SMART Parking Ticket at Grays Shopping Centre in Essex

Milky_Mocha

Greetings, all.
After browsing this forum, stickies and various bits of advice day after day, I'm still unsure what to do or not do, and time is running out so I thought I'd bite the bullet and post this.
I got a ticket in the post about five days ago from SMART PARKING at Grays Shopping Centre. At first I thought, where exactly?? because there is a lot of on-street designated parking around that shopping centre, which I normally use and always pay for but I have on occasion used the car park which is located underneath the mall itself and that is free. It says so in huge lettering at the entrance, I recall so I assume this is the car park they are referring to. The photos they included of my car are too close up for me to be certain but I'm quite sure.
 
The parking ticket states that a PCN is payable with respect to vehicle "for the alleged breach of advertised terms and conditions with GRAYS SHOPPING CENTRE on 14th August 2020". It does not tell me which term I have breached but the parking ticket indicates my entry and exit times, and as I was parked for 3 hours and 20 minutes, I'm inclined to think there may have been a time limit of 3 hours. If so, I completely missed that on the signage - assuming it says so on the signage.

The fine is £60 if payment is received within 14 days. After that, £100. After 28 days, they would levy an additional £10 charge. They do have a lot of text trying to convince me that they are legit and civil legal action threats, bla bla bla which I'm not intimidated by, but my question is, what do I do?? 

I remember that day I had a few errands but I was delayed at the bank due to a problem on my account that meant I could carry out no transactions until it was resolved. I had no choice but to queue for ages, only to have to wait further for another 40 minutes at least, whilst the staff on site phoned their colleagues in another centre to help them. It was a technical issue that inconvenienced me massively. It was eventually resolved. Not that this is particularly relevant to my question on here but the whole thing is rather frustrating. Please help.
Thank you.
MiM

Redx

You do plan A , complain to the retailer or managing agent or landowner asap , if not sooner , demanding action and cancellation , but not revealing who was driving , use the royal WE , no I , no talking about what happened on the day unless there were delays to get into or out of the car park

By day 25 after the NTK PCN postal notice , appeal to Smart , as keeper , online , using the blue text template from the newbies FAQ sticky thread near the top of the forum , no blabbing about who was driving , because Smart do not comply with POFA

Milky_Mocha

Redx said:

You do plan A , complain to the retailer or managing agent or landowner asap , if not sooner , demanding action and cancellation , but not revealing who was driving , use the royal WE , no I

By day 25 after the NTK PCN postal notice , appeal to Smart , as keeper , online , using the blue text template from the newbies FAQ sticky thread near the top of the forum , no blabbing about who was driving , because Smart do not comply with POFA

Thank you so much. I appreciate that.

Milky_Mocha

Is there a template for appealing to the landowner? I presume it would be the shopping centre in my case. What do I complain about, exactly?

Redx

No problem , it's the blabbermouths who talk about what happened and reveal who was driving who end up losing out to the sc#mmers

As keeper you have no liability due to the failure to comply with the law , POFA

The driver might ,but not the keeper , and they do not know who was driving and have failed the law for Keeper liability

No , there are no landowner templates , but you are free to adapt complaints written by other members here who have posted their complaint letter on here. You are complaining to the management of the shopping centre

Only you know what is a valid complaint in your case , you were there , we weren't

Milky_Mocha

ok, I'll browse to find some examples, thank you Redx

D_P_Dance

Read what Pete Wishart MP said recently in the House of commons about Smart Parking.

"I am sick and tired of receiving emails from people complaining about the behaviour of parking companies, telling me that they will never again visit Perth city centre because of the negative experience they had when they had the misfortune to end up in a car park operated by one of these companies. I have received more complaints about one car park in the city of Perth than about any other issue. That car park is operated by the lone ranger of the parking cowboys: the hated and appalling Smart Parking—I see that many other Members are unfortunate enough to have Smart Parking operating in their constituencies. It has reached the stage where one member of my staff now spends a good part of each day just helping my constituents and visitors to my constituency to navigate the appeals process.
…
The BPA does not have the ability to regulate these companies and has shown no sign whatsoever that it is trying to get on top of some of the sharper practices. The BPA gives a veneer of legitimacy to some of the more outlandish rogue operators by including them in their membership, allowing them to continue to operate. The Bill will oblige operators such as Smart Parking to amend their practices.

Nine times out of ten these tickets are scams, so consider complaining to your MP, sometimes it can lead to cancellation.,

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, and darfts have beenopened for publc consulatation,

Just as the clampers were finally closed down, so hopefully will many of these companies, persistent offenders denied access to the DVLA database and unable to operate.

Hopefully life will become impossible for the worst of these scammers, under new legislation 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/

Please also read these and have your say

https://standardsdevelopment.bsigroup.com/projects/2020-00193#/section

You do not need to register to comment on the enforcement framework which can be found here. It has a link on page 5 to make comments.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/913272/Code_Enforcement_Framework_consultation.pdf

Coupon-mad

And do this before the window closes soon: 

PLEASE CHANNEL YOUR ANGER ABOUT THIS CHARGE TO CHANGE THE WAY THE PARKING INDUSTRY WORK:

CALLING ALL NEWBIES! 

