Free parking at gym results in penalty charge notice

Miki

I am a member of the Virgin Active Gym at Twickenham Rugby Ground. Because of this I quote "Gym members to this location are entitled to up to 4 hours free parking when Their vehicle registration is added to the whitelist to be exempt from parking charges". To add my car to the whitelist there is an iPad in the gym reception where members add their car registration numbers. This system has been in place since the 18th November 2019.

On the 16th January 2020 I received a penalty charge notice from Total Parking Solutions showing me entering the carpark at 10:51 and leaving at 13:15 a total of 2 hours 24 minutes so well within the 4 hours. The claim was I had not paid!

I appealed with evidence that I had attended the gym (copy of attendance log) and insisted that I had signed my car registration in on the iPad. I had done this successfully for the previous 7 weeks and can only assume that the transaction failed on this occasion.

Total Parking Solutions rejected my appeal and offered to cut the fine by 50% if I settled. 

Unwilling to admit that I was at fault and that this was a technical issue which I still believe it was, I opted to progress to the POPLA appeal stage.

I have now received a response from POPLA with the Operator case summary below and asking for my response in 7 days

"The Terms and Conditions of parking at this location are clearly displayed at the entrance and throughout the car park. It is the vehicle driver responsibility to ensure that when parking on private property they do so in accordance with the Terms and Conditions in force at the particular location. The vehicle in question was observed by our Automatic Number Plate Recognition system for no payment which was in contravention of the car parks Terms and Conditions of use."

I have asked the gym if they have CCTV footage going back this far to prove that I entered the details on the iPad and hope for a response tomorrow.

As I put in my appeal, there was no financial gain to be made by not entering my details and having supplied them with confirmation of gym membership and attendance I cannot understand why they are continuing with this claim?

Fruitcake

It is neither a fine nor a penalty charge. You have to rebut everything the scammers say. Go through each of their points and rubbish them. If thay have failed to address any of your appeal points then state that they must therefore agree with them and the appeal should be allowed. Hopefully you put in all the usual appeal points at PoPLA because you cannot now add new points. It's a shame you gave away the driver's identity but that cannot now be helped. What did the gym manager/CEO say when you complained and threatened to cancel your membership? Have you complained to your MP yet about this unregulated scam?

1505grandad

In case you are not aware there is a limit of 2000 CHARACTERS to rebut the operators POPLA response.

Miki

Fruitcake said:

It is neither a fine nor a penalty charge. You have to rebut everything the scammers say. Go through each of their points and rubbish them. If thay have failed to address any of your appeal points then state that they must therefore agree with them and the appeal should be allowed. Hopefully you put in all the usual appeal points at PoPLA because you cannot now add new points. It's a shame you gave away the driver's identity but that cannot now be helped. What did the gym manager/CEO say when you complained and threatened to cancel your membership? Have you complained to your MP yet about this unregulated scam?

Many thanks for the reply. In what way is it a scam please? I think it is a legitimate scheme but on this occasion when I entered my car registration details the transaction did not complete for whatever reason and I would have had no way of knowing that. I have argued this in my appeal but they have just responded that I did not enter my details. The gym are doing all they can to help. Regarding the unregulated scam complaint to my MP they have provided all the signage etc?

Coupon-mad

 In what way is it a scam please? I think it is a legitimate scheme

I spat my tea out then! 
IMHO there are NO legitimate private parking schemes in this country right now.  I suggest you need to read the Parliamentary Debates and understand why the Government stepped in last year with a new Act and now plan a new Code of Practice that the PPCs can't write themselves:

https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2018-02-02/debates/CC84AF5E-AC6E-4E14-81B1-066E6A892807/Parking(CodeOfPractice)Bill

Also the NEWBIES FAQS thread already tells you this, quotes from Hansard and tells you how to complain (first) then appeal (second):

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4816822/newbies-private-parking-ticket-old-or-new-read-these-faqs-first-thankyou#latest

''Rip-offs from car park Cowboys must stop''; unfair treatment; signage deliberately confusing to ensure a PCN is issued; ''years of abuse by rogue parking companies''; bloodsuckers; ''the current system of regulation is hopeless, like putting Dracula in charge of the blood-bank''; extortionate fines; rogue operators; ''sense of injustice''; unfair charges and notices; wilfully misleading; signage is a deliberate act to deceive or mislead; ''confusing signs are often deliberate, to trap innocent drivers''; unreasonable; a curse; harassing; operating in a disgusting way; appeals service is no guarantee of a fair hearing; loathed; outrageous scam; dodgy practice; outrageous abuse; unscrupulous practices; ''the British Parking Association is as much use as a multi-storey car park in the Gobi desert''; and finally, by way of unanimous conclusion: ''we need to crack down on these rogue companies. They are an absolute disgrace to this country. Ordinary motorists and ordinary residents should not have to put up with this''.

Those are not my words.
They are the words of the unanimous group of MPs who called out the scam.

Of course there are signs up.  That doesn't make the scam 'legit'!

Miki

"I spat my tea out then! "

I'm sorry, I hope you did not make a mess? It was a genuine question    

Interestingly I've been reading the POPLA annual report 2019. And on page 8 it talks about Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras and Keying Errors - not that I am admitting to a Keying Error but:

"An informal instruction from the BPA to its members in October 2017 means many keying error cases do not reach POPLA. The BPA expects its operators to focus on parking management rather than mistake punishment and sent a message to its operators reminding them of this expectation in respect of keying errors."

"So, despite an increase in car parks where motorists are required to input their VRM, POPLA sees relatively few appeals about this issue."

As Total Parking Solutions are a member of the BPA I feel this is a relevant point that I should remind POPLA of in my appeal?

Coupon-mad

If there was a keying error then you need to read the BPA CoP January (changes) and see that keying error cases are meant to be offered to settle for no more than £20.  But not putting a VRN in at all, is not a keying error...if that's what happened?

Miki

But I did put the VRN in - I claim this is a transaction failure

Coupon-mad

You will lose at POPLA, probably, if you didn't come here in time and use our POPLA appeal templates about signage and no landowner authority.   

Never mind, no-one pays Tito of TPS, here he is, no paying him any money:
https://rocketreach.co/tito-ponzetta-email_3021879
You will learn when you read more about the firm and the scam of private parking firms generally.

Miki

I received the following Assistant General Manager at the gym after I requested they check the CCTV footage:

"I have checked CCTV and I can clearly see you entering your Reg on the 7th of Jan at 11.01am. 

 

Please let me know if you need any further support with this. 

 

Kind Regards"

 

Coupon-mad

Miki said:

I received the following Assistant General Manager at the gym after I requested they check the CCTV footage:

"I have checked CCTV and I can clearly see you entering your Reg on the 7th of Jan at 11.01am. 

 Please let me know if you need any further support with this. 

 Kind Regards"

Yes!  You need him/her to email you a copy of that footage and then you use it to complain to Steve Clark of the BPA that Tito's lot are using a broken system and unlawfully fining genuine gym users who have entered their reg numbers, and you suspect you are not the only one at this location:

steve.c@britishparking.co.uk