Total Car Parks Dutton Street Parking Charge

abbie_1998

So recently the website Parkonomy that Total Car Parks use to collect payments was updated and since then I have been unable to load any locations in their search bar (discovered yesterday that this was because of my browser) of which I have screen recorded evidence. 
I assumed they were going to get the website fixed and continued to park there as it's the cheapest place to park in the city centre and is right next to my work. I have previously (November last year) been fined £30 for parking there and not paying (I did pay, I just forgot for a couple of hours, but paid for the whole day on my phone) and the fine was reduced to £15 and I paid it.
Yesterday I received two £100 fines (reduced to £60 if paid within 14 days) for parking without paying. This is a significant increase from November and I assume I've got more coming in the post as I have been parking there multiple times. I appealed the first charge and submitted the screen recordings as evidence that the website wasn't working and told them that when I tried to pay over text it said I'd get charged for those texts, which I told them I thought was unfair. 
They rejected my appeal on the grounds that because the website was working (just not for me) that it isn't their problem. They also said I can opt out of SMS messaging so as not to get charged however, I'm an android user and so I can't opt out. I feel this is discriminatory that iPhone users get cheaper parking if paid over text but being broke isn't a protected class so I don't see how that would fly. 
The cost of parking there for the whole day is £2.40. They are charging me £100 per fine. that is a 4066.67% increase in cost (2400% if paid within 14 days) which I feel is entirely unreasonable, especially as my previous fine was only £30! Under the Unfair Contract Terms Act (1977) the terms of a contract must be reasonable and fair which I feel is not the case here. Their online contract don't state how much you'll get charged if you breach their contract and I'm going back to the car park today to see if any of their signs state they will be charging that much (unable to tell using Google Street View). 

Essentially I want to know how to proceed. I've already admitted it was me parking there due to appealing already (before reading the information on here) so that's out of the question. I was wondering if the Act I talked about would be enough to scare them into letting me off. Or would it be better if I cite the act in the appeal for my second fine and offer a compromise of around £40 to cover the cost of both tickets and admin fees?

abbie_1998

Edit: I received the two fines in the post. The first was from the 8th of May and the second was from the 10th of May. I assume there will be more to come as I have been parking there regularly since this fiasco began

Fruitcake

Were they actually fines, or have you received parking charge notices from an unregulated private parking scammer. It looks like the first one was a council ticket but the other ones look like they were from a parking scammer for parking on private land.
Please get stuck into the NEWBIES thread that was underneath where you clicked on the New Thread button.

The UCTA 1977 has been replaced by the CRA 2015, and the infamous Beavis case in 2015 put paid to claiming the charge is unreasonable.

Identifying the driver was also a bad idea if this is a private scamvoice and the scammers failed to comply with the PoFA 2012.

Redx

The Beavis case of 2015 killed off the argument against £100 , plus it's been standard for a decade , so no chance arguing about the difference

None of the parking charges are fines , they are invoices for a breach of the parking rules the word fine should not be used

The relevant CoP gives you the trade body rules in place on the day

The newbies FAQ sticky thread near the top of the forum explains almost everything you need to know and is up to date

Total car parks are BPA AOS members so should offer Popla codes for unsuccessful appeals , be it as keeper of as driver

abbie_1998

Fruitcake said:

Were they actually fines, or have you received parking charge notices from an unregulated private parking scammer. It looks like the first one was a council ticket but the other ones look like they were from a parking scammer for parking on private land.
Please get stuck into the NEWBIES thread that was underneath where you clicked on the New Thread button.

The UCTA 1977 has been replaced by the CRA 2015, and the infamous Beavis case in 2015 put paid to claiming the charge is unreasonable.

Identifying the driver was also a bad idea if this is a private scamvoice and the scammers failed to comply with the PoFA 2012.

They were all parking charge notices that were posted to me. The car park company is partnered with BPA which is how they got all my details. 

abbie_1998

Redx said:

The Beavis case of 2015 killed off the argument against £100 , plus it's been standard for a decade , so no chance arguing about the difference

None of the parking charges are fines , they are invoices for a breach of the parking rules the word fine should not be used

The relevant CoP gives you the trade body rules in place on the day

The newbies FAQ sticky thread near the top of the forum explains almost everything you need to know and is up to date

Total car parks are BPA AOS members so should offer Popla codes for unsuccessful appeals , be it as keeper of as driver

I'll definitely read the newbies faq at some point (v busy right now!) 
I've been offered a POPLA code for the unsuccessful appeal but I don't know whether I should go for it because I'll lose out on the cheaper option of £60 if I do and fail

D_P_Dance

Edit: I received the two fines in the

They are not fine, please read the newbies and complain to your MP. 

