Bought a £10 ticket for 12 hours, still slapped £100 charge by One Parking Solutions at Llangrannog

95Rollers

OPS have been criticised in court about their signage and in particularly the font size and volume of text which takes several minutes to read and digest - if you can actually find it to begin with!  

henrik777

In messy signage situations one should bear in mind 3 things.

1. Thornton v shoe lane  http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/1970/2.html
None of those cases has any application to a ticket which is issued by an automatic machine. The customer pays his money and gets a ticket. He cannot refuse it. He cannot get his money back. He may protest to the machine, even swear at it. But it will remain unmoved. He is committed beyond recall. He was committed at the very moment when he put his money into the machine. The contract was concluded at that time. It can be translated into offer and acceptance in this way: the offer is made when the proprietor of the machine holds it out as being ready to receive the money. The acceptance takes place when the customer puts his money into the slot. The terms of the offer are contained in the notice placed on or near the machine stating what is offered for the money. The customer is bound by those terms as long as they are sufficiently brought to his notice before-hand, but not otherwise. He is not bound by the terms printed on the ticket if they differ from the notice, because the ticket comes too late. The contract has already been made: see Olley v. Maryborough Court (1949 1 K.B. 532). The ticket is no more than a voucher or receipt for the money that has been paid (as in the deckchair case, Chapelton v. Barry U.D.C. ...1940 1 K.B. 532), on terms which have been offered and accepted before the ticket is issued.

2. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/section/69/enacted

69Contract terms that may have different meanings

(1)If a term in a consumer contract, or a consumer notice, could have different meanings, the meaning that is most favourable to the consumer is to prevail.

3. Contra proferentem rule

The contra proferentem rule states, broadly, that where there is doubt about the meaning of the contract, the words will be construed against the person who put them forward.

2 and 3 are broadly the same. Seems to me if you apply the facts to these 3 things, it's difficult, as a consumer, to lose.

ParkingMad

The BPA investigated this car park in 2019, before the pay and display machine was upgraded to mains power. Here is the report-

Investigation Report

Re: Llangrannog Beach Café, Ceredigion, West Wales

I made a visit to this site on Tuesday 5 November 2019 at 12.30pm. The car park is a small surface car park which serves the coastal village of Llangrannog. It is the only convenient car park in the village close to the beach, local pubs and shops. The only other one is located in a field a short walk away from the centre of the village.

The car park is private land managed by AOS members One Parking Solution. There is a standard compliant entrance sign at the only entrance / exit to the car park and several Terms and Condition signs erected within the car park. At least one T&C sign is visible from anywhere within the site. The signs are compliant with the BPA code. The parking facility is managed by the use of an ANPR camera and there are charges for parking depending on the length of stay. These charges are clearly displayed at the entrance next to the pay machine. Customers are invited to pay by either a ‘Pay and Display’ procedure, using the pay machine at the entrance to obtain a ticket to display or alternatively by an online app or a ‘pay by phone’ system. All of the methods require the driver to give their VRM, including the need to manually enter this into the pay machine using a keypad. There is one ANPR camera located at the entrance / exit located on the side of the adjacent Ship Inn.

There is just the one Pay Machine located at the entrance to the car park, which appeared to be powered by a solar panel on top of the machine. After entering the car park and parking, my first choice to pay was to use the pay machine using cash. I pressed the first button on the machine, to enter my VRM. Straight away a message appeared on the screen to inform me the machine was ‘Not in use’. There is no other pay machine available. The alternative methods to pay as advertised on the signs, is either to pay by phone or to use the JustPark App. The App has to be downloaded if the customer does not already have it. Both of these methods require a phone connection or internet connection. There is no mobile phone service in the village of Llangrannog and no internet connection available in the car park. This was confirmed to me by the landlord of the nearby pub. The phone signal is only available after driving out of the village up the hill a distance of a couple of miles. This meant that there was no alternative means to pay for my parking. Not wishing to receive a PCN in the post I drove out of the car park within 10 minutes and parked on the road.

This is apparently a constant issue in this car park as was evident by signs displayed by the adjacent pub and on the pay machine, put up by the residents and business owners to warn visitors. The sole pay machine is solar powered and the sun was not shining at the time of my visit.

My own experience confirmed that it was not possible for me to pay for parking and I had no choice but to leave the car park within 10 minutes. If I had taken longer, presumably I would have received a PCN from One Parking Solution.

I made enquiries with some local residents and the landlord of the Pentre Arms near by. I was told that it is a continual problem, the pay machine is hardly ever working and all the locals are aware that there is no mobile phone coverage in the village which makes paying by the alternative means impossible. I was also told that the ANPR camera which has been put up on the side of the adjacent Ship Inn has no planning consent, as mentioned by Ben Lake the MP in his letter, although I am not able to confirm this.

Conclusion and Recommendations

The Pay Machine should be converted to mains power so that it works all the time and the alternative means to pay should be removed as it is not possible to use them without a phone connection. Any enforcement and subsequent issue of PCN’s would then have to be by using the physical presence of attendants checking displayed tickets and issuing PCN’s on vehicles.

Coupon-mad

The Pay Machine should be converted to mains power so that it works all the time and the alternative means to pay should be removed as it is not possible to use them without a phone connection. Any enforcement and subsequent issue of PCN’s would then have to be by using the physical presence of attendants checking displayed tickets and issuing PCN’s on vehicles.

