Unfair PCN charge physically couldnt get out the car park!

sparkswillfly_2

I  have exhausted the Popla appeals channel for a £100 charge. Long story short I visited costa on my lunch break at Kingsway retail park in Derby I was there 30 mins and when I tried to leave the car park was so congested after 30 mins I moved no where. I am a community midwife and had a child protection conference to attend, I called the company and said what do I do I cant get out I am going to get a fine. They told me don't worry they have had lots of calls about this as I have a duty of care my appeal will my accepted if I am fined. I then arranged someone to pick me up and I left my car there. When I returned it still took me 1.5 hours to get out of the car park. The company have said I am lying there wasnt congestion and they sent  in a list of cars that left during the time frame I tried to leave. That proves nothing! I was in the furthest away point from the exit and no one was letting anyone out! They said I should have left enough time to exit, sorry did I have a crystal ball? I didn't know it was congested until I was in it! The problems of the retail park congestion are well known as discussed in the link below.
I am genuinely shocked  my appeal was rejected by Popla, anyone with common sense can see I didnt voluntarily leave  my car in the retail park. I provided a letter from my manager at the NHS trust to state I had a meeting where it was and what time. It is not walking distance to the retail park and it has free parking so I had no reason to leave my car there. 
I am  not sure what my next move should be? Do I let them take me to court? What would this entail? The idea of going to court feels me with anxiety but there is no way I am taking this lying down. There was no physical way out of the car park so this is extortion. I have read on  here regarding contacting the retailer but I dont know where to start with that so any advice would be appreciated. 

https://www.derby.gov.uk/transport-and-streets/roads-highways-pavements/kingsway-retail-park-junction/

nosferatu1001

Sheesh
PARAGRAPHS! Use them! We're on a text only forum, you want help, so make it easy for us to do so
Your next mvoe is
1) Pay
or
2) Ignore anythign short of a letter before claim. Then you respond, as per the newbies thread, and defend a court claim. Same as hundreds do on here. 
Contacting the retailer? Jsut do so. State you are shocked to have been issued a parking notice because their car park was so congested noone can leave. BUt you should have done this before POPLA, as I bet they will now claim they cannot cancel it.
Stop worrying. THis wouldbe a *very* dodgy claim for them to make, as you would have witnesses (ie the person who picked you up) that would verify this. 
WE would love to see where they stated you "lied". 

sparkswillfly_2

There are three separate paragraphs in my post. It never fails to amaze me when someone asks for help on an internet forum and they get such a passive aggressive response. 

D_P_Dance

I am genuinely shocked  my appeal was rejected by Popla,

POpla is  far from impartial, they refuse to consider mitigation, but, imo these are not mitigating circumstances  but amout to a frustration of contract. 

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


The idea of going to court feels me with anxiety

It is no big deal, view it on YOU TUBE  In fact, If this went to court a judge would  have every reason to come down very hard on them imo.

They said I should have left enough time to exit, sorry did I have a crystal ball? 

Absolute nonsense, how long is enough?   By all means let them take you to court but be sure , when you win, you ask for "unreaqsonable behaviour" costs, even consider a counter claim foer harassment ot data misuse.

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.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2019/8/contents/enacted

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

nosferatu1001

Look at how it shows on here - there are absolutely zero paragraphs showing.  Compare YOUR wall of text with my post, which has actual line breaks...

sparkswillfly_2

D_P_Dance said:

I am genuinely shocked  my appeal was rejected by Popla,

POpla is  far from impartial, they refuse to consider mitigation, but, imo these are not mitigating circumstances  but amout to a frustration of contract. 

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

If this went to court a judge would  have every reason to come down very hard on them imo.

They said I should have left enough time to exit, sorry did I have a crystal ball? 

Absolute nonsense, how long is enough?   By all means let them take you to court but be sure , when you win, you ask for "unreaqsonable behaviour" costs, even consider a counter claim foer harassment ot data misuse.

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.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2019/8/contents/enacted

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

Thanks very much for the advice I hadn't thought of writing to my MP. I highly doubt I am the only one in this position as this car park is continuously congested and once you are in it you are stuck as there is only one exit for both the retail park and the supermarket. Its not even about the money at this point its about the unfair nature of the whole thing.

Fruitcake

It is not a fine.

What is the name of the PPC please?

Ask the council who pays the non-domestic business rates. That will give you an idea as to who owns the land. For a definitive answer you could pay a few quid to get a copy of the Land Registry entry.

You could also ask any of the store managers/CEOs served by the car park if they know who owns the land. Sometimes a store manager is able to get a PCN cancelled, but not all landowners have that in their contract.


Contact the local press as well. If they run an article you may find other motorists who goy caught as well and can form a help group, or at least get witness statements concerning the congestion. The more you have the more likely a judge will take your side if it gets to court.

What company did you call? Who was it that said they have had lots of calls and an appeal would be accepted as a result? If it was the PPC then say so in all correspondence because someone told a porky pie by the sound of it.

Do complain to your MP about this unregulated scam.

D_P_Dance

If you really want to fight this write bad stuff on the centre's Facebbok page and also complain to Trading Standards.