Should I appeal to POPLA??

monasaleh

Hi,
I will be very grateful if someone here can advise please.
On 4th October I parked in Riverwalk shopping Centre car park in Durham and paid £2 for 2 hours, a week after I received a charge notice as I paid only for 2 hours but I actually stayed 2 hours and 14 minutes.

On that day, we spent a long time looking for a machine to pay as the machine in our level was out of service. By the time we found a working machine, we spent even more time trying to understand the paying instructions as it was very complicated and unclear. When I put my credit card on the machine, it gave me only one option which is to pay £2…A week later I found out that there was a button for extra paying options (if you want to pay more than £2) but it’s VERY small writing and VERY unclear.

I appealed online on their website explaining the above, today I received an appeal rejection email.

Now, I have read online that according to BPA code of practice point 13. I can appeal under grace period ground. Is that right?

Do you think I should appeal to POPLA? Do I have any grounds to appeal under? Is there a template letter that I can use please?
Any advice is much appreciated.
Thanks

The_Deep

Of course you should appeal, n[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]ine times out of ten these tickets are scams, so consider also complaining to your MP, it can cause the scammer extra costs and work.

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]

waamo

At the top of this board is a thread that tells Newbies to read it first. Read it carefully as it guides you through the appeal process.

Which ppc is this? Have you named the driver to them?

Fruitcake

monasaleh wrote: »

Now, I have read online that according to BPA code of practice point 13. I can appeal under grace period ground. Is that right?

No, you can appeal under grace periods, plural.

monasaleh wrote: »

Do you think I should appeal to POPLA?

Yes.

monasaleh wrote: »

Do I have any grounds to appeal under?

Yes

monasaleh wrote: »

Is there a template letter that I can use please?

Yes, several in post 3 of the NEWBIES.

monasaleh wrote: »

Any advice is much appreciated.
Thanks

Use all the appeal points available, although I suspect you have revealed the driver's identity so you can't use non-PoFA complaint NTK.

Split the time up to include a period at the beginning for entry, time to find a space, and time to find a working pay machine; then comes the parking period itself; then state a second period after the parking period ended to include leaving the parking space, driving to the exit whilst dodging other cars and pedestrians, then waiting until it was safe to leave the site.

Be sure to point the assesor to both grace periods. Quote both paragraphs from the BPA CoP.

Also include "frustration of contract" because the faulty machine caused a delay. There is an implied term in any in a P & D car park parking contract that when a customer enters a car park, they expect a place to park and to be able to pay for that privilege.

Coupon-mad

All of this is covered in the sticky thread post #3 about POPLA.

POPLA will want evidence.

Go and film this evidence on your phone, the fact that the first machine is still broken now (if it is) an then the small hidden option on the 2nd machine:

On that day, we spent a long time looking for a machine to pay as the machine in our level was out of service. By the time we found a working machine, we spent even more time trying to understand the paying instructions as it was very complicated and unclear. When I put my credit card on the machine, it gave me only one option which is to pay £2…A week later I found out that there was a button for extra paying options (if you want to pay more than £2) but it’s VERY small writing and VERY unclear.

Secondly DO NOT PUT '14 MINUTES' anywhere in your POPLA appeal!

Search the forum for POPLA split grace periods and copy what's been said before about walking POPLA Assessors through the case, by splitting the minutes into a first section explaining what happened 'on arrival before paying' (check the machine ticket time if you have it, against the ANPR arrival time - is it about 5 mins?).

Then separately talk about the grace period at the end and make sure that is described as NO MORE than 10 mins, preferably less.

This has been done lots of times before, and you need to search and find one and copy.

And of course complain to Dunelm.

1505grandad

Can you confirm the name of the Parking operator as requested.

monasaleh

The_Deep wrote: »

Of course you should appeal, n[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]ine times out of ten these tickets are scams, so consider also complaining to your MP, it can cause the scammer extra costs and work.

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.

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

Thank you very much, That's very helpful. I will contact my MP too.

monasaleh

waamo wrote: »

At the top of this board is a thread that tells Newbies to read it first. Read it carefully as it guides you through the appeal process.

Which ppc is this? Have you named the driver to them?

Thank you. I will read it carefully as advised.

It’s ParkingEye.

Their appeal form is online and to fill it you have to choose one of few options (driver, keeper, driver & keeper, hirer, none of the above) and you have to enter a name. Unfortunately I didn’t read these threads before I submit their form. I choose driver and keeper and put my husband details as the letter was addressed to him as he is the keeper!

monasaleh

Fruitcake wrote: »

Use all the appeal points available, although I suspect you have revealed the driver's identity so you can't use non-PoFA complaint NTK.

I was the driver but I put my husband's name as he's the keeper. Also I assumed I should put the name of the person on the letter!

Fruitcake wrote: »

Split the time up to include a period at the beginning for entry, time to find a space, and time to find a working pay machine; then comes the parking period itself; then state a second period after the parking period ended to include leaving the parking space, driving to the exit whilst dodging other cars and pedestrians, then waiting until it was safe to leave the site.

Be sure to point the assesor to both grace periods. Quote both paragraphs from the BPA CoP.

Also include "frustration of contract" because the faulty machine caused a delay. There is an implied term in any in a P & D car park parking contract that when a customer enters a car park, they expect a place to park and to be able to pay for that privilege.

That's REALLY helpful...THANK YOU VERY MUCH

monasaleh

Coupon-mad wrote: »

Go and film this evidence on your phone, the fact that the first machine is still broken now (if it is) an then the small hidden option on the 2nd machine:

That's an excellent idea! I'll go tomorrow and take some pictures...

Coupon-mad wrote: »

Secondly DO NOT PUT '14 MINUTES' anywhere in your POPLA appeal!

Search the forum for POPLA split grace periods and copy what's been said before about walking POPLA Assessors through the case, by splitting the minutes into a first section explaining what happened 'on arrival before paying' (check the machine ticket time if you have it, against the ANPR arrival time - is it about 5 mins?).

Then separately talk about the grace period at the end and make sure that is described as NO MORE than 10 mins, preferably less.

This has been done lots of times before, and you need to search and find one and copy.

Thank you so much for pointing that out...I will do that

Coupon-mad wrote: »

And of course complain to Dunelm.

Dunelm??

monasaleh

1505grandad wrote: »

Can you confirm the name of the Parking operator as requested.

It's parkingeye