Redx

abbie_1998 said:

Redx said:

The Beavis case of 2015 killed off the argument against £100 , plus it's been standard for a decade , so no chance arguing about the difference

None of the parking charges are fines , they are invoices for a breach of the parking rules the word fine should not be used

The relevant CoP gives you the trade body rules in place on the day

The newbies FAQ sticky thread near the top of the forum explains almost everything you need to know and is up to date

Total car parks are BPA AOS members so should offer Popla codes for unsuccessful appeals , be it as keeper of as driver

I'll definitely read the newbies faq at some point (v busy right now!) 
I've been offered a POPLA code for the unsuccessful appeal but I don't know whether I should go for it because I'll lose out on the cheaper option of £60 if I do and fail

All choices that you need to make , based on the facts of the case , we can only point you at those facts , Be yes you are correct that the mugs discount will disappear

A driver based popla appeal is made on poor and inadequate signage , the BPA CoP , no landowner authority etc ( no POFA to assist admitted drivers )

Seems to me that you have not tried plan A , only plan B , so far

If you rush this instead of reading the newbies FAQ sticky thread , it's no wonder that you are confused and floundering about in the dark regarding the not a genuine pre estimate of loss , the difference between the daily charge and the default daily tariff , or not knowing about the 6 year old Beavis case at the Supreme court either

Learn the basics and decide on a plan

Fruitcake

The third post of the NEWBIES provides you with a series of template appeal points for you to obtain the MSE 100% discount. Nobody here is interested in the 14 day mugs discount.

Where did the alleged event occur (which Nation, type of car park such as hospital, retail outlet, residential, railway station etcetera)?

You definitely need to get pics of the site and signage for your appeals, especially if the signs have changed recently or the scammers have taken over from the council since your first ticket.

abbie_1998

Fruitcake said:

The third post of the NEWBIES provides you with a series of template appeal points for you to obtain the MSE 100% discount. Nobody here is interested in the 14 day mugs discount.

Where did the alleged event occur (which Nation, type of car park such as hospital, retail outlet, residential, railway station etcetera)?

You definitely need to get pics of the site and signage for your appeals, especially if the signs have changed recently or the scammers have taken over from the council since your first ticket.

This occurred in England in a private car park (literally a crappy piece of gravel land that has no upkeep. You wouldn't park a car there that was worth more £1000 I'd say). The car park was always private, never council owned. The first £30 charge I got was from the same company. 

I'll be heading down to get pictures of the signs today

abbie_1998

Redx said:

abbie_1998 said:

Redx said:

The Beavis case of 2015 killed off the argument against £100 , plus it's been standard for a decade , so no chance arguing about the difference

None of the parking charges are fines , they are invoices for a breach of the parking rules the word fine should not be used

The relevant CoP gives you the trade body rules in place on the day

The newbies FAQ sticky thread near the top of the forum explains almost everything you need to know and is up to date

Total car parks are BPA AOS members so should offer Popla codes for unsuccessful appeals , be it as keeper of as driver

I'll definitely read the newbies faq at some point (v busy right now!) 
I've been offered a POPLA code for the unsuccessful appeal but I don't know whether I should go for it because I'll lose out on the cheaper option of £60 if I do and fail

All choices that you need to make , based on the facts of the case , we can only point you at those facts , Be yes you are correct that the mugs discount will disappear

A driver based popla appeal is made on poor and inadequate signage , the BPA CoP , no landowner authority etc ( no POFA to assist admitted drivers )

Seems to me that you have not tried plan A , only plan B , so far

If you rush this instead of reading the newbies FAQ sticky thread , it's no wonder that you are confused and floundering about in the dark regarding the not a genuine pre estimate of loss , the difference between the daily charge and the default daily tariff , or not knowing about the 6 year old Beavis case at the Supreme court either

Learn the basics and decide on a plan

I'll definitely be reading it then. This is all very new to me as I'm usually very good with paying for parking so I'm sorry if I sound really dumb