ParkingEye hotel parking ticket advice needed

ifup

Hello,


I was typing this up and hit preview only to lose it all since I was inactive for a while and the site logged me out. So this post will likely be missing some details (I’ll update the thread).


Towards the end half of December my dad had booked some hotel room for some relatives who will be staying over. On the day that we booked our rooms, my dad drove to said hotel, parked in hotel’s parking bays, and then went inside to check in. It should be reiterated that on the day this happened, we had already paid for said rooms online. The hotel had this system where if you were a customer, you needed to register your car on their system. I think my dad forgot to register at the time, which starting all of this.


A couple days later, we receive a letter addressed to my sister. Long story short, my dad had driven my sister’s car to the hotel. The car belongs to my sister, he’s a named driver. Letter was titled “Parking Charge Notice”, which according to the guide is the Notice To Keeper letter. It also had two black and white pictures of the front and rear registration plate. The letter states that we owed £100 for parking. The car was parked, according to the letter, for 25 minutes.


My dad goes back to the hotel, with the letter, to try and get them to fix it. The first time round, whoever he spoke to said they couldn’t anything about it. Dad goes back the next day, different person but they said that we should try to go through the appeal process and then circled a link at the back of the paper. They also printed out an invoice of out hotel room reservation and said to use it as evidence.


Dad asks me to start the appeal process and told me what to write. It should be noted that at this point, none of us had thought to search this stuff up online first. So I started the application and he told me what to write; mentioned that he was the driver at the time (rookie mistake I know, but said he didn’t want to get my sister involved) and that he was a customer on the stated day. Also mentioned that the receptionist at the time had failed to mention to him the fact that he needed to register the car with the system. Attached the invoice and sent the application. He didn’t get a response until yesterday and he told me about the rejection today. They sent him an email with the letter attached as a PDF. To paraphrase, they said that there were signs at the entrance and that the charge was being issued because either the vehicle wasn’t entered/ registered incorrectly on the date. They also offered a discount payment as a gesture of good will but they expect a payment within 14 days and that we’d receive a POPLA code. I’m guessing this is the “bribe” the guide mentions. I will admit that the amount stated is significantly lower than the initial charge.


At this stage now, having read the newbie guide, we’ve definitely messed up by allowing them know who the driver is. At this point I’d like to ask if we’ve screwed up big time? I’m having to reread the POPLA section, but my dad will be going back to the hotel tomorrow and try one last time to see if they can do anything about it.


Apologies if the post lacks any details; I’m having to type all this stuff up as I’m hearing about it. It’s getting late now so I probably won’t be on for much longer, but will try to post back. Appreciate any advice given.


Thanks!


Edit: Title should've read "ParkingEye hotel parking ticket advice needed", apologies
edit2: Clarifying my question towards the end


edit3: Did a search for review about the hotel in question. There's been a few people who had the displeasure of getting parking tickets with this hotel. I can see an email address, but also spotted a post mentioning how the hotel has been unhelpful with resolving the parking ticket. It's not looking good...

KeithP

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Coupon-mad

They also offered a discount payment as a gesture of good will but they expect a payment within 14 days and that we’d receive a POPLA code. I’m guessing this is the “bribe” the guide mentions. I will admit that the amount stated is significantly lower than the initial charge.

If it's £20 then think about paying it an moving on with life but boycotting that hotel, and writing to the CEO of the Hotel chain (if it's national) and if they do not refund that £20, then add to the bad reviews on Twitter, Facebook and TripAdvisor.

If it's just the usual £60 instead of £100, crack on with POPLA stage and if Dad parked in the dark, get some photos IN THE DARK, for POPLA appeal illustration.

MistyZ

Hmmm, I wonder how many twenty quids they get this way (if that is the discount payment)? Every little helps & all that.

ifup wrote: »

my dad will be going back to the hotel tomorrow and try one last time to see if they can do anything about it.

Why 'one last time'? What a great customer your dad is - he makes bookings for other people, he helps them check in .... Of course that's what we do for friends and relatives, but it's also very good news for the hotel when people facilitate other peoples' stays. And not just one room, right? The hotel should be grovelling to him!

He should point out all of the above and more as many times as he can bear to. Has he complained by email to the hotel's CEO as well as the manager? No need to be aggressive, just very persistent & very persuasive.

The_Deep

If it's £20 then think about paying it an moving on with life

I cannot believe you wrote that CM. £20 will buy a half dozen bottle of Blue Nun in Pidou.

Pay them not one penny, let them take Dad to court if they must, their signs are atrocious and a judge is likely to throw the case out, read this,

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5972164/parking-eye-signs-oxford-road-reading

If the hotel will not cancel it write excoriating reviews on Trivago, TripAdvisor, booking.com and hotels.com, bad revies deter potential guests.

[FONT=Times New Roman, serif][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Nine times out of ten these tickets are scams, so consider complaining to your MP, it can cause the scammer extra costs and work, and has been known to get the charge cancelled.

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][/FONT]

Half_way

I'm with the deep on this, I would begrudge paying £20.
Did the hotel warn the guest about the parking situation and ask for the reg number to check out was in the system?