WIN - Claim Stage

Coupon-mad

Yay, well done, after this epic tale you won - did you get awarded costs?  There seem to have been some unreasonable issues in the conduct of the case here.

ANOTHER VCS ONE BITES THE DUST!

D_P_Dance

The PPC has wasted your time, now waste theirs, read this,

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/law-and-courts/legal-system/small-claims/making-a-small-claim/

matt_matt51

Thanks all.
To be honest, I was surprised to see VCS represented at the Hearing. I had money on them discontinuing at the last minute. A few legal experts (friends/family) I spoke to about the case laughed at the idea it was going to court. I'm of the belief that no one at VCS read any of my dispute letters, or reviewed their case. You don't need a legal background to work out that with no evidence, it is difficult to prove something. But they you go, they still took it to court 🙄
To be honest, I was looking forward to seeing them in court. I wanted to see them dig their way out of a very deep hole, and I enjoyed every second (as short lived the hearing was).
Whether it was worth the stress, and 6 years of letters back and forth, I don't know. Although, I'd fight another tomorrow if i thought it was unfair.
We were awarded costs, which exceeded their PNC 🤭 Drop in the ocean for them I expect, and wont deter them pursuing future cases like mine. 
Glad to see the back of it all really. But, I'll be writing to my MP about our experience. I had previously spoken to them, and in fact they offered to support my case. However, as VCS's claim had more holes than Swiss cheese, I politely declined their offer. The car park in question was a few years back part of a media campaign (involving the MP) due to the number of people being targeted for its misuse. All were 'walk off' claims, and there are still issues as the retail site is in fact 3 separate sites (which is not clear at all). I'm also aware that VCS no longer control the car park, probably due to the bad press and complaints.
I did consider writing to the Judge who conducted the Hearing, for his thoughts and to see if he could support pushing for better legislation. There needs to be something in place to deter PPC's simply dragging every PNC to court in hope that they win. I've never been through a claim process like this, and can see a number of hurdles to trip over. Its very obvious that they are abusing the system and expect they win a percentage because some people can't be bothered to fight, or trip up. I nearly was caught out myself with the hearing deadline. I was also considering writing to Martin himself, just to see if it could stir some support via him elsewhere.
Anyway, I wanted to share the win to put another notch on the "successful fight back" post. As well as thank you all for your time and input. Some of you gave direct advice, and others produced the sticky comments (which are invaluable). All very much appreciated.