ECP PCN for overstay at retail park despite supposed authorisation to do so

greenstuff

Hi I'm new to the forum, I have read many different threads on here trying to work out the best course of action in my current predicament including the most relevant newbie FAQ sections but the more I read the more confused I get so I hoped by registering and starting my own thread someone could point me in the right direction!

I'm a shop fitter and a lot of my work occurs on retail parks, mainly for one particular outlet. These jobs generally involve me parking in the car park rather than 'around the back' and can often exceed the maximum parking period. The store I do the work for usually have a system in place whereby I give them the vehicle registration and they can approve a permit online which removes any time limit for parking.

I visit retail parks allover the country on a regular basis and always discuss the parking arrangement with them, giving them the reg, this has never been a problem but I have received a NTK/PCN from Euro Car Parks for a visit in which the vehicle overstayed the 3 hour time limit (the PCN doesn't actually state a time limit but the signs in the car park itself say 3 hours) by 21 minutes and apparently I must now pay £90 or £50 if paid within 14 days. I know that I gave the store the vehicle details and can only assume they failed to complete a parking permit.

The vehicle was a hire vehicle and I have also had a letter from the hire company saying I am liable for administration fees as a result.

I have tried very hard to get hold of this particular store since receiving the PCN to see if they can resolve the issue but they literally never answer the phone, I spoke to their head office who claimed to have emailed the store manager too but I have had no response. The store is a long way from where I live and therefor not feasible for me to visit in order to resolve this, so I feel my only option going forward is to contest the PCN with ECP directly.

I now have 1 day left of the reduced payment period with a final due date of 18/11/2019 and don't know how I should proceed, I have so far made no attempt to contact ECP or appeal the charge, any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks

MistyZ

Is the store or chain the landowner? If so, they do have the authority to cancel the PCN and that is by far the simplest route. Email head office - ideally the CEO - straight away. Explain the situation and be assertive if polite. It would be very unjust for you to have to pay a significant amount of money for simply carrying out work on their premises. Make that really clear and emphasise that their email to the store manager hasn't had the desired effect in time. Insist that it is cancelled with all due haste.

At the same time, appeal to ECP using the template from the Newbies' thread for hire cars .... there are links to 3 written by Edna Basher, the second is the one most commonly used.

Also let the hire company know that you are now handling this. It is unlikely that their T&Cs cover invoices, which is what a PCN is and therefore the admin charge does not apply. They may try to take it anyway but perhaps you can put a stop to that ... see what others suggest.

Coupon-mad

I agree, email the CEO and include an invoice for your losses (hire car fee charged plus the potential PCN) and say if they do not get the PCN cancelled AND reimburse you for the sum the hire firm have charged you for this incident - wholly the fault of the store system failing - you will proceed to court for your full costs as attached.

Also attach proof of that hire fee. Make them see it & realise what they have cost you.

But finish politely and give them seven days to come back to you, and say you hope they will resolve it and the store will also hear how frustrating it has been that they do not answer the phone either. Leave a phone number too, in the email.

MistyZ

OP, you may be reluctant to contact Head Office again ... but seriously, you have to. Gird your loins (whatever that means) and just do it.

The_Deep

The vehicle was a hire vehicle and I have also had a letter from the hire company saying I am liable for administration fees as a result.

Not necessarily. These are not fines or penalties, they are invoices from former clampers for the damage they alleged you caused them when you overstayed You owe nothing unless a judge says you do.

What does your hire contract say about administrative charges for what are, nine times out of ten, scams?

[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Parliament is well aware of the MO of these private parking companies, many of whom are former clampers, and on 15th March 2019 a Bill was enacted to curb the excesses of these shysters. Codes of Practice are being drawn up, an independent appeals service will be set up, and access to the DVLA's date base more rigorously policed, persistent offenders denied access to the DVLA database and unable to operate.

Hopefully life will become impossible for the worst of these scammers, but until this is done you should still complain to your MP, citing the new legislation.

[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2019/8/contents/enacted[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]

Just as the clampers were finally closed down, so hopefully will many of these Private Parking Companies.[/FONT]

greenstuff

Thank you very much for your responses and advice, I have submitted an appeal with ECP using Edna Bashers 2nd template for hire cars as advised by MistyZ.

I am not sure who the landowner is but I would suspect it does not belong to the store in question, I have tried to investigate via google but haven't managed to come up with anything definitive.

I have made the hire company aware, fortunately I know one of their employees so I don't anticipate any issues with them at this stage.

I've also emailed the CEO on an address found online and also copied in their general customer service address for complaints in case the address for the CEO is incorrect. I haven't attempted to provide an invoice at this stage as I hope my circumstance is obvious enough to not require that but I have mentioned the possibility of me pursuing reimbursement from themselves if they cannot resolve the issue for me. My email to them is as follows:


" Dear ******,

I am contacting you regarding a Parking Charge Notice (Ref: **************) I have received from Euro Car Parks following the completion of some work in your ****** store on 19/09/19.

I work for a company called ******* and we regularly work in your stores doing in store updates for certain brands, in this case ******. The PCN relates to an overstay in the Euro Car Parks managed car park at your *********** store, I was completing a job which took in total approximately 3 hours 21 minutes and I understand the car park has a time limit of 3 hours. I regularly encounter this issue and I’m always advised (by store staff) that if I provide the registration number of my vehicle they will submit a form online which grants me a permit to overstay the time limit of the car park without penalty, this case was no different and I was told there would be no issue and that if any issue arose I could contact the store who would resolve this for me.

The PCN was issued to me on 21/10/19, having already been issued to the vehicle rental company who own the vehicle on 09/10/19. Since becoming aware of this issue I have been trying to contact the store in question, repeatedly phoning them but the phone is never picked up (number ***************). I have also spoken with a member of your customer service team (‘****’ on ext. ******* at 11:20 am on 16/10/19) who said he would email the store manager for me and ask them to call me to discuss this but I have heard nothing. This particular store is a long way from where I live, hence not making another visit to challenge this in person.

I’m now in a situation in which I seem to have no choice but to contact yourself with a hope of resolving this. I dispute the validity of this PCN as I was only there to complete work for yourselves and was given the reassurance that there would be no issues overstaying the parking time limit. I am now facing a £90 charge for parking whilst completing the job and because I used a hire vehicle on the day in question I am also subject to a £42 administration fee from the vehicle rental company as a result, so I am facing charges totaling £132 for a 21 minute overstay whilst simply trying to do a job for you. Hopefully you can understand my position and the lack of justification for such charges.

I have attached images of the PCN and the administration fee letter from the vehicle hire firm for you to view. I would like to ask that you arrange for the cancellation of this parking charge and I hope to hear from you soon.

In the event that this issue does not get resolved I may have to pursue reimbursement from yourselves.

Yours faithfully

*********

Tel: *********** "



Fingers crossed! Once again thank you all, I shall update the thread in due course!