The Scottish Transport Act in the context of keeper liability is not yet in place, until such time as the Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019 National Code of Practice is fully operational, maybe later next year. It will not be retrospective. 

Just ignore anything else that UKPC throw at you. 

DE_612183

The site appears to be registered...

Coupon-mad

In Scotland you can just ignore this, so don't spend too long trying to perfect an appeal that will be rejected anyway.

EdinburghSernik

Hi all again, they're still going after this one using different companies - each time I've searched on here, I have seen the best response is to continue ignoring them after having requested all information about this case from UKPC.

Is there anything I should do now in order to try stop this constant mail dragging on and on every month?

The last letter previous to this was on the 20th of April "FINAL REMINDER - Unpaid Parking Charge £170.00" and this has now gone on to become "FINAL NOTICE OF DEBT RECOVERY" so I'm wondering if this is actually escalating, or is there anything to be done to put a stop to it other than obviously giving in and paying the 170 scam.

Umkomaas

Is there anything I should do now in order to try stop this constant mail dragging on and on every month?

Very easy - pay their demands!  That's the only thing that's going to stop you receiving silly bits of paper with totally empty threats written on them. 

But you surely don't want to help perpetuate the scam by paying your hard-earned over to a private enterprise that has no lawful right in Scotland to the registered keeper's money to make your life a bit easier?  

You are so lucky in Scotland with no keeper liability .... make the most of it while you can for the time being. Watch out in 2004 when things will change, but not retrospectively. 

B789

Which bit of "ignore debt collector letters" is so hard to understand?

Le_Kirk

@EdinburghSernik, this is not your thread, I think you have been advised to 1) read the NEWBIE where it gives good info about Scotland and 2) start your own thread.