 

An urgent task – deadline approaching in a week or so:

Please now make a real difference because not enough people have yet, and time is running out. 

The Government is consulting for just a few more days, about a new statutory code of practice (CoP) and framework intended to rein in the rogue parking firms. 

Does it go far enough?  Read and comment on the draft CoP proposal and the enforcement framework consultation (two separate consultation documents).

HOW TO DO THE SUBMISSIONS:

BSI PAS 232 – COMMENTING ON THE CODE OF PRACTICE AS DRAFTED:

1.    You will need to register then log in, to comment on the CoP and enter an occupation even if you are retired or a homemaker.  

 

2.    Register, log into the BSI page, and download & read the cover letter here:

https://standardsdevelopment.bsigroup.com/projects/2020-00193#/section

 

3.    Read the cover letter again and note the suggested extra questions... if you agree that, say, the 'loading/unloading and dropping off, asking for directions, and disabled people parking on double yellows as they can on street' activities listed should be exempt (not parking events, what do you think?) then please go to the Annexes at the end of the PAS Code and find the one about Exempt Vehicles and state what other activity you think should be added to the exempt list. 

 

4.    Download the PAS itself and start commenting on what you wish to say something about.  Quick links to each section appear on the left of your page. 

 

You don’t have to comment on everything, e.g. you might want to skip the definitions and focus on later sections, and certainly look at the Annex tables at the end that show things like consideration & grace periods and exemptions.

 

5.    Submit comments when you are happy with them. Don’t just ‘SAVE’ and forget!

 

THAT IS HALF THE JOB DONE!

THE MHCLG CONSULTATION IS EASIER AS IT IS JUST A LIST OF QUESTIONS. 

 

6.    You can do it first if preferred or pushed for time:

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=EGg0v32c3kOociSi7zmVqAVPfAOtwRxLhHRwQ610oElUMzhQSVo0WUQ4SERVSEZaUU9DTUhFQ1VMUy4u

If your answers exceed 4000 characters (approx. 500 words to a single question or 16000 words (approx. 2500 words) for all the questions below, you can email your answers to parking@communities.gov.uk as long as you state who you are.

THESE ARE THE QUESTIONS YOU WILL SEE, FOR RESPONSES TO THE FRAMEWORK:

Q1 Do you agree or disagree that members of APAs should be required to use a single appeals service appointed by the Secretary of State?

Strongly agree/Somewhat agree/Neither agree nor disagree/Somewhat disagree/Strongly disagree

 

Q1.1 Please explain your answer

(free text)

 

 

Q2 Please provide any other feedback on the determination of appeals, including the funding model and features that an appeal service should offer e.g. telephone or in-person hearings, the ability to submit evidence online

(free text)

 

Q3 Please provide any comments you have on the proposal to enforce the Code by combining the ATA’s existing audit procedures with additional safeguards.

(free text)

 

Q4 Please outline any alternative means by which the Code could be monitored and enforced. You may wish to cite evidence from other regulatory frameworks which are relevant.

(free text)

 

Q5 Please provide any feedback you have on the proposed governance arrangements for monitoring the new Code of Practice

(free text)

 

Q6 Which parking charge system is most appropriate for private parking?

 a) the Three-tiered system

 b) Mirroring the Local Authority system

(free text)

 

 Q6.1 Please explain your answer. You may, for example, wish to make reference to other deterrent frameworks (for example, for railway tickets or traffic violations)

(free text)

 

 

Q7 What level of discount is appropriate:

40% as is currently offered in private parking and suggested in the three-tiered system, or

50% as is offered in Local Authority parking?

a) 40%

b) 50%

 

Q7.1 Please explain your answer, including whether the discount should be set at a different level

(free text)

 

 

 Q8 How should the level of parking charges be set and how should the levels be revised in future?

(free text)

 

 

Q9 Do you agree or disagree in principle with the idea of the Appeals Charter?

Agree/Disagree

 

Q9.1 Please explain your answer

(free text)

 

 

Q10 Do you agree or not that the examples given in the Appeals Charter are fair and appropriate? Agree/Disagree

 

Q10.1 Please explain your answer.

You may wish, for example, to suggest additional cases to be covered in an Appeals Charter or query existing examples.

(free text)

 

Q11 Do you agree or disagree that the parking industry should contribute towards the cost of the regulation?

Agree/Disagree

 

Q11.1 Please explain your answer.

(free text)

 

YOU CAN INSTEAD GIVE MORE CONCISE ANSWERS ONLINE, USING THE MHCLG PAGE LINK.

Don’t forget that answering these questions is the easier bit…

Looking at the BSI PAS (the draft code of practice itself) involves logging in and submitting comments again, and again and again and takes more time!

There is a discussion about PAS submissions and what the pages look like, here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6195417/am-i-doing-something-wrong/p1