Parking ticket after mis-typed registration number

xxedrushxx

Hi all
Really frustrated at what seems to be some type of legalized scam.
So my situation 
1. I attend a gym 5 days a week (before lockdown), where they use the parking facilities of a stadium. I am required to enter my reg details on an ipad when I enter the gym
2. I was using my girlfriends car to go to the gym and on one occasion I appear to have mis-typed 1 letter in the reg on the IPAD
3. My GF got a PCN from Total Parking solutions. She sent an email to them saying it was a typo and that I was driving and attended the gym there
4. They asked for proof that I was at the gym, which we sent. We also sent a council tax bill to prove that my GF and I were connected and live together. We did this because the gym evidence shows that I was at the gym and not my GF who is the registered keeper, which is normal as I was driving. 
5. Now, they have come back saying they considered the evidence, but it has been declined. As a "gesture of goodwill" they have reduced the amount we have to pay to £20. I can further appeal to POPLA.

Now I can afford £20, but this is ridiculous that they ask for evidence and then still reject it. Just out of principle I don't feel I should pay it. How many others will have been fined for a fat fingered mistake. 

any advice appreciated on my next move 

thanks 

Redx

Read the BPA CoP which has a section on minor and major keying errors , which is where the £20 is from

Then decide if your error was minor or major, depending how many errors there were , one typo is a minor keying error , many typos or wrong from being a major keying error

Consider a complaint from your GF to the BPA AOS team regarding this aspect too

Ideally she should get the gym to cancel it , or you get it done , namely plan A in the newbies FAQ sticky thread near the top of the forum

twhitehousescat

in this case , you made a mistake , the parking co paid the dvla , then paid and sent a letter to you , then spent time (twice) gathering the right info , then the time for an appeal andf to write back to you 

3 choises , and i know which i would go for 
1 pay them £20 to cover there costs/time 
2 put up with collection leter after letter going on for a potential 6 yrs , with the possability of you moving house in next 6 yrs and a potential default ccj , 
3 contact the gym , who are closed and when they reopen will have better things to do in order to survive ,,,,,,,,,,, thats if they ever re open 

i would due to covid , plus the fact that YOU admit to wrong vrn , pay £20 before the offer goes from the table 

xxedrushxx

Redx said:

Read the BPA CoP which has a section on minor and major keying errors , which is where the £20 is from

Then decide if your error was minor or major, depending how many errors there were , one typo is a minor keying error , many typos or wrong from being a major keying error

Consider a complaint from your GF to the BPA AOS team regarding this aspect too

Ideally she should get the gym to cancel it , or you get it done , namely plan A in the newbies FAQ sticky thread near the top of the forum

Hi

Thanks for the reply. Yes, you make a good point about the CoP which states that if someone makes a minor typo and appeals, then that should be accepted. The CoP is quite reasonable here highlighting that these mistakes can happen with this type of technology, so further justifying my frustration at this decision.

My issue now is that I'm not sure how I could get TPS to check if the reg i typed closely matches that of the actual reg. 

I guess I can just pay the £20, but it seems a way to empower these companies to act against their own rules 

xxedrushxx

twhitehousescat said:

in this case , you made a mistake , the parking co paid the dvla , then paid and sent a letter to you , then spent time (twice) gathering the right info , then the time for an appeal andf to write back to you 

3 choises , and i know which i would go for 
1 pay them £20 to cover there costs/time 
2 put up with collection leter after letter going on for a potential 6 yrs , with the possability of you moving house in next 6 yrs and a potential default ccj , 
3 contact the gym , who are closed and when they reopen will have better things to do in order to survive ,,,,,,,,,,, thats if they ever re open 

i would due to covid , plus the fact that YOU admit to wrong vrn , pay £20 before the offer goes from the table 

Yes, you're not wrong in that they have spent their own money because of my mistake, but it says in their CoP to accept appeals for minor typos. They realise themselves that this can happen. So, they should invest in checking for closely matched numbers before issuing a ticket maybe.

Well, it seems I probably won't be able to prove it was a minor typo and they are not motivated to do it from their end, so I'll probably pay reluctantly 

Redx

earlier you stated it was one character error, now you are saying you do not know how many character errors there were

its either one character and so the appeal should have been accepted , or its several errors costing you £20

all this is assuming you cannot get the gym to cancel it

Coupon-mad

My issue now is that I'm not sure how I could get TPS to check if the reg I typed closely matches that of the actual reg. 

I'd suggest send them the £20 on the strict condition that they prove it is a MAJOR keying error and not a minor one, and that if they fail to show you the transaction and tell you the extent of the error, then you will report them to the BPA because you believe it was in fact a minor error which should have resulted in cancellation and no charge.

xxedrushxx

Redx said:

earlier you stated it was one character error, now you are saying you do not know how many character errors there were

its either one character and so the appeal should have been accepted , or its several errors costing you £20

all this is assuming you cannot get the gym to cancel it

Ok, just for clarity. I know I made a typo mistake because when I got back to the car I realized I had put one character wrong from the reg i.e. a 0 instead of a 5. But of course, that is just my word and I guess TPS arent going to help me check that.

xxedrushxx

Coupon-mad said:

My issue now is that I'm not sure how I could get TPS to check if the reg I typed closely matches that of the actual reg. 

I'd suggest send them the £20 on the strict condition that they prove it is a MAJOR keying error and not a minor one, and that if they fail to show you the transaction and tell you the extent of the error, then you will report them to the BPA because you believe it was in fact a minor error which should have resulted in cancellation and no charge.

Ok, thats a good idea. Will consider that, thanks 

nosferatu1001

As pointed out just above, make them prove it was a major keying error as the condition under which you oay
if they take the key and don't provide the proof you complain 

twhitehousescat

any faffing about and the £20 offer will be recalled , 

when they refused your appeal and offered the £20 get out , did they also include a POPLa code