Park Direct UK - nowhere to appeal or pay?

slippyhele

Hi,
I received a parking ticket having been about 15 minutes in a travelodge car park. I assumed (I'm in the wrong here, I'm not disputing that) that it was a travelodge car park but it's managed by Park Direct UK. I went to appeal as £100 seemed harsh and I know these people are scammers and this seemed like an endless loop of contradictory information so as I'm stressed anyway at the mo I thought I would just pay it, however the site that comes up comes also with a warning that it's not secure and not to enter any credit card details. So what am I supposed to do? Please advise and please be gentle with me. I've not been on these forums since I sued my bank in 2008 and I've forgotten all the rules.

Coupon-mad

I assumed (I'm in the wrong here, I'm not disputing that) that it was a travelodge car park but it's managed by Park Direct UK.

Errm, it is still the Travelodge car park.  If you were a guest of the Travelodge, complain if they failed to exempt your car.

and this seemed like an endless loop of contradictory information 

What did?  There is no conflicting advice here and only an idiot would pay.  This is not you, stop trying to pay a scam.  Read the NEWBIS thread - my signature tells you where it is and it was staring you in the face at the top, when you hit 'NEW DISCUSSION' instead of reading the sticky thread in capitals, begging people ''NEWBIES - please read these FAQs first'' (AND WE MEAN, FIRST). 

And guess what the first step the sticky thread tells you, is?
(Clue, it involves complaining to Travelodge...).

NO-ONE IN THEIR RIGHT MIND WOULD PAY.

slippyhele

I've spent literally two hours trawling various forums but THANKS FOR SHOUTING even after I asked if you would be gentle.

Coupon-mad

You said you wanted to pay - only very few people say that.  Tough love needed in such cases to stop people like you from paying.

The sticky thread is the only one in capitals.  If I could paint it red, with an arrow pointing to it, I would.

slippyhele

Coupon-mad said:

I assumed (I'm in the wrong here, I'm not disputing that) that it was a travelodge car park but it's managed by Park Direct UK.

Errm, it is still the Travelodge car park.  If you were a guest of the Travelodge, complain if they failed to exempt your car.

and this seemed like an endless loop of contradictory information 

What did?  There is no conflicting advice here and only an idiot would pay.  This is not you, stop trying to pay a scam.  Read the NEWBIS thread - my signature tells you where it is and it was staring you in the face at the top, when you hit 'NEW DISCUSSION' instead of reading the sticky thread in capitals, begging people ''NEWBIES - please read these FAQs first'' (AND WE MEAN, FIRST). 

And guess what the first step the sticky thread tells you, is?
(Clue, it involves complaining to Travelodge...).

NO-ONE IN THEIR RIGHT MIND WOULD PAY.

Travelodge BTW accept no responsibility and offer no exemptions for guests.
The contradictory advice is over a variety of forums.
Someone says appeal online but there is nowhere to appeal online that I can see.
The reason I was going to pay it is because my heart rate is going up even as we speak and because it seems from what I have read already on here that all those initial appeals fail and this seems very confusing. As I said before, please try to be gentle with me, I'm trying to understand, I'm not stupid, and thanks for responding at all.

Fruitcake

If the driver received a windscreen ticket, or the keeper received a notice in the post, (you haven't told us which) it will tell you (the keeper) how to appeal. Usually this is done through an online portal on their website. Somewhere on the PCN will be the information the keeper needs on how to appeal.
The template in blue text from the first post of the NEWBIES is what you put in the appeal, unedited, from the keeper.
Do not reveal the driver's identity under any circumstances.

You will be appealing, not paying, so dodgy website or not, you won't be putting any payment details in, only your email address. You can use a throwaway one of those just for the parking appeal if you wish.

Get pics of the site and signage in case the scammers take this further. What was the reason the scammers gave for issuing the PCN?

Whereabouts in the UK did it occur?

Did you complain to the hotel manager and/or CEO?

Have you complained to your MP yet about this unregulated scam?

FrankCannon

Slippyhele, I understand your anxiety - most people can't understand how this can happen in modern-day Britain, but it does. Please calm down, take time to ready the stickies and read the advice you are being given. Coupon-mad is a Titan on this forum, and she only puts words in uppercase to emphasise the point - she really isn't shouting at you.

As for Travelodge, there was a case this week where they paid somebody's "fine" ;

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6111421/fraudulent-ukpc-need-help-urgently/p1

I've no idea why they did that - a case of the tail wagging the dog if ever there was one. I've not heard of Park Direct before. Is this them ?

https://parkdirectukltd.co.uk/about/

They claim to be members of the IPC and the BPA. Can you see either of them mentioned on your NtK ?

slippyhele

Thank you all. Yes that's the Park Direct and yes there was a ticket on my car with IPC on it. I did not complain to the hotel manager as I had to leave and don't live near the Travelodge (Acton, London) and the only number for travelodge i can find is 13p a minute.
The ticket stated Unauthorised Parking.

slippyhele

Alsoslippyhele said:

Thank you all. Yes that's the Park Direct and yes there was a ticket on my car with IPC on it. I did not complain to the hotel manager as I had to leave and don't live near the Travelodge (Acton, London) and the only number for travelodge i can find is 13p a minute.
The ticket stated Unauthorised Parking.

also I see the advice is to NOT send the appeal in the mail yet there is literally no way of appealing online as far as I can see.

slippyhele

Coupon-mad said:

You said you wanted to pay - only very few people say that.  Tough love needed in such cases to stop people like you from paying.

The sticky thread is the only one in capitals.  If I could paint it red, with an arrow pointing to it, I would.

I never said I wanted to pay.
I read the Newbie thread. After several hours I figured I needed to speak to a human about it.

FrankCannon

I think you need to wait for the NtK to arrive, which must be delivered between day 28 and day 56 day after the event to comply with PoFA 2012. The NtK will advise you how you can appeal, but most parking companies automatically reject the appeal ( make you appeal as keeper using the template in the NEWBIES thread ). You will then be given a code to appeal to IAS, which this forum advises you not to do. If you've read the NEWBIES thread, you will know that you will then be sent multiple debt collector letters ( which will be useful if you are running short of loo paper ) before the PPC starts proceedings in the small claims court, and they have up to 6 years to do that.

The easiest and most effective way to stop this nonsense is to complain to the landowner, who will be able to get the PCN cancelled. If the manager of the hotel feels unable or is unwilling to help, then try the CEO. Given the current situation with COVID-19, they should be falling over themselves to keep customers happy, but there is sometimes no accounting for the stupidity of some company's customer service departments - a recent case with M&S springs to mind. Also, negative reviews on TripAdvisor, Twitter, Facebook, Google, etc sometimes work wonders.

BTW, which Travelodge was this ?