MET parking Letter before claim from BP forecourt

Micromachine

Hi all,

I received a parking charge notice from MET parking for overstaying the 30 minute limit at the BP garage near my former work for 18 minutes. I would estimate i've been there to buy a coffee over 500 times in recent years, and this is the only time I have ever sat in my car for a while because having not been able to earn for the whole first lockdown, I was working 12 hour days at an extremely physically demanding job. 

I ignored the first few then (before finding this forum) appealed, explaining the above and the significant delays in service given the traffic light system letting people in one at a time. By this time they'd upped it to £150 and offered me £17 off the balance!! BP have been no help in cancelling it and from what i've read they universally welcome you contacting them to have it cancelled and then refuse to. 

I received a letter before claim and requested SAR which I received on 16th August, and notice it doesn't include the email I sent contesting it. I am thinking I will reply and confirm that this includes all correspondence? As had I not sent that I could have stated that they can't prove who the driver was? However I have just now noticed in the SAR they've only included the initial letters and reminders they sent me before it was upped to £150. Is there any comeback for them not having included all documents?

Also I should note, in case it's of any significance, my car is registered to my parents house as I interchange it with their car and it has to have a permit there, I ignored the letters to their house and they somehow got my address but with the wrong postcode so the first letter that came here arrived late. As far as they're concerned in their threatening letter about that, they think it's an old address. Also DVLA missed the first letter off my name which makes it another name when my vehicle was transferred to my ownership which I have never got round to changing, so the letters have always been addressed to an alternative to "Emma" rather than "Gemma. 

Any help gratefully received! 

Micromachine

Can't see how to edit but to add: I contested the exorbitant rate of £100 for 18 minutes and continued to ignore on the basis that if they took me to court I would go through my bank statements and list every date I had been a customer and work out the approximate number of minutes i'd under-stayed which would be at least 10,000...

KeithP

Have you complained to the service station manager.
I am sure he wouldn't want to lose such a well established customer.

Redx

the Beavis case killed the loss argument and the £100 charge 6 years ago, where £85 was deemed ok and the £100 has been in place for a decade so standard practice and within the BPA CoP all that time too

reply to the SAR and give them 7 days to send you all outstanding documents including emails or you will report them to the ICO

get the DVLA to rectify your V5C asap ( plus any address change) , if you dont want a real DVLA fine of up to £1000

D_P_Dance

Have you complained to your MP?

Micromachine

I talked to the manager and despite everyone in there knowing my order he apparently has no power, gave me the phone number for BP HQ who don’t answer or return voicemail messages. Tweeter them and they state they have “no intention of charging customers to its the store but judging by other responses (such as a woman who got a ticket for overstaying 30 mins pulling off the motorway to sleep as advised by the gantries!!) they’re not interested in cancelling any tickets either!

Will do re documentation without mentioning what’s missing, great idea! Would this be an abuse of process if it’s not supplied in full? 

Address shouldn’t be a problem as the house is partly in my name too but will change the missing letter...!

Micromachine

They’ve already lost the customer, admittedly as I have a different job now but they’re not to know that!