Smartparking overstay (Match day)

Umkomaas

However, there is no legal or regulatory requirement for operators to notify drivers when it is a match day. Drivers are expected to educate themselves as to when is and isn’t a match day prior to entering the car park.

Just how 'high and mighty' is that?

Name and shame the [STRIKE]former nail technician[/STRIKE] assessor.

A large majority of motorists will have little or no interest or understanding of what/when a match is occurring. It could easily be a visitor from some other part of the country with absolutely no idea of what's happening locally.

Appalling decision.

waamo

Umkomaas wrote: »

Just how 'high and mighty' is that?

Name and shame the [STRIKE]former nail technician[/STRIKE] assessor.

A large majority of motorists will have little or no interest or understanding of what/when a match is occurring. It could easily be a visitor from some other part of the country with absolutely no idea of what's happening locally.

Appalling decision.

My thoughts exactly. The Consumer Rights Act says a contract should be interpreted in the consumers favour. You could pick any match by any team. The term "matchday" is really pretty meaningless.

ciaranM

Thank you all for your replies, I left out the name of the assessor as i am not sure if you are allowed to post names etc. but that statement "Drivers are expected to educate themselves as to when is and isn’t a match day prior to entering the car park" really did rile me up, would like the option to respond to the assessor, if only.
I have emailed the land owner, and will definitely now email the local MP thanks for the advice.

Umkomaas

I left out the name of the assessor as i am not sure if you are allowed to post names etc.

Let'sbeavinit!

The_Deep

Everyday is a "match day" somewhere. I would introduce contra preferentem.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contra_proferentem

ciaranM

Assessor was: Ami Edwards

Just sent this email to the local MP hopefully will get some kind of response:
Dear Gill Furniss,
I am writing to you in hopes you can dismiss the following : PCN - TC55807539 (Match Day) POPLA code - 8513329779.

The above PCN was incorrectly issued to myself on the 26th October 2019.
I would like it if you as the local MP could dismiss this PCN as I am a paying customer to the Kilner Way retail park, and I have been a member of the xercise4less gym situated on the retail park since it opened. The gym general manager has already proved to smartparking that I was in the gym at the time the PCN was issued for, the max stay period for match day parking of 90 mins is to prevent non customers of Kilner Way retail park from using the car park to watch the football match, as I was using the gym and the fact that I am a paying customer of Kilner Way retail park I believe the PCN has been incorrectly issued to me. I would also like a new system in place at the Kilner Way car park which allows gym members to be exempt from this match day overstay rule to prevent further similar situation, as gym members often use the gym and its facilities for upwards of 90 minutes.
I will be forced to cancel my gym membership if this PCN is upheld, and will be forced to not use Kilner Way retail park in the future due to the way "Smartparking" have poorly handled this situation, causing me a great deal of stress with their threatening letters and refusing to acknowledge the fact i am a paying customer.

Lastly, there is also no system in place that lets any customer to the retail park know that is a match day, or even what a match day is? is it a cricket match? etc. if a customer was not local to the area they would not know what is meant by the simple term "match day" which is all that is written on the car parks signs. Smartparking wrote to POPLA saying they have a flip sign which is only flipped down on match days to tell customers that it is a match day but i use the gym and the car park every day and the sign is always flipped down never up, this can confuse customers as you notice no change to the sign so can only assume that the sign is not in use, as not every single day is a match day.


Yours sincerely,

waamo

An MP can't intervene in the ticket so I would take out the bit asking them to get it cancelled.

Parliament has passed a bill to regulate parking companies and set up a truly independent appeals system. They are still dithering about drawing up a mandatory code of practice.

I would ask your MP to get behind this and attempt to speed things up or at least remind them it should be being worked upon.

Coupon-mad

MPs can't 'dismiss' a private firm's PCN.

They can only lend weight to your complaint and lean on the firm.

Have you sent that yet? I'd find your words really confusing if I were her.

Should have been worded ''Can you help me in lending weight to a complaint to the Gym, and fighting a very unfair private parking charge from the firm that Pete Wishart MP said in Parliament: {''his quote...blah blah''}.

ciaranM

I see, thank you for the replies, i have now changed the wording of the email as it luckily had not sent, so will hopefully now avoid any confusion.

cheers

Fruitcake

ciaranM wrote: »

I see, thank you for the replies, i have now changed the wording of the email as it luckily had not sent, so will hopefully now avoid any confusion.

cheers

If you still haven't sent the letter to your MP, I would refer to the comments MPs from all parties made about unregulated parking companies using the comments in red from post 1 of the NEWBIES.

Explain that you are a victim of this scam and hope she/he will support the implementation of the new (now a year old) parking bill and help to implement a new, fair, mandatory parking code of practice.
If she/he needs any further information about this scam, you suggest he contacts Sir Gregg Knight.
(I hope he was re-elected!)