So, is someone from Llangrannog asking the BPA why OPS are still operating this by ANPR?  

Has anyone sent a report to the local Trading Standards and shown them that report and all the news articles?

ParkingMad

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/llangrannog-car-park-fine-beach-20537396

Ceredigion Council was asked to comment on the situation. The council added that, while its trading standards team has "some powers available to them to investigate offences committed within the county", as the car park's operator is based outside the county, it "may be more appropriate that the home authority of the car park operator looks into the matter further".

KeithP

ParkingMad said:

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/llangrannog-car-park-fine-beach-20537396

Ceredigion Council was asked to comment on the situation. The council added that, while its trading standards team has "some powers available to them to investigate offences committed within the county", as the car park's operator is based outside the county, it "may be more appropriate that the home authority of the car park operator looks into the matter further".

So does that mean that any private parking company 'managing' car parks outside their home county are safe from any investigation by any local authority's Trading Standards Department?

What a joke. 

Doesn't Ceredigion County Council's Trading Standards Department realise that OPS are trading on Ceredigion County Council's patch and at not a high enough standard?

Coupon-mad

ParkingMad said:

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/llangrannog-car-park-fine-beach-20537396

Ceredigion Council was asked to comment on the situation. The council added that, while its trading standards team has "some powers available to them to investigate offences committed within the county", as the car park's operator is based outside the county, it "may be more appropriate that the home authority of the car park operator looks into the matter further".

I am sure the retired barrister who is helping the many victims, would not agree with that. Maybe that's the way forward,.  We can discuss it off forum as you are in touch.

Umkomaas

TS never seem to ignore non-resident sellers of bootleg perfume, CDs, baccy, and Nikes (where's @D_P_Dance?)

cryingoutloud

ParkingMad said:

The BPA investigated this car park in 2019, before the pay and display machine was upgraded to mains power. Here is the report-

Investigation Report

Re: Llangrannog Beach Café, Ceredigion, West Wales

I made a visit to this site on Tuesday 5 November 2019 at 12.30pm. The car park is a small surface car park which serves the coastal village of Llangrannog. It is the only convenient car park in the village close to the beach, local pubs and shops. The only other one is located in a field a short walk away from the centre of the village.

The car park is private land managed by AOS members One Parking Solution. There is a standard compliant entrance sign at the only entrance / exit to the car park and several Terms and Condition signs erected within the car park. At least one T&C sign is visible from anywhere within the site. The signs are compliant with the BPA code. The parking facility is managed by the use of an ANPR camera and there are charges for parking depending on the length of stay. These charges are clearly displayed at the entrance next to the pay machine. Customers are invited to pay by either a ‘Pay and Display’ procedure, using the pay machine at the entrance to obtain a ticket to display or alternatively by an online app or a ‘pay by phone’ system. All of the methods require the driver to give their VRM, including the need to manually enter this into the pay machine using a keypad. There is one ANPR camera located at the entrance / exit located on the side of the adjacent Ship Inn.

There is just the one Pay Machine located at the entrance to the car park, which appeared to be powered by a solar panel on top of the machine. After entering the car park and parking, my first choice to pay was to use the pay machine using cash. I pressed the first button on the machine, to enter my VRM. Straight away a message appeared on the screen to inform me the machine was ‘Not in use’. There is no other pay machine available. The alternative methods to pay as advertised on the signs, is either to pay by phone or to use the JustPark App. The App has to be downloaded if the customer does not already have it. Both of these methods require a phone connection or internet connection. There is no mobile phone service in the village of Llangrannog and no internet connection available in the car park. This was confirmed to me by the landlord of the nearby pub. The phone signal is only available after driving out of the village up the hill a distance of a couple of miles. This meant that there was no alternative means to pay for my parking. Not wishing to receive a PCN in the post I drove out of the car park within 10 minutes and parked on the road.

This is apparently a constant issue in this car park as was evident by signs displayed by the adjacent pub and on the pay machine, put up by the residents and business owners to warn visitors. The sole pay machine is solar powered and the sun was not shining at the time of my visit.

My own experience confirmed that it was not possible for me to pay for parking and I had no choice but to leave the car park within 10 minutes. If I had taken longer, presumably I would have received a PCN from One Parking Solution.

I made enquiries with some local residents and the landlord of the Pentre Arms near by. I was told that it is a continual problem, the pay machine is hardly ever working and all the locals are aware that there is no mobile phone coverage in the village which makes paying by the alternative means impossible. I was also told that the ANPR camera which has been put up on the side of the adjacent Ship Inn has no planning consent, as mentioned by Ben Lake the MP in his letter, although I am not able to confirm this.

Conclusion and Recommendations

The Pay Machine should be converted to mains power so that it works all the time and the alternative means to pay should be removed as it is not possible to use them without a phone connection. Any enforcement and subsequent issue of PCN’s would then have to be by using the physical presence of attendants checking displayed tickets and issuing PCN’s on vehicles.

Thanks for sharing this, but doesn't this "At least one T&C sign is visible from anywhere within the site. The signs are compliant with the BPA code." automatically make my claim that I couldn't possibly locate the T&Cs which states the 10 minutes grace period null and void? 

Coupon-mad

No, because that was the opinion of a BPA-paid (non independent) employee.  You might think, ''he would say that, wouldn't he?'' 

The BPA exist for their paying members and are not a regulator.