Backcester Lane, Lichfield, Excel Parking

KeithP

Stefano123 said:

Right folks, submitting this defence. So thanks for your help...

Oh, that is a surprise.
You haven't even told us that you've received a Court Claim yet.

What is the Issue Date on your County Court Claim Form?

Have you filed an Acknowledgment of Service?
If so, upon what date did you do so?
Your MCOL Claim History will have the definitive answer to that.

Stefano123 said:

...and I'll be in touch with the outcome!

Won't you be back when preparing your Witness Statement and evidence?

Stefano123

KeithP said:

Stefano123 said:

Right folks, submitting this defence. So thanks for your help...

Oh, that is a surprise.
You haven't even told us that you've received a Court Claim yet.

What is the Issue Date on your County Court Claim Form?

Have you filed an Acknowledgment of Service?
If so, upon what date did you do so?
Your MCOL Claim History will have the definitive answer to that.

Stefano123 said:

...and I'll be in touch with the outcome!

Won't you be back when preparing your Witness Statement and evidence?

Issue Date 5th Jan
Yes filed the AS on 10th, I think from memory.
Defence has been sent. 
I've already drafted the WS. If the forum is happy to help with this then that would be great!

Jenni_D

AoS was 10-Jan from memory? Why wouldn't you check on MCOL so you would have a definitive answer? 🙄

Not that this matters if you've already filed your defence as it has been done way earlier than required. (But you already know the CCBC has received it, yes? Because you received the auto-email notice, and your MCOL history shows that the defence is filed)  

Stefano123

So I finally have a court date. Witness statement prepared and waiting to see if they actually both paying the court fee.

Le_Kirk

Stefano123 said:

So I finally have a court date. Witness statement prepared and waiting to see if they actually bother paying the court fee.

While you are waiting, do not miss your deadline!

Snakes_Belly

@Stefano123 ,

I don't know if you are aware that Excel will be kicked out of Lichfield by the end of the month. There has been numerous complaints about the car parks and a Facebook group has been formed. It's a private group and you are only able to see the posts if you are a member.

I took the liberty of copying one of the posts and pasted it here as I thought that it may help people who may not have joined the group. It seems to be particularly pertinent to your scenario. I thought that you had tried to pay and was unable to make payment, given up and parked elsewhere. 

This seems a common problem on this car park and it may be an idea to include this in your WS together with the information regarding Excel losing their contract. If already sent you may be able to send a supplementary WS. You would also have to send a copy to Excel.  


"I want to address another problem that has come to light - failed contactless card payments at the meters. There was either no indication of the failure, OR a phone message from the card issuer arrived on the card issuers app up to an hour later. Anyone who suffered this should not have had a PCN. It was the meter’s fault and the fact that you were not issued with a paper receipt there and then means you could not have known payment had failed.

I am reminded of a similar problem at St Marks car park in Chester. When the machines failed a receipt popped out saying VOID Transaction Receipt. Not instantly recognisable as a failed payment but at least these people had a chance to pay in some other way.

Once again these ticketless meters have let people down and Excel knows this!"

Good luck with your hearing.

Stefano123

Thank you for this. I will include in the witness statement. This is very similar to what happened to me. The machine is evidently faulty and thus the 10 minutes they state on their signs is the maximum grace period (when the IPC's code of conduct is explicit in stating that that period depends entirely on the land type and situation) is entirely unfit for purpose.

Snakes_Belly

Latest comments from Michael Fabricant. You could add this to your WS or send it as a supplementary WS if already sent. You will have to send a copy to the Claimant and their representative. 

If the judge does bring up that there should have been more engagement between the claimant and the defendant well Michael Fabricant got short shrift.  

https://lichfieldlive.co.uk/2022/06/12/decision-by-shopping-centre-owner-to-end-contract-with-car-parking-company-welcomed-by-lichfield-mp/

Michael Fabricant's comments. 

This will be useful for the WS. Some judges think that there is not enough engagement with the Defendant and the Claimant to sort out the issues. 

Amanda Milling, Michael Fabricant and possibly others have tried to engage with Excel.

“This is seriously good news – I have never before had to deal with a company that has so little interest in engaging with genuine concerns of the customers it is meant to serve.

“Even when I have taken up miscarriages of justice with the company concerning constituents who have been served parking penalty notices by them because their machines were faulty, they have shown no interest in righting obvious wrongs.

“Good riddance to a company that damaged the good name of Lichfield by their unwillingness to engage with the community. Their lack of engagement is a testimony to how a company should not be run.

“I feel sorry for other towns who have to endure them.”

Michael Fabricant
 

Snakes_Belly

Some of these meters are solar powered and work on a 3g or 4g network so depending on signal or battery strength depends how good or bad they work. 

Fruitcake

It really needs a techie with something like a signal strength meter and a video camera, and someone willing to try to buy a ticket for a faux VRM to prove it is possible to enter a VRM for a vehicle not present, and even to enter a VRM that is not in the DVLA's database.
Does anyone have an overseas registered vehicle?